Kunjan was a very hard-working carpenter who lived near my ancestral home in Kerala. Once, after completing some menial repairs, he sat down to have lunch with us.
My aunt laid the banana leaf in front of him as per the tradition. As she was serving him one item after the other, I noticed she put out two ladle-full of bitter-gourd preparation.
She smiled and told me, “He loves it!” But I thought Kunjan felt otherwise. After lunch, I asked him, “Kunjan, you really like bitter-gourd?”
He smiled and said, “I hate it. See, when I first came to your house years ago, your aunt had prepared this dish. I thought, if I eat this with other preparations, it might spoil my taste and appetite. So, I decided to gulp it at one go and just get over with it. Since then, she has always served that particular dish more to me. I don’t want to upset her or to insult the food, so I keep mum!”
Pitches are like bitter gourd
It’s similar to your elevator pitch strategy. Can you catch the attention of journalists and make them imagine a solid story? An average Indian journalist gets around 300 business emails in a day. Of these, at least 10-15% are story pitches. But most journalists are looking for a story, not a pitch.
How do you stand out? Rather than starting with what your client does, start with the pitch by answering the Why(s) first. Why is it so unique or story-worthy?
Then come to the questions dealing with how(s). How do you visualise the story? How is it relevant to the journalist? Finally, come to the what: what can your client offer to the story?
Story your pitch (thanks to Madhavan Narayanan for coining this phrase)
One of the biggest reasons your pitch goes unnoticed is a lazy subject line. You can have either of the approaches: Keep it Simple Silly (KISS) or Creative Side Rules (CSR). In my experience, hard news journalists prefer simple headlines, whereas long-form writers have a skew towards a creative subject line. The worst are those which sound like a newsletter or promotional mailer.
When we write a pitch, we are confident that this is the most extraordinary piece. Our work always has heavy traces of our creative bias. Pass it to a colleague who knows nothing about your client, and ask: What’s my story? If the response is anything other than what you intended to serve, work on the pitch again.
Packaging matters
Can you design your pitch? If I am pitching for the soft-profiling of a client, I try to see if the pitch can be designed to tell the story visually. Today, tons of tools are at our disposal that helps us draft a pitch.
Another best practice is to include all the necessary information a journalist needs to start the groundwork. This includes the pitch itself, profile of the company, profile of the spokesperson, any industry reports or data points relevant to the story, and any low-resolution visuals or videos to go with the story, along with an online drive link to access high-resolution versions.
Data, data everywhere; not one to quote?
Data-driven stories can do much more. A simple research or data point that supports your story is an interesting way to catch the journalist’s attention.
Journalists don’t write for our clients. They write for their readers. Hence, data-driven stories add credibility to their work.
In the last few years, the number of stories contributed by the research-driven narrative vertical of our team during the “business unusual” period has been commendable. These are authentic stories and insights from consumers. Some of these are part of the compendium of case studies we release every year. You can download the previous two editions from here.
Therefore, adopt an outside-in approach to story-telling. In my next piece, I will discuss the topic of personalising a pitching process.
The views and opinions published here belong to the author and do not necessarily reflect the views and opinions of the publisher.
Supreeth is a journalist by education, he started his career working as a desk editor at the digital arm of the Dainik Bhaskar Group. He later worked at senior editorial roles with several leading general and trade media publications such as the Indian Express Group, IPP Media India, Haymarket Media Group, and Geospatial Media, writing and editing stories on various niche subjects including marketing technology, printing, packaging, publishing, and geospatial science. His first stint as a communication professional was with India’s largest PR firm, Adfactors PR Pvt Ltd., before moving to his current role.
Be the first to comment on "Why do pitches fail? (Part 1)"