Vericast: Data’s Role in Up-Leveling Vericast in the Media
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Introduction
Data’s Role in Up-Leveling Vericast in the Media
Vericast is a leading marketing solutions company that helps businesses connect with consumers through data, analytics, and a broad portfolio of digital, print and payment offerings. It works with thousands of brands across multiple industries such as financial, retail, grocery, restaurant, among others. This year, the PAN and Vericast team made it their mission to focus media goals on quality of coverage over quantity. As part of this mission, the team focused on adding top tier business press to their list of defined media outlets. Knowing that quality opportunities would come from contributing to the trending conversations dominating headlines in these outlets, the two teams collaborated on developing consumer insights to support reporters’ ongoing coverage of inflation.
PAN leveraged its relationship with Dynata to produce Vericast branded data on consumer behavior amid inflation — data that notably was then leveraged by NBC’s Today. Vericast and PAN collaborated to solidify topics and questions to collect media-worthy data and responses that aligned with Vericast’s expertise. The data landed several additional articles and helped the team achieve the goal of securing top tier broadcast coverage.
Based on our company’s expertise in consumer behavior and data-driven marketing, we wanted Vericast to have an ongoing voice in media conversations that were of national importance, such as inflation and the pandemic. Working with PAN Communications, we identified natural opportunities to insert Vericast into these conversations. In doing so, we have elevated media interest, garnered sustained visibility among national outlets, and improved the reach and quality of coverage.
The Challenge
Attracting the Attention of Top-Tier Media Outlets
Breaking through on marketing topics is increasingly challenging as a vendor in the martech space, considering that in just the past 10 years, the number of marketing technology vendors has grown from 350 to almost 10,000. This is in addition to newsrooms rapidly decreasing. Pew Research Center reports that between 2008 and 2020, newsroom employment fell by 26%, making it harder in general to grab the attention of the limited staff that remains.
For privately held businesses like Vericast, attracting the attention of top tier media outlets is more difficult than ever requiring creativity and expertise to break through. PAN’s mission was to illustrate that Vericast can be a valuable resource for business media by providing expertise on evolving trends, consumer insights, and how brands should approach ever-changing consumer behavior.
The Solution
On a quarterly basis, the Vericast team at PAN gauge the pulse of consumers by conducting a 10-question survey issued by Dynata focusing on trending topics like inflation. Through these surveys, data and insights are collected, analyzed, and used for pitching top tier and broadcast outlets.
By leveraging data from Dynata, PAN was able to offer Vericast branded insights to reporters and develop original content on behalf of Vericast.
Dynata Research
As part of the research process, PAN conducted a media audit of trending headlines, topics, and competing data to identify the best way to create an impact with survey data.
In one example this year, PAN conducted a survey to illustrate how inflation is impacting consumer spending and saving patterns. Questions in this consumer inflation study resulted from a collaborative brainstorming session with the Vericast team, as well as research into the topics reporters most cared about regarding consumer marketing and spending.
Survey data on consumer inflation was published in a press release. It notably found that that 50% of consumers and most Millennials report that making spending decisions along with rising prices due to inflation are negatively impacting their mental health, with many also stating that inflation is influencing their decision to seek the appropriate care. By examining this data, Vericast was able to discuss how brands should stay top-of-mind with consumers, and how to help them tackle financial challenges during inflationary times.
Content Development
PAN did its due diligence by conducting a media audit of trending headlines, topics, and competing data, to identify the best way to create an impact with the data. The team leveraged the data to develop a press release that dug deeper into the narrative of how inflation is affecting consumers and what this means for brands and retailers. Our team also wove this unique data into several relevant byline and commentary opportunities.
Media Relations
PAN conducted embargo and day-of outreach for the consumer inflation data and press release by targeting verticalized trade publications and top tier business reporters. Verticalized pitches focused on restaurant loyalty amid restaurants reporting less customers, retail shopping behaviors while prices are inflated, grocery prices and how brands can reduce this burden, the role of coupons and discounts in developing consumer relationships, how consumers are going about their personal finances, the impact of inflation on mental health, and the opportunity for store brands, which tend to be the cheaper option. The aforementioned media audit not only helped develop the hook of our pitches that would resonate best with the reporters writing about this array of topics, but it also helped identify which reporters and outlets to pitch.
PAN supplemented this research with knowledge of the reporters and outlets typically interested in Vericast data. PAN’s relationship with The Food Institute proved to be exceptionally valuable, which started with a podcast interview the agency secured between Chris Campbell and Julie Companey, Director at Vericast in 2020. Since then, PAN has facilitated an additional podcast episode, 10 email interviews, and garnered 13 articles for Vericast on The Food Institute.
Prior to releasing the consumer inflation survey, PAN secured embargo interest from a reporter at The Food Institute who accepted the embargo and provided questions that dug deeper into it. The team had Dave Cesaro, retail, and consumer behavior expert at Vericast, respond to the questions.
The Food Institute included the data and commentary in an article the day of the release and shortly after the data was picked up by national television show NBC’s Today.
The Impact
A steady cadence of timely data hooked into trending topics
To-date Vericast has received 18 articles from multiple media categories such as food, business, marketing, grocery, among others for an estimated total reach of about 170 million. The data helped PAN pitch and secure several media interviews/ commentary opportunities and was woven into other related media opportunities. Mentions of the data can be found on The Food Institute, Smart Brief, Winsight Grocery Business, Coupons in the News, MarTech Vibe, Multichannel Merchant, Fast Casual, Restaurant Observer, Restaurant Giant, Authority Magazine, and more.
The most notable piece of coverage was on NBC’s Today. NBC senior consumer investigative correspondent Vicky Nguyen directly mentioned The Food Institute article and called out the data from Vericast on-air. This segment aired on TV, is hosted on the Today website (UVM: 60,874,727) and was tweeted out to their 4.2 million twitter followers. The tweet received 7 retweets, 6 quote tweets, and 30 likes.
Overall Results
Analyzing the year-to-date results of the overall data-driven approach – including two additional quarterly surveys – the team has secured 49 total pieces of coverage, including from top-tier publications such as CNBC, MSN, Yahoo! and Barron’s, all of which have never covered Vericast prior. Having a steady cadence of timely data hooked into trending topics most important to Vericast’s business has allowed the team to uplevel the quality of coverage secured – naturally resulting in an increase of inbound media interest and organic pick-ups from new media logos as well.
In the last year or so, the team here at PAN has worked with Vericast to up-level the quality of coverage Vericast receives. On top of consistent thought leadership outreach, we regularly conduct research projects that have proven to be valuable to our efforts to reach a more business and top tier audience. PAN’s partnership with Dynata equips us with the tools we need to do so.
