By Michael Joe

This interview comes on the heels of a huge PR milestone for Synaptics: being featured on CNBC’s premier business talk show, Mad Money hosted by Jim Cramer. With that, I sat down with Mike Sottak, who heads up the Synaptics account for Wired Island, to find out how this happened and how it fits into the bigger picture of our work with Synaptics.

Q: Before we get into the recent PR win, let’s talk about the relationship with Synaptics. How long has Wired Island been supporting Synaptics? What type of work do you do for them?

We’ve been working with Synaptics for about two years now, and are an ideal client for us, because of the industry they are in (semiconductors) and how we are working together. Our primary role has been providing content development and media relations – so helping develop the story lines around their products and the company itself, and then trying to get visibility through earned media. We’ve also worked with them on owned media content, such as their blog, web site and social media. The key is for all the content to build from a consistent messaging strategy, which is sometimes difficult for a company as diverse as Synaptics with varying product lines and customers. One way we’ve been working to up-level the story is through the themes – such as the evolving post-Covid workplace and the technology we use at home – which encompass several products and can be talked about in a more integrated way. But, what matters most is that they have truly innovative products enabling really important trends in how consumers and businesses use technology. And of course, in the context of appearing in the financial media, like CNBC, that they are attractive to investors.

Q: What value do you believe companies like Synaptics receive when working with PR firms like Wired Island? How does this differ from an internal team?

Two main benefits companies get from working with a PR firm are, first, an outsider perspective. Too often companies ‘drink their own Kool Aide’ and believe their own marketing and messaging is the only truth. And, they get bogged down in their own internal processes and bureaucracy. Working with an outside agency gives a different perspective and a touch point with audiences and influencers they might not normally get from an internal resource. So, we are kind of a sounding board, a reality check. Second is experience. We have literally decades’ worth of direct experience and relationships in the technology areas and market segments that matter to a company like Synaptics. And, most importantly, that experience is directly accessible through our model – unlike with a lot of agencies, all of our clients have access to our most senior people who are working day to day in hands-on mode with them.

Q: Fill me in on how you were able to land this spot on CNBC, was it a team effort? Timing with trends in the market?

I’d say that expression, “I’d rather be lucky than good” kind of applies here, but I don’t want to trivialize the effort that went it to this, either. Almost every publicly-traded company wants to land a spot on CNBC and Synaptics was no different. But there are hundreds of companies these shows have to pick from — and that pitch them – every day. We actually started re-introducing Synaptics to the Mad Money team almost a year ago, when Synaptics was just beginning a true transformation under its new CEO. Synaptics had been on the show previously under a different CEO a while ago. So, we had some existing knowledge and relationship to work with, but it was still a matter of persistence and patience on our part.  Plus we had to present a newsworthy story to the producer. Broadcast opportunities like this are all about the here and now, so timing is also key.  One challenge we faced is that Synaptics is not a huge company by industry standards. But on the other hand we had a great asset to work with in CEO Michael Hurlston who is a very articulate and quotable executive. I think ultimately what enable us to get the Synaptics story told was that it was really compelling and relevant in the moment. Pivoting to new, higher growth markets, well-known customers, nice rise in stock price; and significant improvement in financial fundamentals especially profitability –  this is just the type of company CNBC watchers want to learn more about. And, of course, we had the PR tailwinds of macro issues like chip shortages, Covid buying patterns, and even the China trade war – which Synaptics has insightful perspectives on – to add a sense of urgency and relevance to the story. All of that gave us a lot of ammunition to work with. It still took some time to get the commitment from Cramer’s people, but eventually our “measured persistence” paid off.

Q: Do you believe this has opened opportunities for Synaptics going forward?

Yes for sure. We already had some pretty good success with Synaptics in places like  The Wall Street Journal, Barrons, Wired, Venture Beat so I think maybe that helped a bit in landing the CNBC segment. And yes, success breeds success with this type of thing. But really without a good story you don’t have a chance. Synaptics has been an outstanding stock and the Wall Street analysts have been bullish on it. So Synaptics has a great story right now. The stock price jump alone over the last year is really eye-catching. I think other media probably look at an appearance on CNBC as a bit of a validation that the company is the real deal but I’m not sure it influences them to write. I think generally Synaptics has punched above its weight PR-wise, thanks in part to our persistence and opportunistic approach, but also because their CEO ‘gets’ PR and is supportive of it. That’s a big aid in doing what we do. As long we can keep showing success and traction through new products, real innovation, customer wins and, of course financial performance, I think we can keep their visibility high, particularly because semiconductors are in vogue at the moment for all types of media.

For more of our results on Synaptics see here.