The Risks of a Big Product Reveal

We were struck by the decision from Cruise, the GM startup pushing the boundaries on driverless cars, to work with The New York Times on a feature story that placed a reporter and videographer in the company's experimental vehicle. It's easy to criticize the decision after the fact, but doing so doesn't offer guidance to others grappling with tough calls on product or candidate reveals.

Experience teaches us that top-tier outlets like The New York Times will nearly always produce feature stories with a narrative arc. When a story is compelling, that narrative arc includes a "tear" – the words of one film professor – an event that operates as the engine of the story. In the case of Cruise, that event was the vehicle pulling over unexpectedly and ending the reporter's ride, shaping the story and others to follow, no doubt.

It's critical for strategists to game out that narrative arc – and the tear. The key question is this: what is the narrative outcome you'd like to see and what can you do to shape it in advance? When you're dealing with a futuristic product that can only operate overnight to reduce risk, we'd argue for first creating a chorus of stories in niche outlets that don't have the same storytelling demands of a top-tier outlet. The New York Times can wait.