dot.LA - KMG Case Study
October 2019 - January 2020
The Situation
Spencer Rascoff, co-founder and former CEO of Zillow Group, was interested in getting back into the start-up scene following his career with the real estate giant. After moving back to his hometown of Los Angeles, Rascoff quickly noticed two important things:
There was a remarkable vibrancy to the tech scene in Los Angeles, and
It wasn’t being talked about or covered in existing publications.
The Need
L.A. had all the ingredients a startup community needs – big tech companies, entrepreneurial talent, and growth capital – but it lacked a centralized platform to help these communities share their stories and connect.
dot.LA was born to tell the remarkable stories of what was transpiring in this not-so-talked-about tech hub in L.A. and to connect the community through their common interests. Our task was to launch dot.LA and help build awareness and credibility of the platform as a media and events company dedicated to celebrating and empowering the Los Angeles startup community.
The Approach
KMG hosted Spencer and his editor-in-chief at Pioneer Square Labs in Seattle for a workshop to develop and define the heart and soul of dot.LA. Significant focus was placed on the company’s core values and how that would not only create a blueprint for healthy scale, but also act as a north star for how they cover the news. This served as a foundation for the brand ethos and its activations.
From there, the KMG team developed a comprehensive go-to-market strategy.
Key Disciplines
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Brand Strategy & Foundation Development
Insights, naming, mission, values, customer personas, key messaging, logo and visual identity
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PR & Communications Strategy
Funding announcement, digital communications
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GTM Strategy
Influencer marketing, traditional and digital marketing, content, PR
The Results
dot.LA walked away with a brand ethos, a logo, brand book, a go-to-market strategy, and media coverage with goal-beating traffic.
Check out dot.LA!
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GeekWire
Former Zillow CEO Spencer Rascoff launches dot.LA, a news site for Southern California tech — Kurt Schlosser , January 9, 2020
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KCRW
New tech-focused journalism site, dot.LA, takes off — Steve Chiotakis, January 14, 2020
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The Real Deal
This just in: Zillow co-founder launches LA-focused tech industry news site — TRD, January 09, 2020
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The Los Angeles Times
L.A.'s booming tech scene gets its own publication to cover it, with all-star investors — Sam Dean, January 09, 2020
Our Edge
We got scrappy when we needed to. We didn’t have the time or budget to do traditional research, so we armed the team with good questions and encouraged them to get out into the street to talk to people (literally).
Testimonials
“I worked with members of the KMG team for more than a decade when we were at Zillow Group and considered them among my most trusted advisors. When I started dot.LA, I approached Katie and Nancy immediately. They truly became part of the team, leading in the creation of our brand and managing through our very successful launch. I recommend KMG for companies at any stage.”
— Spencer Rascoff
Founder, dot.LA and Zillow; angel investor