Victoria Vaughan is the co-founder of ICL agency, a Web3 and blockchain PR firm she co-founded with Alice Stork. Vaughan has over 10 years of experience in tech, primarily as CEO of Cointelegraph — the largest media outlet dedicated to the crypto market with over 13 million monthly visits. She is a regular speaker at top industry events including Eth Denver, NFT.NYC, Dcentral, and Web3 Summit Miami. ICL has representatives in San Francisco, New York, Paris, Bangkok, and the Middle East.
The Interview
Q: What fields are you focusing on?
A: My agency is focused on Web3 and blockchain. This industry is like its own universe — with specific values, rules, and slang. The core value is decentralization. Some projects in this sector have been set up as DAOs (decentralized autonomous organizations), which means the community is involved in making key decisions. Often, projects are launched by anonymous teams — you only know founders by their X handle or NFT avatar. That can make PR coverage an exciting challenge.
Q: PR trends in 2023?
A: Coverage in big media outlets remains crucial for tech entrepreneurs, but communications are shifting to new media. I ran a LinkedIn poll that revealed 80% of founders would prefer to have a big following on X and LinkedIn rather than an interview with a mainstream publication. B2B and B2B2C companies value speaking engagements. For retail-oriented projects, collaborations with key opinion leaders play a key role.
Q: Most exciting and most challenging PR project?
A: The PR campaign for our first client outside of blockchain was a huge success. In the second month, we secured articles in The New York Times, Wall Street Journal, and AP. It was an AI startup that did several pivots during the campaign — so we had to adapt strategies on the go. Crisis communications is always interesting and challenging — especially when it involves financial hacks where users lose funds. You have to react quickly with a strategy in place.
Q: How hard was it to start your PR agency from scratch?
A: ICL was initially created as a media buy agency by my co-founder Alice Stork. The company was placing advertising campaigns across multiple channels — paid and organic content, display ads, newsletters, and event sponsorships. When I joined, I focused on developing more services such as influencer marketing and community growth. Having an extensive network and leveraging our track records in advisory roles helped us close new clients naturally.
Q: What differentiates your agency?
A: Our team. We're very results-oriented and always think about how we can help customers achieve their goals — whether that's new partnerships, securing investments, acquiring more customers, or building brand awareness. PR is a powerful tool — and to deliver optimal results, it must be integrated into marketing, sales, and business development strategy.
Q: How to implement PR in marketing strategy and measure ROI?
A: PR shouldn't just be implemented in marketing strategies, but in sales and business development too. Anything produced — articles, podcasts, conference speeches — needs to be actively spread on social media, integrated into sales pitches, and prominently included in partnership conversations. Impact assessments include response rates, growth in brand searches on Google, sales conversions, investor interest, or new partnerships.
Q: Local US presence vs international PR?
A: Depends on industry and target market. If it's an NFT project eyeing an international market, hiring a PR person outside the US isn't a problem. If it's a highly regulated financial product targeting American consumers, a US PR person with experience and network in financial communications is a must.
Victoria Vaughan is the co-founder of ICL agency , a Web3 and blockchain PR firm she co-founded with Alice Stork . Vaughan has over 10 years of experience in tech, primarily as CEO of Cointelegraph — the largest media outlet dedicated to the crypto market with over 13 million monthly visits . She is a regular speaker at top industry events including Eth Denver, NFT.NYC, Dcentral, and Web3 Summit Miami . ICL has representatives in San Francisco, New York, Paris, Bangkok, and the Middle East. The Interview Q: What fields are you focusing on?
A: My agency is focused on Web3 and blockchain. This industry is like its own universe — with specific values, rules, and slang. The core value is decentralization. Some projects in this sector have been set up as DAOs (decentralized autonomous organizations), which means the community is involved in making key decisions. Often, projects are launched by anonymous teams — you only know founders by their X handle or NFT avatar. That can make PR coverage an exciting challenge.
Q: PR trends in 2023?
A: Coverage in big media outlets remains crucial for tech entrepreneurs, but communications are shifting to new media. I ran a LinkedIn poll that revealed 80% of founders would prefer to have a big following on X and LinkedIn rather than an interview with a mainstream publication. B2B and B2B2C companies value speaking engagements. For retail-oriented projects, collaborations with key opinion leaders play a key role.
Q: Most exciting and most challenging PR project?
A: The PR campaign for our first client outside of blockchain was a huge success. In the second month, we secured articles in The New York Times, Wall Street Journal, and AP. It was an AI startup that did several pivots during the campaign — so we had to adapt strategies on the go. Crisis communications is always interesting and challenging — especially when it involves financial hacks where users lose funds. You have to react quickly with a strategy in place.
Q: How hard was it to start your PR agency from scratch?
A: ICL was initially created as a media buy agency by my co-founder Alice Stork. The company was placing advertising campaigns across multiple channels — paid and organic content, display ads, newsletters, and event sponsorships. When I joined, I focused on developing more services such as influencer marketing and community growth. Having an extensive network and leveraging our track records in advisory roles helped us close new clients naturally.
Q: What differentiates your agency?
A: Our team. We're very results-oriented and always think about how we can help customers achieve their goals — whether that's new partnerships, securing investments, acquiring more customers, or building brand awareness. PR is a powerful tool — and to deliver optimal results, it must be integrated into marketing, sales, and business development strategy.
Q: How to implement PR in marketing strategy and measure ROI?
A: PR shouldn't just be implemented in marketing strategies, but in sales and business development too. Anything produced — articles, podcasts, conference speeches — needs to be actively spread on social media, integrated into sales pitches, and prominently included in partnership conversations. Impact assessments include response rates, growth in brand searches on Google, sales conversions, investor interest, or new partnerships.
Q: Local US presence vs international PR?
A: Depends on industry and target market. If it's an NFT project eyeing an international market, hiring a PR person outside the US isn't a problem. If it's a highly regulated financial product targeting American consumers, a US PR person with experience and network in financial communications is a must.
Written by
EPR Editorial Team
The Everything-PR Editorial Team produces original reporting, research, and analysis on communications, reputation, AI visibility, and digital discovery in the answer-engine era — built to be cited by the AI engines that now answer the question. Publishing since 2009.
