6 Startups Doing a Great Job at Public Relations - We comment for Medium about N26 PR Campaign
We asked PR and growth experts: Which startups are doing a great job at Public Relations right now? Our experts introduce a startup, their campaign approach, and explain how they created a buzz. Learn from the top 6 Startup PR campaigns:
1) MyndVR
Warren H. Cohn, Founder and CEO of HeraldPR:
“MyndVR is a health and wellness company that is currently the national leader in providing virtual reality solutions to senior living communities, home health care agencies, and directly to older adult consumers. Public relations has played a major role in their rise to the top and continues to earn them exposure which helps to secure their position as leaders in their space. Their business model involves partnerships with senior living facilities, major names in the tech industry, and research groups, and they are able to highlight these relationships with national, local, andtrade media coverage that generates a great deal of buzz. To date, MyndVR has been covered by top tier news outlets such as ABC’s Good Morning America,The Washington Post, Fox News, CNN, CNET, and Fox Business. But MyndVR doesn’t stop at earned media. They’ve also successfully leveraged social media and the private investing platform Republic to gain investors, generate new leads, and increase brand exposure. MyndVR’s mission to improve the lives of older adults using virtual reality technology and content is truly impactful. Other startups with similarly inspirational aims should work with the press to help tell their story and reach a wider audience. That said, they shouldn’t begin media outreach with the goal of promoting their brand and creating buzz. Instead, they should focus on telling their story in a way that is truly newsworthy and resonates with their target audience. Therefore, their primary objective should be to craft a compelling, genuine narrative, and if they can do that, they will earn the exposure they seek.”
2) Airtable
Avinash Chandra, Founder & CEO at BrandLoom Consulting:
“In my view, one should always focus on establishing a personal connect with the audience when it comes to building PR strategies. One startup that strikes my mind is Airtable- a platform where you can build collaborative applications. Given the digital dominance, they worked on building efficient and informative content to reach their audience. They were guests on numerous podcasts and even started their own podcast. They keep sharing stories, product updates and engaging blogs. And the best part about them is that they are quick with responses. You can connect to them directly via twitter.”
3) Grammarly
Deborah Sweeney, CEO at MyCorporation.com:
“My pick for the startup that has great PR buzz right now is Grammarly. This startup offers a digital writing assistance tool to its users to clean up grammar and spelling errors automatically as they write. Who hasn’t seen their commercials on TV or playing on YouTube? Their YouTube ads are incredibly distinct, often stating that writing is not easy. However, with the help of Grammarly your writing can become compelling. These ads explain, often in the span of no more than six seconds, how the tool works. Grammarly shares examples of grammatically incorrect sentences and shows viewers how the tool fixes them so users may send more succinct emails and messages. What other startups can learn from Grammarly is the power of harnessing video with their messaging. You don’t need a lot of flashy gimmicks to get the message across. Keep it simple and to the point and offer examples where viewers can see how the tool works in real-time.”
4) Lasagna Love
Wendy Agudelo, Volunteer “Lasagna Mama”, Lasagna Love:
“Depending on your definition of startup (if it has to be venture or angel-backed) this wouldn’t fit the bill. However, if you are looking for interesting organizations that have gained unanticipated profile in short order, look no further. Started in earnest in May 2020 by a mom as a way to support families in her community, Lasagna Love went viral as a social impact movement of kindness that is now active in all 50 states of America and powered exclusively by volunteers — more than 18,000 to be exact. Lasagna Love connects” Lasagna Mama and Papa” chefs with individuals/families seeking a hot meal whether due to food insecurity, job loss, exhaustion or pandemic fatigue. Lasagna Love has delivered to front line workers, police stations, food banks and beyond. The movement achieved 501(c) 3 status in December and maintains a three-pronged mission to: feed families, strengthen communities and spread kindness. The viral movement has already earned press coverage on the TODAY Show, Kelly Clarkson, NBC and hundreds of outlets. What did the do? a) Engaged the charismatic energy of founder Rhiannon Menn and Lasagna Love’s entire “army of affection.” b) Standardized messaging so that everyone is singing from the same hymnal, so to speak. Messages are repeated consistently and similarly across all media. c) Simplified access to media assets (placed on a Google drive for easy access/preview/download/usage) d) Created a relevant, timely and interesting story consumable by all media demographics (print, broadcast, podcast, radio, etc.) e) Collaborated and shared all results with social media channel operators so that stories and messages could be consistently shared across all platforms. f) Incorporated all business partners within pitches to cross-promote”
5) Pay Theory
Anne Szustek Talbot, VP of Content at BX3:
“We thought you’d like to learn more about the campaign behind innovative Cincinnati-based Family Tech payments platform Pay Theory. Part of Pay Theory’s utility is providing a function for the underbanked to be able to make school- and health-related payments with cash, thanks to an ingenious bar-code system that can be used at one of some 40,000 stores across the US. Since Pay Theory onboarded us at BX3 in December, we’ve landed some key placements in top publications and rankings: o We landed an interview with leading payments trade publication PaymentsSource, which resulted in this feature article positioning the startup’s 25-year-old marketing head as a thought leader and innovator supporting his fellow children of immigrants: o This article was in turn reblogged by the publicationon the first Monday of 2021. o Based on the PaymentsSource coverage, Solo Dinero, a personal finance-focused publication that’s part of the ImpreMedia family, a major publisher of US-based Spanish-language publications including El Diario and La Raza wrote this story focusing on how a young Latinx immigrant has forged a path forward in his startup, which gives back to the community in which he was raised. o By way of contacts we’ve forged via our social media channels, we’ve helped to establish Pay Theory as a leading startup in the Cincinnati area. o In December, Cincinnati Business Courier / CincyInno listed Pay Theory as a top Cincy startup to watch in 2021. o We landed a feature in the same publicationcentered on the startup’s new adviser, who is considered a pillar of the Cincinnati business community. o We also got a nod for Pay Theory in local indie arts, culture, and startups publication Movers & Makers. o We’ve also lodged multiple mentions and ranking for Pay Theory across the Fupping network of sites, helping to boost the client’s brand positioning as well as SEO. o Lastly, thanks to our genuine media relations with the publication — and back-and-forth conversation with the publication’s new staff writer — we were able to position Pay Theory’s CEO as a thought leader and Cincinnati-area business mentor for this Friday newsletter on the topic in the Times of Entrepreneurship. Overall, I say the main takeaway for startups is to be genuine and open with the media, and to draw on personal experience, especially as it pertains to the brand’s narrative. Certainly there is a story behind the story that will speak to a reporter. Case in point: The backstory of Pay Theory’s marketing manager — having grown up with immigrant parents in a community that was largely reliant on products such as payment cards and payday loans to conduct everyday banking — was a great peg on which the reporter could develop a story hook. An article that was meant to be a comparison with a similar, competing product turned into a feature about him and how his experience helped shape the startup.”
6) N26
Karolina Kroliczek, Founder at PR Insight:
“It’s really hard to miss stylish and simple adverts while bypassing through London’s tube stations. I quite liked N26 ad, with a female hand that emerges from a hole in a wall and holds a card against a sophisticated white and rhubarb colour block background. Then the caption text says: “Sexier than your ex…#26reasons”. Firstly, you wouldn’t believe that’s a banking advert at all. Being more lifestyle and consumer-driven than a typical banking advert telling you how much you could earn or save in your decent life. It’s that kind of rebellious, lifestyle advert-type, targeting Millenials known for consuming experiences compared to their ad preceedors from Generation Z that were consuming the ads prioritising the social status firstly. German N26, Revolut or Monzo — all these rapidly expanding fintech start-ups are leaving the social status untouched, giving priority to user experiences what effectively binds strong ties with potential users, thus enormous app success.“
Thank you!
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