Media Relations

I made the right choice out of the gate to take a look at the Vibram corporate site for press information, rather than their smaller, more fun FiveFingers site.  While I love the layout of the smaller FiveFingers site, the corporate site is run more like a business, keeping a Press Page dedicated to managing announcements, news releases, as well as downloadable content, ranging from fact sheets about upcoming soles to information for Vibram's appearance at upcoming festivals and new technology releases.

That is not to say that the FiveFingers website is useless, but rather it is not the main platform for media relations - they still keep a news feed engaged in their site to let the public know what is going on, as well as product reviews and links to other sites that have commented on their shoes.

So what media relations are used on the corporate site?  Traditionally, they use standard press releases in the form of a downloadable PDF on their press site, although this is more of a fact sheet "package", followed by a backgrounder of new products that are coming out.

Then there are the majority of press releases that are short - they provide a small piece about an upcoming event and supplement it with a picture or a small poster of the event that is taking place.  

There is one other piece that is worth checking out - their usage of Video, via their YouTube Tester Team (although, this isn't so much a Video News Report [VNR], but rather a way of showing off some of the capabilities of the new soles.).

So taking a look at some of the press releases, there were several things that I took note of: As I had mentioned before, their releases were more collections of Fact Sheets.  This didn't strike me as too strange, since they are a brand based on delivering a specific item: A superior shoe.  In fact, I'd almost prefer this to the method that companies like Apple use, where they throw a new VNR out with every announcement to have a spokesperson talk for 5 minutes about a new product.   Don't get me wrong - I love me a new apple product, but I'm not one to need to hear a 5-10 minute rendition about how they are coming out with new cloud technology, I'd just rather be able to skim to what I want to know, and then move on.

Some other elements that Vibram provides in their press releases are their contacts, and the key places to locate information if needed.  On every press release, at the bottom of the page is a contact section, much like this:

Vibram Contact on Press Release

There is one other piece that I feel is also worth mentioning about Vibram's Press site: Their Frequently Asked Questions (or FAQ).  I guess my first interest comes in the FAQ, as it seems to belong in the About Us section, or under their "Vibram" tab on their main page.  I could argue that it would be useful to get general information and questions answered for the wayward journalist, but if I wanted to find FAQ, I would direct myself to an About Us page, as it seems to make more sense in finding that information there.