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Why I Hate Press Releases

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And now another post in my million-part series on heinous business jargon.

Today I got a press release from a firm that brought on a new CEO. Some of the wording would be irritating if it weren’t so absurd.

[name redacted], a premier provider of Management Consulting, Outsourcing Consulting, and Vendor Relationship Management services, with a specialized focus in the areas of Information Technology, HR Technology, and Business Process Reengineering, today announced [name redacted] as its new President and CEO, effective immediately.

First of all, what is “a premier provider?” “Premier” means “first.” There can’t be more than one premier provider. And I doubt this firm is the first management consulting firm in history.

And what is a “specialized focus?” If you’re focusing, then you’re specialized. If you’re specialized, you must be focusing.

Oh, and “reengineering” is not a word. If you’re engineering something an second time, you’re still just engineering.

But there’s more:

[name redacted] joining the [name redacted] team rounds out our dynamic leadership team

So, the members of your leadership team are in motion. That’s good. I doubt you would do as well with leaders who were paralyzed or dead.

[name redacted] is a Service Disabled Veteran Owned Business (SDVOB) that provides dynamic world class Management Consulting, Outsourcing Consulting, and Vendor Relationship Management services.

Oh, now not only is your work dynamic, it’s “world class!” Which means what? Has your organization been certified by the International Organization of World Classedness in Helsinki, Finland? Or is it just a two-word phrase that means nothing, but padded out the press release?

Press releases do not exist for marketing purposes. PR people are communicating with the press, and with others in their industry, and not to the general public. In other words, you’re communicating with professional communicators. Drop the marketing speak, and let the press know the facts. No journalist wants to wade through a page of meaningless logorrhoeaic nonsense just to find out what the story is.

Why I Hate Press Releases by
Authored by: Erik Even