When CEOs speak: How execs’ quotes doom your pitches

Hackneyed, self-centered ‘excitement’ deflects focus from your real target—your customer

One of the most overlooked parts of a news release is the “executive quote.”  It seems as if little time is taken to create an outstanding quote that is so good, is has to be part of the story.

It’s funny how many times when a CEO or other top executive is quoted in a press release, that CEO has expressed his/her “excitement” over whatever that announcement is about. It seems that either we have a multitude of “excited” CEOs or that the same person is writing CEO quotes for every company. Most reporters (not to mention their readers) don’t care how “excited” you are about something you are doing. The term is trite and overused.

One example comes from Vizion Interactive Inc., which describes itself as a “search engine marketing firm.”

In a news release, the company announced the rehiring of an employee, Brandy Eddings. She is quoted in the release saying very nice things about the company. Really?

"I really missed the Vizion Interactive environment," says Ms. Eddings. "The entire Vizion team is a powerhouse in the industry, and I'm excited to be working with the best."

I suppose I’m happy for Brandy that she is excited to work for that powerhouse team. But, really, what does her arrival mean for Vizion clients and potential clients?

It is ironic that a “marketing” firm’s own release is so self-focused.

In a release from Seapine Software, which describes itself as leading provider of global quality-centric application lifecycle management (ALM) solutions (whatever that means), the company announced new software.

“We are very excited about the TestTrack 2010 release,” said Paula Rome, senior product manager for Seapine Software’s TestTrack family.

Should I be excited? For what reason? Tell me why as part of the quote!

You will be amazed at how many releases use “excited” and usually in the second paragraph where the first executive quote tends to be located. It’s as if the writer is being sure to fill the “excitement” quota.

I searched the word “excited” in news releases on Businesswire.com on Aug. 17. Forty-eight news releases contained the word excited.

So what makes a good (an exciting) quote? Something that relates to the audience and really advances the story. “We’re excited about …” adds nothing. Of course you are excited. But follow that with why the reader should be excited.

Think about the kinds of quotes reporters care about as opposed to an internal focus on what is important or exciting to your organization.

This release from Worthington Industries touted a new Drywall Framing System and had a better quote from the CEO:

“ProSTUD is an industry-changing product designed with the contractor in mind,” said Bill Courtney, president and CEO of ClarkWestern Building Systems. “Through creative efforts like this, we will continue to raise the bar in innovation to provide our customers with the most efficient and cost-effective steel framing products.”

I could read his excitement without actually reading that word, excitement.

Tellabs, a company that manufactures equipment for telephone companies, understands this concept and makes sure its executive quotes relate not to Tellabs, but its audience.

“We designed the compact Tellabs 6335 node to meet the performance requirements of demanding, competitive markets in a flexible, cost-efficient way,” said Mark Pashan, vice president and general manager of optical transport products for Tellabs. “Building on the success of the Tellabs 6325 edge node, the Tellabs 6335 node is capable of even more. The road to next-generation services is now much smoother for operators who want to take full advantage of existing investments and move to packet-based networks at their own pace.”

Clearly Pashan’s quote is about the benefit of the product to the audience.  (Given the audience is made up of phone companies, I have to assume they understand the terminology.)

Your releases should offer quotes from management that exude excitement (while not using that word) and enthusiasm, and not leave the editor thinking, “So what? You’re excited? Yippee.” Tell the editors what’s exciting about this for THEM.