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The Fitplay Start Up Story Finding a way to bring like-minded fitness and sports enthusiasts together was the reason Fitplay, an Internet fitness lifestyle management service, was started in late 1999. Fitplay was the inspiration of Joe Lardner. Joe is an avid squash player who happened to meet up with a venture capitalist, an equally dedicated squash player, on a squash court in Waltham, MA. The thought occurred to them, "Wouldn't it be great if there was a service that could locate other squash players then match them by skill level, location, and time availability?" By extension, this kind of service could also find and match up others involved in sports and fitness activities. In Horatio Alger-story fashion, the venture capitalist liked the idea so much that he provided Joe with initial seed money to develop the concept into a company. Fitplay was launched soon afterward. Given the fast-moving nature and highly competitive Internet business landscape in early 2000, Joe and Fitplay executives realized that one of the fledgling company's first initiatives needed to be establishing its public presence. This would position Fitplay as one of the first movers in its market space. That's when Start Up PR was brought in. Start Up PR worked hand-in-hand with Fitplay's executive team to articulate corporate messaging, to develop a public relations plan that would build a foundation for future success, and to help Fitplay execute on that plan as it launched in the summer of 2000. Fitplay also engaged Start Up PR to provide Fitplay managers with basic information and training in public relations and industry analyst relations so they would have the knowledge to oversee these components of their business on an ongoing basis. Fitplay's Start Up PR program included assistance with the following: ¨ Identifying the Tools in the PR and AR Toolbox ¨ Articulating Compelling Company Messages ¨ Creating a Master Plan for a Company's Critical First Year ¨ Building Visibility with Proven Tactics ¨ Writing Effective Press Releases ¨ Using the Right Channels to Reach Target Audiences ¨ Branding and Building Early Mindshare ¨ Capitalizing on the Interactivity of the Web ¨ Uncovering PR and AR Resources Every Company Should Know The Fitplay basic training was conducted over several sessions. At the conclusion, Start Up PR helped Fitplay develop a launch Roll-out Plan and began to advise the company on how best to execute that plan. In July 2000, Fitplay made its initial funding announcement, with the assistance of Start Up PR, and garnered significant interest from both online and print publications. These included The Red Herring, The Boston Globe, Boston Digital Industry, Mass High Tech, Venturewire, Internet.com, LocalBusiness.com, TheDailyDeal.com, Wall Street Reporter, as well as other high tech trade and business publications. Follow-on announcements of key personnel followed, with additional coverage. As a result of visibility generated by Start Up PR's publicity efforts, Fitplay caught the attention of the Wall Street Journal, which included Fitplay in a feature story, "How Technology Has Changed the Way We Exercise." As Peter Schnorr, Fitplay's president and CEO, said in that Wall Street Journal article, "Fitness is not a solitary event." We at Start Up PR would say the same of public relations, but it would mean that there is much more to building visibility and establishing a company's public presence than any one solitary event, task or person. PR takes knowledge, experience, enthusiasm, and the efforts of the company and the PR practitioner or agency working together to address all elements of an effective PR program and make it work. Start Up PR was established to help and guide start up companies in doing just that. Don't wait to start up! |
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