Please use the information below to write a short (3-5 paragraph) company-magazine feature. Remember that the goal of a feature is to inform and entertain. Its organization is different from that of a straight, inverted-pyramid news story. Please give your story a title.
Audience: All employees of Margusho’s Department Store chain. Your short feature will appear in Margusho’s Weekly, a weekly newsletter for Margusho’s 120,000 employees.
Purpose: To inform (in an entertaining way) employees of a new product for the stores: Washington, a new fragrance that comes in four products.
(The purpose is NOT to sell the product to the employees.)
Who: Washington was created by Respigio 47, the company that created three of the world’s 10 best-selling fragrances.
Washington is named after George Washington, the first president of the United States. (Many websites contain information and trivia on
Washington.)
Margusho’s operates retail department stores in the central United States. Margusho’s has 337 stores. The company sells both name-brand and exclusive
merchandise. (Your fellow employees will already know this information.)
What: Margusho’s announces the debut of a new fragrance: Washington.
Washington comes in four products: cologne, cologne spray, after-shave lotion and razor-relief lotion. Its slogan is “Washington never lies.”
Its fragrance is a mixture of the scents of sandalwood, fresh meadows and cinnamon, Washington’s favorite spice. The package for each product is red,
white and blue.
Where: Washington is a Margusho’sexclusive. It can be purchased only in the men’s department in Margusho’s stores.
When: Washington will be on the shelves one month from today.
Why: “Our marketing research shows that Margusho’s customers love George Washington. Our customers know that he was a man of strength and integrity.
Some of us may find both him and this new line of fragrances to be incredibly boring. But we’ll still have fun with this. I mean, how often is a dead
guy with a bad wig, a big nose and false teeth your sales leader? We expect big things from Washington.”
— From your interview with Anne Twente, Margusho’s vice president of marketing