Secretlab is one of Singapore’s global success stories. Founded by semi-pro Starcraft II players Ian Alexander Ang and Alaric Choo in 2014, the chair-maker quickly rose to become a mainstay in global e-sports tournaments, amongst top tier e-sports teams, and a cult favourite with gamers, office workers, and anyone who sits on a chair for extended periods of time.
Having the established the brand in the e-sports industry, its founders sought to further the brand’s corporate profile by sharing more about their entrepreneurial journey, running a multinational company as millennials and their ambitions for the company within and beyond the e-sports industry. Secretlab engaged Black Dot for a three-month period to pitch relevant stories to target mainstream media publications.
STRATEGY
The recommended PR approach sought to identify and communicate the key strengths and unique propositions of the company, as well as the entrepreneurial passion of Secretlab’s co-founder and CEO, Ian Alexander Ang.
In February 2020, Black Dot proposed a phased approach that targeted specific media outlets with timely and relevant content, in order to consistently and accurately build upon Secretlab and Ian’s unique stories. With the engagement extending into Singapore’s “Circuit Breaker” period, stories were re-angled to address the changes brought on by pandemic control measures. In spite of these unforeseen changes, the key messages remained consistent: the passion and business acumen of its founders; the company’s dominance in the e-sports scene, and Secretlab’s position as a proudly homegrown company with an established global presence.
Anchored on these three key messages, media engagements were contextualized in the COVID-19 situation. Story pitches were crafted to highlight the company’s resilience and adaptability amidst the global pandemic, while drawing back to the core propositions of Secretlab.
OUTCOME
To achieve the desired coverage, we targeted national mainstream media platforms The Business Times and The Straits Times with tailored pitches.
Both publications picked up on our pitches and ran comprehensive stories about Ian Alexander Ang and Secretlab on both their print and digital platforms.