Q: My company has created a new concept in data processing, which can revolutionize many activities in data-processing shops. AT&T has been using it for some time and has authorized a news release using its name. The problem is this: We've created a better mousetrap (automated computer programming). The mousetrap has been tested, proven, and endorsed, but the world isn't beating a path to our door. We've tried to get press coverage for exposure, but the resulting coverage has been pitiful. Any suggestions regarding how to get noticed? If an endorsement [from AT&T] won't do it, what will? Given the shortage of programmers, the Year 2000 problem, and the continuing business needs for more information faster, we would think that the press would be anxious to report on a proven system that automates the tasks of software developers.
-- J.G., Altoona, PA

A: Your goal should not be "to get noticed" so much as to get your message across to decision-makers in targeted accounts -- and to market researchers and other gurus who can influence them. So your first step is to identify the press (print and electronic) who cater to those audiences. Set realistic expectations. Face the fact that the announcement of your novel but arcane software development tool probably will not make the cover of Business Week or its major competitors. But you may succeed with Application Development Trends, Software Development, and perhaps even Information Week and similar publications targeted at technical developers and managers. If you are not sure of your best targets, consider subscribing to a database publisher such as Media Map for identifying U.S. press by specialty -- primarily technology, but also include health-care and finance categories. Don't expect a release of your announcement to mass distributors like BusinessWire and PR Newswire to do the job. They can supplement, but they will never take the place of follow up with contacts at your target publications.

Step two: Before contacting an individual journalist, lay the groundwork. Understand his or her publication's audience and how it covers news and features and builds relationship with individual journalists. Take time to educate the press about your company -- before you have news to announce, suggests Debra Jones, principal of Jones Communications Group in Menlo Park, Calif., who has advised companies ranging from Silicon Graphics, Adobe, and Baan to high-profile startups like Healtheon and Financial Engines. With advance informational meetings, journalists will be more receptive to your phone calls and press packets when you have a timely release. Business and technology journalists lead incredibly harried lives. But most will hear your pitch given proper positioning and enough lead time.

Step three: When you have news, do your homework. Tailor your story pitch for the particular publication, its lead time, and the journalist's personal interests, if you know him or her. As a 15-year veteran of technology journalism, I can tell you nothing annoys a reporter more than receiving a mass E-mail or press release -- unless it is from businesspeople who simply don't take the time to understand how he or she works. You might think that you are doing the journalist's work by tailoring an angle, but believe me, it will be appreciated in that deadline-pressured environment. Also, think beyond the standard press release on new products and other announcements. You may have useful information that doesn't warrant a press release, but makes a good technical brief, customer case study, or other trend format. Don't be afraid to suggest how the information might be used.

A few extra words of advice: If you can, attach yourself to a trend, Jones recommends. Your question alludes to the hot buttons of programmer shortages and the Y2K dilemma. The press release you sent me -- which is not reprinted here -- doesn't clearly spell out these problems for which your product may be a solution. You may, in fact, have a shot at a mention -- if not a whole article -- in a major business publication if your product announcement is put into context of such broader industry issues. But if your narrowly written press release does not make the connection, don't blame the journalists for not picking up on it!

Finally, your instinct to identify key customers such as AT&T is correct. But quoting an anonymous "AT&T manager", as you do, is virtually useless -- especially when it comes in the last sentence of a four-paragraph release. Coax your best customers for product endorsements from spokespeople -- preferably someone in a senior operations role -- then place the quote in a prominent position in your release. That will make the pitch more credible to journalists. With the hundreds of press releases and phone calls they receive each week, you need to give reporters a reason to call back and ask more. That's the best you can expect from a well-crafted PR campaign.

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