Ho Ho Hold On: How Strategic PR Turned Celebrity Voice AI into Media Gold
Ten days before Christmas, Presto Automation announced something that sounded almost unbelievable: restaurants could have Santa Claus, celebrities or any custom voice take drive-thru orders through their AI-powered system. While competitors focused on sterile efficiency, the company asked: “What if automation could be delightful?”
The company’s custom voice feature landed at a pivotal moment. The restaurant industry was grappling with severe labor shortages, and automation was no longer a luxury — it was critical to survival. But most voice AI solutions felt robotic and impersonal.
Bospar immediately recognized the goldmine hiding in plain sight: this wasn’t just a product launch, it was a cultural moment waiting to happen.
Our public relations specialists knew the client well. The company was a pioneer in restaurant automation, growing into one of the largest labor automation technology providers in the hospitality industry with over 250,000 systems shipped. But this custom voice feature? Bospar’s PR professionals understood that we could leverage it to create their breakout moment.
Challenge
The restaurant industry was crowded with automation solutions that all promised efficiency and cost savings. Standing out required more than just superior technology — it demanded capturing imaginations through creative public relations that spoke to our target media outlets.
The PR challenge:
- Make AI feel human: In an industry obsessed with reducing labor costs, show how automation could enhance rather than replace human connection.
- Create holiday magic: Launch a strategic PR campaign during the holiday season with messaging that felt celebratory, not corporate.
- Establish category leadership: Employ public relations and marketing to position the client as the innovative leader in an increasingly competitive market.
We had compelling data to work with: The client’s internal research showed that 68% of consumers aged 18 to 44 were more likely to visit a drive-thru if it featured a celebrity voice taking orders. But data alone wouldn’t capture hearts and headlines.
Three weeks before Christmas, Bospar crafted a strategy and employed our strategic communication process and PR pros to turn a product feature into a cultural phenomenon.
Strategy
Bospar’s approach centered on our “politely pushy” philosophy: persistent, strategic outreach combined with respectful relationship-building. We knew that landing one major placement could trigger a syndication avalanche.
Phase 1: Build the Foundation: We started with strategic embargo outreach to key technology and industry reporters. Rather than blast the announcement broadly, we collaborated with the client to write press releases, used the news to craft compelling pitches and reached out to the key journalists we knew would understand the story’s potential.
Key pre-launch activities included:
- Michael Wolf (reporter, The Spoon): Secured exclusive embargo acceptance
- Kristen Hawley (founder, Expedite newsletter): Engaged with strategic questions about celebrity partnerships
- Rob Enderle (analyst, Enderle Group): Conducted technical briefing Dec. 14
- Jon Springer (reporter, AdAge): Scheduled exclusive briefing for Dec. 16
Phase 2: The Perfect Hook: The Santa angle wasn’t just cute — it was strategic. Holiday timing gave us natural newsworthiness, while the celebrity voice feature demonstrated serious technological capability. We crafted messaging that balanced whimsy with business impact.
Phase 3: Amplification Strategy: We planned for both immediate media coverage and sustained follow-up. The announcement would be just the beginning, with Phase II media outreach extending into January, identifying contributed content opportunities and crafting articles to support them, and securing industry analysts briefings to build long-term credibility.
The breaking nature of restaurant automation technology demanded agility in our media strategy. We approached each target media segment – technology, hospitality, business – with customized narratives that spoke to each particular audience.
Bospar’s successful PR campaign secured coverage from TechCrunch and 17+ syndicated outlets in the first wave, with a reach that most restaurant technology companies only dream of.
The results speak for themselves:
Tier-1 Breakthrough:
- TechCrunch, Christine Hall reporting
Massive Syndication Network, including:
Industry Trade Coverage:
- Hospitality Technology
- SalesTechStar
- The Spoon (Michael Wolf reporting)
Campaign Results
Soon after the announcement, the client became the central narrative in restaurant automation coverage:
- TechCrunch’s feature established the credibility foundation: “The new custom voice option was prompted by a company survey that found 68% of consumers aged 18 to 44 years old said they were more likely to go to a drive-thru if it offers a celebrity voice to take orders.”
- MSN picked up the syndication immediately, amplifying the reach to mainstream audiences.
- Yahoo! covered it across multiple verticals (mainstream, lifestyle, entertainment), demonstrating the story’s cross-demographic appeal.
The media coverage emphasized key messaging points:
- Consumer demand: The 68% statistic became a recurring data point across coverage.
- CEO thought leadership: “Automation technology doesn’t have to be boring or impersonal.”
- Business impact: Customer testimonials showing labor reallocation and increased sales.
- Technical innovation: Industry-first custom voice capability.
The resulting business impact was immediate and measurable: The coverage contributed to the client’s positioning during a critical growth phase as a newly public company (following its SPAC merger). The media attention supported investor confidence, customer acquisition and industry leadership establishment. More importantly, the strategic PR campaign established a new template for how restaurant technology companies could approach product launches — with creativity, cultural relevance and human connection rather than just technical specifications.
