Another product announcement, another broken embargo. This time it was the announcement for the new BMW 3 Series Saloon and Touring. If all had gone well, this information wouldn’t have been available until this coming Friday. But it was broken, this time over a week before its official unveiling. I can’t remember the last time that a new product was announced without the embargo being broken somewhere along the line.
Historically, the issue of embargos and the releasing of new information was dealt with on a ‘gentleman’s agreement’ basis between PR’s and Editors with the latter agreeing not to publish information until a certain date. This enabled Editors of long-lead publications to publish information soon after the embargo, benefiting both the PR and the Editor. And it worked, generally.
The internet-age has changed all that. PRs and website Editors don’t yet have the same relationship as that which has existed for years between PRs and the traditional media. In addition, and vitally importantly, the internet’s incessant need for as much information as possible, as quickly as possible, means that competition to be the first to publish has never been greater.
And PRs need to wake up to this new world. The requirements of the internet and a monthly magazine are completely different and the embargos can’t work in this day and age. Why not simply release all the information on a certain date and let the publications sort it out. Well, no reason at all, apart from the deluge of calls from Editors of monthly magazines I’d get. But with web-traffic going through the roof and traditional media circulations generally falling, surely you’ve got to work to the needs of the majority?
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