Channel V Media

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

I am the Head of Marketing, USA of GFT

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

GFT is a global digital transformation company that was founded over 35 years ago in Stuttgart, Germany, and now has a presence in more than 20 markets around the world.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What specific goals or objectives did you hire Channel V Media to accomplish?

• We brought on Channel V Media to build out our company’s brand recognition in the U.S. At first, I was considering hiring both a media agency for our brand as a whole, as well as a brand specialist to focus specifically on building a profile for our CEO for the Americas. I wanted to be sure that both initiatives received equal attention.
• Our CEO already had an established profile in Brazil and throughout Latin America, but we needed to generate the same level of recognition for him in the U.S. as our brand grew.
• Finding an agency to handle our PR was my main priority, but one that could offer both PR and social media services was a huge advantage.

SOLUTION

How did you find Channel V Media?

Online Search

Why did you select Channel V Media over others?

• High ratings
• Great culture fit
• Company values aligned
• Industry expertise

How many teammates from Channel V Media were assigned to this project?

2-5 Employees

Describe the scope of work in detail. Please include a summary of key deliverables.

We hired Channel V Media as our agency of record for the U.S. They were brought on to handle our PR, as well as social media content creation for our North America account, our CEO Americas, and our U.S. CRO. Our objectives were to build our company’s presence from the ground up in U.S. media, and establish our CEO and other executives as thought leaders.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What were the measurable outcomes from the project that demonstrate progress or success?

We’ve seen a complete 180 turnaround in our U.S. awareness since hiring Channel V Media. Our CEO of the Americas and our brand as a whole was largely unknown before working with CVM, but that’s changed with the consistent cadence of press coverage that they’ve driven for us. 

They’ve been able to create awareness around every initiative I’ve brought forward to them, but what I appreciate even more than that is their ability to act as an advisor on which topics will get the most exposure in the media and which won’t. One of the most important benchmarks for me is making sure that our CEO of the Americas is happy with how and to what extent GFT is represented in the media. CVM has exceeded expectations on that front over and over again.

Describe their project management. Did they deliver items on time? How did they respond to your needs?

Channel V Media accommodates the communication methods that best suit our team. For priority media requests and opportunities, for example, they communicate with us via messaging app to ensure an immediate response. Someone from the team is always available to us around the clock, which is helpful for a global company that is often working across multiple time zones. 

We are in constant communication with each other throughout the week, and carve out additional time for a weekly check in every Friday during which time they update me on everything they’re working on, and what’s coming up.

What was your primary form of communication with Channel V Media?

• In-Person Meeting
• Virtual Meeting
• Email or Messaging App

What did you find most impressive or unique about this company?

I started my search by speaking to 20 different media agencies. From there, I narrowed it down to five based on their caliber of accomplishments including client history, media network and relationships, and track record of high-quality press coverage. What ultimately gave Channel V Media the upper hand was that they not only checked off all of these boxes, but they also proved that they could deliver on my goals for GFT as a brand and for our CEO of the Americas. 

It was also clear to me that of the top agencies I narrowed it down to, Channel V Media was the only one that had actually done research on our company and reflected it in their proposal. Kieran and Gretel’s knowledge about both the media industry and the B2B technology space have been evident to me since the first time I spoke with them. 

Kieran’s experience in the finance world is extremely important to us as a publicly listed company, and Gretel has years of knowledge of the press and the media landscape, and how things will be received. We’ve also had a good rapport in all of our interactions since day one. I’ve never felt like we’re just another client account for Channel V Media because they make it clear that they share our goals and long term vision, and are adamant about bringing them to life.

Are there any areas for improvement or something Channel V Media could have done differently?

As our relationship has evolved, Channel V Media has adjusted their team structure to make sure that the right person is always working on the initiative(s) that will generate the biggest impact. I’m glad that at this point in our relationship, we’ve gotten into a good rhythm where I know who is responsible for overseeing what, and I feel confident that they’re the best individual for the job.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

I am the Head of PR and Social Media of Sopra Banking Software

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

Banking software

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What specific goals or objectives did you hire Channel V Media to accomplish?

• Grow our media presence in North America
• Grow our international media presence

SOLUTION

How did you find Channel V Media?

Online Search

Why did you select Channel V Media over others?

• High ratings
• Great culture fit
• Company values aligned

How many teammates from Channel V Media were assigned to this project?

2-5 Employees

Describe the scope of work in detail. Please include a summary of key deliverables.

We hired Channel V Media as our U.S. public relations agency of record to lead our corporate communications strategy in the U.S. As a Paris-based company, we wanted to expand our media presence beyond Europe and into the U.S. We were looking specifically to PR to grow the presence of our brand and technology stateside and empower the voices of our leaders.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What were the measurable outcomes from the project that demonstrate progress or success?

At a high level, if you do a Google search for SBS we’re much more prominent in the news than we’ve ever been–specifically in U.S media as well as financial, banking and auto trade media. And this only continues to grow the more we work with CVM. With CVM, we’ve grown the U.S. presence of our SBS executives, including our CEO Eric B. and Head of Asset & Consumer Finance James P., and have expanded their breadth of expertise in the media. 
They’re now considered industry experts by U.S. media, and we’re increasingly seeing media proactively reach out for their expertise on financial, banking and auto finance topics. They’re also regularly providing their unique POV on industry topics through thought leadership articles. From an internal perspective, our senior leadership team is very happy with the results from the team and the way our brand presence has grown in the U.S. 
In fact, we’ve been so impressed with them that we’ve expanded our work together beyond the U.S., to other English-speaking countries. We continue to put the trust of our brand in them–they know how to tell our story.

Describe their project management. Did they deliver items on time? How did they respond to your needs?

I’d consider CVM our second brain. They are there to keep us on track, but also work autonomously where they’re not looking to us to move forward on initiatives. They have a very structured way of running accounts, which we really appreciate. We have weekly calls, where we discuss what happened the week prior and what’s on deck for the coming weeks. We also use this time to brainstorm together. 
These calls bring the human touch to our partnership, and have helped us to build a strong partnership. As a large organization, we’ve introduced the team to many people over the past two years for a variety of initiatives. Once we make initial introductions, the team will own the relationship from there for the current initiative and future ones. They have truly become an extension of our team.

What was your primary form of communication with Channel V Media?

• Virtual Meeting
• Email or Messaging App

What did you find most impressive or unique about this company?

Consistency. From the moment we started working together nearly two years ago there hasn’t been a time where we didn’t have consistent momentum. The team is always bringing us ideas and creating stories to get us in the media, even when we don’t have a specific piece of news to share. And when we do have news, they’re always able to make it tell a bigger story about who SBS is–even if it's a smaller piece of news. 
They’re not reliant on our team to constantly offer them news and story ideas, instead they’re proactively bringing opportunities to us. Our press coverage is reflective of CVM’s impactful storytelling and creative ideas.

Are there any areas for improvement or something Channel V Media could have done differently?

There aren’t any that I can think of. We really enjoy working with them.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

I am the VP of Marketing of Infragistics

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

Infragistics provides the world’s largest enterprises with tools and solutions to accelerate application design and development and foster team collaboration.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What specific goals or objectives did you hire Channel V Media to accomplish?

• Create awareness for Infragistics
• Increase the visibility of our founder and other key executives
• Introduce our products to the media in a meaningful way
• Outpace our competitors in the media
• Highlight our partnerships

SOLUTION

How did you find Channel V Media?

Referral

Why did you select Channel V Media over others?

• High ratings
• Pricing fit our budget
• Great culture fit
• Referred to me
• Company values aligned

How many teammates from Channel V Media were assigned to this project?

2-5 Employees

Describe the scope of work in detail. Please include a summary of key deliverables.

We hired Channel V Media as our public relations agency of record to lead our corporate communications strategy. Our goals were to grow awareness of Infragistics and our products, and raise the profile of our CEO and Founder. We also tapped CVM to launch our newest product, Slingshot, into the market and generate inbound leads through features in business, technology and trade outlets.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What were the measurable outcomes from the project that demonstrate progress or success?

Channel V Media has created more brand awareness for our company and all of our products. We monitor our competitors’ press and we are much more well-known by the media. Our CEO is also getting a lot of recognition in the market and we are seeing many opportunities come through this awareness.

We’ve had other software companies reach out to us and ask who is doing our PR, after seeing feature articles about Infragistics and our overall heavy cadence of press. This carries a lot of weight for us, that people in our business community are noticing that we’re successful in the media.

We’ve had internal PR teams in the past but Channel V Media has multiplied the results and gotten our brand much higher-level exposure. We had never gotten coverage in large mainstream and business publications before working with the CVM team. Channel V Media has created news and buzz for us within the industry.

They initiated a joint press release with Microsoft when we first started working with them, when in the past we had only been able to get a quote from the Microsoft team. This made our competitors wake up and notice us.

In the last three years, we have had 440+ press hits. We saw immediate success with CVM too–in the first month they secured 18 press hits. This is really impressive given that most of the press coverage is driven by their ability to come up with new angles and ideas.

The creativity that they bring to the table enables us to turn our company initiatives into much larger stories and elevate our brand. In the past twelve months we’ve been getting more backlinks than ever before. Our SEO has grown significantly and we’ve reached our inbound marketing objectives.

Describe their project management. Did they deliver items on time? How did they respond to your needs?

We have weekly meetings with the team to share updates from both sides, and we also use the time to brainstorm ideas and plan. We have a spreadsheet that tells us what’s going on that specific week, as well as a 3-month timeline that offers a detailed look into everything the team is working on for the upcoming months.

The team is quick to update this as plans change, as well. Everything is very well thought out and their structure allows us to strategize and ensure nothing falls through the cracks as we move along.

What was your primary form of communication with Channel V Media?

• In-Person Meeting
• Virtual Meeting
• Email or Messaging App

What did you find most impressive or unique about this company?

The way they work brings creativity and uniqueness to our brands. They write and create material that’s on brand and we can use what they produce not only for PR, but also for our marketing materials. They've really built our CEO as a brand in his own right and highlighted his unique philosophy in the media.

Their work is always fresh, innovative and forward thinking. We don’t have sexy brands, but Channel V Media rises to the challenge of taking our B2B products and creating buzz around them in a way that I don’t think another PR agency could achieve. Any agency can write a press release, but creating momentum in the media and getting a ton of earned press is much more difficult and it's something that Channel V Media is very good at.

Are there any areas for improvement or something Channe could have done differently?

No, we just love working with them. We want to find more ways to work together.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I’m the Product Marketing Manager at Breezometer. We’re a climate technology company that delivers street-level environmental insights to consumers and brands in 100+ countries.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Channel V Media , and what were your goals?

We hired Channel V Media as our B2B and Consumer public relations agency of record when we expanded into the US. Channel V Media led our US communications strategy, handling market positioning, brand awareness , and demand generation through earned media.

Our goals were to become the go-to source of air quality data for consumers, draw the attention of companies that create consumer-facing products that are influenced by–or address–environmental factors, and generate inbound leads through features in national consumer, business, technology and trade outlets.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

I worked with Channel V Media at a previous company, which was responsible for introducing artificial intelligence into the mainstream business conversation back in 2016. AI was unknown back then and media outlets were very skeptical about validating its applications in everyday business.

CVM was able to create compelling and accessible narratives that broke through to these media outlets and paved the way for AI to become the ubiquitous conversation it is today.

So, when I joined BreezoMeter years later, I suggested we engage Channel V Media to do the same for us, as our space was similarly unfamiliar. Leadership initially went with another agency that charged a lower retainer, but after not seeing results, I was finally able to bring Channel V Media on board.

Describe the scope of their work in detail, including any steps and the final deliverables.

Channel V Media was hired as our PR agency of record for North America. They handle our corporate communications, media relations, press releases and advise on every aspect of our external communications.

How many people from the vendor's team worked with you, and what were their positions?

There are 5 team members on our account including Gretel Going, President and Kieran Powell EVP.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Prior to working with CVM, we worked with two other agencies, both of which expressed a lot of excitement around our story, but were not able to transform that enthusiasm into press coverage.

CVM was the first agency that was able to instinctually turn the details of our product offering and business model into storylines that caught the media’s attention. It’s important to note that at the beginning of our engagement, the media was not yet writing about climate technology.

CVM had to first educate outlets on the emerging category and its importance, and then quickly capitalize on their curiosity. They did this through real-world narratives about the role our technology was playing in consumers’ lives through the various lifestyle, health and digital products they use everyday.

Through these efforts, CVM generated interest for BreezoMeter, as well as climate technology as a whole, from major media outlets, including Techcrunch, The New York Times, CNBC, CNET, Forbes, Fox Business, New York Post, The Washington Post, WWD, USA Today and Fast Company.

CVM’s methodical planning process particularly impressed us. They focused heavily on developing our positioning and the messages we needed to put out in the media to drive the right audience behaviors.

They knew exactly what stories they wanted to tell before telling them, and identified what they needed in order to secure the headlines we wanted. We ultimately adopted this messaging for use in our investor conversations and across marketing channels.

Our CEO had created a vision board of the media outlets he wanted to be in, not thinking that all of them were actually possible. CVM stepped up to the challenge and was able to come up with story angles to get us into every single one of them.

We had also set an internal goal of increasing website traffic by 20%. Channel V Media helped us surpass this goal in the first month of working together.

Describe their project management style, including communication tools and timeliness.

Excellent. They created a timeline for how our story would unfold as a series of media placements over time, and assigned coverage goals to each initiative they recommended. In addition to big-picture planning, we have weekly meetings to discuss the previous week’s progress and the upcoming week’s activity.

Finally, CVM took the initiative to work with different departments within our company when they needed insight into certain topics (such as the science behind our technology) for thought leadership and commentary opportunities.

What did you find most impressive or unique about this company?

Channel V Media secured coverage for every topic they recommended. In my experience it’s rare for a PR agency to recommend a topic, execute on it, and secure coverage consistently. In fact, I know that many CMOs approach hiring a PR firm cautiously, assuming that there’s no way they’ll be able to guarantee results.

This wasn’t an option for me as my marketing goals were dependent on PR achieving what it set out to do. With our prior two agencies, there was a lot of effort, but no results.

Are there any areas for improvement or something they could have done differently?

No

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am the CMO of Bold Commerce. We're a B2B SaaS ecommerce technology company focused on the checkout experience. We're helping brands sell more, in more places with a customizable suite of checkout, subscriptions and price rules.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Channel V Media , and what were your goals?

While we were a household name in the Shopify ecosystem, we needed to build awareness and create demand in new markets, with new audiences. We hired Channel V Media as an extension to our marketing team for Corporate Communications, PR and media relations services to help achieve this.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

We vetted several PR agencies that were referred to us, and Channel V Media was chosen for its track record of delivering impressive results for enterprise and growth stage companies. They understood our goals and were thoughtful and creative in their proposed strategy to achieve them.

Describe the scope of their work in detail, including any steps and the final deliverables.

Channel V Media is our full service Corporate Communications and PR agency, delivering ongoing services through strategy and execution. They collaborate and tailor our ongoing PR program - recommending narratives that support the intersection of our key messages with industry newsworthy topics. They bring a strategic and thoughtful approach to securing coverage that matters - with emphasis on client success stories and proprietary data insights to attract interest from national business outlets as well as key retail and vertical trade publications.

Their end to end service covered media briefings and pitches, drafting contributed articles and press releases, and securing high profile commentary opportunities. In addition to driving awareness for our products, they have also driven submissions resulting in coveted industry awards, podcast and speaking engagements, as well as coverage for executive and employer branding profiles.

How many people from the vendor's team worked with you, and what were their positions?

We work directly with Gretel, President and Co-Founder and Kieran, EVP plus a dedicated account team of 3 for day to day execution. We interact with them regularly and through structured weekly sessions. We value how hands on and responsive the team is - relentlessly focused on achieving outcomes that contribute to our goals.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Channel V Media secured over 100 articles/mentions in news and trade outlets in our first year working together. They established us as an authority in checkout - outsizing our market position, showcasing our clients and our insights, and building our reputation as a go to source for relevant industry and trade media conversations. Their impact has far exceeded what we would have been able to accomplish on our own and their partnership has become increasingly valuable in building our reputation with media and prospects.

Describe their project management style, including communication tools and timeliness.

They take a systematic approach to tracking and updates - and come prepared on weekly calls to discuss new opportunities and blockers. They do a great job of staying on top of the details and are super responsive. We work collaboratively in slack for efficiency and in docs - making live updates back and forth. They also do the prep work drafting emails and submissions on our behalf, and are proactive in adjusting plans for pitches and releases when needed. Overall, super impressed with their preparedness and responsiveness.

What did you find most impressive or unique about this company?

They have demonstrated a great mix of knowledge, strategy, creativity, and persistence. They developed a deep understanding of our market and our business. They know our goals and the type of coverage that matters for us. With this they have leveraged that knowledge to identify strategic opportunities to tap into existing conversations and elevate retailers’ awareness of opportunities in checkout - and then to work with us to shape stories that attract media coverage and leads.

Are there any areas for improvement or something they could have done differently?

Channel V Media has been a fantastic partner for us. I would encourage them to continue to challenge our thinking and the role that PR can play in an integrated marketing plan.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I am the VP of growth marketing at Bitrise, a mobile development platform.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Channel V Media?

We needed to address two challenges: employer branding and thought leadership in our industry. 

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Channel V Media serves as our PR agency. They produce press releases, bylines, and stories. They’ve put out our press releases for our Series C funding round, which reached all major tech publications. Channel V Media has helped us get multiple interviews with tech publications, including TechCrunch, which has featured news about our funding and company growth. Channel V Media also monitors our mentions in the press. 

What is the team composition?

We work with three teammates from Channel V Media, including the account executive, executive VP, and co-founder. 

How did you come to work with Channel V Media?

When we wanted to scale up our PR efforts, we knew we didn’t have in-house expertise, so we reached out for recommendations. Channel V Media was then recommended to us by someone who’d worked with them before. We made a shortlist of three potential agencies and interviewed all three. We picked Channel V Media because it was evident in our interactions that they’d be more of a strategic partner than just an agency to execute our needs. We needed them to help us figure out how to move forward with the PR work.  

How much have you invested with them?

We invest around $12,500 a month with Channel V Media. 

What is the status of this engagement?

Our engagement with Channel V Media began in January 2021, and it’s ongoing. 

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Our releases and stories are being placed in the right publications, and audiences are engaging with them. Our CEO is regularly featured in several publications, and it’s great that they’ve been featured in TechCrunch multiple times. We’ve received several job candidates who now know us as an exciting firm — multiple candidates have mentioned our press releases and Series C funding news during interviews. The Series C funding press release Channel V Media published has generated a significant bump in applicants for core roles. Channel V Media has exceeded our expectations. 

How did Channel V Media perform from a project management standpoint?

Channel V Media has excellent project management. We have weekly standing calls to discuss strategy — ​​Channel V Media acts more like an extension of our own team than an external agency. Their team keeps tabs on every open project and their objective on a Google Sheet, reporting to us on our weekly calls on progress and next steps. Communication between us is constant via Zoom calls and our Slack channel. 

What did you find most impressive about them?

My firm grew from 20 to 200 employees in three years, so we’re constantly changing and continuously developing new capabilities. Channel V Media has really helped us grow and build our capabilities — their team understands our business, and they’re making plans to help us further our goals as a company via our PR. Channel V Media has been a strategic partner since day one — I’ve never experienced this degree of partnership before. 

Are there any areas they could improve?

I can’t think of anything for Channel V Media to improve.  

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

I’d advise customers to go in-depth about company objectives and background with Channel V Media. That information allows them to utilize their expertise to develop a PR strategy. 

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I am an executive director at a union-side labor law firm in Manhattan with 20–22 attorneys and a staff of 10. 

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Channel V Media?

We had a very dated website that didn’t reflect the firm or who we are. We needed Channel V Media to help us better describe our purpose and who we are — we wanted a more attractive and interactive website. 

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Channel V Media designed and developed our website. They started the project by having extensive meetings with us about our existing marketing and infrastructure — they helped us focus on what the firm wanted, who we wanted to reach, and how we wanted to reach our target audience. 

Their team was very good at helping our small committee answer the relevant questions and then meeting with us to show us what we responded to in their initial suggestions. They talked us through how we wanted our homepage to look, user navigation, and landing pages. We also discussed possible downloadable elements.  

We wanted an informative website that gave the biographies of our lawyers and precisely what services we offer — we didn’t just want to attract clients, we wanted to provide enough information so potential clients could determine if we’d be a good fit for their needs. 

The design needed to reflect our firm as one that sides with unions and represents workers, which is what we’ve done for over 40 years. The website language we suggested was critical to us and they integrated it into the design. 

They brought all of our ideas together to define our vision for the firm. Their team then designed the website from scratch around our vision. It was a slow process to finalize the design because there were so many people involved in the decision-making process, but eventually, we signed off on the website design. 

We kept our old hosting service and Channel V Media developed the website after we signed off on the design. They integrated a news area into the site where we could upload news articles about our firm’s successes. 

They also helped with our branding — they helped us redesign our logo and our business cards. Channel V Media also assisted with SEO efforts, put together our mailing list, and helped us with our social media. They also connected us with a photographer who took photos of our team for promotional purposes. 

What is the team composition?

My main point of contact was Gretel (President & Co-Founder), but I also worked with Kieran (Executive Vice President) and a team of developers. 

How did you come to work with Channel V Media?

Channel V Media had a workspace in the building that we also operated out of. Their workspace caught my attention, so I stepped out of the elevator one day and started talking with them. 

We mentioned we were looking for someone to work on our website and liked their portfolio — they were interested, and we went from there. 

How much have you invested with them?

We spent $120,000 in total, or $60,000 a year. 

What is the status of this engagement?

We worked with Channel V Media from July 2018–August 2020.  

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Our entire company loves our new website — we’ve gotten excellent feedback from clients about how informative it is. Other law firms have reached out to inquire about who designed our website because they are impressed with it. 

It’s a very classy, well done, thoughtful website, and we’ve gotten great feedback about each element of the work that Channel V Media completed for us. 

How did Channel V Media perform from a project management standpoint?

They were great at project management — they came in and had in-depth planning sessions to see how we wanted to move forward. It was a very carefully done process and they listened to our feedback. 

They came into our office a lot because we were in the same office building. The Channel V Media team would present deliverables to us as a group during in-person meetings — they were very hands-on. 

What did you find most impressive about them?

It was impressive that they were able to help us focus on exactly who we are as a firm — they came in, met with us, listened to us, and emphasized understanding who we were and what we wanted from them. They understood who we were and were able to reflect that in the deliverables. 

Are there any areas they could improve?

I think they did an excellent job, and if anything, my team could have reacted faster to the work. 

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Potential customers should be very prepared when they first begin the process — we weren’t as prepared, and if we had been, it would’ve made the process quicker. It’s essential for clients to really trust Channel V Media to build their image and understand who they are.