4.5 The Project Announcement Plan

A Project Announcement Plan is needed for external applications or a large rollout within a large company. There are six areas considered in a Project Announcement Plan: message development, press kit development, contact with journalists , project announcement date, project release deliverables, and advertising.

Message Development

Business Development needs to work closely with Communications during message development. It is the responsibility of the corporate officers to provide corporate direction and the corporate message. It is the responsibility of Communications to take this direction and message and articulate them. Business Development is responsible for providing project positioning and demographic information so Communications can create a positioning statement, also called the project message, that properly targets the user . The corporate message and the project message are the fundamental ideas behind a project s release. It is necessary for the corporate message to incorporate the project message and for each to be in concert with the other. The company s market position needs to be taken into account when releasing a new project. Before a project release, any updates to corporate positioning should be made. Corporate positioning explains who the company is and how they view themselves . The corporate presentation defines the company s target market and the position they have within the market. Project positioning explains what the project is, who buys the project, and why they need it. Artists are now hired to create an appropriate ˜ ˜look and feel for the project. A ˜ ˜look and feel is developed to match the user with the project. The graphics on a can of motor oil have a very different look and feel from the graphics found on jar of bath oil. Would motor oil sell if its graphics used romantic script? Would bath oil sell if it were packaged with an industrial design? The look and feel takes into account the design, the typeface, the paper, and the display format. Earlier in the project, a presentation was created explaining the new project. This presentation should be updated to match the positioning statements and look and feel created in this phase.

Press Kit Development

After the project and corporate positioning is complete the press kit can be developed. Business Development works with IT to prepare an explanation of this project, and Communications turns this into a press release. Communications adapts this press release for the business wire.

Communications interviews beta users and documents the reason they are using this project in case studies. Case studies can be given to the press and prospects as examples of how the project solves user needs. The corporate backgrounder is created or updated. The corporate backgrounder augments the corporate presentation. It reviews the company, its corporate officers, and its financial status, as well as the market, the company s market share, and its short- and long-range goals. Communications turns the project explanation into a data sheet.

Contact with Journalists

For newsworthy releases, a list of analysts who influence the financial markets, the press, or your target user base should be identified. Communications is responsible for identifying the correct analyst, for checking if any upcoming reports are applicable , for reviewing the reports for impact, and for developing a strategy of how best to update the analysts. The user demographic information is used to identify which media should be pitched to. Communications works with the company s public relations firm to identify the themes that need to be developed for pitching the stories. Communications should identify an appropriate position for each publication and then find the writer responsible for covering this market. Communications should identify if certain analysts and press outlets will receive the information early or if they will receive the information during a specified press tour. Considerations are made due to press dates since some publications need a longer lead time. If a writer or a magazine has been supportive of the project or the company, Communications may decide to give it an early scoop.

Project Announcement

Decide on an appropriate date to announce the project. Before the announcement date, the press release should be mailed to the press outlets with which the company has set up appointments. For large international releases, an East Coast, West Coast, European, and Asian press tour should be defined and the appropriate appointments scheduled. This is where monthly, weekly, and daily publications are pitched the story. A good PR firm is instrumental in assisting in this process. The PR firm will help identify the press and analysts, know upcoming stories that may fit, set the schedule for the press tour, and review the handouts to make sure they are clear and targeted .

Project Release Deliverables

Depending on the type of release, announcement deliverables need to be developed. For an internal release, it might be as simple as an e-mail to all employees . Or it could announce the new project with a banner displayed in the entranceway to the company s building or cafeteria, or with a Web page banner on the company s intranet site linking to the new application. For customer applications, deliverables may also include e- mails , Web banners, or mailers.

Advertising

If appropriate, advertising needs to be created. The user demographic information is used to determine the most effective advertising campaign. Magazine ads, Web site banners, direct mail, and telemarketing campaigns need to be designed and coordinated.

4.5 in a Nutshell

There are six areas to be considered in a Project Announcement Plan:

1. Message development

2. Press kit development

3. Contact with journalists

4. Announcement date

5. Project release deliverables

6. Advertising