Earned media: screenshot of Platewave on BBC Three
Our client Platewave, the instant messaging service for car owners, received a PR boost via ‘earned media’ yesterday when it was featured on BBC Three programme Tyger Takes On, presented by Outnumbered star Tyger Drew-Honey.
In this third and final show of the series, Tyger explored Love in the modern world. As the show’s description put it, ‘Tyger is single and looking for love, so he is joining the million-plus young adults who have signed themselves up to online dating in search of a relationship.’
It may seem odd that an app designed for car drivers would be profiled in a television programme about love, but it is not if you know the story of Platewave’s first PR success.
In late February and early March of this year Platewave gained global coverage as an app women could use to message millionaire supercar drivers as they drove past. The story started with a very popular piece in the Mail Online Femail section (including some great photos of Platewave directors posing in front of Porsches and Ferraris). It then spread to Time magazine in the US, Yahoo! Brazil, Bild in Germany, and even several untranslatable Chinese websites.
Thousands of people downloaded the Platewave app within twenty-four hours of the story breaking (many of whom appeared to be women hoping to meet a supercar driver themselves). Established as a ‘Tinder for cars’ in the minds of many journalists, it was just a matter of time before this paid dividends in earned media for Platewave.
In early May a BBC Three production manager emailed Imp Communications to get permission to feature Platewave in yesterday’s broadcast. We were assured it would not be shown in any negative light. Were we willing?
Of course we were! Platewave’s directors were delighted. This was ‘unearned’ earned media they had not been expecting.
A lot of hoops had to be jumped before Platewave’s appearance on the screens of millions of viewers could be confirmed. First, Platewave had to make the final cut of the show. Once we received the good news that they had, there were still a series of documents that had to be signed and returned. Finally, after a dozen emails and a month of waiting, Platewave enjoyed its glorious earned media in a rundown of various different smartphone apps that could be used for dating.
Being on television, however briefly, is not just a publicity boost for Platewave. It is a credibility boost too. Before the rise of the internet the power of the printed word was magical. ‘If it’s in print it must be true!’ was a maxim for many. Now that publications have unlimited online pages, and anyone can start a blog in a matter of minutes, that magic has been lost. But national television programmes still carry the voice of authority that print once had. Appearing on a BBC programme is a rare honour for a startup app, and that rarity makes it powerful. This makes it one of the most valuable types of earned media Platewave can get.
One more thing before we go. We would be remiss if we did not thank the anonymous blogger known to the world as Marketing Chap (or sometimes as Mark Etingchap) for recommending Imp Communications to the Platewave board when they came to him asking for advice just under a year ago. At the time we were just setting Imp Communications up, so his help was extremely welcome. He is well known in the marketing blogosphere as an extremely generous person, and we hope some day that we can repay the favour. Thank you!