Case Studies

A national exclusive, then 18 more stories in six days

Written by Tom Fry | Sep 18, 2026, 3:32:51 PM
19
stories in six days, from a national exclusive to Fortune and Axios
14 days
from the first target list to the exclusive being placed
2
US deal newsletters: Fortune's Term Sheet and Axios Pro Rata

The brief

The client is an AI governance platform raising a seed round in the millions. A seed round is not automatically news. There are a great many of them, most are announced on the same few days of the week, and the difference between a headline and silence is usually who gets it first and how it is framed.

What we did

We built national, trade and venture target lists, ranked who should be offered the exclusive, sharpened the exclusive pitch and then tightened a separate release for wider distribution. The exclusive went to a national broadcaster, which broke the story on launch morning.

How it ran, August and September 2026

  1. 20 AugNational, trade and venture target lists built and ranked for the exclusive
  2. 25 AugThe exclusive pitch is sharpened
  3. 28 AugThe wider release is tightened for mass distribution
  4. 3 Sep
    07:42
    The national broadcaster runs the exclusive
  5. 4–8 SepTech.eu, EU-Startups and The Lawyer, then Fortune and Axios
  6. 9 SepCoverage report built and shared with the client

The exclusive ran at 07:42 on launch morning, written by the outlet's City editor.

Where it travelled

Tech.eu, 4 September. 1.1 million monthly readers.

The Lawyer, 4 September. 232,000 monthly readers, and the audience that matters most for a governance product.

Fortune's Term Sheet and Axios Pro Rata, the two newsletters US investors actually read.

Why it worked

The exclusive was chosen rather than offered around, which is what makes a broadcaster take it. And the follow-through was planned before launch day, so the story reached the trade press, the legal press and the US investor newsletters while it was still new.