- KCD PR teamed up with Brain Corp to position this startup tech company as an industry leader
- Brain Corp’s floor-cleaning technology became a global sensation with KCD PR’s media expertise
- Targeted, meticulously researched approaches to media coverage made this sanitary maintenance company a distinguished, sought-after technology
About KCD PR
KCD PR is an integrated communications agency that delivers award-winning strategic public relations, marketing communications, social media campaigns, and counsel to financial services, fintech, and technology leaders worldwide. KCD PR’s mission is to create and communicate a brand’s vision through highly targeted campaigns that drive their business forward.
Brain Corp x KCD PR: The Genesis
Brain Corp is a successful San Diego-based technology startup that specializes in turning manual machines into autonomous mobile robots. While the mention of ‘robots’ may sound sexy, the primary application of its technology was far less so - in commercial floor scrubbers. Brain Corp engaged with KCD PR to help raise awareness of the company and its technology in order to attract new customers, pave the way for future investment, and for this year in particular, take it beyond the standard floor-cleaning trade media and position it as a leader in the business and technology press.
Development
KCD PR needed to develop an approach that would make Brain Corp and its technology attractive to a far broader and incredibly discerning swathe of media. In a nutshell, they had to make a company that currently focuses on sanitary maintenance compete for media space with the same writers covering the likes of iRobot and Amazon.
They focused on the following core campaign elements:
- Develop a clear message
- Laser-focus efforts on a core ‘media bench’
- Think big picture
- Create a foundation of relationships to set up for campaign success
Execution
With a plan in place, KCD PR hosted a messaging workshop with Brain Corp’s key technology leaders which ultimately provided them with compelling messages that positioned the company’s technology as crucial to the current evolution of work through robotics. Simultaneously, the team meticulously researched and developed a list of 20 key media outlets that moved outreach beyond the cleaning trades and into influential tech and business press such as TechCrunch, ZDnet, Fortune, CNBC, Bloomberg, and the Wall Street Journal. Based on this list, they created targeted approaches, often reserving exclusives, feature angles, and early notice of product news tailored to each title.
One of the campaign’s biggest challenges was that they had a very well-known customer story to tell as part of Walmart’s major tech rollout but had very little control over the message and their position within the announcement. Their challenge was to ensure that Brain Corp gained a strong share of media exposure within the resulting coverage.
To increase changes for positive and well-informed coverage of the news, the team focused on building influential media relationships well in advance. To secure briefings, they employed a ‘big picture’ approach by creating pitches which positioned the company and its core technology as critical to the current evolution of retail, how they work, and the state of the tech economy - highlighting Brain Corp’s key investors (SoftBank Vision and Qualcomm Ventures) for added credibility.
Results
The campaign proved highly successful in gaining Brain Corp media coverage far beyond the traditional trade outlets. KCD outperformed its goals for top-tier media interviews by 33%, gaining quality coverage in the business and tech press, thus positioning the company and its technology as leaders in the field. The campaign generated over 500 pieces of coverage against a campaign target of 130. Key media hits included Bloomberg, Forbes, Fortune, Business Insider, CNBC, and a full feature in broadcast technology program BBC Click, which aired in 200 countries with over 380 million viewers.
KCD PR’s COVID-19 Response
Though this PR firm prides itself in working with industry leaders and top-ranked organizations, they are entrepreneurs at heart and care about the community they live and work in. When the pandemic hit, the team offered on-demand crisis communications counseling to small businesses impacted by COVID. They were providing counsel on everything from creating a social media marketing presence to critical customer updates to pointing to financial resources to help aid their friends in the community.
KCD PR won the Silver Stevie for Communications or PR Campaign of the Year - Media Relations in The 2020 American Business Awards®.
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