A strong argument can be made that anal-retentiveness is one of many reasons why I have remained single for 38 years. Mom says I set my standards too high, but I know better. Anyway, so be it. In business, anal-retentiveness is good, because it helps me get things right. Like, for instance, grammar. And syntax. As a longtime journalist and former editor turned PR pro, I’m a nit-picker for this stuff at all times, and in all contexts. Even when surrounded by 100,000 square feet of candy.

I attend a fair number of trade shows annually, but I always look forward to the All Candy Expo. While the programming, and to some degree the overall tone, have shifted to reflect a more buyer-oriented focus, it still remains the most high-profile networking, educational and social forum available in the U.S. for confectionery professionals.

And so it is with equal parts shock and outrage that I report how, despite the tonnage of mint truffles, cola-flavored Pez, bacon Jelly Bellies and gummy insects of every ilk to which I was exposed, my most vivid recollection of the 2005 All Candy Expo is the press room.

Let’s reflect for a moment: Candy is fun, but the business of candy is far from child’s play. In fact, few industries must embrace tenets of change and innovation to the extent that candy does. Consumers like me will always demand what’s new, what’s unique, what catches our eyes and what lingers in our minds long after we exit a retail store. To stay in the game, manufacturers must continually anticipate or initiate concepts and trends, and then execute production and distribution to near perfection. Buyers are equally at risk; for them, selecting a winning product mix and then devising smart placement strategies can mean the difference between keeping the lights on and dusting off the old resume.

In a perfect world, wonderful new products would sell themselves. Most, however, need some help to gain a foothold. In the sea of turbulent change that is the candy biz, good public relations may be the one factor that tips the scales toward success. Getting the message out, and doing so quickly to the right channels, is, quite simply, critical.

One such channel is the media. Trade and consumer editors and reporters can be a jaded bunch, but they remain on the lookout for the latest and greatest. Thus, candy makers have a captive audience for which to spin tasty tales of innovation, provided that they play by some basic rules. That’s why I remain flabbergasted after reviewing the contents of press kits developed by manufacturers at the show. In fact, of the 50 or so kits I received from the press room, NEARLY ALL contained material that was riddled with spelling, grammatical errors, or both. Many looked as if they were written by someone with no marketing experience whatsoever. An equal number offered no high-resolution images for use in print or online mediums, and the majority simply missed the mark in areas of formatting and messaging.

Consider a few highlights:

• Gross understatement: The crack marketing staff of a peppermint magnate placed a one-page release and an attached product sample in a blank white envelope anonymously marked “Press Release”.
• Burying the lead: A family owned confectionery company produced a high-impact, high-quality 14-page brochure, but buried its new product sell sheet and news releases in back. If editors or reporters sought the lowdown on what’s new, they’d have to first wade through a page one company history narration, followed by 13 pages of existing product information.
• Sentence structures that make your head spin. Decent graphic design on the sell sheet of a sesame seed snack product went to waste at the expense of schlock like this: “Besides being very tasty with their unique flavors, [candy B] also nourishes you and is good for your health. It contains magnesium, a key substance in proper functioning of nerves and muscles, iron, an essential component of hemoglobin, transporting oxygen in the blood to all parts of the body, calcium, that builds strong bones and teeth and proteins, excellent for the maintenance of the muscles. It’s almost unbelievable that little [candy B] contains so many nutrients.”

I also loved verbiage for a certain 14-flavor round bulk dispensing unit as articulated on an expensively produced sell sheet: “Our easy loading bulk dispensing unit is for the high volume location that need several hours of refill free dispensing.”

• Basic grammatical misfires: Its versus It’s: “Each color with it’s own fun flavor!”
• AP Style atrocities: According to this widely used standard, the proper spelling is Web site, not website or Website.
• Felonious misunderstanding of the English language: The word “unique” means one of a kind. To say that [candy X] is a unique product, unlike anything currently on the market is redundant. Ditto with the question “What makes [candy Q] so unique?”
• Missed opportunities: This year’s recipient of the “PR Schmee-R: Who Needs It Anyway” Award goes to an importer and distributor of - get this - a candy bra. Employing the same building blocks as the ubiquitous candy necklace but elevating them to dizzying new heights of purpose and fashion, it’s a wonderfully fun product that lends itself to promotion in any number of saucy ways. Yet the most I could find on it was a one-sided 8½ x 11 sell sheet with no narrative language, no contact name, no Web site address and no product name other than “Candy Bra”
• Complete debacle: One press kit in particular contained releases so catastrophically wordsmithed that I stopped line editing about halfway through after my hand cramped up. It’s hard to believe this material made it through a first round of drafts, let alone into the press room of a major trade show.

The list goes on: sell sheets and news releases with no press contacts; folders with no business cards; unstapled news releases with pages missing; cliches up the wazoo (”The combination of creamy peanut butter and smooth milk chocolateis a winning combination”); words with letters cut off (beginn); unsubstantiated claims (”Consumer response to [product Z] has been extremely positive”); misuse of register marks and trademarks (including failure to superscript or subscript said marks in accordance with company and product logos); apostrophe violations too numerous and hideous to mention; etc. etc. etc. There’s more, but hopefully you see my point. Spelling and grammar may not be big priorities in your life, but they are for editors and reporters who live in a world built on these literary foundations. Marketers that direct their company’s messages to these people should therefore do so on their terms. Otherwise, they risk being derided, or worse, ignored.

There are larger issues to consider as well. Do manufacturers seek significant ink in post-show issues lauding the virtues of their products, or do they simply hope for a blurb? Do they feel it would it be beneficial to have images of their products included in the pages of magazines or on publisher Web sites? Have they ever contacted the press and offered assistance as expert sources for upcoming stories? And would they know how best to approach editors and reporters if they did?

Based on this year’s All Candy Expo, I believe that many manufacturers have set their expectations of the media unreasonably low; otherwise, they clearly would have put more time and care into the materials that were developed solely for their use during and after the show. Opportunities abound for companies that step up their game and use the media to their advantage. In an industry that features near-constant product evolution, practicing even the most basic PR in the right way can help to build loyal customers and drive revenues.

David Wasserstrom is President of Vantage Communications, Inc., a Cleveland, Ohio-based public relations firm that specializes in B-to-B and consumer media relations and trade show support. For more information, call (216) 403-7272 or e-mail vantagecomm@sbcglobal.net.