December served up a mix of attention-catching releases: a viral holiday onesie, corporate takeover drama and a medical milestone. Here’s a closer look at the most popular releases on prnewswire.com last month and what helped them connect with readers.
As befits the holiday season, a fun food collab landed at the top of December’s list. Pizza Hut’s headline and subheadline are playful and brand-forward, with instant hooks for novelty and holiday relevance.
The first two paragraphs answer core questions — who, what, when, where, why and how — which is ideal for consumers who are scanning and scrolling, as well as a good AEO strategy.
A clear call to action — the first link in the release — is nicely paired next to the inline lifestyle images of the holiday magic that is eating pizza in a whimsical onesie.
Dropping this release in early December, a couple of weeks before National Ugly Sweater Day, is a smart seasonal peg and also gives the content time to trend and be amplified. Sending the official announcement on an off-minute to help it stand out is the final pepperoni on top.
We’re combining Nos. 2-4 for the sake of subject continuity. The Warner Bros. Discovery/Netflix/Paramount saga has a little something for everyone: massive dollar signs, industry-shaking implications, and a splash of boardroom drama that interests investors, regulators and the average consumer.
These three releases hit the essentials for high-impact corporate news: clear headlines and summary highlights before the narrative.
The Paramount and Netflix releases, issued within three days of each other, offer a template for detailed IR news: bullets, section headers and strategic bolding are your best friends. Despite the complexity of the content, it’s easy to scan each release, from the subheadines to the last bolded section header, and digest the most important points.
Warner Bros Discovery’s response was the traditional lengthy letter to shareholders, but the company wisely compiled a summary into the subheadlines and provided a newsworthy executive quote before launching into the full text of the letter.
Medtronic’s release shows the impact of clean, authoritative comms. The headline delivers the regulatory news right out of the gate, and the subheadline backs it up by clearly staking out the impact and audience. The headline gets your attention; the subheadline tells you why you should care.
The first graph dives right into the who-what-why that every audience — medical professionals, investors, analysts, journalists, patients — cares about.
The language and formatting stay professional yet accessible throughout, including more context on the impact in the second paragraph and a set of bulleted highlights.
Lastly, strong product imagery gives the story visual weight and helps audiences visualize what the future has in store.
