Firecracker PR

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m a department director for GIGABYTE, a PC hardware manufacturer. In my role, I’m in charge of our company's marketing in North America.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Firecracker PR?

We hired Firecracker PR to help us secure video exposure for our new products.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Firecracker PR helped us run a few different campaigns on multiple product lines, including gaming monitors and laptops. Initially, we gave them direction on our target, such as specific gaming channels and people who could talk about the product in detail.

Then, Firecracker PR reached out to different qualified influencers on YouTube and TikTok and had them agree to do a review of our product. Once Firecracker PR confirmed the collaboration, we sent the product to the influencers for them to do a product unboxing and review, creating the video exposure we needed.

What is the team composition?

We worked with three teammates from Firecracker PR in total. Edward (Managing Partner) was our original contact. After the project started, they assigned two other teammates. One of them was in charge of providing updates on the exposure, and the other one was the one who coordinated the collaboration with the influencers.

How did you come to work with Firecracker PR?

Our previous marketing manager had worked with them in the past, so we continued the relationship. However, I don’t know how we originally found them because it happened before my time.

How much have you invested with them?

We spent around $20,000 on our latest project. Their fee was around $6,000–$7,000 per month.

What is the status of this engagement?

My company started working with Firecracker PR around 2020. As for our latest project, we started working together around August 2022, and the project ended in Q4 of 2022. We haven’t engaged with a new project with Firecracker PR since.

Given that we already had direct contact with some of the reviewers and influencers that they were reaching out to, we noticed a little overlap between our efforts. Thus, we ultimately decided not to renew their service.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement? 

Firecracker PR helped us get good media exposure for our products, which included articles and videos. However, given that we don’t sell directly to consumers, we couldn’t measure if the media exposure caused a direct increase in sales.

How did Firecracker PR perform from a project management standpoint?

Firecracker PR was always very professional and timely, and their communication and project coordination were great. Ours was a three-month agreement, and every week, they updated us with new candidates. Moreover, they were always on time for our weekly meetings. As for collaboration tools, we communicated around 80% of the time via email, and our weekly meetings took place on Microsoft Teams and Zoom.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Firecracker PR was very well-versed in various industries and operated within other networks, so they knew other agencies that have contact with celebrities. Moreover, they’ve addressed 1–2 inquiries they’ve received regarding our brand. Doing so is outside of their scope, so the fact that they keep us in mind even though we don’t have an active project with them is outstanding.

Are there any areas they could improve?

There was nothing Firecracker PR could have improved on. The only reason we stopped working with them was that we had a contact overlap, so continuing to work with them wasn’t a good fit.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Be clear on the scope of the project, including your target audience and timeframes. Our biggest issue was that the people Firecracker PR found for us weren’t very qualified candidates because we already knew them, so we eliminated them. If we had communicated better from the beginning, we would have changed the outcome of the project.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m a senior marketing specialist for a manufacturer of electric yard trucks. In my role, I oversee a number of marketing programs related to PR, advertising, trade events, and market research.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Firecracker PR?

We needed help with expanding our brand and message to the markets we were trying to reach by eliciting interviews, podcasts, and other media outlets to increase our company and product awareness.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Firecracker PR helps us with our PR efforts continuously. Their regular projects include developing press releases and white papers, as well as following up on those press releases to get us interviews and podcasts. Whenever we launch a press release, they pitch it to publications to obtain interviews with a number of our leadership teammates — Firecracker PR is constantly pitching us.

The interviews they get for us are conducted in various ways, including via email, phone, Zoom, and Skype. Additionally, they’ve got us interviews on-site whenever we’ve been at trade shows. Besides those continuous efforts, Firecracker PR has been working on developing our Wikipedia page for the last year, which is one of our largest projects.

What is the team composition?

We work with Edward (Founder & Managing Partner), who is in every conversation; Len (Senior Media Relations Outreach Specialist), who is in charge of pitching and acts as our media representative; and Dakota (Account Manager). Len and Dakota communicate daily with us, whereas Edward occasionally participates in our conversations based on what we’re working on.

How did you come to work with Firecracker PR?

When I came on board, Firecracker PR was already a partner of ours, so I wasn’t part of the decision-making.

How much have you invested with them?

We spend around $8,000 per month. That budget rarely deviates, depending on side projects.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with Firecracker PR around June 2021, although I didn’t join the company until August 2021. Our partnership is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement? 

Firecracker PR has helped us get interviews in important outlets in the industry, including FleetOwner, Transport Topics, and Bloomberg. Until September 2022, they had achieved 255 articles for us, meaning that some people read about us around 21 times per month. As a result, we reached a potential audience of 95 million readers.

How did Firecracker PR perform from a project management standpoint?

Firecracker PR is very accessible and receptive. We have bi-weekly meetings, and although we’ve had to cancel some of those meetings on our end, they’ve never canceled one. Whenever I cancel a meeting, I still provide them with updates. For example, I recently canceled a meeting, but I sent them updates on the projects via email.

In addition to that, Firecracker PR provides us with a weekly report of the opportunities out there. They also provide us with a monthly report detailing the placements, the markets, and the sectors we’re reaching, which includes pie charts.

On top of that, Firecracker PR’s response time and communication are excellent; there has never been an instance where they’ve taken more than half a day to respond. We communicate via Microsoft (MS) Teams, phone, and email.

What did you find most impressive about them?

One of Firecracker PR’s main strengths is that they understand our industry. We make electric trucks, and Firecracker PR is based in California, a state currently working on a zero-emission program for vehicles. Moreover, Len is a seasoned media person who knows how to work with various editors and reporters.

Are there any areas they could improve?

I can’t think of anything Firecracker PR could improve on.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Both parties need to come in with an open mind and open communication and be receptive to constructive advice. Each party can benefit from the suggestions the other might have.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the founder of Smart Eye Technology. We provide privacy to the enterprise market through the use of biometrics, such as facial and fingerprint recognition.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Firecracker PR?

We brought them on board to do PR services and help get people to understand, download, and try out our platform.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We hold weekly meetings to see and gauge exactly where we are in terms of our company’s PR. After that, they proceed with the work, helping us get in front of several major media outlets. At the moment, we’ve slowed down our PR efforts, but we plan to re-engage with them by the end of the year; we’re currently focusing more on development at our company.

What is the team composition?

We work with 3–4 different people from their team, including Edward (Founder & Managing Partner).

How did you come to work with Firecracker PR?

One of our associates found them through a Google search.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent about $40,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with them in March 2021, and it’s an ongoing partnership.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement?

Firecracker PR has been able to get articles published about us across several media outlets. As a result, we’ve been getting calls from different types of people who’re interested in what we do. Overall, their team has helped us create a lot of buzz around our technology.

Also, they’ve gotten us into media outlets that are rare to get into, such as CNBC and Acorn TV.

How did Firecracker PR perform from a project management standpoint?

They’ve been very professional, organized, and strategic in planning what type of media to focus on for each week. If they couldn’t find anything, they would tell us straight and continue staying on the hunt for the following week. For communication, we talk with them via Zoom most of the time.

What did you find most impressive about them?

We appreciate how Edward has taken a personal interest in getting our story told.

Are there any areas they could improve on?

I can’t think of anything.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I work for Li-Cycle, a resource recovery company in the clean technology and sustainability space. We recycle used lithium-ion batteries, which can be found in common items such as cell phones, laptops, e-readers, e-scooters, and vacuum cleaners. Li-Cycle extracts non-renewable, finite resources from these lithium-ion batteries – materials such as lithium, cobalt, and manganese.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Firecracker PR?

We needed a PR firm that could take highly technical information and simplify it for a broader audience, such as investors and an increasing amount of stakeholders. At the same time, the PR firm needed to be able to highlight how our work is beneficial to the planet and our environment.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Firecracker was brought on to oversee our PR initiatives, increase our media coverage, thus improving the ‘third party credibility’ of our company. Their team writes thought leadership articles and press releases. For each of these articles, they need to do extensive research. Usually, we help with the research because often these articles are 1,000-2,000 words in length.

Firecracker then pitches these press releases or stories to trade publications and/or mainstream media outlets. After the piece has been published, our team can then highlight the stories in the “Newsroom” section of our website. After that, we use the content to further promote our company on LinkedIn and Twitter. None of this would be possible without Firecracker.

They have also helped with our social media strategy. They have collected relevant hashtag holidays for us which have helped with our strategic content calendar. These hashtags holidays help us to join a conversation that is naturally and organically happening online. For example, they were instrumental in ensuring we launched content that was aligned with #internationalwomensday. 

What is the team composition?

Edward (Founder & Managing Partner) is our lead, Jennifer (Client Success Manager) manages our relationships, and Len (Media Relations) is the journalist who created our thought leadership pieces and press releases.

How did you come to work with Firecracker PR?

I inherited the partnership. I joined my company last year, and Firecracker PR was already their agency of choice. From what I understand, my company chose to work with them because they were impressed with their work and they offered a reasonable price.

How much have you invested with them?

We spend about $10,000 a month with them. Since the project began before I was brought on board, I would estimate that we’ve spent between $180,000–$240,000 in total.

What is the status of this engagement?

I started working with my company in September 2020 and our partnership is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement? 

Thanks to Firecracker PR, we’ve seen significant growth in our media coverage. We’ve probably doubled our reach thanks to the broad media coverage they’ve helped us to get – and we continue to get more and more interest from third-party journalists working for a wide variety of publications. Because of Firecracker PR’s work, we have also been featured on some major podcasts.

How did Firecracker PR perform from a project management standpoint?

They provide us with weekly and monthly reports. Once I stepped in, they began providing us with robust media monitoring reports; this was a process and reporting system that we developed together. Firecracker PR is great at keeping us updated on ongoing media coverage. As a team, we utilize a status update report – which is essentially an activity tracker – as well as the aforementioned Media Coverage Report.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They’re able to meet deadlines quickly. They never drop the ball.

Are there any areas they could improve?

I don’t think Firecracker PR needs to change anything. Instead, I think my team maybe needed to be instructed as to how to do a better job of simplifying our company’s highly technical story and sharing it with a much broader audience.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Don’t be afraid to really simplify what it is your company does so that Firecracker PR can best help you t share your story with a broad audience. Think about your storytelling endeavors – your story should resonate with a ninth-grade audience or with your grandparents. Potential customers can help Firecracker PR by simplifying your company’s story – especially if this is highly technical information – and making sure those details are digestible. I think a lot of companies forget the importance of communicating back to their PR agency – and that’s a huge mistake. Communication goes both ways and you’ll get the most out of an agency if you collaborate and help them their job.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

My company, Sand Studio, is a developer and publisher for mobile device management (MDM) software solutions. We launched our B2B product called AirDroid Business back in 2018, and we decided to turbo-charge the brand awareness of the product. I am Head of Business Operations for AirDroid Business, overlooking the sales, marketing, and service teams.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Firecracker PR?

Firecracker PR was known for PR services for the It industry. We were able to learn several success cases done by Firecracker PR. We decided to have Firecracker PR take charge of public relations in the US for our B2B software product - AirDroid Business. The monthly retainer services included monthly press releases, blog article composition, contributed article composition and pitching, and maintenance of Quora posts.

What were your goals for this project?

While AirDroid has already been a very well known brand in the consumer space, we wanted the AirDroid Business brand to catch up and penetrate among businesses of all sizes who needed a software solution for remote Android device management. For every feature we newly announced and any verticles we wanted to tackle, we expected Firecracker PR to help us shorten the path in terms of brand awareness.

SOLUTION

How did you select Firecracker PR?

We spoke with several other PR agencies during our survey for the most suitable one. The reason why we landed on Firecracker PR was that they were experienced with the IT industry and had a portfolio that proved their expertise.

After a full presentation for their unique Five-Step Ignites Program by the CEO, Edward, we knew that there was no need to look elsewhere. As a company that had never done PR before, Firecracker PR was also willing to work with our initial budget and the outcome of their work was worth way more than the dollars we paid.

Describe the project in detail.

The scope of work was very straightforward. When we just got on board, it did not take Firecracker PR very long to learn our industry, company, and product. Off a monthly retainer, they had been working very closely with our marketing team and stay aligned with our dynamics and market strategies.

They helped us compose press releases (picked up by hundreds of online media), contributed articles (published by many well-known media in various verticles), blog articles that gained a good amount of traffic, and they even got us on one of the most popular tech podcast "This Week In Enterprise Tech" as a special guest.

What was the team composition?

Initially, it was the CEO, Edward, who discussed the strategies and the scope of work with us. After everything was agreed upon, Edward handed the project to our dedicated project manager as our primary point of contact. As far as we knew, there was another team member who had been actively pitching the media with our stories and another who helped monitor our website SEO performance.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Can you share any outcomes from the project that demonstrate progress or success?

To see is to believe - the work done says it all! If anyone searches for "AirDroid Business" on Google, there are pages of results of mentions and pick-ups by hundreds of media. All these exposures gave us true confidence in terms of market status when our prospective customers do any background check on us. 

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

The communication was excellent! We were provided weekly and monthly reports and conference calls took place when necessary. Due to the time difference (we are in Asia), email was our primary communication tool, but we usually received next-day responses with things fully interpreted and answered. During the project, when there were things that needed to be escalated, we were able to reach their CEO directly on Skype when necessary.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

We understand that the biggest challenge a PR firm has is having to quickly understand customers' industries, companies, products, and goals. While Firecracker PR has been serving the IT industry for over a decade, we had our uniqueness that the firm needed to learn - and they did it in an impressively short amount of time.

Throughout the year of the service, we spent a minimal amount of time training them to learn our new product features and market strategies. Instead, we spent the most time seeing the publications go live and spread. Occasionally when we saw things that needed to be adjusted, they were able to shift in no time.

Are there any areas for improvement?

Honestly, I don't want to just fill in this blank because I'm asked to do so. It was super pleasant working with Firecracker PR. We would be very willing to continue working with them if COVID-19 didn't slow down our business.