Are Exclusives Relevant Anymore

Posted by Jennifer on April 21, 2009

It used to be that a well placed exclusive set the tone for an announcement and ‘influenced’ lesser tier media to cover your company.  The exclusive story would run on the set date and a release would be distributed to a wider list of media outlets.  It is no longer a top down/trickle down media universe.  You need to nuture your news, help it to bubble up.  I believe the rule that you need to be exposed to something 9 times to commit it to memory applies in this current culture of media bombardment.  The reader needs to see the news from a variety of trusted sources and platforms to pay attention.  Better yet, they will join the conversation and help faciliate the dissemination of the news. I visualize this process as a candle lit at both ends.

But is there a role for an exclusive story placement anymore?  I say yes. However, the exclusive doesn’t have the impact that it used to because of frenetic nature of communications.  It is now your role to facilitate the spread of information.  Submit the story to news aggregators, tweet about it, link to it from the company blog, monitor the coverage and conversationand join the discussion if necessary and most importantly measure the impact.  PR should think of themselves as stewards of information.

Do you think exclusives are relevant anymore?