Company: Boston-Power, Inc. is an emerging provider of next-generation Lithium-ion batteries, initially targeting laptop computers with future plans for expansion into other applications. Boston-Power's batteries offer distinct advantages in safety, performance and environmental responsibility. Underscoring its market opportunity, the company received the largest round of venture funding – $45 million – of any New England company in the fourth quarter of 2007.
Challenge: Launch the company to the public in the beginning of 2007; in the beginning of 2008, announce product general availability. Strategy: For the 2007 company launch, successfully leveraged the availability of HP as a Boston-Power endorser; secured participation in DEMO 2007 as an ideal launch venue; paved way for a successful launch by meeting with key industry influencers prior to the launch; planned and successfully executed a pre-brief strategy to ensure coverage in top tier outlets at the moment of the announcement, followed by subsequent waves of coverage. For the 2008 product availability announcement, rolled this news into the funding announcement and announcement of manufacturing capability expansion; partnered with Asia-based PR resources to facilitate Asian coverage of the announcement; again planned and successfully executed a pre-brief strategy; tightly partnered with Boston-Power's manufacturing and venture capital partners to leverage their role in announcement.
Results: The 2007 company launch generated over 70 articles in total. Day-of coverage resulting from the pre-brief strategy included a front-cover Wall Street Journal article, The San Jose Mercury News, The Deal, Red Herring, Dow Jones VentureWire, CNET, Engadget, EE Times and Network World. Subsequent coverage included Forbes, BusinessWeek, Red Herring and Gizmodo. Boston-Power Founder and CEO Dr. Christina Lampe-Onnerud was named a "DEMOgod." PC Magazine Editor-in-Chief Michael Miller called Boston-Power's product one of the five most exciting introduced at DEMO. The 2008 product availability announcement resulted in 33 original articles appearing in over 40 outlets. Day-of coverage resulting from the pre-brief strategy again included The Wall Street Journal.
Other coverage included The Boston Globe, IDG Newswire, The Deal, Xconomy, Reuters, CNET, MIT Technology Review, GigaOm/Earth2Tech, The San Jose Mercury News and VentureBeat.
As per the strategy, coverage appeared in all of the targeted media sectors: new media/blogs, environmental press, business press, Boston press, trade press and investor press.
Read about this client's recent coverage.