DATA-DRIVEN PR
FOR B2B TECHNOLOGY.
Strategic Planning
Media Relations
Thought Leadership
Social Media
ABOUT US
We are a San Francisco-based B2B technology communications agency, driven by analytics. We provide a new and better way of thinking about your brand and how to best run an effective communications program that not just delivers results, but ties back to your company’s business objectives. Our passion is working with leading-edge, disruptive technologies.
Our approach is always focused on top-tier visibility – quality over quantity. We believe in leveraging our top-tier media relationships to tell your story. It’s about telling the right story at the right time in front of the right audience.
WE'RE DIFFERENT AND BETTER THAN THE TRADITIONAL AGENCY
We don’t operate like a typical agency because the old model is broken and doesn’t work anymore.
Instead, we’re led by a senior team of communication advisors with decades of experience guiding numerous clients across tech sectors - both as internal team members and agency-side.
We’re strategic advisors, but we roll up our sleeves to work alongside your team on precision execution once the right strategy is in place. We prefer to operate as internal members of the team.
We focus on the right things that will really move the needle for your business - and will give you our honest opinion about what will work, what to avoid - based on experience, and what to focus on to “put enough wood” behind our marketing communication arrows to hit the mark.
We don’t waste our client executives’ time, but use it strategically when we need their point of view, input and buyoff - then we take the ball and run with it (there’s minimal “baby-sitting” for us).
We avoid “over-administration” of our communication programs - for instance, we don’t have to have weekly hour-long calls and assign your team a lot of homework, and we focus on active opportunities and close them out vs. having activity grids that never seem to close out, move on.
We really care that your executives are fully prepared to succeed - whether it be a media interview, an analyst briefing or a speech or event to allure prospects or charm influencers.
With us, there’s no “bait and switch” - if we sign up and commit to your business, you’ll have at least one (if not three) senior advisors who execute for you, all with 15-20+ years of experience instead of having a junior team trying to drive the effort.
We pride ourselves on ingraining ourselves in your business, understanding it inside and out, and thinking about the “small PR box” to strategies and tactics that will raise visibility, drive differentiation and preference and generate incoming prospect and partner leads.
TEAM
Scott Samson
Founder & CEO
Scott has 20 years of tech marketing and PR experience, spanning both B2B and consumer within mobile, enterprise software, hardware, social, cloud services, ad tech, security and cleantech. He was recognized as Top Executive of the Year by Business Intelligence Group’s 2016 Marketing Excellence Awards. Previous to SamsonPR, Scott was VP of Global Marketing and Communications at Quixey and Head of Communications, North America at Criteo.
Chris Knight
Senior Advisor, Content Development and Media Relations
Chris began his career as a writer, photographer and TV producer. Following that, he spent nearly two decades working for big PR shops including GCI Group, Cohn & Wolfe and Ruder Finn. He specializes in surround-sound marketing + PR campaigns, and has worked for global brands and startups, including: BMW, The Bay Citizen, G-Technology, Neato Robotics, Panasonic, SanDisk and Spot Runner.
Tamar Elkeles, Ph.D
Senior Advisor, Employer Branding/Employee Communications
Tamar was most recently the Chief People Officer for a Silicon Valley late stage startup and before that was the Chief Learning Officer at Qualcomm. During her long tenure at Qualcomm she helped grow the organization into one of the most successful companies in the world. There she led the development of Qualcomm’s workforce, scaling the employee base from 700 to 31,000 employees worldwide.
Brad Crespo
Account Manager
Brad is an account manager at SamsonPR and is a highly motivated and creative professional with deep experience and expertise in public relations and integrated marketing communications. Previously, he was a PR Coordinator at Novy Unlimited. He has a Bachelor of Science in Business Communication from Stevenson University.
Mikael Disandro
Operations Manager
Mikael began his career in communications over a decade ago in Los Angeles, under the wings of mentor Val Marmillion at Pacific Visions Communications. Since then, he has worked in Washington, D.C. and around the world, working for clients in tech, government and public education, as well as the advertising, film and media industries.
Scott Horowitz
Senior Advisor, Social Media
Scott is an infectiously creative senior marketer adept in defining and executing marketing strategies that transform and grow organizations. Broad experience as an integrated marketer with particular expertise in events, brand activation, campaigns and social media. Recognized as an innovative thinker with a pragmatic style who motivates teams to increase revenue and improve processes.
CLIENT SUCCESS STORIES
Jumpshot Success Story
Challenge:
Jumpshot was accelerating growth and brought in a new head of marketing to roll out improved messaging and positioning. As part of this effort, there was very little quality media coverage on message. There was a need for tier 1 media coverage in tech, business and trade publications to raise awareness of the company’s solutions, enable the sales team with high quality coverage and ultimately drive leads.
Solution:
Developed and launched a strategic PR program focused on 1) building a strong narrative and POV in the market, 2) building high-profile media relationships, and 3) generating tier 1 media coverage.
Media Coverage Highlights:
Bloomberg Technology (live TV interviews):
4/26/19: Amazon's One-Day Delivery Plan Is Shot Across Bow of Retailers, Jumpshot CEO Says
1/31/19: Amazon's E-Commerce Dominance Will Carry Over Into 2019, Jumpshot CEO Says
12/17/18: What to Expect From Amazon in 2019
11/28/18: How China Trade Tensions Are Impacting Holiday Retail Sales
10/25/18: Why Amazon's Earnings May Be Cause for Concern
9/19/18: Amazon and Google Are Converging on Ad Sales, Jumpshot CEO Says
7/17/18: Amazon Prime Day Overview
The Wall Street Journal:
6/16/19: Lyrics Site Accuses Google of Lifting Its Content
5/13/19: The Sum of the Parts of STEM Toys Can Equal a Giant Mess
4/29/19: Alphabet Investors Search for Clues Inside Tech Giant
4/4/19: Amazon's Rise in Ad Search Dents Google's Dominance
The New York Times:
5/14/19: Attention, Amazon Shoppers: Google Wants Some of Your Spending Money
Recode:
12/21/18: Here are some of the most popular shows on Netflix — which may be leaving Netflix soon
10/26/18: Amazon’s booming ad business is both a blessing and a risk
9/10/18 (6.3 million unique visitors per month): Amazon is stuffing its search results pages with ads
Business Insider:
5/14/19: The 30 most popular shows from Netflix and other streaming services in 2019, so far
3/19/19: Netflix loves 10-episode TV seasons and reportedly doesn't see the value in longer original shows
2/12/19: Amazon is launching a live-streaming video version of a home shopping network
1/16/19: NBC says it may eventually pull 'The Office' off Netflix to fuel its own streaming service
3/27/18: This is the fallout from Toys “R” Us’ closing
4/23/18: How Google retains more than 90% of market share
Additional Recent 2019 Coverage:
MediaPost on 6/14/19: Search Traffic Data Yields Insights On Brands, Retailers That Failed At Ecommerce
The Motley Fool on 1/17/19: Can NBC Take On Netflix and Disney With a Free Streaming Service?
Polygon on 1/16/19: Steve Carell’s new show Space Force could be Netflix’s replacement for The Office
SlashGear on 1/16/19: The Office just brought Steve Carell to Netflix for a new show: Space Force
Daily Mail UK on 1/15/19: NBC may pull The Office off Netflix as network prepares to launch rival service in 2020
Screen Rant on 1/14/19: The Defenders Is What Killed Netflix's Marvel Shows
Internet Retailer on 1/9: Holiday 2018 conversion rates—which retailers bucked trends?
AdExchanger on 1/8/19: Nielsen Releases 'Bird Box' Ratings As SVOD Measurement Comes Into Focus
Investor’s Business Daily on 1/8/19: Netflix Bull Has This Idea For Disney On How To Win Streaming Wars
Vox on 1/7/19: Netflix’s upcoming content crisis, in one chart
The Daily Dot on 1/7/19: The surprising reason why Netflix’s future could be in jeopardy
2018 Additional Coverage:
Newsweek on 11/5/18: WHY ISN’T MARVEL’S NETFLIX STRATEGY WORKING?
MarketWatch on 9/9/18: What does your Netflix viewing history reveal about you?
Bloomberg TV on 7/17/18: Amazon Recovers from Prime Day Stumble
AdExchanger on 7/12/18: Intel Analyzes Clickstream Data For A Look Inside The Full Funnel
MediaPost on 6/20/18: Marketers Concerned About Lack Of Data On Consumer Buying Habits
FierceRetail on 6/1/18: Amazon dominates 80% of market
Marketing Land on 5/31/18: Amazon owns more than 90% market share across 5 different product categories [Report]
MediaPost on 5/31/18: Amazon Search Focuses On Its Private Labels
eMarketer on 6/4/18: Amazon Doesn't Dominate Private-Label Sales (Yet)
Internet Retailer on 3/21/18: Amazon dominates the online sales of four major toy brands
Business Insider on 3/27: This is the fallout from Toys “R” Us’ closing
Internet Retailer on 3/5: Mobile shopping surges for Valentine’s Day
RTB House Success Story
Challenge:
SamsonPR began working with RTB House in April of 2018, helping the Poland-based ad retargeting company launch in the US market. As a hot, fast-growing global company, the US market is competitive with a need for market differentiation and brand awareness to stand out.
Solution:
SamsonPR helped to build the US story for RTB House's US launch, and then began building media relationships and generating targeted media coverage. In addition, to help RTB House not just have a dialog, but drive an authentic conversation in the market as an industry leader, SamsonPR planned a State of Ad Tech Media Roundtable in NYC moderated by TechCrunch -- bringing together RTB House executives, major ad players like Google, top brands, retailers and other media including Business Insider, Adweek and ClickZ, among others.
Results:
Some of the US coverage, and bylined articles include:
RTB House Launches Creatives Lab, to Offer High-Performance Dynamic Banners
Cinven Invests in Ad-Tech Outfit RTB House to Further U.S. Growth
Behold a new era of digital marketing in travel
What RTB House plans to do with its new AI Marketing Lab
RTB House Bids on Innovation, Opening AI Marketing Lab
RTB House Launches in U.S. with Ad Retargeting Platform
Tigera Success Story
Challenge:
Tigera was in the process of building out new messaging and positioning for the company, growing the team and accelerating market awareness. The issue – as a fast growing startup, they needed a PR team that serves as an extension of their team to drive big results, create a strong series of announcements and leverage high-level media relationships.
Solution:
SamsonPR was engaged to accelerate market awareness and put Tigera on the map. We leveraged a new funding round to put Tigera in front of Tier 1 media to show their growth and focus. Their number one media target was TechCrunch.
Results:
•Offered exclusive to cover new funding to TechCrunch with 12 million unique monthly visitors, resulting in a great article
•Obtained Tier 1 coverage for Tigera in publications including Fortune’s Term Sheet (36 million UMV), Reuters (6 million UVM), VMblog, Sweetcode and The PE Hub, among many others.
Adopt-a-Pet.com Success Story
Challenge:
Adopt-a-Pet.com is a leading pet adoption website, but operates in a very competitive market with lots of consumer options. Adopt-a-Pet.com wanted to stand out with consumers against PetFinder.
Solution:
SamsonPR developed and launched an ADOPT campaign to raise national awareness for 1) the importance of pet adoption and 2) to drive consumers to use Adopt-a-Pet.com. The campaign brought in artist Shepard Fairey to create an ADOPT image, and rolled that out at a high profile media event with media, celebrities and influencers.
Results:
•Obtained Tier 1 media coverage in media outlets (TV and online) such as PEOPLE, The New York Times, MSNBC, The Today Show, Good Morning America, etc.
•Dramatically increased website traffic and in turn, increased the number of customers – helping Adopt-a-Pet.com hit important revenue figures.
OPEN POSITIONS
VICE PRESIDENT (MEDIA RELATIONS)
Position Available
We are looking for a seasoned senior PR professional that has experience with B2B technology companies. We are an agency that provides senior level strategy and execution - very different than other agency models. As a result, our clients benefit from both a tight strategy and even better results. We serve as an extension of their team.
The VP is responsible for the success of their accounts including overall strategy and positioning, highest level client and media contact, and major events, launches or news.
Must be very hands on to drive strong media results for clients. Tier 1 media relationships across tech, business and various verticals is important, as we build solid relationships between our clients and media.
To apply, please send your resume to info@samsonpr.com.
CONTACT US
315 Montgomery Street, Suite 1023
San Francisco, CA 94104
(415) 448-9876
