PayPal was seeking to create new revenue streams by opening up its global payments platform to developers. Access was tasked with generating social media buzz that would build awareness for the PayPal developer platform and drive sign-ups for Innovate, the company’s first ever developer conference.
The Plan
- Developed strategy that would bring PayPal X platform to life by talking about the new developer tools and one of the company’s strategic themes, the Future of Money.
- Through the PayPal X closed beta program, identified developers with interesting stories, pitching profiles to media to showcase innovation.
- At Innovate, Access showcased these “developer evangelists” and pre-show buzz to enhance visibility that included 13 announcements in conjunction with developer partners.
Success Metrics:
- More than 300 print and online articles, 8,600 blog posts and 6,100 Tweets appeared.
- Top-tier business coverage included: The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, The San Francisco Chronicle, CNBC, Fox News, Wired, Mashable, TechCrunch, ReadWriteWeb and CNET.
Business Impact:
- An almost immediate growth in numbers of the PayPal X developer community to more than 15,000 members in the weeks immediately following Innovate 2009.
- Plus, 100 new applications were built and $30M in transactions began flowing across PayPal’s platform.
