For start-up companies, it’s often difficult to get the attention of mainstream media. If you don’t yet have a track record or marquee clients, it’s hard to convince the media that you are worth paying attention to. It’s always good practice to examine all the ‘news assets’ that your company has – the product, the people, the environment, the partners, the customers etc. It could be a CEO’s quirky hobby that gets him included in a New York Times article, an office that was converted from an old gas station, a software developer that used to be a ballroom dancer. Sometimes you have to take a winding path to get to the destination that you are looking for.
Sheldon Gilbert is the founder and CEO of Proclivity Systems, the developers of the Proclivity platform, and one of our clients. Proclivity is a predictive engine that can anticipate and forecast consumer shopping behaviors online - essentially predicting what people are going to by, when and at what price. He is profiled in this month’s Men’s Vogue in a section called ‘Life Studies’ in an article entitled The Start-Up CEO (p. 164).
Although the story includes details on the company and it’s flagship product, Proclivity Mail, the outlet is still Vogue. Sheldon participated in a photoshoot with photographer Julian Dufort, and was dressed to the nines by fashion editor Justin Arroyo. The writer, Michael Mraz, explored Sheldon’s personal history from his birth in St. Lucia to his studies at Yale and the career path that led him to write an algorithm that became the foundation of the company’s technology. He also had Sheldon share some of his favorite objects from his past and present to be included in the story.
Although Vogue may not be a direct path to Proclivity’s target audience, it has a broad circulation and reaches are large number of influencers in the fashion industry. (Proclivity is focusing on large online retailers as part of its sales efforts.) In this case, leveraging Sheldon’s dynamic background, personal appeal and fashion sense, made him a great fit for Vogue. Surely, a product-focused pitch would not have gotten the editor’s attention.
{ 0 comments… add one now }