2. 2
Senior Associate in Spark’s consumer technology
practice group.
• Focused on media relations, materials development, strategy development
• Worked across a range of consumer tech clients including MOO.COM,
Ozon.ru, Vevo, Silicon Milkroundabout, Orange, Fyber and The International
Olympic Committee
• Conducted successful consumer launches for Dropcam, Deezer, Etsy and
Emberlight
• Coverage in tier 1 consumer publications including Sunday Times Magazine,
USA Today, The Sun, Elle Magazine, ABC 20/20
• Coverage in tier 1 business outlets including The Telegraph, Bloomberg,
Forbes, The Times, Financial Times, CNBC Squawk Box and Fortune
Relevant Experience
Joe Groves
5. 5
San Francisco headquarters,
New York office &
Sparknet – a global
network of partners for
24/7 service & support
Award-winning independent
agency founded in 1999
Executional excellence
that is always aligned to
your business objectives
7. 7
STRATEGY CONTENT CREATIVE
PUBLIC
RELATIONS SOCIAL ANALYSIS
7
Capabilities
Setting the foundation,
key messaging points,
& direction to drive
towards brand KPIs
Bringing thought leadership
content to the right
consumer audiences in a
compelling way
Translating ideas and
messages into on-brand,
visually stunning digital &
socially shareable content
Providing real meaning to
overcomplicated statistics by
asking the right questions
and understanding the
market landscape
Enhancing your brand,
developing shareable
content, and engaging your
audience with the right
narrative and social strategy
Using narrative assessment,
networking, & negotiation
with journalists to secure
meaningful coverage
9. 9
“PR is the discipline which looks after reputation, with the aim of earning
understanding and support and influencing opinion and behavior. It is planned
and sustained effort to establish and maintain goodwill and mutual
understanding between an organization and its publics.”
- The Chartered Institute Of Public Relations
10. 10
• Advertising
• Marketing
• Public Relations
• Internal Communications
• Social Media
• Analyst Relations
• Investor Relations
The Marketing Umbrella
11. 11
• Expedite business objectives
• Increase brand awareness
• Heighten visibility and mind-share
• Enhance credibility with the public at large
• Validation through 3rd party endorsement
Why Public Relations
13. 13
“The best people in PR are not PR types at all. They understand they are not
censors…they are the company’s best conversationalists. Their job – their
craft – is to discern stories the market actually wants to hear; to help journalists
write stories that tell the truth, to bring people into conversation rather than
protect them from it.”
- Doc Searls, The Cluetrain Manifesto: The End of Business As Usual (2000)
14. 14
The Brand Strategy Process
Establish
Target
Audience
Messaging
Deep Dive
Define Brand
Truths and
Promise
Develop
Communications
Architecture
Define
Success
Measurement
An effective brand marketing and communications strategy is built
on a thorough understanding of:
1. The target market, by audience segment
2. The brand narrative opportunity
3. The desired business trajectory
16. 16
• Media Relations
• Social Media
• Content Marketing
• Speaking Opportunities
• Blog
• Web Site
• Internal Communications
PR Tactics
17. 17
• What is media relations?
• Tools of the trade
• Editorial calendar
• Speaking and award calendars
• Media lists
• Press releases
o Newswire services
• Story pitches
• Social media
• Profnet/Haro
• White Papers
Media Relations
18. 18
• Is this a current story idea?
• How is this story idea of interest to the reporter?
• How is this story of interest to the public?
• Why are you a good source?
• Is this timely?
Anatomy Of A Story Pitch
19. 19
• What Is It?
• How Is It Used?
• Does Is Work?
The Press Release
20. 20
Managing social
channels, including:
• Content copy and
creative
• Paid media
• Social care
• Content moderation
• Social promotion
design and execution
• Analytics dashboards
and reporting
Community Management
21. 21
• When is it a crisis?
• Plan ahead for a crisis
• Don’t take the bunker mentality
• Remain calm at all times
• Be forthcoming with information
Crisis Communications
22. 22
• Business Leadership Roundtables:
Featuring business press, partners,
and industry influencers. Discuss best
practices amid broader discussion of trends
in X field
• Desk Side Briefing Tours with
Analysts:
Discuss hot button issues, new thought
leadership platforms, the competitive
landscape and your place
in the ecosystem.
• Quarterly Trend Reports:
Utilize results of quarterly numbers and
surveys to highlight current volume of
simultaneous transactions; assert yourself as
trusted source for reliable industry data and
driving the industry vision.
Thought Leadership
24. 24
“Organizational effectiveness means that constituencies who have influence or
power over the organization are at least partially satisfied with that organization.
Those constituencies, such as consumers or regulatory agencies, have the power to
decide whether the organization thrives or fails…Organizational effectiveness means
maintaining strategic relationships with constituencies that help an organization
achieve its goals, such as profit, education, or continued existence.
- J. Grunig, The Excellence Theory (2012)
25. 25
• Consumers
• Demographics
• Psychographics
• Behavioristics
• Influencers
• Media
• Social
• Investors
• Potential partners
• Employees
• Vendors
• Additional audiences to consider:
• Local community
• Trade and governmental bodies
Audience breakdown
28. 28
“Long before the first formal business was established…the six most powerful
words in any language were, Let me tell you a story”
- Matthews & Wacker, What’s Your Story
29. 29
• What sets you apart?
• Communicating Strengths
• Products and Services
• Benefits and Solutions
• Tailor Message to Audience
• What makes you a credible source?
• Why should a reporter want to interview you?
• Why would a viewer, listener or reader want to know
what you say?
• What is your narrative?
Key Messages
30. 30
• Company Vision
• What does the future look like to you
• Big picture
• Mission
• How do you get there?
• Positioning
• How you describe yourself
• One sentence
• Tag Line
• Short and Punchy
• Key Messages
• Consumer
• Tech
• Business
Messaging Architecture
31. 31
• Strike the word favor from your media relations vocabulary
• Don’t miss a deadline
• Don’t give journalists only one option for using your story
• Don’t ever believes that you can say anything off the record
• Never say that don’t know, or that you cant answer a question
• Don’t play hard to get with your answers
• Don’t miss an opportunity to participate in the larger story
• Don’t think a news outlet is too small for your great idea
• Never go into an interview without an agenda
• Never lie
PR Commandments
33. 33
CHALLENGE
• Plastc came to Sparkpr with the blueprints for a new consumer hardware
device (a digital credit card) and needed the works: branding, messaging, pre-
order website, social media, photography and video
APPROACH
• Sparkpr worked with Plastc to develop the right brand voice, differentiated
messaging in a crowded environment (i.e. Coin and Apple Pay), a pre-order
website, social media channels, photography and video
• Sparkpr booked 22 meetings for Plastc in SF and New York and provided
guidance on demos
RESULTS
• Secured over 100 original stories in the first week of launch
• Garnered 341 million impressions in the first week of launch
• Plastc made over $5.2M in sales within the first week of pre-orders
• Plastc Card was mentioned in top tier publications including: TechCrunch,
AskMen, ABC News, CBS News, Entrepreneur, Fox Business, Good
Housekeeping, CNET, Next Web, The Verge, Inc., GigaOm, Gizmodo,
Engadget and many others.
Plastc Card – Selling $5M in 7 days
34. 34
CHALLENGE
• Barely months out from a quiet launch, Rdio sought Spark to gain visibility and Valley cred
in a noisy market that included incumbents like iTunes, Rhapsody and Pandora
APPROACH
• With Spotify, Google, Amazon and Apple on the horizon Spark acted quickly to
competitively differentiate Rdio and embarked on education campaigns, executive visibility,
and thought leadership programs to get key reporters and influencers aware of Rdio
RESULTS
• Today Rdio is always mentioned alongside Spotify and our ongoing education campaign
continues to pay off as consumer subscriptions increase 30 percent month over month
despite Spotify’s U.S. launch
• Rdio has garnered amazing coverage including Entrepreneur cover, winning reviews in the
Wall Street Journal, WIRED, and New York Magazine, broadcast segments with NBC Tech
Now! and Bloomberg West, and ongoing mentions with The New York Times, Los Angeles
Times, New York Post, San Francisco Chronicle, Forbes, CNET, TechCrunch, GigaOm,
ReadWrite Web, Mashable, Gizmodo, Engadget, Business Insider, and Billboard.biz.
Rdio – Rising Above the Noise
36. 36
Getting Started
• Immersion PR Meeting. Deep dive into product roadmap, business
goals and success metrics. Develop an executive and corporate thought
leadership platform.
• Develop Messaging and Positioning Platform. Conduct messaging
session to better communicate vision, messaging and competitive
differentiation. Develop messages for all media activities and outbound
communications to all press, as well as social media channels.
• Update PR Materials. Develop or update all PR materials to ensure
consistency and relevance (e.g. company fact sheets, company
boilerplate, etc.). Review and edit all documents used for PR purposes.
Recommend new materials to supplement.
• Write Strategic PR Media Plan. Develop three month plan for
immediate activity; refresh on an ongoing basis. Draft 3 month plan for
strategic reference and short-term planning. Utilize activity tracker to
manage ongoing program.
37. 37
• The Spark team are able to help support RC portfolio companies
announce funding rounds. Typical goals of a funding announcement
are as follows:
• Raise awareness of a company and its product amongst targeted audiences
• Attract talent, future investors, partners and customers
• Differentiate the company from its competitors, showcase the unique features
and business model
• Scope of Work
• Strategy
• Materials Development
o Develop media list of key targets
o Draft or edit press release
o Work with company to refine key messages
o Create reporter background materials for management in advance of briefings
o Release press release via PR Newswire (additional cost of approx. $500)
o Announce news and continue outreach after release crosses wire
o Provide coverage report after the news is out
• Media Outreach
Funding Announcements
38. 38
And if you ever get bored…
1. Academic affiliation
2. Analyst outreach
3. Analyst deck creation
4. Analyst meeting prep
5. Annual report
6. App development
1. Writing copy
7. Audit (messaging, materials,
social)
8. Awards program
9. Benchmark study
10. Blog (create an exec, company
or guest blog)
11. Blogger outreach
12. Blogger event
13. Book
14. Brochures
15. Byliners
16. Competitive analysis
17. Broadcast
1. B-roll
18. CEO visibility
1. Book
2. Board of Directors
3. Speaking
4. Content
5. Social
19. CEO Memberships
20. Charitable initiative
21. Court customers
22. Crisis Communications
1. Plan creation
2. Tabletop
23. CSR program
24. Competitor Analysis
25. Data hub
26. Dinner/Salon
27. Entertainment event
28. Executive focus
29. Experiential marketing
30. Index
31. Industry partnerships
32. Influencer seeding
33. Infographics
34. Institute
35. Internal comms
36. Investor Relations
37. Media audit
38. Media briefings
39. Media monitoring
40. Media tours
41. Personal hobbies, homes
42. Philanthropy
43. Profiles
44. Media soft sounding
45. Media training
46. Media partnerships
47. Messaging bible
48. Messaging summit
49. Metrics program
50. Momentum releases
51. Newsletter/eNewsletter
52. Newsjack
53. Party (Open House Customer
Event)
54. Plan (90 day)
55. Podcast
56. Presentation Training
57. Polls
58. RMT
59. SMT
60. Social media
1. Auditing
61. Social media monitoring
62. Speaking
1. Verticals
2. High level
63. Surveys
64. Stunt
65. University
66. VC Introductions
67. Vertical Outreach
68. Video Series
69. Webcast
70. Webinar
71. Website development
72. Weekly call
73. Whitepaper
74. Wolfpacking
75. Consumer Broadcast
76. Facebook Ads
77. Financial Analyst Lunch
78. Earnings Season Newsjacking
79. Executive Personal Histories
80. Social Media Training Session
81. Reporting
82. Shareholder Newsletters
83. Storyboarding
84. Highlight Reel
85. Online Profiles
1. Crunchbase
86. Vendor RFI/RFP Process
87. Media Buddy Programs
88. Photography
1. New Headshots
89. Case Studies
90. Digital Press Kit Development
91. Client Press Website Feedback
92. Customer Interviews
93. Product Placement
94. Celebrity Endorsement
95. Swag Bag
96. Conference Support/Hosting
97. Recognition Program
98. Editorial Calendars
99. Dashboards
100. Branding
101. Create an industry standard
