‍Why They Wanted Comms: A Reinvention Story

A key player in the burgeoning creator economy, Descript is a transformative new way to create and edit video. As the first full workflow video and audio editor that’s simple yet powerful, Descript frees creators from the choice between using simple tools with limited capabilities, or spending months learning complex legacy tools that require extensive training.

Descript came to The Key for our help in spreading the word about their biggest update ever – a complete reinvention of the video editor. The creation of a tool to sit alongside docs and slides in every creator’s toolkit. Loaded with AI-powered magic, the new Descript takes the grind out of video editing by injecting simple, powerful, versatile new features that change the game for content creators.

A few weeks before we were to launch, Descript’s story evolved into something even meatier – a complete product overhaul AND a significant Series C funding round led by AI visionary, OpenAI Startup Fund.

This news gave us a leg-up in a tightening fundraising environment and helped cement Descript’s chops in AI technology for good.

‍What We Did: A Multi-pronged Approach to a Vast Audience  

‍By creating a rich narrative for Descript, we were able to make a story that was appealing to a broad set of audiences - creators, tech and AI-focused journalists, and venture capital and business targets. We knew that with such a sweeping audience, a broad but tightly targeted embargo strategy was the way to go. Several weeks before launch day, we began pitching the news under embargo to reporters across our key media segments, tailoring the message to reach each one of them.

We first started with our buyer – the creators. In order to entice the folks that know the ins and outs of ALL the tools, we had to SHOW, not just tell. We invited a handful of top-tier industry reporters to Descript’s public preview, led by CEO Andrew Mason, as a “behind the scenes” look at the newly-revamped product. We then gave them ample time to create on their own with Descript so they could see the power of the platform first-hand. Along the way, we set up 1:1s with Andrew and other key executives to answer questions and make sure launch stories were ready to go.

Then, as launch date neared, we hosted one-on-one demos with Descript’s product lead for highly personalized deep dives into the new platform and features.

As go-live date neared, we then began strategic outreach to our tech, AI, VC, and business targets. Leaning into the “cool kid” OpenAI and the intense interest in funding all things generative AI, we went to work setting up embargoed meetings with Andrew and key reporters who understood the power the investment would have on the future of Descript and AI in creation at large. Access to OpenAI Startup Fund’s lead investor helped create even more depth in a handful of stories.

‍The Results: 2X in Traffic and Referral Boost

‍We’ll get to the coverage, but most importantly, the impact that coverage had increased traffic to Descript 2X on launch day and the days following, and boosted referrals.

With launch day stories hitting simultaneously in Axios, Engadget, Forbes, TechCrunch, The Verge and VentureBeat to name a few. Descript landed on the front page of Techmeme and was surrounded by social chatter. Subsequent coverage from the creator space was amplified in the following days with love from PodNews, ProVideo Coalition, SlatorPod and others.

During launch week, The Key secured more than 50 stories hitting more than 200 million impressions. We love to see it!