Challenge

Europe’s most valuable fintech Checkout.com came to us ahead of a significant funding round, in search of PR support to maximise its first major announcement and manage a suspected leak. We worked on a plan to control the narrative in order to maximise the story and manage the relationship with the journalist who had discovered the story.

Action

Whilst working on a comms plan for bootstrapped startup Checkout.com’s first – and what turned out to be a record-breaking – funding round, Burlington learned of a leak to a high-profile publication. We worked with the founder of the company and the reporter to establish trust and contain the leak, while developing contingency plans should the story emerge early.

Result

By leveraging years of trust with this journalist, we negotiated an embargo time designed to satisfy the needs of everyone involved. This gave us time to pre-brief top-tier reporters and set up interviews with the founder which generated not only a media splash in regards to the funding announcement, but also in ongoing coverage – via in-depth profiles of the founder and the company.