Make the news instead of waiting for it
I recommended original research timed to the season's money moments, from year-end planning to Giving Tuesday and tax season, so one dataset could feed PR, search, social and email through the quarter.
Case file 05 of 07
Research to earned media
Evergreen.ai, about three months
Released Thursday. Barron's Friday.
How I turned a consumer survey into the news moment a just-launched AI fintech needed, with each chart and claim cleared by SEC compliance first.
3,097
U.S. adults surveyed; 1,981 analyzed after quality screening
7
outlets covered the study in its first week
1
day from release to a Barron's feature built on the study
49
charts in a chart pack reporters could reuse
Coverage earned in
Barron'sCNBCBusiness InsiderMarketWatchForbesInc.MoneyNYSE LiveQuartzFT MarketsYahoo FinanceFinancial Advisor MagazineInvestmentNews401k Specialist
01
The situation
A month after launch, it was time for a new story.
- Company
- Evergreen.ai, a consumer AI financial-advice app from an SEC-registered adviser
The launch had used up the obvious story. To keep journalists calling a young brand, we needed news only we could make, and a way to prove our positioning: purpose-built for financial decisions, not another general chatbot.
I was leading the PR team. The agency could pitch, but it needed something worth pitching.
The constraint
Under the SEC Marketing Rule, each chart, statistic and headline is an advertisement. Nothing ships until compliance signs off.
02
Results
What the study moved.
| Result | What it means |
|---|---|
| 1 day | From release to a Barron's feature built on the study |
| 7 outlets | Covered the study in its first week, about one new outlet a day |
| 4 briefs | Themed data briefs mapped to news moments over the following months, each with pitches drafted |
| 55 targets | A second lane built for backlinks and infographic reuse, with a draft for each target |
| 5M+ | Estimated additional article views across 61 placements |
03
The calls I made
Five calls that turned a survey into news.
Screen hard, publish smaller
3,097 people took the survey. Only the 1,981 who passed quality screening were analyzed, and each published figure carries its base.
Treat compliance as a design input
Each statistic was sourced, each draft watermarked, and each asset went in with a fact-check document, so approvals moved as fast as the work.
Keep it dark until it lifts
I coded the study pages to stay out of search until release morning, then switched on indexing and added the wire link as the release crossed.
Pitch under embargo, then own the wire
Reporters had the data under embargo ahead of the press release, so their stories were ready when it crossed. It was the first release on Evergreen's own Business Wire account, at 8:05 AM ET, with the CEO's newsletter and the study video timed to follow within 90 minutes.
04
The finding that traveled
Nearly half had asked AI about money. Most acted on it.
The AI and money cascade
Source: The Evergreen.ai Financial Decisions Study (3,097 U.S. adults surveyed; 1,981 analyzed). Rebuilt here from the published chart.
05
The package
One dataset, built to be reused across channels.
Six animated infographics, each cut for social and the press kit. A 49-chart pack anyone could reuse with one source line. Five regional briefs that gave local and trade reporters their own angle.
The chart pack
49 charts, free to reuse with one source line.
18 charts from the report, in report order, plus 31 comparisons readers can build on the interactive page: each measure by region, by assets and by whether people have an advisor.
25page report
5regional briefs
49charts in the chart pack
6infographics, each in four formats
1interactive study page and press kit
06
What I owned
From the first question to the last chart.
I created the creative assets and owned the graphic design.
Using an AI pipeline, I produced a comprehensive set of assets in a compressed timeframe that would not have been possible without it.
- 6infographics
- 49charts
- 9briefs
The concept
And the case for original research over another product announcement.
The survey design
U.S. adults through SurveyMonkey Audience, an affluent-frame classification and a state-level contingency.
The analysis pipeline
From raw responses to each published figure, traced to its base.
The report and briefs
The 25-page report, five regional briefs and four themed data briefs.
The release plan
The press release draft, compliance clearance of each asset and the embargo plan.
The study page and press kit
Plus the findings article. I coded the three myself.
Owned channels
The CEO's newsletter issue, social and the resources feature.
07
The coverage
The study gave reporters a story about their readers.
Barron's
The day after release
"Clients Are Cheating on Their Financial Advisors. With AI."
Financial Advisor Magazine
Release day
InvestmentNews and 401k Specialist
Within the first week
Same-day pickup in the advisor trade press.
"Clients with advisors more likely to act on unchecked AI answers"
The demand it created
10 openSix days in, ten more outlets wanted in.
Six days after release, the study had a CNBC interview with the CEO booked, the TODAY show weighing a segment and eight more outlets working with the data. The company's decision to move in a different strategic direction paused the opportunities the study generated.
in 6 days
- CNBCInterview bookedThe CEO was scheduled to speak with a CNBC reporter
- NBC, TODAYInterview interestAsked to interview the CEO and was discussing it internally
- The Wall Street JournalReviewing dataTwo separate threads: one reporter from the embargoed pitch, and two more weighing the data for an article
- Business InsiderReviewing dataTwo reporters reviewing the data for possible inclusion in an article
- Connect MoneyStory committedSaid it would cover the survey in an upcoming article
- Proactive Advisor MagazineReviewing dataWriting an article on the topic and reviewing the findings
- U.S. News and KiplingerExploringA freelance contributor exploring coverage, and asking to interview the CEO for future stories
- TheStreetExploringA freelance contributor planning to follow up with story ideas
- MoneyLionExploringA freelance contributor deciding whether to cover the survey
Source: the PR agency's embargoed-pitching and pending-opportunities recap.
08
Built to last the quarter
One release, a full quarter of news. I held findings back on purpose.
The report carried most of the survey, but I kept several deeper breakouts in reserve. I mapped each one to a moment reporters would already be covering through year-end, and built a two-page data brief and pitches for each, so each new moment brought reporters numbers they had not seen yet.
4themed data briefs, each with pitches
8news moments mapped over four months
5regional briefs for local and trade press
1data appendix tracing each published cell
09
Beyond the press desk
The agency pitched reporters. I built the lane beyond the newsroom.
The day after release, I built a second distribution lane for the study: creators, newsletters, podcasts, bloggers and resource pages that cite data and need visuals. The goal was backlinks to the study page and reuse of the infographics we had already made.
55 targets, by channel
Each target has a named person, a contact route, their most relevant recent piece, one angle and one matching infographic. Sequenced in four waves.
Teardown
I studied how competitors' studies earned links
Using DataForSEO, I pulled the links to four competing AI and money studies from NerdWallet, LendingTree and TD: 577 linking pages. NerdWallet's headline count was mostly one feed. About 360 of its 385 referring domains were CPA-firm sites republishing a single article.
Reuse
Made the visuals free to reuse
Six infographics, each as a PNG, GIF, MP4 and 1200 by 630 social card, plus the 49-chart pack. Anyone could reproduce them with one approved source line.
Reclaim
Planned a monthly link reclamation check
Search the study name and each headline statistic, and reverse-image search the infographics. Coverage that linked only to the wire release, or to nothing, would get a note asking it to point to the study page.
55targets, each with a personal draft
10research-backed tactics in a playbook
577competitor linking pages analyzed
4waves tied to news hooks
2quality gates: fact-check and compliance
10
Where it was going
From one study to a quarterly index no one else could publish.
Edition 01 was built on a survey I designed. A single study earns a news cycle; a recurring one gives reporters a beat to come back to. From the next edition on, each release would pair the ongoing survey with first-party data from the product.
Edition 01
Set the baseline
The first edition was built on survey data, from questions I wrote. Asking the same core questions in each edition turns a one-time release into a trend line. Each new edition gives each outlet that cited the last one a reason to cover the next, and each infographic a newer version to replace.
Quarterly
Make the cadence the news hook
Time each edition to a money moment: tax season, midyear, open enrollment and year-end giving. The press list and the creator lane get re-pitched with fresh numbers, so distribution compounds instead of starting over.
The moat
Add first-party product data
From the second edition on, the survey would continue, joined by aggregated, anonymized data from Evergreen.ai itself: the money challenges people bring and the questions they ask. A survey shows what people say. Product data shows what they actually ask. A competitor can copy a survey, but not that.
The principle
Own a recurring dataset and you own the conversation. The survey earns attention, the cadence keeps it, and the product data makes it impossible to copy. Each edition goes through the same compliance review, so the program scales without adding risk.
For your brand
A research-to-PR engine, built to clear compliance.
- 01Find the question your market cannot answer and your product can
- 02Design and field the survey, and rehearse the analysis on early data
- 03Build the package: report, regional cuts, charts and social assets
- 04Clear it with compliance or legal before the clock starts
- 05Release on your own wire, with owned channels timed to follow
- 06Repeat it each quarter, and add your own first-party product data from the second edition on