Promotional Speech Topics

Rarely does a corporate leader get to make the announcement that Franz-Josef Paefgen, Chairman of the Board of Management of AUDI AG, made on March, 2001. That was Audi's best year ever, with 650,000 models sold and net earnings improvement of 35.5 percent. Still, every company's goal is to portray itself in the best possible light.

Launch a New Product

Between 80 and 95 percent of new product introductions fail, according to Jack Gordon, CEO of AcuPOLL Research Inc. He added that marketers have to get virtually everything right, including communicating key insights. One recently launched product paves the way for a new type of press conference. On October 10, 2006, Sun Microsystems held the first virtual press conference. The new format, by Linden Labs, allows distributed computing, many people having many different experiences simultaneously, according to Chris Melissinos, Sun Microsystems' chief gaming officer.

Product Innovation

Product innovation press announcements can be a way to boost reignite sales, regain customer confidence or regain market share from a competitor. For example, on June 14, 2010, in a setting reminiscent of a rock concert and an Oprah episode, Microsoft's Don Mattrick announced the completely redesigned Xbox 360, which began shipping that day. Attendees to the Microsoft E3 2010 press conference, however, received a complimentary copy.

Changes in Upper Management

How a company presents upper management changes depends on the reason for the change. When Comarco president and CEO Samuel Inman III was fired on April 5, 2011, he warranted two sentences of publicity. The rest of the publicity was devoted to his successor, Fredrik Torstensson, the company's vice president of sales and marketing.

Mergers and Acquisitions

According to "USA Today" reporter Matt Krantz, in 2010, there were 7,425 U.S. merger deals worth $586.2 billion announced by October. These announcements are an opportunity for CEOs to explain their business strategies to the general public and increase stock prices. One recent deal was the acquisition of Alberto Culver by Unilever. Paul Polman, chief executive of Unilever, explained the move as one way to potentially double the size of his company.

Corporate Responsibility

Ted Turner's billion dollar contribution to charity in 1997 paved the way for other wealthy individuals to follow suit. He says his philanthropy was "the best investment I've ever made. Those dollars have improved lives, saved species, fought disease, educated children, inspired change, challenged ideas and opened minds; and at the time of my death, virtually all of my wealth will have gone to charity."

Respond to Negative Press

Toyota president Akio Toyoda, at a press conference on February 5, 2010, said he "deeply regretted" the concern the acceleration faults had caused customers and saw it as his "personal responsibility" to fix the problem. Toyoda had come under fire for his apparent refusal to publicly explain his company's response to the latest recall. Crisis management consultant Ryoichi Shinozaki said he was especially concerned about Prius recalls since that model represented Toyota's commitment to the ecology, part of which is providing a safe environment for customers.

References

• Product Launch: Up to 95 percent of New Product Introductions Fail: AcuPOLL; January, 2011
• Microsoft Press Conference: The New Xbox 360; June 14, 2010
• "Guardian UK"; Toyota president Akio Toyoda very sorry' for safety recalls; February 5, 2010
• Sun Microsystems; Second Life Press Conference; October 16, 2006
• "NY Times"; Unilever to Buy Alberto Culver for $3.7 Billion; September 27, 2010
• Microsoft Press Conference; June 15, 2006