press-release

$2a

• Headline: Clear, benefit-focused product announcement

• Dateline: City, state, date

• Introduction paragraph: What's being launched, who it's for, key benefit

• Problem paragraph: Customer problem the product solves

• Solution paragraph: How the product addresses the problem (outcomes, not features)

• Quote from company leader: Vision, customer commitment

• Additional details: Supporting benefits or data

• Boilerplate: Company background

• Call to action: How to learn more

• Media contact: Press contact information

Why This Works

• Customer-first thinking: Forces you to articulate value from the customer's perspective

• Clarity forcing function: If you can't write a compelling press release, the product idea may be weak

• Alignment tool: Stakeholders can read and react to the vision before engineering starts

• Decision filter: If a feature wouldn't make it into the press release, question its priority

Anti-Patterns (What This Is NOT)

• Not feature-centric: Don't list specs—focus on customer outcomes

• Not internal jargon: Write for customers, not engineers

• Not vague: "Revolutionizes productivity" is fluff; "Reduces report generation time from 8 hours to 10 minutes" is real

• Not marketing spin: Be honest about what the product does

When to Use This

• Defining a new product or major feature

• Aligning stakeholders on vision before development

• Testing if a product idea is compelling

• Pitching to execs or securing buy-in

When NOT to Use This

• For trivial features (don't over-engineer small tweaks)

• After you've already built the product (too late)

• As actual launch-day press release (this is a planning doc, not final marketing copy)

Application

Use template.md for the full fill-in structure.

Step 1: Gather Context

Before drafting, ensure you have:

• Product/feature description: What are you building?

• Target customer/persona: Who is this for? (reference skills/proto-persona/SKILL.md)

• Problem statement: What customer problem does this solve? (reference skills/problem-statement/SKILL.md)

• Key benefits: What outcomes does it deliver?

• Competitive context: How is this different from alternatives? (reference skills/positioning-statement/SKILL.md)

• Company mission/values: How does this fit the company's vision?

If missing context: Run discovery, define the problem statement, or clarify positioning first.

Step 2: Draft the Headline

Create a clear, benefit-focused headline:

"[Product/Feature Name] by [Company] Aims to [Main Benefit/Goal]"

Quality checks:

• Benefit-focused: Does it say what the customer gets, not just what you built?

• Specific: "Aims to simplify workflows" is vague; "Aims to cut invoice processing time by 60%" is specific

• Memorable: Can someone repeat this headline in a conversation?

Examples:

• ✅ "Acme Workflows Launches Invoice Automation to Cut Processing Time by 60% for Small Businesses"

• ❌ "Acme Launches New Product with AI Features"

Step 3: Write the Dateline and Introduction

[City], [State], [Country], [Date] —

Today, [Company], a [type of organization], announced [key news], a [brief description]. This [product/feature] is set to [main benefit], addressing [key customer problem].

Quality checks:

• Concise: 2-3 sentences max

• Customer problem mentioned: Don't jump to solution—name the problem first

Step 4: Explain the Problem

[Product/feature] solves [specific customer problem]. According to [source or customer insight], [supporting data or quote that validates the problem].

Quality checks:

• Specific problem: Not "inefficiency" but "manual invoice processing takes 8 hours per month"

• Validated: Include data, customer quotes, or research to prove the problem is real

Step 5: Describe the Solution (Outcome-Focused)

[Product/feature] addresses this by [how it solves the problem—focus on outcomes]. [Quote from company leader]: "[Insert quote that emphasizes customer value, not features]."

Quality checks:

• Outcome-first: "Reduces processing time" not "includes OCR technology"

• Quote is visionary: Should reflect customer empathy and company values

Step 6: Add Supporting Details

In addition to [key benefit], [product/feature] also [additional benefits]. According to [statistic or source], [supporting data].

Quality checks:

• Data-driven: Use numbers where possible (time savings, cost reduction, etc.)

• Customer-centric: Still focused on "what they get," not "what we built"

Step 7: Include Boilerplate

[Company], founded in [year], is a [type of company] known for [main products/services]. With a focus on [company mission or values], [Company] has [achievements or milestones].

Step 8: Add Call to Action and Media Contact

For more information about [product/feature], visit [website] or contact [media contact name] at [contact info].

**Media Contact Information:**

[Name]

Title: [Title]

Phone: [Phone]

Email: [Email]

Step 9: Test the Press Release

Ask these questions:

• Would a customer care? If you sent this to a target customer, would they want to learn more?

• Is the problem clear? Can someone who's never heard of your product understand the pain point?

• Are benefits measurable? Can you prove the claims (time savings, cost reduction, etc.)?

• Is it jargon-free? Could your mom understand it?

• Does it pass the "so what?" test? If someone reads this and says "so what?" you haven't articulated value.

If any answer is "no," revise.

Examples

See examples/sample.md for full press release examples.

Mini example excerpt:

**Headline:** "Acme Launches SmartInvoice to Cut Processing Time by 60%"

**Problem:** Small businesses spend 8 hours/month on manual invoices

**Solution:** Automates extraction and approvals to save time

Common Pitfalls

Pitfall 1: Feature List Instead of Benefits

Symptom: "Includes AI, ML, OCR, NLP, and real-time sync"

Consequence: Customers don't care about features—they care about outcomes.

Fix: Translate features to benefits: "AI-powered automation reduces invoice processing time by 60%."

Pitfall 2: Vague Problem Statement

Symptom: "Solves inefficiency in workflows"

Consequence: No one recognizes themselves in this problem.

Fix: Be specific: "Small business owners spend 8 hours/month manually entering invoice data."

Pitfall 3: Jargon-Heavy Language

Symptom: "Leverages cutting-edge ML models to optimize enterprise-grade workflows"

Consequence: Customers can't understand what you're saying.

Fix: Write like you're explaining it to a friend: "Automatically handles invoices so you don't have to."

Pitfall 4: Generic Executive Quote

Symptom: "We're excited to bring innovation to market"

Consequence: Quote adds no value. Could apply to any product.

Fix: Make it customer-focused: "Business owners shouldn't spend weekends processing invoices—they should spend that time with family."

Pitfall 5: No Data or Validation

Symptom: "Customers will love this revolutionary new solution"

Consequence: Unsubstantiated claims = marketing fluff.

Fix: Add data: "Beta users saved an average of 5 hours per month" or "68% of SMBs cite invoice processing as their top admin burden."

References

Related Skills

• skills/problem-statement/SKILL.md — Defines the customer problem the press release highlights

• skills/positioning-statement/SKILL.md — Informs the differentiation and value proposition

• skills/proto-persona/SKILL.md — Defines the target customer mentioned in the press release

• skills/jobs-to-be-done/SKILL.md — Informs the customer benefits and outcomes

External Frameworks

• Amazon's Working Backwards process — Origin of the press release-first methodology

• Ian McAllister's Quora answer on Amazon's press release template (2012) — Widely cited explanation

• Colin Bryar & Bill Carr, Working Backwards (2021) — Book on Amazon's product development process

Dean's Work

• Visionary Press Release Prompt (inspired by Amazon's Working Backwards methodology)

Provenance

• Adapted from prompts/visionary-press-release.md in the https://github.com/deanpeters/product-manager-prompts repo.

Skill type: Component

Suggested filename: press-release.md

Suggested placement: /skills/components/

Dependencies: References skills/problem-statement/SKILL.md, skills/positioning-statement/SKILL.md, skills/proto-persona/SKILL.md, skills/jobs-to-be-done/SKILL.md