Pandora Buzz: Music to Our Ears

Client’s Business Problem
SavageBeast, the company behind the Music Genome Project, was about to change its name to Pandora and launch its first consumer offering.

Strategy
Identify and cultivate potential evangelists: OnPR worked with Pandora to identify potential evangelists for the service. These ranged from bloggers who wrote about music or Web 2.0 services, to high profile individuals in the music and technology business, to fans of specific artists known to appeal to our target. These early potential evangelists were invited to be part of a special preview in advance of the service’s launch. As people began to blog about Pandora, the company’s CTO, a blogger himself, and the company’s founder posted comments on these blogs and sought to engage in dialogue. We deliberately targeted lower profile bloggers with the hope that the story would trickle up.

Seek opportunities to meet evangelists face-to-face: Pandora executives also sought opportunities to show the service to potential evangelists in person. The CTO attended Gnomedex and Bar Camp in an effort to evangelize the service among his peers. The founder attended the College Music Journal (CMJ) music marathon in New York City in part to reach out to potential evangelists in the music industry.

Seek the right exposure, not overexposure: Key journalists were invited to participate in the special preview. These were selected not just because of their influence, but for their passion for music, open mind and intellectual curiosity.