atLarge was approached to launch a new daily digital newsletter to connect the business community on the Gulf Coast of Florida, and to bring awareness to the emerging industries involving creatives, entrepreneurs and high-tech businesses. Locally, no one had attempted a daily digital newsletter and many community members were skeptical about its chances for success. We had just two weeks to design, develop, market and launch the region's first digital newsletter.
We began by interviewing dozens of community leaders to establish our brand strategy. Then, in just two weeks, we developed the S2 Report brand. We then designed and built the Web site that would support the newsletter and enable subscriptions, referrals and press submissions. We blanketed the entire community with a promotional piece and invitation to subscribe that seemed to come out of nowhere. The design, copy, timing and method of blasting the invitation created a sense of excitement and urgency. The first newsletter launched only two days after the invitation to subscribe. Drafted daily in html and blasted overnight, the newsletter was in subscribers' inboxes every morning when they turned on their computer.
Literally within minutes of blasting the invitation, subscriptions poured in. There were over 100 subscribers within the first two hours, even though none of these subscribers had ever seen or heard of the S2 Report or anything like it. Within three months of its launch, the S2 Report was reaching over 5,000 inboxes every week entirely through viral growth. Self-proclaimed “addicted” readers have become the primary marketing vehicle for the Report. By the end of the third month, S2 had subscribers in 10 states and three countries.
