What else can we say? As a team, our agency nailed the launch of UVify’s new micro drone at CES 2018. Not only did UVify receive positive press attention from both Engadget and TechCrunch (an important accomplishment because they are fierce media competitors), the company earned the title of #1 Micro Drone at CES from Digital Trends. In addition, nearly 725k consumer tech readers learned about the company and its products via social media (primarily Facebook and Twitter).
Here’s how we did it:
5 Things That Made It Work:
Elbow Grease. See the picture above? That’s the hand of a Pop Culture staffer. The idea was to show color and accurate drone proportion to visiting press. Some of our staffers took the initiative and visited TechCrunch producers at their hotel on multiple occasions, seeking to ensure that agency-produced content would be included in any video segments. We also managed more than 140 press contacts on-the-ground at the CES Drone Rodeo 2018 event — including 12 rotating bus loads of hungry journalists. Never underestimate elbow grease.
Our Headlines. We dominated drone news fast and early with “The World’s Fastest Micro Drone” weeks before CES 2018. Because we made the press aware of our messaging points a month in advance, journalists became familiar with our client’s position in the marketplace. We told the truth: ‘we build Quality and we build the Fastest drones on the planet’). Because UVify builds high-performance drones — Racing, Consumer and Enterprise silos — our communications resonated. And news coverage of Oori, the absolute fastest micro drone out-of-the-box, dominated the event in Las Vegas weeks before most PR practitioners fired their first salvo.
Follow-Through. Sometimes the press responds instantly, and other times magazines will take weeks or months to produce media content. Media like T3, CNET, Men’s Journal Magazine and others are still receiving and producing fresh stories about UVify weeks (and months) after CES 2018.
Content On-Demand. Because there was a video and still photography team member at the event, we were able to produce instantly fresh, unique content based on specific media requests (including TechCrunch, CNET, Digital Trends and others). It wasn’t always helpful to be in the desert in terms of sharing the content online, but we tried the old-fashioned way: We physically placed the content into press contacts’ hands at their hotels when necessary and it helps when the press is offered fresh, raw content.
Great Product. You would be surprised to learn how many of our clients forget about this part of the media relations puzzle: Continue to make great products. UVify is a high-performance drone company that has delivered. Combined with the above publicity outreach strategies, it’s a winning combination.
Selected Media Hits
TechCrunch Digital Trends, Best Micro Drone of CES 2018 Engadget CNET Robotics Tomorrow DroneDJ