Each year, the end of the year marks a time for reflection for the BIGfish team. We evaluate how the PR industry has changed, our goals for the New Year, and what we want to achieve in 2022. BIGfish has been on a growth course, adding new talented team members and interesting clients to our roster. As we reflect on the past year, below are some of our ‘greatest hits’ of 2021 and insights we’re applying to 2022.

2021’s BIGfish PR wins

• American Robotics Takes Flight: The Federal Aviation Administration approved BIGfish client American Robotics as the first company to be able to operate drones without hands-on piloting or direct observation by human controllers or observers. For this announcement, BIGfish targeted top-tier media and secured a feature story with The Wall Street Journal, as well as coverage in Business Insider, Reuters, Engadget, SlashGear, and more.
• Formlabs’ Series E Funding: In 2021, leading 3D printing company Formlabs announced it raised a $150 million Series E led by SoftBank Vision Fund 2*, doubling its valuation to $2 billion. This announcement was a milestone for the company that BIGfish used as a media moment to secure coverage with tier 1 press including an exclusive with The Wall Street Journal. In total, this news reached an audience of over 182.7 million, with 59 total mentions and coverage in TechCrunch, Boston Globe, Fortune, Reuters, and more.
• Linus Health Recognized by TIME: Each year, TIME reveals its annual list of inventions that are making the world better, smarter, and even a bit more fun. BIGfish worked with Linus Health to enter its DCTclock assessment, an FDA Class II medical device, as a candidate for the medical device category. Based on its ability to provide clinicians, providers, and researchers access to a clear picture of a patient’s brain health for the detection of disorders such as Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s, Linus Health’s digital clock drawing assessment (DCTclock™) was named to TIME’s list of the Best Inventions of 2021.
• PLAY Launches in The U.S.: In December 2021, low-cost Icelandic Airline PLAY joined BIGfish’s client roster as it launched ticket sales for flights out of Boston and Baltimore. The airline will kick off flights from the United States in the spring of 2022. For this launch, the BIGfish team secured over 60 unique pieces of coverage, including in Business Insider, Forbes, The Boston Globe, Baltimore Business Journal, Airline Weekly, Thrillist, CBS Boston, WBZ-AM Boston radio, and more.
  
• Ring Launches New Products & Is Featured In Holiday Gift Guides: During its annual product launch, Ring announced several new devices, with BIGfish earning coverage in The Wall Street Journal, CNN, PCMag, TechCrunch, Rolling Stone, and Popular Science, among others. 68% of day-one U.S. coverage was a direct result of BIGfish’s embargoed outreach. Each holiday season, gift guide coverage is key for consumer products. With new devices on the market, BIGfish heavily pitched gift guide inclusions throughout the fall, landing coverage in The Verge, Forbes, Town and Country, The Wall Street Journal, Men’s Health, CNET, and NBC News. In total, Ring was included in 221 articles with 2.8 billion total impressions, and PR secured 34.8 percent of coverage. 

Our Favorite Stories

In addition to the BIGfish PRwins, below is a list of some of our favorite stories secured in 2021:

• Cheddar | Fully-Automated Drones That Fly Themselves
• Forbes | From Security To Community: How Ring Supported Community Connection During The Pandemic
• Good Morning America | Good Samaritans lending helping hand to those in need in Texas
• Investor’s Business Daily | How Ring’s Founder Created A Doorbell Worth $1 Billion To Amazon
• TechCrunch | LightForce Orthodontics wolfs down $50M to straighten out that crooked smile of yours – TechCrunch
• TechRepublic | Three reasons you need one person in charge of the remote work experience
• VentureBeat | Linus Health raises $55M for early screening for Alzheimer’s disease
• ZDNET | The role for drones in Biden’s infrastructure plan

Media Trends and Insights

• Virtual events are here to stay. Trade shows began again in 2021 and still remain important for media relations and coverage. BIGfish had clients attending industry trade shows both in-person and virtually throughout the year, and we secured top press coverage for clients at CES, including:
  • At CES, Formlabs’ new Form 3+ and Form 3B+ was covered in Engadget, The Wall Street Journal, TechCrunch, and others. 
  • Ring also received coverage for its new Glass Break Sensor in outlets including Bloomberg, CNET, CNN Underscored, Engadget, NBC News, TechCrunch, TechHive, and more.

The BIGfish team Gives Back

• BIGfish worked with its first pro-bono client, Coils to Locs, offering PR services for the company. Coils to Locs is a supplier of coily, curly synthetic wig styles for black women (or any woman with textured hair) experiencing any form of hair loss. The company is addressing a healthcare disparity for cancer patients of color who lack access to high-quality coily, curly textured wigs covered by health insurance through a medical prescription. The BIGfish team earned a broadcast story with the TODAY Show and placed feature stories with The Boston Globe, People, and InStyle, among others.

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