One of These Pitches Is Pretty Bad
I’ve worked as an editor at prominent national publications for over 30 years, covering every beat from the best baby strollers (at Child magazine) to the best muscle cars (Maxim magazine),
While the subject matter of the titles I’ve worked on has changed, one thing has always remained the same: Editors depend on outside pitches for ideas as much as the pitchers rely on editors to get their stories out in the world.
I’ve always had a love/hate relationship with brands (mostly love). Sure, I love to complain about how their unending stream of press releases clutter my inbox (at this writing, I have over 653 unread pitches from yesterday alone), but I’m also grateful to them for giving me some news I can use.
Being an editor is hard, often solitary work, especially when so many of us do it remotely. We’re short on staff, and we need content. Some of those stories come from internal brainstorming, some from freelancers, but others from outside sources like the publicity wing of products and services.
But what has always amazed me is how so few brands and the publicists they hire take the time to consider what the media — and, by extension, their readers — are looking for and how to craft a pitch that will get past the trash folder.
Often it seems like a numbers game for them. The more pitches companies send out, the better chance they’ll get a hit. But I would argue this is precisely the wrong approach. Making a story press-worthy is all about quality, not quantity. It’s about being concise and targeted, not broad and unfocused.
Good pitch vs. Bad pitch
I just randomly looked at my inbox, and I want to share two pitches I received about sustainability that produced opposite outcomes. I have changed some names and details to protect the innocent, likely 22-year-old recent college graduates who know not what they do.
You tell me—which pitch would you pick?
Pitch #1:
Hi Jonathan!
Hope you're well! sharing some news from ACME that I think you’d be interested in. Since making its carbon neutrality pledge in 2021, ACME is proud to share its first-ever survey, detailing the progress the brand has made over the past year. I'd love to connect you to speak with ACME, to discuss the report and how the company has reduced its carbon emissions intensity by 12% from its 2019 baseline.
ACME’s pledge focused on three avenues to cut its carbon intensity: sustainable sourcing decisions and menu development, optimizing how they build restaurants, and investing in clean energy.
Below are milestones from the report, showcasing exactly how ACME’s efforts have offset their carbon emissions:
· 5 Million+ lbs of organic greens sourced
· 65% of our produce growers practice organic farming methods
· 47% of our current suppliers have been partners for 3+ years
· 79% of restaurant waste was diverted to compost or recycling
Attached is the press release with more information. Please let me know if you are interested in speaking with ACME.
Pitch #2
Can I interest you in a story about REDACTED, who went from working as a top textile/fabric executive for some of the world’s biggest brands and companies (like Eddie Bauer and Target) to completely changing course to found a startup to develop innovative textile recycling solutions?
REDACTED’s turning point began when she traveled to China to visit suppliers for the first time without her company credentials. She was horrified by the devastating tolls of the textile industry on people and the planet and this crisis that she felt she had a hand in creating. When asked how she felt at that moment, she describes herself as: “pissed and incredibly well trained.”
REDACTED was so passionate about doing corrective work that she went on to found the textile innovations company REDACTED in 2014. Rather than continuing to extract and craft materials from virgin resources, REDACTED’s vision was to use textile waste as the resource – diverting it from landfills and extracting its rich value to create new, high-performance materials that could be recycled over and over again.
REDACTED’s first technology, NuCycl, uses cotton textile waste as its sole input, liquefies it into a pulp, and creates new, high-performance fibers that are so strong that they can outperform plastic-based materials (all while maintaining biodegradability and recyclability).
REDACTED has partnered with brands from Stella McCartney to Adidas, Levi’s, and Target, and last month, it commercialized its first material with independent designer Carlos Campos.
I’d be happy to set up an introduction if you’d like to hear REDACTED’s story firsthand. She’s incredibly inspiring.
What do you think?
So welcome to my world—two pitches about sustainable topics but with different approaches.
In my next newsletter, I’ll discuss the pitch we went with and why. In the meantime, I’m curious to hear your thoughts. What story is more interesting to you as a reader? Leave your comments below.
See you next week!