Achieving Global Media Relations Success For Emesent
Wise Up PR developed a global media outreach strategy that secured widespread international media coverage that strengthened Emesent's brand awareness in existing customer segments, while supporting its growth into new industries.
About Emesent
Emesent is a global leader in autonomous mapping technology. It has designed and manufactured two core products, Emesent Hovermap and Emesent GX1, powered by cutting-edge simultaneous localization and mapping technology (SLAM), enabling organizations to capture accurate 3D LiDAR data quickly, efficiently, and safely even in hazardous and GPS-denied environments. Both solutions also have various modes of deployment including unmanned ground vehicle (UGV, like Boston Dynamics’ Spot), backpack, vehicle mount, handheld and survey pole.
Its 3D data capture, processing and visualization solutions support a wide variety of sectors, such as architecture, engineering, and construction (AEC), defense, geospatial, mining, oil and gas and public safety. For example, Hovermap was used to scan and create a detailed 3D map of Alcatraz Island, helping preserve and plan the future of the historic site.
The company was founded in 2018 by two leading researchers from Australia’s prestigious Robotics and Autonomous Systems arm of the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization (CSIRO).
The Challenge
Emesent was entering a critical phase of growth for the company and sought to leverage media relations as a key channel to drive international awareness and trust of the launch of its second solution, Emesent GX1.
This was the company’s first new product launch in over four years and differed greatly from the existing product, Emesent Hovermap, as it is an integrated 3D mapping scanner targeting the company’s growing customer base of construction and engineering surveyors working in aboveground, built environments.
Emesent brought Wise Up PR in as its agency of record (AOR) specifically due to its extensive deep tech and sensor expertise, as well as its team’s ability to leverage brand awareness across many different sectors through strategic media relations campaigns.
The agency’s wider defense PR knowledge was also an important factor in this decision as following the GX1 launch, the brief shifted to leveraging Emesent’s growing presence in the defense sector, for autonomous 3D mapping and navigation capabilities in GPS-denied environments.
From a corporate narrative perspective also, Wise Up PR was entrusted to manage the company’s $17 million funding round raise announcement, a key signal to the market, customers and partners of the ongoing growth trajectory of the company and its future expansion plans.
Our Approach
One of the most fundamental, initial recommendations was that the Wise Up PR onboard six weeks before the GX1 product launch, in order for the team to craft a launch PR strategy, as well as launch assets like the press release. By onboarding early, it enabled the agency to move at speed to craft the launch press release and have it approved well ahead of the embargo release date. Core PR assets like biographies and the boilerplate were also reworked to ensure messaging was consistent across all content assets.
With a clear understanding of the brief and media verticals to be targeted, bespoke, industry-specific pitches were prepped well ahead of the day of release for this announcement too. The team also conducted a competitor audit of media coverage ensuring no journalist or relevant media outlet was overlooked for this launch. Also factored into this deep level of planning also was that the announcement was timed specially to launch at GEO Week, one of the geospatial industry’s most influential events.
Wise Up PR’s approach was two-fold:
- Pre-pitching began 14 days in advance of the go-live to AEC and wider technology journalists, to factor in how time-pressed media now are.
- And pre-pitching was conducted even earlier with those media outlets attending GEO Week to flag the upcoming news well ahead of the event starting.
Very tight media pitching coordination by Wise Up PR meant there were no embargo leaks, despite the wide variety of media verticals being pitched, as well as geographies (with pitching conducted to US, European, UK and APAC journalists).
Following on from devising the PR launch of Emesent GX1, the agency shifted gears to oversee the approach for Emesent’s addition into Teledyne FLIR Defense’s Third-Party Payload Integration Program. By understanding defense media relations in depth, Wise Up PR knew how this announcement needed to be pitched and to which journalists, supporting closely Emesent’s need to build industry awareness and credibility within this key market.
To further sustain ongoing media coverage and brand awareness momentum, the agency crafted the approach for international PR outreach for Emesent’s $17 million funding round announcement. Rather than relying on a single media pitch, the team developed hyper-personalized pre-pitches that were across eight distinct editorial verticals (technology, defense, business, engineering, construction, electronics, manufacturing and local media). By deliberately orchestrating outreach framed to industry-specific messaging this greatly increased the chances of secured both quality and quantity media coverage of this announcement.
Results In Brief
228
Pieces of earned media coverage generated in six months, including within Crunchbase, Forbes, Yahoo! Tech, GeoWeek, Shephard Media and World Construction Network
2,771%
Increase in articles placed versus the previous year
5
Continents in which editorial placements were secured in
Media Coverage Snapshot
And Also Seen In
Results In Detail
Performance Metric
Result
Details
Earned Media Coverage
228 Articles
Coverage secured in top business, technology, geospatial, electronics and sensing publications.
Estimated Coverage Views
2.6 Million
Estimated audience that viewed the coverage generated.
Average Domain Authority (DA) Of Earned Coverage
65
Aggregate Domain Authority (DA) score of the publications which published.
Combined Unique Monthly Visitors (UMVs)
704.3 Million
Combined audience that are unique monthly visitors (UMVs) to the media outlets that covered Emesent stories.
Social Media Views Driven By Earned Media
39,200
Coverage that was viewed via social posts accompanying media articles.
Social Shares Driven By Earned Media
683
Organic social posts prompted by the launch media placements.
Performance Summary
In just a six-month block of work, Wise Up PR secured consistent global awareness for Emesent through media relations, securing 228 articles, spanning media publications across five continents. This significant uplift in performance was highlighted by a 2,771% increase in earned media placements from the previous entire year. Quality of coverage was also critical, with precise targeting across all Emesent’s key verticals from AEC to defense to geospatial and wider business media outlets, with an average domain authority (DA) of 65 being secured. The resulting total coverage is estimated to have been viewed by an audience of 2.6 million, demonstrating the impact of this media relations campaign spread across many different ideal customer profile (ICP) industries as well as geographical markets.
What Our Client Said About This Work
“Wise Up PR has clearly demonstrated the value that strategic media relations deliver beyond just one announcement. What has stood out from day one was that the team really understands deep tech, can create a clear PR strategy and, ultimately, get results from its targeted media outreach. By working together, earned media is now an integral part of how Emesent builds awareness, as well as communicates our most important milestones.”
Media Relations Results - Eight Key Takeaways
PR for product launches should have lead-in time well ahead of launch day
Product launches are really important momentum moments for companies to signal expansion and innovation to customers, prospects, the market and investors. One regular issue that continually happens is that brands leave it until a week or two before a launch to bring onboard a PR agency to handle media outreach. This approach does not help to maximize the potential success of such a launch. Instead, B2B brands should look to onboard an agency roughly six weeks before such a mission-critical launch. The agency will then be in a much better position to define messaging, craft essential media content assets like a press release, work with you on visual assets to accompany the announcement, and also, critically, map out the entire media strategy (media list creation, competitor audit, pre-pitch drafts). Do this, and you'll greatly increase the chances of success.
Segment media outreach, instead of a 'spray and pray' approach
Many companies, especially within deep tech or electronics, sell products to a number of industries that are often radically different, especially for dual-use solutions. When trying to secure a sale to differing customers, a personalized, sector-specific message is needed to succeed. This thinking should also be applied to media strategy and outreach. Creating one generic media pitch to "fit" eight different verticals won't work. Instead, hyper-tailored pitches are needed, along with bespoke media lists. Tight coordination is also required across such media segmentation to avoid double-pitching journalists at the same publication, but also factoring in which outlets are sister publications (or owned by the same publisher). This is a significant tract of work and typically best handled by a PR agency partner.
Specialist PR agencies help B2B brands entry into new markets
For marketing teams moving brands into new customer segments, especially within a complex industry like defense, the right agency delivers more than just execution. Instead, it can be a strategic advisor by providing guidance on the overall market, how a PR announcement will resonate and where and who to focus media outreach with. By authentically understanding an industry, the agency can also be a key support team when seeking to do partner or collaboration announcements with other brands and often own the relationship with a partner. In this way, an agency becomes a trusted asset to the marketing team during industry expansion.
Tying product launches to influential industry events works
At big industry events, you are nearly guaranteed to have some form of media in attendance. This fact matters, especially if a B2B brand has an exhibition booth. It offers a genuine opportunity to meet journalists where they are going to be. Therefore, you can plan a product or news announcement to coincide with an event, pre-pitch interviews and the news to attending journalists, all with the strategy being to maximize industry impact. One consideration, especially for multiday industry trade event, is which is the best day to release the news. Once this is locked in, media outreach will see some journalists line up stories to go-live at the event, while others will request and ask to conduct in-depth briefings at your booth. In tandem with this, plan to pitch out to non-attending media too.