KickstarterForum.org

There has been allegations in our community that Crowd PR has no real case studies. Today, I will investigate this matter, and provide actionable information to support my fellow members to lend a hand on their decision on hiring this marketing public relations firm. We remain vigilante.

First, let us look through the case studies provided on their website: https://crowd.pr/mymug. I submit exhibit A for consideration:



As counsel, I clearly state that this case study is not verifiable. The MyMug kickstarter campaign was hacked by the publicists at this firm, and they placed their collaborator badge on it. They now control the whole crowdfunding platform! My instincts has told me this was true, I prayed on it, and it was laid upon my heart that this allegation is truth. When it comes to business (and not personal matters) it is guilty until proven innocent.

We are now in touch with Crowd PR to resolve this matter, and are asking for a formal apology. Have we worked with them? No. I find their facebook page highly offensive, as is their twitter page. What can we do to get these guys shut down?

I propose a summit of fellow crowdfunding community members. We will hold court and convict them of their crimes and dole out the punishment. Our membership here is strong, and if we unite together I just know we can do it.



These are the single most important factor when it comes to picking the right marketing partner. Reference checks are not of value. What matters most is what the community as a whole thinks of an agency. Without these, we are left in darkness. Reviews are what shed light on how effective someone is. You can’t believe past clients, never fall for that trap.

I found an interest in them, so I took to the internet and did some research. Here is the most interesting of my findings:

https://www.glassdoor.com/Reviews/Crowd ... 497917.htm


There was a bad review about them from a former employee who felt they were not treated right. As far as I am concerned, they are out of the question for us and our company based on that page alone. If an employee is not happy with a company, then what am I supposed to think of them? I will never consider a company who does not have 100% positive feedback from former employees.

It looks like they are actively hiring. They should probably fix the issue that caused an employee to be angry with them before they even think about adding to their team:

https://www.indeed.com/cmp/Crowd-PR/reviews

Funded Today is perhaps the most well known crowdfunding agency. Jellop is right up there too. But how to they stack up against them? Today we will be taking a good hard look at them and the services they provide.

Largest Agencies Ranked by Size:

1. Agency 2.0
2. Funded Today
3. Jellop
4. Matix Labs
5. Crowd PR

They are the only agency who does not provide advertisement and paid media. Funded Today is perhaps the most well known in that sphere. When it comes to crowdfunding marketing, ads are king. Nothing else matters. Public relations is a dying field, and worthless to most campaigns. Don’t get your hopes up that a blogger will write about your campaign. Kickstarter has a terrible rep these days, and journalists are burnt out on writing about them when they fail to deliver rewards.

In terms of who is the top advertiser, it is a tight race between Jellop and Matix Labs. My personal opinion is it’s Jellop due to the impressive case studies, but Matix Labs is on the rise as well. Big disclaimer though, the latter of those 2 runs their own crowdfunding campaigns for products they create - which is a huge conflict of interest. If you are doing any kind of bag, backpack, or gear then it’s best to stay far away from them for your ads.

Agengy 2.0 is more of a full service agency, including product design. They are the best and only option if you need every single area of your campaign managed. But if you can handle some things on your own then you will get more bang for your buck by using different agencies based on what they excel at.

Here are some things to look at when considering to go with Crowd PR:

1. Do they have good case studies?
2. Do they have good references?
3. Do they seem to know what they are talking about?
4. Can you really afford their rate?
5. Have they promoted products that are similar to your own?
6. Are you attracted to them?
7. Are the sparks flying or not?

Follow those simple 7 steps and you will be well on your way making an informed and wise decision. If you wish to become a good leader, then you must study all aspects of marketing and not just the narrow dogmatic view of the advertiser. Learn to know the inner workings of indiegogo and you will be able to save your campaign from certain death. I say that jokingly, but for some entrepreneurs it really is life or death when it comes to reaching your funding goal.

I found a nice link about them that will help point you in the right direction:
https://gizmodo.com/dont-do-this-1797856760

Their website links to an article that claims this:

"A 2014 Nielsen Study concluded that PR is almost 90% more effective than Advertising."

source

Believe me, I don’t care if Adweek or the Queen of England is making that claim. I doubt it and it makes no sense. Ads are the backbone of every single successful campaign. Look at what Peak Design has done in their latest campaign:

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/pe ... -and-sling

Do you think for one second that a dime of that was from PR and not all from FB ads? Don’t make me laugh. You have to spend a small fortune on ads to get to that level, but you make a fortune as a result. Public relations is for controlling what people think about your brand. Celebrities and politicians are what use PR firms, not crowdfunding projects. No one cares what people think of us - all we care about is getting backers. It does not matter to me if millions of people see my product in some blog, what I want is sales and advertisement is the only way to get sales.

I found a long thread on kickstarter about what they do here:
https://www.kickstarter.com/profile/crowdprreview/about

It sounds like some sort of sweatshop, forcing long hours on kind folks for far less than six figures a year. A good rule of thumb is to never pay over a few hundred bucks for a service, and always ask the executives for proof that their team is well compensated.

Update: looks like the review is no longer up, but I will keep the link posted as the page tends to change each day. I found a kickstarter campus discussion about them too: https://www.kickstarter.com/campus/ques ... se-backers

Truth be told, Funded Today also offers public relations. I know this because I have looked into them. I think the positive here is that with Funded Today you get a whole earned media campaign as well as a paid media campaign for a low price. It seems weird though, how could they run so many ads for a small price as well as do a full PR campaign? Perhaps they have some outsourced work to 3rd world countries to keep the rate so low.

Anyways, it looks like they have a job board going on seems to be US recruitment:
https://www.indeedjobs.com/crowd-pr

Considering the .PR domain I assumed they would be based in south america though.

From what I can tell, they have several women listed as executives too:
https://www.inhersight.com/company/crowd-pr

I don't think that matters though. All that matters is how good their results are. I was looking over their case study pages and I cam accross the whitefox one:

https://crowd.pr/whitefox-keyboard/

No way to verify they did that work though, so there is no way I will be hiring these scum bags.

When you hit that launch button on kickstarter or indiegogo, chances are that you will get a message from a public relations agency called “Crowd PR”. This post contains information about them, as well as evidence regarding their effectiveness (or lack thereof).

Let’s start with the basics:

PR is a popular way to market a crowdfunding campaign. There’s nothing sweeter than landing big coverage in media outlets online. But is it too good to be true? Yes, especially if you have a small product - keep it real, no one is going to want to write about something that isn’t awesome. And here is where the problem comes into play regarding Crowd PR and other marketing agencies.

How to play it smart:

The obvious answer here is just not to do a crowdfunding project all together. That way you minimize all risk. But if you insist on it, you need to know that you will be taking a risk on any agency that you hire. Plain and Simple. Keeping that in mind, you need to be smart with who you hire. Look for agencies that specialize in similar types of products. Experience with something close to your campaign is the best bet to make.