SITUATION
Young Italian CEO wanted to secure news coverage in the U.S. to build visibility and credibility for his startup. He said, “I want to attract users to show traction to investors. Investors will then invest money which, in turn, will allow us to gain more users. How do we do it?”
COMPLICATION
Neither the CEO nor the company had any track record, brand, or success in the U.S. The CEO had never led a company before and had no media contacts or experience working with the media. The company’s product was in beta. As a result, media were reluctant to invest time to learn about unproven CEO or product.
ACTION
Pitched two different Thought Leadership articles on trends for the upcoming year to media, one for investors and one for consumers. Positioned articles as researched and written by a team of Accenture management consultants. Delivered articles with links to data for January 1 publication.
RESULTS
Within four months, secured two published articles — one in VentureBeat and one in Christian Science Monitor.