Equipment World Digital Magazine
Issue link: http://read.dmtmag.com/i/426956
W e get press releases daily from companies who want to tell our audience about new products, initiatives and corporate changes. We value these press releases and we use them ... as background material. A few years ago, we stopped the practice of copy-and-paste press releases on our web- site equipmentworld.com for a simple reason: it doesn't give our audience the total picture. Press releases serve many masters, includ- ing product engineers, marketers, executives, and yes, the legal department (and clear com- munication is not at the top of law school curriculums). Because of this, they can have say-nothing quotes, ambiguities and overuse the word "unique." All of that aside, however, it's just plain silly not to make use of the combined 75-plus years of experience of our edito- rial team when putting information out. Our website is not a secondary, subsidiary check-it-out-if-you-have-time platform for us. It is instead our core information tool. Why would we use it as an unedited press release dumping ground? While we love communicating the latest and greatest, it's not our editorial responsibil- ity to be the marketing arm of manufactur- ers. Our duty instead is to you, Dear Reader. When we act like a megaphone reproducing exactly what manufacturers say everyone misses out, including manufacturers. Take for example Tom Jackson's story on the steel-track Cat 299D compact track loader on page 43, a machine introduced at a Caterpillar press event in September. While everyone was dutifully taking down what the product people were saying, Tom saw much more. He's interviewed dozens of contrac- tors, and in turn heard dozens of stories how contractors started off with one truck, one machine. In Tom's opinion, with just three attachments the 299D could give wanna-bes the ability to launch a one-person owner-op- erator business. "Get a dually to pull it, and you're ready to start making money," he says. Because it was directed to a general audi- ence, there was nothing about this aspect of things in the press release, which naturally focused on machine features and benefits. If Tom had just shot out the press release in his initial web report and left it at that (most of our content appears on our website first), it's unlikely it could have sparked a reader's entrepreneurial spirit. And that would have been a shame for everyone. Our editors provide context to what's being said whether in print or on the web. We help sort out the important from the not so impor- tant, tell you if a machine feature addresses an industry problem and link to related content – all things that give you a fuller picture. And next month we'll debut an industry-first machine series contractors have requested for as long as I've been here. This is all part of our quest to give you a solid base of information before making an equipment decision. It's our job. EquipmentWorld.com | December 2014 9 on record | by Marcia Gruver Doyle MGruver@randallreilly.com Why we don't run press releases, and why you should care