Working Backwards Press Release Template and Example

Whenever I talk to someone about the Working Backwards process used by Amazon to define new products the first thing I get asked is, "Do you have an example you can share?" Before now, I didn't. All the examples I had were internal press releases I or others had written at Amazon.

Now, I do! Below is a basic template for the internal press release, a primary artifact of the Working Backwards process. I've added a few tips on writing each of the sections, and then included an example press release I wrote for a fictional product. I hope these will help you get started working backwards from your own customers!

TITLE

Subtitle

[City, State]–[Intended Launch Date] – [Intro paragraph]

[Problem]

[Solution]

[Quote by leader in your company]

[How the product/service works]

[Quote by a customer of the product/service]

To learn more, go to [URL].

# # #

A few notes on using the template above:

• Title - This is a standard press release title. I like this general format: [COMPANY] ANNOUNCES [SERVICE | TECHNOLOGY | TOOL] TO ENABLE [CUSTOMER SEGMENT] TO [BENEFIT STATEMENT]. You can browse company investor relation websites to get other examples of press release titles and subtitles.
• Subtitle - The subtitle just frames the main announcement in a different way or provides another element of detail.
• Date - This is the date you could potentially launch the product. Safety tip: If you add a date and then review your press release with an exec, they're likely to cache this date and think the product is going to actually ship on the date. Make it practical, just in case.
• Intro paragraph - Provide a crisp 3-4 sentences that reiterate and expand on the title with a little more detail on the customers served and what is being launched.
• Problem paragraph - Lay out the top 3-4 (max) problems for the customers your product or service is intended to serve. Describe each problem briefly and talk about the negative impact of it. Resist the temptation to start talking about your solution. Keep this paragraph focused on the problems, and make sure the problems are ranked in descending order of how painful they are.
• Solution paragraph - Describe how your product/service elegantly solves the problem. Give a brief overview of how it works, and then go through and talk about how it solves each problem you listed above.
• Quote by leader in your company - Pick a leader in your company and make up a quote that talks about why the company decided to tackle this problem and (at a high-level) how the solution solves it.
• How the product/service works - Describe what a customer has to do to start using the product/service and how it works. Go into enough detail to give them confidence it actually solves the problem.
• Customer quote - Create a fake quote by a fake customer, but one that sounds like it could be real. The customer should describe her pain point or the goal she needs to accomplish, and then how the product you launched enables her to do so.
• How to get started - Provide a URL or other information on the first place a customer should go to get access to the product/service.

Here’s a mock press release to show you how it all comes together: 

CIRCULERT APP ALERTS SHOPPERS WHEN THE PRODUCTS AND SERVICES THEY WANT BECOME AVAILABLE OR DROP IN PRICE

If a product or service isn’t available today or at the right price, Circulert helps shoppers buy it later, for less.

SEATTLE–January 1, 2021 - Circulert, a Seattle company, today launched a new application for iOS and Android that notifies users when the products and services they want or need become available for sale or drop in price. 

Many items consumers want to buy aren’t available today, or the price might not be quite sharp enough to prompt a purchase. If there’s a specific brand of clothing you like, you have to keep checking retailer websites so see if they’ve released a new line, or spend time looking through a slew of daily emails from every retailer you’ve ever shopped from to find the one email that tells you about new products you care about. How often have you found out that your favorite band is playing a show in your town after all the tickets are sold out? How often have you picked through “web specials” of your favorite clothing line when they go on discount, only to find that the only sizes still available of that one product you love are XXL of XXS? Too often.

Circulert solves these problems by telling you when you can buy the things you want, or buy the things you want at the price you want. No more work. No more missing out. Circulert learns about the products and services you care most about, and then sends you only the notifications you want. You can choose the notification style or frequency, or view a feed of recent alerts. You are in control. At launch, Circulert can send you availability or price drop notifications for products like clothing, music, or books from your favorite brands, artists or authors. Circulert can also tell you when your favorite band schedules a show in your town, when a flight between you and your long-distance partner is a screaming deal, or when the price of that sweet new tech bauble drops below the amount your spouse is likely to notice on the credit card statement.

“Our goal with Circulert is to take the hassle out of buying things later,” said Ian McAllister, creator of Circulert. “There are tens of thousands of retailers on the web selling everything imaginable. Circulert helps consumers filter out the noise and all the stuff they don’t need, and helps them get the things they do need at the best price, saving them time and money.”

To try out Circulert, go to Circulert.com and download the app for iOS or Android. Connect the app to your Amazon, Ticketmaster, and other online accounts, and then review the suggested alerts. Circulert will then send you only highly relevant notifications when the items you want are available at the right price. You can star items that you want to get back to easily, share them with friends and family, or follow through and buy them.

 “I absolutely hate missing out on a great deal,” said Clare Keating, a nurse in Seattle. ”To make sure I don’t miss out I used to have to hit my favorite websites every few days. With Circulert, I found out about great deals right away and never miss out.”

If you want to save time or money (or both!), visit circulert.com today.

# # #

I'd love to hear your feedback or suggestions on the template or the mock press release. I've posted both to a Google doc at https://bit.ly/InternalPRTemplate and will incorporate feedback into that version.

#productmanagement #strategy