They are formulaic, template-driven, often lack an actual story idea, lack substantiation for their claims, use ludicrous descriptors (exciting, best, first, fun etc) and yet the industry (and those horrible academics that train these people) keep at it. All of which and more Mark Ragan rails about in this piece:
PR writing is so horribly consistent that agencies even have a template for it. It goes something like this:
name of company, the leading solutions provider for the name of industryannounces the appointment, purchase of, merger, etc of name of another company, the leading provider of name of product or service
The template also offers a column of buzzwords for these college grads to use when pumping out press releases. You simply highlight the word with your cursor, hit “enter” and the word is inserted into various spots throughout the release. The column includes all of the old standbys, including our friends “Thought Leadership” (in all caps of course); “connectivity,” “global,” “forward thinking,” “vision,” “strategic,” and “influencers.”
There is a reason for the template, of course. None of the kids hired by the agencies and billed out at $150 an hour have the slightest idea what they’re writing about. They don’t understand the product or the client. They have no background in the industry, and they never learned how to write in college.
