Rupert Goodwin's succesful PR pitch formula revealed

Here is how to get coverage on ZDNet - see Rupert's formula below. Though I thinks some of those variables need properly defining and quantifying.

Dear PR - The probability of a successful pitch can be calculated by the following handy formula applied to the details of your client's latest wheeze.

3NT x 4UP x 2BI x 5EAI
-----------------------------   = P(copy)
3M^3 x 2ACE x 10L

Where NT = New Technology, UP = Unique Product, BI = Beer Involved, EAI = Engineers Available for Interview, M = Marketing Managers, EMEA or Mornings, ACE = Already Covered Elsewhere (ie, your American brethren have already spilled the beans) and L = the word Leading or Leader in the first para of the press release.

Comments

[Ed Lee]

is rupert saying the amount of coverage he gives you is directly proportionate to the amount of beer you buy him?

who said ethics are dead?

Ed

[Andrew Smith]

I believe that is a meaningful interpretation of the equation ;-)

[Rupert]

That's merely one factor! And I don't mind buying (some of) the beer - it just has to be 'involved'.

Andrew suggested that some factors could be expanded. I agree. Beer, for example, specifically excludes American Budweiser and Becks.

There are also various problems with the formula as it stands, as if any of the parameters go to zero the probability either zeros or goes to infinity - and that's not true (well, with the exception of the words 'leader' or 'leading'. No greater sin exists.)

Best to see it as a guideline rather than a mathematical guarantee. Further revisions will be forthcoming, following the peer (and beer) review process

Rupert

[Mary Branscombe]

There should be a factor in the function similar to 2D/M where D = technology ready and available for demonstration by engineers/product developers/other knowledgeable people. This trends to higher values when hands on demos and review samples are available and to lower values when the demo is run by someone who knows less about the product than the journalist (see M), when the demo turns out to be a canned recording or when the technology is not actually in any state to be delivered or may not even have been approved as a project.