JTC 351 Public Relations Practices
Assignment #8
MMO, Pitch Letters and News Advisory
for Zoom Shoes
Press
Conference
Your client, Jeffrey Zoomer, was so pleased with the plan that you outlined in Assignment #1 and the news release you prepared in
Assignment #2 that he has hired your agency to coordinate the announcement
of the
Zoom Shoes name change. Use the information contained in Assignments #1 and #2 (and compiled in your Athletes Choice Fact Sheet) as background information in
addition to the information provided below. You may augment the
information provided with other details, as long as these are not contrary
to the facts you have been given.
Plans for the Announcement
Your task is to develop plans for a news conference to announce the name
change, and to prepare several materials that will be used to promote the event and additional coverage of the name change.
Zoom has reserved space at the Tavern
on the Green, a favorite site for
media announcements in New York City, for Monday, November 15 from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. The
restaurant's Crystal Pavillion is a large room that can accommpany 90 people with a dais with theatre-style seating. There's also plenty of room
for refreshments, displays, photogrpahers and stand-up interviews for television.
Tavern on the Green's address is: Central Park at West 67th St., New York,
N.Y. 10023. The restaurant's telephone number is 212/873-3200. Parking for TV news crews is available in the Tavern's receiving area off Central Park West.
Your agency is The Publicity Group, 300 E. 44th Street, New York, N.Y.
10017. Tel. (212) 347-4747. Your firm has several cell phones available for staff use at the site on the day of the event, including (212) 203-0303. Fax: (212) 347-8743.
Your assignment is to:
- Prepare a Media Message Outline for the event. This will be used as a discussion item for a client meeting on November 1, where Mr. Zoomer will review your plans. Your MMO needs to highlight the key elements of what will occur at the press conference, including specifics as to time, format, etc. (Following the client meeting, you will then develop a detailed schedule and assign responsibilities, etc.)
- Draft a pitch letter to David J. Hill, Editor, Footwear News, 7 West 34th St., New York, N.Y. 10001-8191. Footwear News is the largest trade publication in the shoe and leather goods industry.
You should propose that the magazine devote a cover story to the change name and provide a rationale. In other words, sell the story! (Your letter should be on letterhead and include a complete inside address. You will want to date the letter November 15, and have it ready to send, upon the company's announcement. (Because of Mr. Zoomer's
concern about premature disclosure of material financial information, he does not want to tell anyone about the details until the day of the announcement.)
- Write a pitch letter to Jon Evans, Associate Producer, CNBC, 350 Third Avenue, New York, N.Y. 10020. This letter would suggest that Mr. Zoomer might be a good interview for CNBC's "Executive Report," a television show that features the chief executive officers of companies in the news. (Use the same standard letter format and November 15 date.)
- Write a news advisory for the general consumer news media in New York City, inviting them to cover the news conference. Target your advisory to New York's 11 major TV outlets, business editors, newspaper sports editors, and editors of sports magazines directed to consumers that are headquartered in New York.
You'll need to explain what is occurring, suggest why it is newsworthy, and provide pertinent details. Note: Specifics about the time and
format should be based on your recommendations in your Media Message Outline. (Note: You would probably invite additional trade and business publications editors in a separate invitation letter--but that's not part of your assignment.)
Each item should be about one page. Please assemble all four items and staple them in the order specified. Thanks.
Return to Class Exhibits Page