Year in Review: Top 5 Pitches

This latest Year in Review starts high, and goes very, very low. Our #1 pitch of the year is more of a trend, and it is a big one. While our fifth pitch on the list marks the only time we have used the word vagina in a post... 1) The future of media Our top pick for the big pitch of 2009 is an amalgam of everything to do with how media is consumed, and how publishers will make money from content. The second wave of publicity around Amazon's Kindle was ten times bigger than the first, while Walter Isaacson's essay in TIME provocatively titled "How to Save Your Newspaper" in the beginning of the year sparked countless blog posts and arguments inside the media fishbowl. Development of the so-called "iTunes for magazines" (PR handled by CooperKatz) got underway through cooperation of five media giants. Rupert Murdoch continued to threaten to pull Dow Jones content from Google News prompting us to wonder who is Goliath in this fight? Continued after the jump: Our counterparts at GalleyCat covered ebooks so often they spun off a separate blog to cover them, and our bosses at WebMediaBrands hosted a sold out Summit on the topic and garnered a lot of media attention. Are e-readers the iPod for the business of the printed word? Will micropayments work? Will walled gardens grow higher or come tumbling down for good? No one can say for the long term, though economic pressures force innovation. The inventions of past decade (socnets, P2P, social news, Google News, Twitter) shaped the PR business so profoundly it begs the question: what will emerge in the next ten years? What emerges from this latest struggle will undoubtedly change the way information is consumed, and in turn, how the agency of the future will serve it up on behalf of clients. 2) Pfizer 'Maintains' image with free drugs Cynical or not, when Pfizer launched the Maintain program (Medicines Assistance for Those who Are in Need) to offer free drugs to those feeling wave after wave of aftershocks from the trouble economy, it helped a lot of people and put pressure on competitors to do the same. Call volume to Pfizer's assistance hotline jumped 46% in the months following the announcement. 3) Facebook punks TechCrunch Facebook launched "Fax This Photo" solely for the purpose of punking TechCrunch. While this was probably more a stunt than a pitch, it was definitely brilliant. You have to imagine Michael Arrington leaning back in his chair for a laugh, after maybe punching his screen. The best part is the coders made sure the function actually worked. 4) Edelman Talks Turkey Edelman helped Butterball talk turkey to the American public for the 29th year in a row. They will do so for another 29 years till people heed PRNewser's advice for cooking large poultry. First, butcher the dark meat from the bird. Cook white and dark separately, use a thermometer to determine doneness (not the pop-up that comes with it). Brining, dangerous frying, and other tricks not needed for deliciousness. Till then, call, Tweet, text, or Facebook the nice people at Butterball for help. 5) Tyra Banks and the tale of two vaginas Forgive us for including this one, though it is timely. The Tyra Banks Show won't continue past this spring, despite the internal PR department's breathless pitches including one touting the "International Exclusive" interview with a woman who has two vaginas. We can only imagine how many producers from Van Nuys picked up the phone seeking film rights the moment that story went live.

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Year in Review: Top 5 Pitches

Jason Chupick

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Jason Chupick