billups
PR Program Dashboard · Prepared by Salient MG
Q1 2026 Project Tracker Salient · MG
Executive Summary — Q1 2026

Q1 2026 delivered 42 pieces of earned coverage driven by proactive SMG placements and strong organic pickup. Headline wins include ZDNet (5.3M UVM — Shawn Spooner AI thought leadership), IT Brew and UC Today thought leadership features, and the Billboard Insider AI/OOH feature. The HOKA "Night Run" UV mural campaign generated significant organic pickup across The Drum, Retail Gazette, MarTech Series and more. David Krupp's PPC Land quote on the Abu Dhabi billboard investment was evidence of a successful thought leadership strategy. The Agent Odyssey podcast with Shawn was recorded and posted.

Current priorities, key targets, and focus areas for Q1 2026.

Key NarrativeAI-native OOH leadership
Exec BriefingsDavid Krupp intro campaign
Thought LeadershipShawn AI + product positioning
Product Focusaudrai launch
EventsPOSSIBLE (Apr 27–29)

Earned Coverage

42

pieces Jan–Mar 2026

On-Message Hits

12

Directly placed by SMG

Total Reach

2.15M

Unique visitors (UVM)

Ad Value Equiv.

$19.9K

No releases this quarter; lower AVE

Coverage Theme Breakdown — Q1 2026

42 pcs
Company News30.9%
Industry News23.8%
Thought Leadership33.3%
Awards11.9%

Monthly Press Hits — Q1 2026

10
17
15
January
February
March

Feb peak driven by Shawn's UC Today commentary and HOKA "Night Run" organic pickup

Five standout placements from Q1. Click to expand.
Jan 2026
PR priorities included executive thought leadership, product roadmap planning, customer case studies, and event activation planning.
Shawn was quoted in ZDNet's "Is AI's war on busywork a creativity killer?", the hire announcement was featured in Campaign, and billups was named a finalist in two Digiday Awards Europe categories.
Feb 2026
PR priorities included thought leadership abstracts, product roadmap planning, customer case studies, and POSSIBLE event planning.
Shawn was quoted in UC Today's "It's time for a digital labor reality check" and VoIP Review, David Krupp was quoted in PPC Land on the Abu Dhabi billboard story, and HOKA "Night Run" UV mural drove 7 organic pickups.
Mar 2026
PR priorities included David Krupp bylined article, Shawn thought leadership (podcasts/briefings), POSSIBLE event planning, Cannes lunch recommendations and research, and ramp down plan.
Shawn participated in two briefings, both of which resulted in coverage: Billboard Insider published a feature, and IT Brew quoted Shawn on the concept of "human in the loop". David Krupp's byline was published in Advertising Week and syndicated in OOH Today and Digital Signage. Shawn's Agent Odyssey podcast on audrai and the intersection of AI and human creativity went live.
Executive Summary — Full Year 2025

Secured 185 pieces of earned coverage including 58 on-message placements, generating $4.81M in ad value equivalent and reaching over 519.53M unique visitors. Q4 was a breakout period with 73 mentions and $2.86M AVE, driven by the audrai launch and global hires release. Coverage spanned Adweek, Digiday, Campaign, MediaPost, AdExchanger, and DailyDOOH, reinforcing billups' share of voice in the OOH space.

Earned Coverage

185

Total pieces YTD

On-Message Hits

58

Directly placed by SMG

Total Reach

519M

Unique visitors (UVM)

Ad Value Equiv.

$4.81M

Supported by news wire distribution

Q1 2025Jan – Mar
Mentions38
Total Reach (UVM)1.47M
Ad Value Equiv.$13.5K
Q2 2025Apr – Jun
Mentions34
Total Reach (UVM)23.21M
Ad Value Equiv.$214.7K
Q3 2025Jul – Sep
Mentions40
Total Reach (UVM)207M
Ad Value Equiv.$1.91M
Q4 2025Oct – Dec
Mentions73
Total Reach (UVM)309M
Ad Value Equiv.$2.86M

Coverage Theme Breakdown (2025)

185 pcs
Expansion31.5%
Industry News20.7%
Thought Leadership15.2%
Company News13.6%
Awards / Partnerships19%

Monthly Press Hits — 2025

19
10
9
8
13
13
7
10
12
32
30
11
Jan
Feb
Mar
Apr
May
Jun
Jul
Aug
Sep
Oct
Nov
Dec

Q4 peak driven by audrai launch + global hires release

Key placements from across the year. Click to expand.
Executive Summary — Full Year 2024

Secured 152 pieces of earned coverage including 110 on-message placements and 4 contributed articles, generating $8.87M in ad value equivalent and reaching over 952.68M unique visitors. Key releases — Outsight and Billie acquisitions, Cedara partnership, Attention metrics, APAC leadership, Middle East expansion, MediaBridge Global acquisition, and Sustainability — drove volume across Axios, Digiday, Adweek, Campaign, MediaPost and more. SMG also secured invites to 5 Tier 1 events including Fortune AI Breakfast, Adweek Best of Badass Bosses, and Forbes Cannes. Coverage grew +139% year-over-year into 2025.

Earned Coverage

152

Total pieces YTD

On-Message Hits

110

Directly placed by SMG

Total Reach

952M

Unique visitors (UVM)

Ad Value Equiv.

$8.87M

Supported by news wire distribution

Q1 2024Jan – Mar
Mentions37
Total Reach (UVM)19.83M
Ad Value Equiv.$183K
Q2 2024Apr – Jun
Mentions49
Total Reach (UVM)82.6M
Ad Value Equiv.$764K
Q3 2024Jul – Sep
Mentions27
Total Reach (UVM)100M
Ad Value Equiv.$925K
Q4 2024Oct – Dec
Mentions39
Total Reach (UVM)106.2M
Ad Value Equiv.$1.01M

Monthly Press Hits — 2024

21
6
10
7
37
5
2
10
15
20
10
9
Jan
Feb
Mar
Apr
May
Jun
Jul
Aug
Sep
Oct
Nov
Dec

May peak driven by Billie acquisition + measurement momentum releases; Jan driven by Outsight acquisition

Key placements from across the year. Click to expand.
Executive Summary — Full Year 2023

SMG's first year with billups delivered 65 pieces of earned coverage — over 63% secured directly by SMG — including 35 on-message placements and 6 contributed articles. The program generated $189K in ad value equivalent and reached over 20.4M unique visitors. Key releases included the Global CSO appointment, TAC Media acquisition and Global CEO announcement, OOH Labs acquisition, and billups Analytics launch. Coverage grew +89% YoY, and +287% since SMG's program kickoff.

Earned Coverage

65

Total pieces YTD

On-Message Hits

35

Directly placed by SMG

Total Reach

20.4M

Unique visitors (UVM)

Ad Value Equiv.

$189K

Supported by news wire distribution

Coverage Theme Breakdown — 2023

35 pcs
Evolution50.0%
Maturity25.0%
Learnings25.0%

Monthly Press Hits — 2023

2
1
1
2
4
1
2
1
22
13
13
8
Jan
Feb
Mar
Apr
May
Jun
Jul
Aug
Sep
Oct
Nov
Dec

Sep peak driven by Global CSO release + TAC Media/Global CEO announcement

Key placements from across the year. Click to expand.
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