Stop 11 · Branding & Public RelationsTopics · 3/7

Public Relations Fundamentals

In short

An ad is you saying you're great. A news story is someone else saying it. PR is the work of earning that second kind of attention, which people trust far more.

Earning media coverage and third-party credibility through press outreach, story pitching, and relationship-building with journalists and publications — distinct from paid advertising's directly bought reach.

The blob stands beside a bicycle loaded with newspapers, holding one up proudly.

Think of it like this

Getting into the morning paper

A new sweet shop can print pamphlets, or it can invite the local reporter to taste the new kaju roll. If the reporter writes about it, the whole colony reads it with their chai. You can't buy that article. You earn it with a good story.

Watch it happen

How a pitch becomes a story

Your brand

Journalist

Readers

find the news angle

1/5You look for what's actually new or useful: fresh data, a first, a local impact story.

The big ideas

What you need to know

News, not a sales pitch

Journalists want stories their readers care about. 'We launched a product' alone rarely counts.

Pitch the right person

Read what a journalist has written before. Pitch only topics they actually cover.

Press kit

Keep a ready folder: short company story, founder bio, logo, product photos, key facts.

Relationships last

Be helpful even when there's nothing in it for you. Reporters remember sources who make their job easier.

See it in code

Walk through the code

text

1Subject: Pune college students cut canteen food waste by 40%2 3Hi Priya,4 5I read your piece on campus sustainability last week.6Our student club tracked canteen waste for 3 months and7cut it from 50 kg to 30 kg a day with a simple pre-order app.8 9Happy to share the full data, photos and a chat with the team.10 11Thanks,12Rohan

1/4The subject line is the headline, not 'Press release from XYZ'.

A short, personal pitch. The subject line is the story, the first line shows you read their work, and the numbers are real and checkable.

Save yourself the pain

Common mistakes

Oops

Mass-mailing the same press release to 500 journalists.

Do this instead

Send fewer, personal pitches to people who cover your topic.

Oops

Expecting PR coverage to work like a paid ad you control.

Do this instead

You can't control timing or wording. You earn coverage with a real story and good facts.

Your mission

Draft your first pitch

~30 min

Quick check

Why do people usually trust a news article about a brand more than the brand's own ad?

Go deeper

1Read 2-3 press releases and identify what made the story newsworthy.
2Draft a simple press pitch for a hypothetical product launch.
3Learn the difference between a press release and a media pitch to a specific journalist.