A Press Release for a Product Launch: A Step-by-Step Model

What a product launch press release needs to do

A product launch press release has one job: to make it easy for an editor to understand, in half a minute, what is new, who it is for and why it deserves a few lines. It is not a brochure, a slogan or an advertisement. It is a short, factual announcement written in the third person, in the style of a news item.

Many launch releases fail for a simple reason. They are written from the company’s point of view — how proud it is, how long it worked, how revolutionary the result — instead of from the reader’s. An editor who receives forty such texts a day picks the one that already looks like a news story. This article gives you a model to follow, with a fictional company, and then breaks it down piece by piece. For the broader picture of how releases are written, distributed and measured, see the general press release guide; here we stay on the launch.

If you plan to publish the finished text on news and business sites, our press release publishing service places it on publications in the portfolio. The model works the same way whether you send the text to one editor or many.

The complete model

Below is a launch release for an invented company, Velocargo, which has no real counterpart. All names, dates and figures are fictional and exist only to show the structure. The release is in English for illustration; for Romanian outlets you would write it in Romanian.

Velocargo launches a cargo-bike rental service for small shops in Cluj-Napoca

Cluj-Napoca, 14 May 2027 — Velocargo, a fictional local mobility start-up, today launched a rental service for electric cargo bikes aimed at small shops and cafés that make deliveries within the city. The service starts with 20 bikes and is available by monthly subscription from 1 June.

The bikes carry up to 100 kg and can be booked through an app or by phone. Velocargo says the service is intended for businesses that deliver in the city centre, where parking is limited and short journeys are frequent.

“Many small shops told us they wanted to deliver locally but could not justify buying a van,” said Ana Popescu, founder of Velocargo. “We designed the service so that a shop can start with one bike and add more when it needs them.”

Key details

• Launch date: 1 June 2027
• Fleet: 20 electric cargo bikes in the first phase
• Availability: monthly subscription, booking by app or phone
• More information: www.velocargo.example

About Velocargo. Velocargo is a fictional company created for this example. Founded in 2026 in Cluj-Napoca, it rents electric cargo bikes to local businesses.

Contact: Ana Popescu, founder, ana@velocargo.example, +40 000 000 000

Steps 1 and 2: headline and lead

The headline states the news in plain terms: who did what, for whom, where. It contains no adjectives that cannot be checked. Notice that “launches” is an active verb, the city is named, and the audience (small shops) is clear. A shorter version would lose something useful; a longer one would start to repeat the lead.

The first paragraph, the lead, answers the five Ws: who (Velocargo), what (a rental service for cargo bikes), when (launched today, available from 1 June), where (Cluj-Napoca) and why (small shops that deliver locally). If the editor reads nothing else, they already have the story. There is a more detailed treatment of both elements in our dedicated piece on the press release headline and lead, so we will not repeat it here.

Steps 3 and 4: the body and the quote

The second paragraph supplies the facts that support the lead: capacity, how to book, the problem the service solves. Facts come before opinions. If you state a number, be ready to explain where it comes from; if you do not have a number, do not invent one. Words like “revolutionary” or “the first” need proof an editor can verify, and the safest course is to describe what the product does and let the reader decide.

The quote has a different role: it carries the motive and the voice. A good quote says something that a factual sentence could not, such as why the company built the service or what problem it noticed. A poor quote simply praises: “We are thrilled to announce this innovative solution.” Editors skip those lines. A few rules for quotes:

• It must come from a real, named person who has approved the words.
• It should be one to three sentences, in natural spoken language.
• It should not repeat the headline.
• It should not make claims you could not defend in the main text.

Steps 5 to 7: details, boilerplate and contact

A short block of key details helps editors who build a news item by copying facts: launch date, availability, how to order, where to learn more. It also helps readers who only skim. Include only what is accurate on the day you publish, and make sure the page you link to actually contains these details.

The boilerplate is a two or three sentence description of the company, repeated at the foot of every release. It should say who you are, where, since when and what you do, in neutral terms. It is not the place for slogans. The contact line gives a named person, an email and a phone number, so an editor can ask a follow-up question or request a photo.

Before you send: a checklist

Use this list on the finished draft. It takes five minutes and catches most problems.

1. Does the headline state the news without adjectives that cannot be checked?
2. Can a stranger answer who, what, when, where and why after the first paragraph?
3. Is every figure and date correct on the day of publication?
4. Is the quote from a named person who approved it?
5. Are there absolute superlatives, guarantees or comparisons to named competitors? If so, remove them.
6. Does the text avoid health or treatment claims (relevant for supplements, cosmetics and clinics)?
7. Is the contact current, with a person who will answer?
8. If there are images, do you have the right to use them, and is the source stated?

If you want a structured way to fill in these parts, the Press Release Builder walks you through the five Ws, the quote, the boilerplate and the contact, assembles a formatted draft and checks length and structure. It is a drafting aid; the facts and the final wording remain your responsibility.

Common mistakes in launch releases

• Burying the news. The announcement sits in paragraph four after the company history. Move it to the first sentence.
• Writing an advertisement. Calling the product “unique” or “the best on the market” without evidence reads as promotion and tends to be rejected.
• Using jargon. Terms your customers use daily may mean nothing to a generalist editor. Explain them briefly.
• Forgetting the audience. Say whom the product is for; an announcement without a reader is just a statement.
• No date or place. The dateline matters. Without it, the text cannot be placed in time.
• Too many links. One or two are enough; more makes the release look like a link carrier.
• Missing assets. Journalists often want a photo. Mention that images are available, and make sure you have the right to use them and can state their source.

Few parts of a release carry more weight than the headline, so it deserves the same attention as an advertorial title. The lessons about specificity and honesty in advertorial headlines that pass editors apply almost word for word.

Adapting the model for Romanian media

If your audience is in Romania, a few practical points make the difference between a text that is used and one that is quietly deleted.

• Write in Romanian. A release that arrives in the editor’s language, with correct diacritics, is ready to publish. An English text asks the editor to do extra work.
• Use local reference points. Name the city or county, quote prices in lei where relevant and use the date format your readers know. A foreign company launching in Romania should say clearly what is available to Romanian customers.
• Mind the rules for regulated products. Releases about supplements, cosmetics, financial products, alcohol or gambling are subject to extra restrictions. Romania’s advertising law, Law 148/2000, sets general rules on misleading and disguised advertising; this article is not legal advice, so check anything sensitive with a qualified adviser.
• Keep the register neutral. Romanian news style is formal and restrained. Exclamation marks and promotional adjectives stand out for the wrong reasons.

The structure itself does not change. The same seven parts work in any language; what changes is the vocabulary, the units and the cultural references.

Variations: software, physical products and services

The model above fits most launches, but the emphasis shifts with the product.

• Physical product. Add availability, where it can be bought and a high-quality image. Editors like to know whether readers can actually get it.
• Software or app. Say what problem it solves for which kind of user, on which platforms, and whether it is free, paid or in trial. Avoid technical terms in the headline.
• Service. Describe the geography, the customer type and how to start. Services are harder to picture, so a concrete example helps.
• Update to an existing product. Lead with what changed for the user, not with the version number.

In each case, the test stays the same: could a reader repeat the news to a friend after one paragraph?

Timing and follow-up

A launch release works best when the news is real and current. Send it on the day of the launch or a short time before it; if you offer an embargo, state the exact date and time clearly. Avoid sending the same text again and again; if you have something genuinely new, such as an event or a milestone, that is a second release.

After publication, collect the URLs where it appeared. They are useful as proof for stakeholders, and later they help you see which publications picked it up. Check that the live text matches what you sent and that links work. If you publish through us, you receive a report with the live URLs, and the article stays at the same address permanently.

Finally, remember what a release cannot do. It will not guarantee coverage, and an editor can decide not to use it. What it does is give the story a fair chance, and it gives your brand a durable, factual record online.

Your next step

Take one product or service you are about to launch and write the seven parts in the order above, in your own words. Keep the draft to one page and check it against the checklist. If you want it published on a range of news and business sites, the press release publishing page explains what we need from you, and our guide to a complete press release workflow covers the steps before and after.

Frequently asked questions