Public relations · 2018 – 2022
Four years on the other side of the table
After two decades of receiving pitches, I co-founded the agency that sent them. PixelShift was Sony's agency of record for its Alpha camera, Xperia smartphone, and Airpeak drone divisions in the United States.
One six-month period, Sony Alpha division
Source: PixelShift earned-media report for Sony Alpha, six-month period. Engagements 176K; average domain authority of covering outlets 66.
The work was the whole media operation.
Launch messaging built with product management, Sony's engineering teams in Japan, and U.S. marketing; press briefings and product-loan logistics for more than 200 outlets; and press experiences designed to show what a specific camera could do in the real world rather than on a spec sheet.
The part I'm proudest of is the reporting that went the other direction. Before and after every launch I wrote market-analysis reports — media sentiment, competitive positioning, audience reception — and translated the U.S. press's technical feedback into something engineering could act on. Journalists tell PR people what's wrong with a product. I made sure the people who could fix it heard.
Knowing both sides has made me a better editor. I can tell when a brief is hiding something, I know what a good embargo looks like, and I know how to ask for the thing a manufacturer doesn't want to give.
- →Product launch messaging and positioning, developed with product management and engineering
- →Press briefings, embargo management, and hands-on press experiences for new cameras, phones, and drones
- →Product-loan logistics across a 200-outlet media list; 50+ YouTube creators and digital outlets onboarded
- →Pre- and post-launch market-analysis reports: sentiment, competitive positioning, audience reception
- →Media-feedback reports translating U.S. press findings into product-development input for Japan