Is your product

• The first,
• The fastest,
• The biggest,
• The best, or
• The smallest?

If so, you’ve got uniqueness and uniqueness is something journalists L – O – V – E!!!

Take the example of the eneloop bicycle from SANYO.

A multi-billion-dollar electronics and technology company based in Japan, SANYO has actually been making and selling electric bicycles in Japan for more than 15 years. In fact, its very first product was a bicycle headlamp which allowed customers to ride their bikes after dark.

So when SANYO North America Corporation decided to roll-out its first eBike at the 2010 Consumer Electronics Show, they turned to Politis Communications for help.

Long story short, SANYO’s eneloop bicycle won the Best of Innovations award for CES 2010 in the “Eco-Design and Sustainable Technology” category. In plain English, that meant the CES folks had judged the eneloop bicycle to be the most green product at CES 2010.

So . . . not only was the eneloop bicycle the very first electric bicycle introduced by SANYO into the U.S., it turns out that SANYO actually makes more rechargeable batteries than any other company in the world. Oh, and did I mention that SANYO’s eneloop bicycle also has regenerative properties, meaning it can produce power when coasting downhill or braking?

Take all of that together (along with the Best of Innovations award too) and that’s how we ended up pitching SANYO’s eneloop bicycle to most journalists: 

The SANYO eneloop bicycle — the No. 1 “green product” at the 2010 Consumer Electronics Show (for all of the reasons listed above).

And the media coverage so far for SANYO’s eneloop bicycle has been VERY POSITIVE!

So yes, whenever you can, look for ways to position and pitch your product, company, client or service as unique in some way, shape or fashion. And remember this:

The more unique, the greater your chances for better media coverage.

If you’re at a trade show or other major event where there are a number of journalists meeting with lots of companies, consider using your business card to your advantage. How?

Use the back of your business card as a miniature billboard to help remind journalists what you discussed during your visit.

There are two ways to do this.

1. Print miniature stickers to describe your product/service and affix them to the back of your business cards.
2. Print one-time-use business cards that are specially printed on the back with a description of your product/service.

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BONUS TIP #1:

Since you’re gonna use the real estate on the back of your business card anyway, include a shortened URL (Web address) in your description that points the reader to the specific pages within your online newsroom about the product/service highlighted.

BONUS TIP #2:

Two great services for URL shortening are provided by Hootsuite and Bit.ly. I prefer Hootsuite’s service, but either works great.

In other words, chances are you’ll still need printed PR materials. And if that’s the case, then you need to keep all those publicity materials — the releases, Fact Sheets, backgrounders, bios, etc. — all neat and organized.

That means you need an honest-to-goodness, physical world press kit.

It doesn’t have to be fancy, although it can be. More importantly, is having some type of a press kit.

Based upon the points made in Politis PR Tips Nos. 53 & 54, Printed News Releases Still Matter and Printed Press Materials Still Matter, respectively, it seems obvious to us that press kits have value in a number of settings.

These can include

• “Live” product demonstrations,
• Press tours,
• News/media rooms at tradeshows and conferences,
• On-site tours,
• Ribbon-cutting ceremonies,
• Panel discussions,
• Speeches,
• Industry conferences,
• Trade shows,
• Press conferences,
• and more.

In fact, not only do printed press releases still matter, in some cases they are absolutely crucial.

Occasions (and venues) where printed news releases are still valuable include

• Press conferences,
• Trade shows,
• Industry conferences,
• Speeches,
• Panel discussions,
• Ribbon-cutting ceremonies,
• On-site tours,
• News/media rooms at tradeshows and conferences,
• Press tours,
• “Live” product demonstrations,
• Etc.

In other words, any event or venue where you have an opportunity to meet face-to-face with a journalist (or industry analyst), you should have printed news releases handy.

This will give the journalist the opportunity to

1. Quickly scan your release,
2. Highlight and/or make written notes on the page, and
3. Refer to your release in real-time.

If you’re not doing so already, you should meet with journalists, analysts and bloggers at trade shows and conferences.

The larger the event, the more journalists likely to be on hand. That spells an opportunity for you to conduct pre-scheduled and impromptu media interviews and briefings at your booth.

I’ve found there are always journos willing to meet at shows/events if you will

1. Take the time to craft/prepare your story idea(s) in advance, and
2. Make the effort to reach out to reach out to journalists in a timely and appropriate manner.

At some of the smaller shows, such efforts have landed only a handful of meetings with the media for our clients, but that was okay as such results were in line with our expectations.

In other instances, such as this January’s 2009 Consumer Electronics Show where we helped Schwinn Bicycles launch its new Tailwind electric bicycle, we’ve been able to meet with 100+ bloggers, reporters, editors, reviewers, analysts and the like during a show.

Regardless, you should always look for opportunities to meet with the press while you’re at conferences, trade shows and other such events.