To war-game a press embargo before you brief reporters, put the list of outlets getting early access, the briefing and lift times with time zones, the terms you will send them, every partner or investor planning their own announcement, and your internal notification schedule into one request. Then instruct Pingpong to run the ways the embargo could break: a reporter publishing early, a partner posting first, an employee or customer leaking, or the underlying deal slipping after reporters already have the story. Ask for each weak point, what you would do in the first hour if it broke, and who on your board should approve the plan.
This page is for chief executives, founders, and communications leads planning embargoed outreach for a financing, partnership, acquisition, or launch. It covers the rules and timing around early access. To test the announcement text itself, see war-game a press release before the announcement goes out. Executive starting points live under Pingpong for executives.
What an embargo plan should settle
- Which outlets get early access, and whether each has honored embargoes before.
- One lift time, written with its time zone, that every party has confirmed.
- Written terms each reporter accepts before receiving materials.
- The order in which directors, employees, customers, and partners hear the news.
- A condition for the briefing itself, such as a signed agreement, so reporters are not told about a deal that could still fall through.
- A holding statement and a named decision maker if the news breaks early.
Scenarios worth running
- A reporter publishes six hours early, by mistake or on purpose.
- A partner, investor, or customer posts before the lift.
- Employees who already know share it in a community channel or with a friend at a competitor.
- The deal is delayed on the morning of the lift.
A worked example
This example is illustrative and does not describe a customer. A 150-person battery hardware company plans to announce a funding round and a supply partnership with a vehicle manufacturer on the same Wednesday. Five reporters will be briefed on Monday under embargo until 9 a.m. Eastern on Wednesday.
The chief executive pastes the outreach list, the embargo terms, the partner's communication plan, the lead investor's plans, and the internal schedule, and asks Pingpong to run the break scenarios.
A useful pass finds that the partner's team has scheduled its release for 9 a.m. Central, an hour after the company's lift, so the first stories will run without the partner's confirmation. One outlet on the list is a newsletter that has published embargoed news early twice in the past year. A European reporter's outlet publishes overnight, and the terms do not specify a time zone.
Inside the company, the 40 people on the manufacturing team have known about the partnership for a month, and the all-hands meeting is set for 10 a.m. Wednesday, after the lift. The lead investor's firm plans a social post at 8 a.m. The supply agreement is still awaiting the partner's final signature, which is expected Tuesday. Two directors have not seen the final materials, and there is no holding statement.
The chief executive revises the plan. Both companies agree on a single 9 a.m. Eastern lift, confirmed in writing. The newsletter is removed from the early list and receives the release at the lift. The terms state the lift time in Eastern and in Central European time. Reporters are briefed only after the agreement is signed, which moves the briefing to Tuesday afternoon. The investor post moves to 9:15 a.m. The all-hands moves to 8 a.m. Wednesday, and the manufacturing team gets a reminder about confidentiality. Directors receive the final materials and the plan on Monday. A two-sentence holding statement is approved, and the communications lead is named to decide on an early release if a story breaks.
A request you can copy
Below is our embargo plan: the outlets getting early access, briefing and lift times with time zones, our embargo terms, partner and investor announcement plans, and our internal notification schedule. Run the ways this embargo could break: early publication, a partner or investor posting first, an internal leak, and the deal slipping after briefings. For each, list the weak point in our plan, how we would detect it, and what we would do in the first hour. Then list which people should hear the news before reporters do and who should approve the final plan.
How Pingpong runs the war-game
The web review app sends your request through several models in order. Each later model receives the original request and every earlier answer, with instructions to assess the work so far. Confirm any timing or contract detail it flags with the people who own it. For the steps inside the app, see running your first review.
What a model can't war-game
A model does not know how a particular outlet treats embargoes in practice, what your partner's team will actually do on the day, or which employees have already talked. Disclosure timing for a public company, or under a financing agreement, belongs with your general counsel.
If the announcement needs board approval, see war-game a decision before the board meeting. More guides live under work decisions before you commit.