Many tech PR pros live and die by coverage they score – or, alas, fail to receive – from widely read. Influential news sites like TechCrunch, Mashable, GigaOm and the reincarnation of AllThingsD, re/code.
Pitching to TV outlets may seem old-school to some. But at least one firm that chose to engage with the technology journalists at Bloomberg TV is looking pretty smart.
For Local Motors, coverage of its automotive design, manufacturing and technology stories has been predominantly through online news outlets. For the firm’s self-proclaimed “open-source principles,” social media has been the logical places to gain awareness. However, the importance of Local Motors’ breakthrough announcement — a 3-D printed car – cried out for a media strategy with greater impact.
Local TV outlets, even in the company’s home broadcast market of Chandler, Ariz., didn’t seem to care, even when plans were announced for a “micro factory” that would yield new jobs.
Bloomberg TV stood out as a provider of thorough and ongoing coverage of Local Motors.
Out of 48 broadcast mentions, Local Motors has been covered on Bloomberg TV 42 times. The remaining six mentions are from CSPAN.
Much of the buzz about the micro factory is the level of customization being offered to a crowd-sourced community of automotive builders and designers. For instance, a designer can submit the plans for a build, GE acts as a curator, and Local Motors prototypes and commissions the build.
In the meantime, Local Motors will continue to build engagement across not just consumer markets, but government markets as well. Local Motors was the brains behind Army CoCreate, a crowd-sourcing initiative for military technology.
For established brands, manufacturers and start-ups looking to gain earned media coverage on national programming, Bloomberg TV offers a prime stage not just for announcements, but also for monitoring the competition and adjacent markets.
Insights provided by the Critical Mention media monitoring service
