I recently got an email pitch to add a wire service to my sidebar of PR resources. I'm not going to, but I will mention the company's name here - 24-7 Press Release.
Does the world really need another wire distribution system? That brings it up to how many? We have Market Wire fka Internet Wire, PRWeb, PrimeZone, Business Wire (BW), PR Newswire (PRN) and others I am sure that are out there. To be brutally honest, PRN and BW are the two big dogs and its hard to catch up to them.
Recently reported in O'Dwyer's, BW is dropping its annual fee and will be like Market Wire, just charging for wire services. Of course, some wire prices are going up - ironically, those wire services that would most likely be used for smaller PR shops - so, in the end, the bottom line will stay the same for BW.
Is changing business models to be like Market Wire that smart a move? According to some whispers I have been hearing, the cofounder is about to leave, and the company is running out of money. So, in other words, buh-bye Market Wire.
Not exactly a company to emulate. Market Wire has had other problems in the past that have led me to avoid the wire service. One word: Emulex. It was part of the reason why Internet was dropped for Market...
BW has been around long enough - and is smart enough - not to fail where others have died, and like I already noted, they won't be losing money from dropping the annual fee.
Thoughts on "communications, marketing, public relations and social media."
Actually, now that Marketwire is now majority owned by one of the biggest private equity funds in Canada (OMERS), as well as minority owned by Manulife Financial, they arn't going anywhere but up. They have the financial backing to leverage their superior technology and innovative tools past the 2 "big dogs" BW and PRN have only one thing going for them and that is perception. (misconception if you were to actually here BW's sales pitch)
ReplyDeleteWith the continued investment in technology (ie: Dashboard mobile financial) and the best media and financial community targeting in the industry, it won't be long before Marketwire passes BW and PRN in news release marketshare.
Remember, they have the exact same wire distribution via AP! After that, it all comes down to service and auxillery product offerings.