1  

ROCKAWAY ACADEMY: SPARK WORKSHOP JULY 8, 2015 CONFIDENTIAL

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

3  

CONTENTS

01

02

03

04

05

06

Spark Overview

Understanding PR

Communication Process

The Message

Your Audience

Working Together

4  

Spark Overview

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

6  

Representative Clients

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

8  

Understanding PR

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  

•  Advertising

•  Marketing

•  Public Relations •  Internal Communications

•  Social Media

•  Analyst Relations

•  Investor Relations

The Marketing Umbrella

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

12  

Communication Process

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  

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

15  

Situational Analysis

•  SWOT •  Strengths •  Weaknesses •  Opportunities •  Threats

•  PESTLE •  Political •  Economical •  Social •  Technological •  Legal •  Environmental

•  Competitor Analysis •  Matrix •  Messages •  Media

16  

•  Media Relations •  Social Media •  Content Marketing •  Speaking Opportunities •  Blog •  Web Site •  Internal Communications

PR Tactics

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  

•  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  

•  What Is It? •  How Is It Used? •  Does Is Work?

The Press Release

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  

•  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  

•  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

23  

Your Audience

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  

•  Consumers •  Demographics •  Psychographics •  Behavioristics

•  Influencers •  Media •  Social

•  Investors •  Potential partners •  Employees •  Vendors •  Additional audiences to consider:

•  Local community •  Trade and governmental bodies

Audience breakdown

26  

?

Trade Consumer Business/ City

Media Verticals

Tech

27  

The Message

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  

•  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  

•  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  

•  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

32  

Case Studies

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  

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

35  

Working Together

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  

•  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  

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

39  

Thank You

San Francisco | New York

rockaway@sparkpr.com