What to include in a product-launch PR brief.
A clear brief helps an agency understand your announcement and lets you compare proposals using the same information. Start with the points below.
The announcement.
Describe what is launching and what is new about it. Include the product or service name, when and where it becomes available, and a short, plain explanation of why it matters to someone outside your company.
Separate what is confirmed from what is still being decided. If a fact is awaiting approval, flag it rather than leaving it to be discovered later.
The objective and the audience.
Say who you want to reach and what you want them to understand. Name the priority markets, the customer groups that matter most and any publications you already have in mind.
Agree how the work will be judged. A coverage record and a business outcome answer different questions, and it is worth being explicit about which evidence will exist for each.
Format and timing.
Include the announcement date and any event details: venue, programme, who is available to speak and what the press will be able to see or try.
Flag deadlines and any restriction on when information can be shared. If the date or the venue is provisional, say so in the brief rather than in the third meeting.
Source material and spokespeople.
- A short product or company fact sheet.
- The claims you want to make, and the evidence behind each one.
- Images and captions, with permission to use them.
- Spokespeople, their roles and when they are available.
- Any earlier announcement or coverage that gives useful context.
Scope, budget and approvals.
Set out the support you are looking for: media strategy, invitations, journalist coordination, launch-day press support, post-launch follow-through. Name who reviews materials and who can decide on scope and budget.
That lets an agency separate what is included from what needs a separate conversation, and it stops the scope drifting quietly during the campaign.
Keep one current version of the brief. Two half-updated copies cause more delay than a missing detail.
A short brief is enough to start.
You do not need all of this before you make contact. Brand, announcement, audience, timing and the main support you want will do.