Setting the Stage for Success
In the leadup to a successful 2020 SPAC transaction, Method worked with Skillz to create a new category of mobile esports as a surging new market force – and to position Skillz as the undisputed leader. Method had worked on SPACs with companies like Purple and Vivint Smart Home, and the team knew how to navigate the challenges and opportunities this transaction presented.
Method dove deep into Skillz’ data to find interesting and compelling stories to tell, and developed messaging that defined mobile esports as destined for success due to widespread penetration of smartphones and the underlying power of competition. Skillz’ company momentum was featured across major business media, including Bloomberg Businessweek, Rolling Stone, Forbes, Inc., VentureBeat and many more; the company was named a CNBC 50 Disruptor and the #1 Fastest Growing Company by Inc.
Challenge Accepted
Skillz announced it would enter the public markets through a merger with special purpose acquisition company Flying Eagle Acquisition Corp. (NYSE: FEAC), sponsored by the Hollywood industry veterans who had taken DraftKings public, which created a new challenge: keep the media focus on Skillz, its founder, Andrew Paradise, and the category the company had created rather than on the transaction. With a mid-December 2020 debut date, the company was up against a media landscape preoccupied with the meta-narratives of politics and a pandemic, as well as market fatigue. Tech stocks on Nasdaq were up 42% in late December. With more than 200 SPACs having hit the market in 2020, four times as many as 2019, and almost as many traditional IPOs, journalists were beginning to question whether the market momentum was sustainable, and whether any of these newly public companies would have staying power.
A Message that Resonated
Method worked with Skillz to develop and refine the Skillz story, emphasizing the company’s momentum, the size of the addressable market, and the significant growth opportunities ahead. We also focused on creating a media “moment in time” for Skillz’s entry into the market that pivoted seamlessly from the SPAC to include the bigger Skillz story. While media often focus solely on the SPAC announcement, preferring to cover that to the closing of the transaction, Skillz achieved two significant media moments – on the day the transaction was announced, and on the day it closed.
Closing day was hugely successful from a media perspective with 10 total interviews, including a live broadcast with CNBC’s Closing Bell, and 26 original articles from outlets including Crunchbase, VentureBeat and Variety. Coverage continued to roll in over the next several days.
