People-centric Autonomous Technologies
May Mobility, an autonomous driving startup, had a unique challenge: how could they communicate the specific benefits of a complex technology offering and make it feel human-centric to an extended audience of both potential riders and key decision-makers?
Project Overview
Despite May Mobility’s progressive AV technology, the company faced a gap, they had less brand recognition to consumers or automotive stakeholders than Google’s Waymo or GM’s Cruise.
After a negative feature in an automotive tech publication, May Mobility needed help strengthening their relationship with automotive and tech media.
To encourage ridership during a challenging time, May Mobility also needed assistance with new market awareness and COVID-safety education in existing markets.
Approach & Solution
To increase the potential for the acceptance and adoption of May Mobility’s AV shuttle services, it was critical to maximize community awareness and educate potential riders on their terms.
Telemetry developed a modular community launch plan that seamlessly integrated partners from public and private sectors that could be duplicated for incremental city launches.
Telemetry also created a strategic cadence of company announcements and enterprise stories, targeted to the most relevant automotive and tech media. These published pieces allowed for deep insight into May Mobility’s approach to autonomous mobility. Each carefully mapped to key company priorities: the shifting transportation needs of cities, the shifting tastes of consumers, the evolving demands of automotive OEMs and the need to remain relevant in a sea of well-funded competitors.
Telemetry has helped to elevate our brand's voice and strengthen our position in a highly competitive, highly technical market.
Their support in helping us to craft our investment and product announcements, expertly handling our media relations and brand publishing has played a large role in the ongoing success of our business.
Results
Telemetry’s communications strategy successfully relaunched May Mobility’s services in Grand Rapids, Michigan, reaching a potential online readership of over 227M with coverage led by Bloomberg, Forbes, and Gannett actual coverage views estimated at approximately 204,000 with 2,100 social shares.
The plan was then customized for launches across six cities in the United States and internationally. Telemetry authored 12 bespoke articles that documented the unique approach of May Mobility: from vehicle technology to rider experience to biographical profiles that humanized May Mobility’s CEO.
Resulting from a series of announcements and deep conversations with automotive beat writers, May Mobility was consistently featured in the news month after month, with articles in VentureBeat, Forbes and Bloomberg, among others. These stories covered everything from partnership, hiring and fundraising announcements to more thorough conversations surrounding the company’s technology.
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