PR AND DIGITAL MARKETING FOR AGENTS OF CHANGE
CASE STUDY
Beauty Tech PR
Atolla
Mission
Like the Red Army in Afghanistan, our mission with Atolla evolved. We helped out with initial brand positioning and their “hello world” moment on Kickstarter. From there, we worked on their content and social media strategies, and ran PR for their national launch in the US. Happily, unlike the ill fated Soviet shitshow in Central Asia, we actually won the war.
Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. A beauty tech company’s income statement is not!
Challenges
Customized skincare based upon AI was relatively unheard of at the time this launched. This precipitated both scepticism and reticence on the part of the public and media.
There were also several distinct tribes the client needed to reach across the two launches. Kickstarter backers are more techy, while the brand’s core clientele came from more beauty centric segments. This meant a wide swath of media targets, from tech, to mainstream to beauty specific publications, each of which necessitated specific messages and stories.
Response
Over the course of 8 months we identified and pitched multiple story angles to a myriad of outlets. We tested various approaches and angles and helped Atolla clarify their value propositions.
Deskside meetings with journalists became a key tactic in the media relations efforts. We set up over 20 encounters with the Fourth Estate for the client – an agency record to this day.
Results
This is a case we’re extremely proud of because, in a lot ways, this was a hard mandate. Despite the challenges, we took this company from a total unknown to a beauty tech darling that was mentioned alongside old, super established beauty companies. It shows the power of PR when done over an extended period of time. Yes, these were launch campaigns but the work never stopped and the client was committed to risking capital for a prolonged period because they believed in us and the power of PR.
Here is a synopsis of results:
Over two launches Atolla received over 65 media hits in press around the world. Placements ranged across tech, mainstream, design, health and beauty media in major outlets such as the NY Times, Allure, Tech Crunch, Oprah’s O Magazine and Marie Claire to name a few.
Coverage was as laudatory as Ceaucescu’s propaganda machine on his birthday.
Dezeen said “Data finally meets dermatology.”
Core77 called it a “Future forward solution,” and Allure magazine awarded the company a Best of Beauty Breakthrough Award.
Coverage was multi-faceted over the course of this mandate. We drove:
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In-depth, positive product reviews
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Shoppable roundup pieces
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Brand mentions in bigger-picture stories
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And even got the Founders quoted as experts in the space