I have a feeling that this is the type of product that potential users don't think they need or don't know exists, which would invert the marketing method from finding users with intent to finding everybody and then converting them with your story

So I would have spent the $1000 on formulating a good story and reaching bloggers and journalists (which is what they did, or aimed at, in a way)

(btw what you are advocating here is an excellent idea, I just think it might not work in this case especially as they were looking to run a campaign in parallel with a conference and piggy-back on the conference name)

Edit: I did a quick check on traffic estimator, and not only is keyword search volume low, but it is very competitive. $5 per click in adwords, and the competition looks tough in the main search results:

https://img.skitch.com/20110624-ewwhimkp5bscncyph7tuwhx1te.j...

Edit 2: a good idea would have been to buy keyword searches against 'techcrunch' and 'techcrunch disrupt'