In an industry long dominated by vague deliverables and inflated visibility claims, Mike Ermolaev, founder of Outset PR, believes it’s time for a course correction.
A recognized voice in crypto, Ermolaev is frequently cited as a market analyst and commentator by established outlets including Forbes, Nasdaq, Business Insider, Yahoo Finance, and Cointelegraph.
With a dual background in communications and market analysis, he bridges the gap between narrative and numbers—translating media performance into actionable market signals. In this conversation, Ermolaev discusses what’s broken and what’s working in digital-first strategies, and why the future of crypto communications lies in precision—not promises.
The Problem With Legacy PR
In the traditional playbook, PR is about reach. Get your brand seen, your name mentioned, your logo glowing on a billboard.
But Mike is blunt: most of that is performative.
“Classical PR still thrives, but it’s mostly inertia. The model was never built around effectiveness—it’s built around perception. Expensive visuals, editorial placements with no measurable outcome, endless planning meetings that result in nothing tangible. It’s smoke and mirrors.”
Take the example he offers: a billboard campaign in a major city. Visually impactful? Sure. But is it worth $30,000 if you can’t tell who saw it—or whether they even cared?
“You can estimate visibility, but it’s fuzzy. And justifying that kind of investment with zero downstream clarity? That’s a gamble most projects can’t afford.”
Too many PR agencies, he says, rely on the “hope and pray” model—write a press release, send it out, and pray someone sees it, burning big budgets on campaigns that no one can measure.
The same logic applies to how brands often treat crypto media. Traffic snapshots can be just as misleading as billboard impressions—some sites claim millions of monthly visits, but without clarity on consistent reach or crypto-native engagement, you’re essentially buying into vanity metrics. Outset PR’s recent Q1 2025 report on LATAM crypto media illustrates this well.
Turning Headlines Into Heatmaps
At Outset PR, Ermolaev flipped the model. Visibility isn’t the end goal—it’s the data trail that matters.
“We track how stories get picked up and reshared across sites —not just to measure reach, but because these patterns show where attention is heading in crypto. If certain narratives—like AI tokens or RWA—start triggering multi-site coverage chains, it’s often a precursor to capital rotation. PR can act as a soft early-warning system for market shifts.”
In other words, coverage isn’t just about visibility—it’s about directional intent. What’s getting echoed, and where? What formats generate ripple effects? These are market signals, not media trivia.
When Whales Move, Coverage Follows
Mike explains that their campaign metrics often mirror what’s happening on-chain—particularly in volatile spaces like memecoins.
His take isn’t speculative—it’s grounded in patterns he’s analyzed publicly. In his recent article, Mike examined the interplay between sentiment, early whale activity, and the media cycles that often precede market-wide attention. He showed how memecoins feed on narrative momentum, where hype and social energy amplify early moves before fundamentals catch up.
“Our campaign data lines up with wallet behavior. Larger investors are re-entering memecoins, and we’re seeing that reflected in earned media. Retail isn’t back in force yet, but the narrative footprint is growing. That’s usually the gap between early conviction and mainstream FOMO.”
Building on that foundation, Mike notes that PR doesn’t just follow the market—it frequently runs slightly ahead of it. He points out that spikes in media traction often come before price action. Not because the media is driving the market—but because it’s capturing early signals that retail hasn’t caught up to yet.
“Media velocity often front-runs market moves. PR isn’t predictive in the strict sense—but it’s definitely suggestive.”
While Mike stays cautious about revealing too much, he hints at a quietly evolving layer of strategic infrastructure within the agency—something already influencing how their campaigns adapt in real time. These internal systems give a peek at what adaptive, insight-driven PR could look like soon.
“We believe the future of PR is live, not static. We’re not there yet, but we’re pushing in that direction. Every campaign teaches us something, and we bake that learning back into the system.”
He talked more about this shift in an earlier interview, where he shared thoughts on how media, public interest, and stronger infrastructure are helping the industry move toward long-term growth and trust.
Why Memecoins Refuse to Die
Extending beyond media signals, Mike turns his attention to the market itself—sharing direct observations from recent campaigns, especially in the memecoin sector.
“This May, things shifted. Volume didn’t explode, but transaction sizes quietly climbed. It’s not a retail rush anymore—it’s strategic moves from players with deeper pockets.”
While he avoids naming specific projects or amounts, he alludes to internal data showing several high-value injections into memecoins across a short span of time.
“When you see recurring wallets returning with larger sums, it says something. There’s cautious optimism returning. It’s not explosive, but it’s intentional.”
Even as some industry voices announce the end of the memecoin era, Mike remains unconvinced. He’s not predicting a second golden age—but he is saying the story isn’t over yet.
“Judging by narrative velocity and renewed investor interest, memecoins still have cultural fuel left. Their media traction suggests they’re in a late-stage cycle—but not finished. The broader market hasn’t rotated fully out of risk-on assets, and meme narratives still drive engagement and clicks. That matters.”
It’s not just Mike’s opinion—this kind of pattern recognition directly shapes how the agency structures its campaigns.
Designing PR for Market Cycles
Here’s where it gets tactical.
“Our campaign structures are built for market cycles. In bullish phases, we go fast and wide—short-form, high-shareability content. When things cool off, we shift to deeper formats: explainers, thought leadership, reputational plays. We build comms around what the market is emotionally ready for.”
This adaptability, he suggests, is missing from most PR agencies that treat content like an assembly line—same format, every quarter, no matter what.
“The crypto market doesn’t sit still. Neither should your storytelling.”
What Clients Ask For Says Everything
If you want to understand where the market is heading, Mike Ermolaev suggests listening to client requests. They don’t just reflect current conditions—they reveal sentiment in motion, he argues.
“One of the things I’ve learned is that PR is often a leading indicator. When founders start asking for SEO optimization and evergreen explainers instead of splashy headlines, it could mean the market’s about to cool. But when everyone’s chasing fast media pickup and trying to get featured on CoinMarketCap’s news feed, we’re likely deep in euphoric territory.”
In other words, you can often tell where we are in the cycle just by the kind of PR deliverables founders are hungry for.
When the market is hot, founders want speed, amplification, and visibility. They want their project to trend. They want to be seen everywhere, instantly. That desire for “CMC mentions” and quick pickups isn’t just about reach—it’s the byproduct of euphoria and urgency, a clear signal that FOMO is peaking.
But when the mood shifts—when the excitement slows and eyes turn toward fundamentals—so does the PR appetite. Suddenly, founders care more about being understood than being noticed. They ask for explainers, long-form content, media audits, eager to invest in reputation, not just virality.
“The content request itself becomes a kind of temperature check,” Mike notes. “You don’t need a crystal ball—you just need to pay attention to what people are asking for.”
Closing Thought: Precision or Nothing
In a market obsessed with noise, Mike Ermolaev is betting on clarity. His agency is not just building campaigns—they’re building a standard. One where truth outperforms hype, and precision storytelling becomes the bridge between belief and momentum.
“Crypto PR is evolving into something more strategic—it’s no longer just about getting headlines, but about understanding how communication syncs with market behavior. If your visibility isn’t converting into trust, relevance, or capital flow, it’s just noise. Precision storytelling is the new edge.”
