Space travel programs are making space exploration a reality to consumers worldwide– from Virgin Galactic and Space X launching space tourism programs to 80,000 people signing up for the Mars settlement. As the boundary and currency agnostic platform used by 143 million people globally, PayPal is the only company in the leadership position to prepare and support the future of space commerce.

To help PayPal take on this new and groundbreaking endeavor, the PR agency brought together leaders in the scientific community to form PayPal Galactic, an initiative driving the questions and solutions for the commercialization of space, such as:

• What will the standard currency look like in a truly cash-free interplanetary society?

• How will the banking systems have to adapt?

• How will risk and fraud management systems need to evolve?

The initiative launched during the celebration of PayPal's 15th Anniversary and it reinforced PayPal as a commerce visionary looking ahead to the next 15 years. PayPal announced the initiative at a launch event at the SETI Institute’s global HQ, alongside astronaut Buzz Aldrin, leading experts and scientists who presented research and validated the need for PayPal Galactic. Research was also included in supporting multimedia content, social media discussions, and media interviews.

PayPal Galactic resulted in worldwide discussion on the viability of space commerce and the company’s leadership role in this sector. Introducing its vision of future commerce alongside the biggest, most credible leaders in the space industry elevated PayPal’s brand and marked a historical milestone for the company.

PayPal Galactic’s launch was timed to take full advantage of upcoming 2013 summer sci-fi movie blockbusters, and was scheduled two weeks before the 44th anniversary of the moon landing.

The PR agency drove an aggressive pre-brief strategy with key international newswires and US media outlets. To time media coverage to launch day on June 27, pre-briefed media embargoes lifted at 9pm PDT on June 26, and press release and PayPal president’s blog post were distributed globally at 5am PDT on June 27.

PayPal president David Marcus and key influencers in the space community gathered together at the SETI Institute where they announced the initiative and shared the program’s purpose to invited guests. The event was streamed live through Ustream to a broad audience of both media and consumers worldwide.

PayPal also announced its crowdfunding effort to benefit the SETI Institute, driving additional revenue to the non-profit and further public engagement.

Output/Awareness

Over 2,064 media stories about PayPal Galactic published worldwide, reaching an audience of 1 billion people. 1,247 news outlets and 659 blogs covered the launch, including Telegraph UK, BBC Click, international wire services ANSA, AFP, and Kyodo News, and USA’s Time.com, Forbes, and Business Week.

360+ broadcast placements aired across national and local outlets, including CNBC and Bloomberg TV.

Social media results totalled 42 million impressions across channels including Facebook (98K+ impressions), Twitter (5K+ tweets, YouTube (14K+ views of two videos), and PayPal Blog (430 shares of launch post).

Action/Business Impact

PayPal saw a general uptick in logging back in to abandoned accounts in the days following PayPal Galactic, achieving the expected result of reengaging consumers to activate their accounts. 10 months later the initiative is still brought up by media, investors, and other key audiences as an example of the “big thinking” and future focus of PayPal.