The Power Of The Human-Interest Story In PR
The Human Interest Story
I’m Fiona Donnellan from Sustainable PR. Each month on the H&G Creations Ltd. blog I’m going to be giving a little insight into my world of PR, my business and how it can work for brands, no matter how big or small the venture. This week I’m looking at the power of human interest story in PR. People by nature are quite nosey, naturally curious so no matter how interesting a product or a brand people tend to want to know about the people behind it.
Take Apple, for example, people wanted to know all about Steve Jobs. Facebook, people wanted to know the story behind Mark Zuckerberg so much it warranted making a movie about his life and Facebook’s origins.
When I was approached to work on a PR strategy with H&G Creations Ltd. I thought to myself, yes this is an interesting event production company, but you know what’s even more interesting? The founders Dee and Sinead’s story. How they met, how H&G Creations Ltd. came to be, and how they’re growing their business.
Things to remember when pitching a human interest story.
- Focus – for Dee and Sinead’s I wanted to tell the story of how H&G Creations Ltd. came to be. And let journalists know the power, the impact, and the importance of their friendship. I made Dee and Sinead the focus.
- Personality – a personal slant on a story allows readers to engage with the content more. If gives a face to a name and lets Dee and Sinead’s personalities shine.
- Event – a personal story is great, but an upcoming event or launch can make it newsworthy. In H&G Creations Ltd. case they had the Bee-Kind Garden back in August and have an exciting activation this December. Watch this space.
- Facts – another way to pitch in the human interest story is with interesting facts. Eg. H&G Creations Ltd. offer events and activations to increase staff retention at large Irish firms. Market trends suggest that Ireland is heading towards a talent crisis with the economy booming. The amount of talent in the country is becoming finite. It has now evolved from an employer’s economy to an employee’s economy.