Original Research
Digital PR for product and company news
Plan product and company announcements around a real change, checked claims, useful evidence and clear responses to journalists.
Start digital PR for product or company news with a change that matters to people outside the business. Before approaching a journalist, establish what happened, who it affects and what can be checked. A launch date or executive announcement is a fact, but it will not suit every publication.
Decide what the news is
Product news may cover a new capability, a wider release or a material change in access. Company news may cover an expansion, a change in ownership or a decision affecting customers, staff or an industry. Write the change in one plain sentence, then ask what a reader could do, expect or understand differently because of it.
Question / What to establish
- What changed?
- The previous position, the new position and the effective date.
- Who is affected?
- The specific customers, locations or other groups involved.
- What follows?
- A consequence the available evidence supports.
If the main point is that the company is pleased, use a company update. A useful public announcement may still not suit a newsroom; editorial interest is the journalist’s decision.
When to use a company update vs. news announcement
- Use company update ifThe main point is that the company is pleased or celebrating internal progress
- Use news announcement ifA real change affects customers, staff, locations or industry practices
- Editorial interest depends onJournalist’s assessment of relevance, impact and audience value
Confirm the announcement before pitching
Check the proposed wording against the product’s current release state, an approved release plan or the relevant company decision. A feature limited to trial accounts should not be described as available to everyone, and a planned office opening should not become an operating office in the headline. Record the date, Australian availability, eligibility and any material conditions.
Give each claim a person who can check it. Product teams can confirm functionality and limits; operations can confirm availability; company officers can confirm a corporate decision. A public register can help establish listed company details, but it does not prove product performance.
Review comparisons carefully. A claim to be the largest, first or fastest needs a defined market, measure, period and suitable evidence. If those are missing, describe the concrete change. Label a target as a target, not an achieved result.
Pre-pitch verification checklist for digital PR announcements
- Confirm product release stateCheck against current release plan or approved rollout schedule
- Verify availability detailsRecord Australian availability, date, eligibility and material conditions
- Assign claim verification pointsProduct team confirms functionality; operations confirms availability; company officer confirms decision
- Validate market claimsEnsure 'largest', 'first' or 'fastest' claims include defined market, measure, period and evidence
- Label targets correctlyDo not present targets as achieved results
Prepare the handover
Put the change and its consequence first in a short announcement. Include who, what, when, where, why and how, a contact for questions and the relevant material a journalist can inspect. That might be a dated release note, a demonstration or a specific public record. Put important exclusions beside the claim they qualify.
A demonstration shows what happened in that session; it does not establish typical performance. Give company-supplied figures their definition, period and method. If a figure cannot be explained sufficiently for scrutiny, narrow the claim or leave it out.
Brief a spokesperson to explain the change, its evidence and its limits. Agree who can resolve technical questions and who will respond if the first contact is unavailable.
Steps to prepare a credible digital PR handover
- Lead with the change and its consequenceState who, what, when, where, why and how clearly at the start
- Include verifiable supporting materialsProvide dated release notes, demos, or public records for scrutiny
- Clearly state exclusionsPlace limitations beside the claims they qualify
- Define all figures and metricsSpecify period, method and definition for any data used
- Brief a spokespersonAgree on who handles technical questions and backup contacts
Check records and substantiation
For corporate announcements, use ASIC’s company and organisation registers to check the organisation name and identifiers such as an ACN, ARBN or ARSN. The registers cover Australian companies, registered Australian bodies, foreign companies operating in Australia and managed investment schemes.
Search ASIC Registers by organisation name, a registered business name or a unique identifier. Free basic information includes the organisation type, ABN or other identifier, registration date, registered office location and a list of documents lodged with ASIC.
ASIC’s company alert service can help you track changes made to companies. If an announcement relies on a recent corporate change, check the relevant register information and lodged documents before describing that change as settled.
For claims about a product or service, the ACCC can require businesses to back up claims they make. It accepts reports about possible false or misleading claims and may investigate and take compliance or enforcement action, so keep the material supporting a claim available for scrutiny.
Make the evidence match the exact claim: a record confirming a company’s registration does not establish a separate claim about its product. Where an announcement combines corporate facts with product or service claims, check each with the appropriate record or responsible team rather than treating one verification as proof of all of them.
Key regulatory and public records for Australian digital PR
- ASIC Company RegisterFree access to ABN, ACN, ARBN, ARSN, registration date, registered office location
- ASIC Alerts ServiceTracks recent corporate changes for listed companies and foreign entities operating in Australia
- ACCC False Claims ReportingAccepts reports on misleading advertising; may initiate enforcement action
- ABC Editorial GuidanceRequires reasonable efforts to ensure accuracy and context in public statements
Set the accuracy effort to the claim
The ABC’s editorial guidance says to make reasonable efforts to ensure material facts are accurate and presented in context, and not to present facts in a way that materially misleads an audience. It recognises that the effort required depends on the context and nature of the material.
When deciding how much checking a claim needs, consider how material the fact is, the type and subject of the announcement, audience expectations and the likely impact if someone relies on it. More material facts, or facts with more serious implications, call for greater efforts to establish accuracy.
If a statement needs qualification to avoid misleading readers, put the label or explanation next to the statement. For example, make clear whether a result is a company estimate or an achieved outcome, and include the relevant context rather than relying on a separate general disclaimer.
Approach relevant publications and stay available
Choose journalists whose work and audiences make the change relevant. Lead with the news and its scope, then offer material they can check. Sending an announcement does not make its claims an independent finding or promise coverage.
If a release date moves, an eligibility condition changes or an error appears, correct the public account and notify recipients of the earlier wording. Answer follow-up questions with supported information, and say when a fact is still being checked.
In this guide
- Identifying what genuinely changed in a product announcementCompare the product before and after a release, confirm access and timing, and describe the change a product announcement can support.
- Providing facts a journalist can independently verifyMatch announcement claims to records journalists can inspect, and explain each record’s source, date and limits.
- Removing unsupported market-leader claimsTest market-leader language against a defined comparison and replace unsupported rankings with verifiable announcement facts.
- Preparing useful answers to likely follow-up questionsPrepare journalist answers from announcement claims, with direct records, accountable owners, clear limits and a rule for unknowns.
