This month’s “Spot the differences” post looks into what distinguishes press releases from press kits. Along with a new “7 differences” game, this post will give you a better understanding of press kits, press releases and the differences between them.

First and most obviously, the press release is a subset of the press kit. It’s the text that explains your project or news. The press kit, on the other hand, is a package with everything you release to the media, which may include:

• a press release (possibly in multiple languages)
• low- and high-resolution images
• technical data, statistics, credits
• plans and technical drawings
• a short company profile
• links to your website and social media
• contact info for journalists to follow up
• appendices and supplementary information

In our last post, we detailed all the differences between press releases and articles. Among other things, we saw that a press release is an external communication tool aimed at the media, written by a communications or media relations professional. It announces a fact, news item, event, project, product, etc. A press release is source material for an article, providing information and facts about a specific topic. The ultimate goal is to enable journalists to write their articles.

Your press release describes your project. But in many cases, words alone can’t do justice to a project or news item – especially in design and architecture. That’s why it’s essential to give the media a press kit that includes your press release, images and any other relevant complementary information. With generalist newswires, images are often an afterthought. Not in design and architecture! Here, they’re essential, and so they need to be professional-quality and high-resolution.

Not so long ago, press kits were printed and mailed out to recipients. Thanks to the internet and online newswires, press kits can be prepared online, then shared very easily with thousands of media around the world. All it takes is a few clicks.

When assembling a press kit, it’s important to provide as many elements as possible to give media a thorough understanding of your news or project, while keeping the focus on the most important parts. Along with the content itself, visual presentation is very important. The media have to be able to quickly find the details they need, and journalists are accustomed to certain formats and structures in a press kit.

That’s why journalists appreciate newswires: they provide a clear, concise presentation, in a consistent format, all in one place. There are no attachments in a random assortment of formats (Word, PowerPoint, PDF, web links...), no extra links to images or compressed files, no time spent making sense of new layouts or procedures. The media’s top concerns are relevance, accessibility, effectiveness and quality. If your press kit is scattershot, you’ll lose points. Some publications might drop you from consideration, and some won’t bother to read your materials at all. That’s why it’s so important to always use a consistent format and page layout, with direct links and easy access to all the details.

Thanks to the convergence provided by both generalist newswires and specialized services like v2com, the media can not only access news quickly, they can see the information in a clear, uniform, consistent and user-friendly format. As an international newswire specializing in design and architecture, v2com was created specifically to better meet the needs of the media and make it easier for architects and designers to get published.

Of course, you need to have a project that’s worth sharing. But it’s also important to have a good press kit: a high-impact release, high-resolution professional images, relevant complementary information – all in a format that’s tailored to meet media needs.

As we often say, a press kit is not an advertising tool, it’s a promotional tool! That’s why you should always keep your style neutral and objective. For more on the best practices for writing an effective press release, just wait for our next blog post! It will reveal our most effective tips and tricks for writing an excellent press release.

If you have any questions about assembling a press kit or writing the press release it will include, feel free to contact us.