The press release gets a lot of criticism it doesn't deserve. People call it dead, outdated, or a relic of pre-digital communications. Usually that judgement comes from asking the release to do a job it was never built for, watching it fall short, and blaming the tool.

A press release is a precision instrument. It does a small number of things extremely well. The problems start when a company expects it to do the things it cannot, and stops doing the work that those things actually require.

What a Press Release Is Actually For

Used correctly, the release has clear and serious jobs, several of which a listed company cannot do without.

It distributes facts on the record. A release is the authoritative, timestamped version of what the company said and when it said it. For anything that may later be disputed, referenced, or audited, that record matters.

It satisfies disclosure obligations. For listed companies, the release is often the mechanism for meeting ad-hoc and regular disclosure requirements under MAR. When information is price-sensitive, the release is how the company ensures the market receives it simultaneously and fairly, rather than selectively. This is not a marketing function. It is a compliance function, and it is non-negotiable.

It establishes equal access. A properly distributed release puts the same information in front of every market participant at the same moment. That fairness is part of the integrity of the disclosure regime, and the release is the workhorse that delivers it.

It provides the raw material for coverage. Journalists, analysts, and investors all start somewhere. A clear, accurate, well-structured release is the source document that makes their work possible. The better the release, the easier it is for the news to travel.

These are not trivial jobs. A company that neglects them creates legal exposure, fairness problems, and confusion. The release is doing exactly what it should.

What a Press Release Cannot Do

The trouble begins when the release is asked to carry weight it was never designed to bear.

It cannot manufacture credibility. A release is the company speaking about itself. No matter how well written, it carries the credibility of its source, which is the company. It cannot lend a claim the independent validation that only a third party can provide.

It cannot build a narrative on its own. A single release is a single data point. Investor conviction is built from patterns across many touchpoints over time, not from any one announcement, however significant. A release contributes to the narrative; it does not constitute it.

It cannot guarantee it is read. Distribution is not attention. A release going out tells you the information was made available. It tells you nothing about whether the people who matter saw it, understood it, or acted on it. Treating "it went out" as "it landed" is the single most common measurement error in corporate communications.

It cannot interpret itself. A release states what happened. It rarely explains why it matters or what it means for the company's trajectory. That interpretation, the part investors actually want, happens elsewhere: in coverage, in conversation, in the consistent voice of the leadership team.

It cannot substitute for relationships. No release, on its own, makes a journalist trust a company or an investor lean in. Those relationships are built before the news, not by the news. The release is far more effective in the hands of someone the recipient already takes seriously.

The Measurement Mistake That Wastes Good Releases

Most of the disappointment with press releases comes from measuring them against the wrong outcome. A release is frequently judged by whether it was published, when the only outcome that matters is whether it moved perception.

Those are different questions. A release can be flawlessly executed, fully compliant, and perfectly distributed, and still change nothing in how the market sees the company, because distribution was the end of the process rather than the start of it. The release did its job. The company simply stopped at the point where the real work begins.

How to Make a Release Earn Its Keep

The release is the input. The value is created by what surrounds it.

Write it for the next reader, not the file. The question is not "have we said this," but "can a journalist or analyst turn this into something their audience will read?" A release built as source material for coverage looks very different from one built to be archived.

Align it to the equity story. Every release from a listed company is a chance to reinforce the specific narrative the capital market is being asked to believe, or a chance to dilute it. News that does not connect to the strategy, the capital allocation logic, or the credibility of the team is news that does not earn its place in the IR programme.

Sequence it within the disclosure framework. What can be said, to whom, and when is governed by MAR and ad-hoc rules. Coverage and commentary that build on a release must follow the disclosure, never front-run it. Getting this sequence right is precisely where generic PR support tends to fail listed companies.

Pair it with placement. A release that ends as a release is a fact made available. A release that becomes earned coverage is a fact independently validated. The gap between those two outcomes is the work, and it is the work that actually moves perception.

Final Thought

The press release is not the problem, and it is not obsolete. It remains one of the most reliable instruments a listed company has for distributing facts, meeting its disclosure obligations, and giving the market fair, simultaneous access to information. Asking it to also manufacture credibility, build a narrative, or guarantee attention is asking the wrong tool to do another tool's job.

Used for what it is for, and paired with the work that turns announcements into coverage, the release is the foundation of a strong communications programme. The skill is knowing exactly where its job ends and the next one begins.

About Junicorn

At Junicorn Consulting, we work with CFOs and Investor Relations teams at listed companies to turn corporate announcements into earned media coverage that reinforces the equity story, while staying fully aligned with MAR and ad-hoc disclosure obligations.