Chili Piper, an inbound conversion platform for B2B revenue teams, tasked Crenshaw Communications with developing a media relations strategy to generate awareness for its brand as a leader in sales enablement. Knowledge of barriers to successful sales tech PR, including a limited number of “sales-focused” reporters, led Crenshaw Communications to develop a strategy focused on leveraging founder profiles, workplace culture stories, and entrepreneurial topics to position the company as a socially-continuous global business. One particular campaign, focused on an initiative created to help Ukrainian citizens following Russia’s invasion, garnered hits in top-tier outlets like CNBC, Forbes, and TechCrunch.

Strategy

Sales tech is not covered widely and trade publications focusing on sales tech are limited. To spark interest in Chili Piper, the team knew they would need to look beyond product and technology attributes. The team began with leadership topics and “soft” story angles like founder profiles, workplace culture, values, and entrepreneurial insights.

From there, Crenshaw Communications developed a plan with components that included tailored media relations and thought leadership content to position Chili Piper as a values-driven and socially-conscious global business.

When Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022, displacing tens of thousands of people, the team connected with Romanian-born cofounder Alina Vandenberghe, along with her husband Nicholas, about its significance to Alina and one unique effort to help — an open Google Document with updates on border crossings, transportation, and housing available to those fleeing their homes. Crenshaw Communications quickly launched a media relations campaign around “Resources for People Fleeing Ukraine,” linking it to Alina’s background as an immigrant born in Romania during communist oppression.

Impact

66.7% more coverage generated in 2022 compared to 2021
31 placements in tier-one publications in 2022, compared to 4 in 2021
61% of coverage secured during the first 90 days of the Ukraine initiative includes a link or other messaging

The effort drove high-level coverage of Chili Piper both before and after the Ukraine initiative, always linking it to the founders’ technical prowess, business ethos, and sense of responsibility as leaders who built a global company with people-first values.

Perhaps most importantly, as coverage hit, the humble Google Doc grew. It expanded to include links for housing, employment, medical and trauma support; and legal help in several countries bordering Ukraine. Chili Piper later created a supplier portal called BRIDGE to connect suppliers of humanitarian aid like food and medicine to those in need.

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