Tennyson Communications

Fatal1ty Case Study

Situation/Challenge:

After handling public relations for the EluminX illuminated keyboard for a about a year, the keyboard company was approached by leading PC gaming champ, Johnathan “Fatal1ty” Wendel, who used the keyboards. He joined forces with the company who helped him form business partnerships with top gaming hardware manufacturers to create Fatal1ty-branded products based on his recommendations to the engineering teams on what gamers want from their equipment. I was tasked with switching gears from getting product reviews for the keyboard to get media attention for Fatal1ty and his new efforts.

Results:

At the next E3 in May 2005, I introduced Johnathan “Fatal1ty” Wendel to the E3 Show Daily and to the San Jose Mercury News’ Dean Takahashi, both who did nice feature stories on him. I also set up a shoot with Kevin Pereria of G4 and a film crew for ESPN Sportscenter who did segments on him. I coordinated a December interview with CNN and the New York Times (which caught the attention of 60 Minutes producers). PC Gamer, Laptop and BBC TV did pieces on him from CES in January that year. I coordinated with Time Magazine for a page and a half story on him that came out E3 week 2006.

Knowing that 60 Minutes would come out in winter, I knew we had time for one last pitch before that story broke. I sent a feature story pitch letter to a handful of publications we hand-picked to be more focused on the business of gaming. BusinessWeek’s senior reporter, Steve Hamm, responded to my emailed letter and wanted to know more. He felt he could give the story two pages of text, but after showing his first notes to his editors, they really liked it and gave him more space for the story. I also coordinated with BusinessWeek’s art department for a photo shoot, which we learned was being considered for a cover story.

BusinessWeek’s October 10 issue gave Fatal1ty a six page story with one full page photo taken by celebrity photographer Harry Borden and many smaller photos/graphics. His photo was on the front cover over the BusinessWeek title with the header, “Meet the Top Gun in Video Gaming” and a page number for jumping right to the piece. The 60 Minutes story ran January 22, 2006, and was able to work in Fatal1ty’s win at the CPL Grand Finals in New York City televised by MTV from the previous month.