This review takes a deep dive into YAP Global by looking at its range of services, history, clientele base, experience, and more.
Last Updated on March 29, 2024
The blockchain industry has matured and evolved over the years, leading to the creation of new sectors and projects altogether. This has resulted in fierce marketing competition as new and existing projects jostle to capture the attention of crucial crypto stakeholders such as retail investors, venture capital firms, and more.
With that in mind, marketing agencies such as YAP Global have emerged to bridge the gap between crypto projects and the targeted audience. This article presents a top-down review of YAP Global. The million-dollar question is whether YAP Global is as good as advertised and if it’s worth the attention of crypto marketing executives.
- Been around since 2018
- Offers a wide range of services
- Led by a founder who has an extensive background in journalism
- Does not publish case studies
- Could give more clarity about their client base.
What is YAP Global?
Based in East Sussex, United Kingdom, YAP Global is a public relations and communications firm founded in 2018 by Samantha Yap. The marketing agency’s name is drawn from Samantha’s last name.
The firm offers two distinct but related services – public relations and events management. Public relations is important in the crypto industry (and any other sector) because it helps companies share their stories and send the right message to the targeted audience.
YAP Global’s founder, Samantha Yap, speaking at Solana Crossroads. Image Source
YAP Global claims that it is committed to providing clients with the best PR services as it has a global team with experience in journalism and communications. YAP Global’s PR services include media relations, strategic communications, brand positioning, crisis communications, and media training.
On the event management side, YAP Global specializes in organizing parties, conference-side events, product launches, dinners, and team off-sites.
YAP Global has a podcast series known as YAP Cast, and it is hosted by the marketing agency’s CEO and founder, Samantha Yap.
Some of the podcast’s guests include Wall Street Journal journalist Jacob Goldstein and Avantgarde Finance founder and CEO Mona Elsa. YAP Cast episodes can be found on several platforms such as Apple, Spotify, and Google Podcasts.
This is not all. The next sections will look at the marketing agency’s experience, transparency levels, services, and what makes it stand out (or not).
YAP Global Experience
This review has highlighted that YAP Global has been operational since 2018. While this may not be a long time, a lot happened in the crypto sector since 2018. There have been a bull market and a brutal winter that scalped many heads. Stakeholders that weathered these events deserve a badge of honor.
A good measure of YAP Global’s experience starts with its list of clients. The marketing agency does not explicitly list its portfolio of clients. However, its testimonial page shows glowing reviews from firms such as Frax Finance, Gnosis Safe, UMA, Coindesk, Rhino.Fi, Perpetual Protocol, Polygon Hermez, Maple Finance, Harvest Finance, and BitFarms.
Its list of partners – which potentially includes clients as well – comprises some of the well-known crypto startups. These include projects such as Enjin, NEXO, and Lido. The full list is shown in the image below.
YAP Global list of partners. |Source: YAP Global
The purpose of a marketing agency is to be the voice of its clients. This can only happen if the marketing agency has a team of experienced employees that can execute any marketing tasks thrown at them.
YAP Global has a team of marketing and finance experts that have a good track record before joining the firm. For example, YAP Global’s Chief Financial Officer, Otto Jacobsson, has previously worked for Deutsche Bank. While this may not directly contribute to the agency’s marketing skills, it shows that YAP Global has a sense of professionalism and the ability to hire top talent.
Other team members are entrepreneurs who have a footprint in the crypto space and other industries as well.
YAP Global’s founder, Samantha, worked in journalism before launching the marketing agency. She previously worked as a broadcast journalist and producer for Channel News Asia. Her work in journalism has taken her to several cities such as Melbourne, Jakarta, Hong Kong, and Kuala Lumpur.
Another plus for YAP Global is that the bios for YAP Global are accompanied by links to their LinkedIn and Twitter accounts. This shows that they are real people.
Transparency
YAP Global’s transparency levels are above average. The marketing agency has accounts with social media platforms that include Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, LinkedIn, and the blogging site Medium.
YAP Global is more active on Twitter compared to other platforms. Twitter is one of the most popular platforms for crypto marketing, alongside platforms such as Discord, Telegram, and Reddit.
The company has also included its registration number and office address. However, YAP Global has made some information a little vague. For example, YAP Global does not have a specific page for clients. It has a page for partners. This may be misleading as its partners may be construed for clients. As a marketing agency, it will be helpful if it explicitly states its past and present clients.
Industry Reputation/Connections
YAP Global seems to benefit from Samantha’s journalism background. The marketing agency seems to have connections with journalists within and outside the blockchain sphere. This is evidenced by some of the journalists who have graced the YAP Cast podcast series as guests. The podcast also hosts some of the agency’s clients as guests.
The connections with journalists are important as they make it easy for YAP Global to publish articles on leading finance and fintech media sites. This is important for PR.
YAP Global claims to provide media coverage that extends to Yahoo, Time, Bloomberg, CNBC, Forbes, and The Economist.
YAP Global Coverage Success. |Source: YAP GlobalYAP Global Coverage Success. |Source: YAP Global
Away from the PR front, Samantha is out and about as she participates in interviews and even speaks at events. Some examples are shown below:
- Telum Talks to Samantha Yap, Founder and CEO of YAP Global
- Samantha Yap is listed as a speaker at the 2022 CryptoFest, a blockchain event held in South Africa.
- Samantha Yap was a moderator for the 2021 CryptoFest event that featured three panelists
- Samantha Yap gave a talk on the “New PR Rules for Web3” at ETHDenver.
Apart from industry reputation, another important reputation is what former or present employees say about a company. Glassdoor reviews give YAP Global 3.5 out of 5 for its work culture and environment. This may seem trivial but very important as it could play a crucial role in YAP Global’s ability to attract and retain top talent.
YAP Global’s Range of Services
YAP Global’s services are split between public relations and event management. The marketing agency uses quality journalism to tell stories for its clients, shape important conversations within the crypto industry, and strengthen the clients’ positions as thought leaders. In turn, the end goal is to help its customers grow.
YAP Global public relations services are as follows:
- Media Relations
- Strategic communications
- Brand positioning
- Crisis communications
- Media training
- Translation
Verdict
YAP Global has been around since 2018, giving it an edge as it has been around for some time. YAP Global deserves a good rating because its CEO comes from a journalism background, and is within her means to leverage some of her past connections to benefit the agency’s clients.
Moreover, YAP Global’s founder Samantha YAP talks and moderates panels at events, giving her the opportunity to build connections that help grow the agency and the clients served by YAP Global.
The agency’s website looks professional. However, it lacks some bit of clarity on the agency’s list of clients. There are no case studies to determine the effectiveness of YAP Global’s marketing skills.
Overall, YAP Global is moderately transparent, experienced, and has no bad reputation. After taking several factors into account, we give YAP Global a rating of 3.8.
YAP Global Alternatives
Not convinced? Check these YAP Global alternatives:
Chainstory
Ninjapromo
EAK Digital
Frequently Asked Questions
How many employees are working at YAP Global?
At least 18 employees
Who is the CEO of YAP Global?
Samantha Yap, a former broadcast journalist and producer for Channel News Asia
Where is YAP Global based?
East Sussex, England
