Runa

As a newer fintech operating in a complex, competitive segment of the payments ecosystem—payouts across incentives, rewards and recognition, disbursements, and independent worker pay—Runa needed to break through category noise and earn sustained authority. Our goal was to quickly build durable brand awareness and credibility with fintech, payments, HR, and workforce decision-makers. ​

We created a robust, authoritative thought leadership effort anchored in research with a sharp focus on earned media relations, including:​

• Proactive media engagement with Tier 1 and high-relevance industry outlets
• Executive thought leadership on payout infrastructure, incentive economics, and workforce payments​
• Strategic bylines and long-form placements designed to shape category narratives​
• Proprietary research development and news placement, elevating the organization as an authoritative voice in the space​
• Media training to develop confident, consistent executive spokespeople​
• Support for select hard news announcements, with an emphasis on positioning category leadership

Outcome.

With a highly successful campaign, Runa increased its share of voice, achieved 73% of placements in top-tier media, and broke into key verticals. But they also discovered something unexpected: earned media was driving significant traffic through LLM search.​

As large language models began reshaping how buyers discover and evaluate companies, Runa lowered spend in paid and performance channels—yet qualified meetings, demo requests, and web traffic held steady. Direct traffic doubled year over year, largely driven by strategic thought leadership and media relations. Prospects arrived already informed and trusting the brand, often citing LLMs alongside Google as their discovery source.​

By using public relations as one of their primary brand awareness levers, Runa maintained discoverability while building increased authority and presence among LLM citations.

“We didn’t chase clicks. We built credibility. And credibility is what LLMs cite, driving better qualified organic traffic to our brand.” ​
-Brendan Miller, former CMO of Runa​

Results.

From January through October 2025, the campaign delivered measurable results:

• 68 earned media stories, creating a sustained foundation of brand awareness​
• Supported five hard news announcements about product and feature rollouts, securing coverage in leading verticals​
• 73% of coverage placed in Tier 1 outlets, ensuring visibility with decision-makers who influence adoption, partnerships, and strategy​
• 22 total thought leadership placements, reinforcing executive authority and long-term credibility​
• Fourteen total bylines placed in fintech, payments, AI, marketing and general business outlets​
• Placed four podcast interviews for long-form discussion about niche industry trends​
• Earned media foundation established during the campaign created lasting narrative equity that improved discoverability, reinforced authority, and contributed to downstream success in LLM-driven brand visibility and search relevance.​
• Successfully coached Runa’s experts into confident, message-driven media spokespeople, establishing Runa as a go-to voice for payout industry insights​

Business Outcomes:

• No drop in inbound demand despite reduced paid spend​
• Continued growth in organic and direct traffic​
• Increased AI-driven discovery, reflected in lead-source attribution​
• Prospects arriving informed, educated, and primed to buy