As the father of two boys under the age of four I thought I knew a lot about thumbsucking. That is until endpoint security vendor Senforce Technologies selected Strategic Communications Group (Strategic) as its public relations agency of record.
Technology vendors face quite a conundrum when it comes to securing customer references. Journalists and analysts alike love them because they provide insight into the value delivered by a product or service, thereby validating the vendor’s claims.
Yet, customers tend to shy away from participating in promotional activity that doesn’t directly benefit their own business. For security companies it’s nearly impossible because their customers also invite risk by publicizing their technologies and practices.
This issue came up a few weeks ago as we sat in our conference room with a couple of Senforce’s sales executives brainstorming public relations tactics. Could an emphasis on rapid response programs produce a consistent flow of media coverage? How about a co-marketing campaign with one or two select partners? What thought leadership angles could we pursue?
That’s when Senforce’s Bruce Hassett inquired, “What about thumbsucking?” My colleague Shany Seawright and I shared a quizzical look. Bruce explained it’s what he called a new threat to the enterprise: when information is illicitly downloaded from a laptop to a small thumb drive for malicious purposes.
We had our thought leadership topic. Now the challenge became how to incorporate it into Senforce’s PR program to increase the company’s awareness and positioning. Our plan came together quickly:
1. Industry survey to validate the trend: we had already surveyed attendees who visited Senforce’s booth at two recent trade shows about their endpoint security requirements. We merely incorporated thumbsucking messaging into our press release announcing the survey results.
2. New media technologies to provide background: Senforce created a Web site dedicate to this campaign. The branding was purposely kept distinct from Senforce’s corporate site to enhance the perception of credibility. We also contributed a definition of thumbsucking to Wikipedia , a Web-based encyclopedia that serves as an information resource.
3. Aggressive media outreach: a press release is merely a tool to facilitate a direct interaction with a journalist. On behalf of Senforce we worked the phones talking to security and IT trade media about our survey and the thumbsucking threat.
Survey Says 73% of Organizations Store Corporate Information on Removable Devices
Survey Exposes Thumbsucking Threat
May 9, 2007, 6:36 pm
Thumbsucking Thought Leadership
Posted by jeffM
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April 9, 2007, 11:34 pm
Unexpected PR Targets
Several years ago we helped enterprise application integration vendor SAGA Software launch a new product. Interest from the analyst community was high. The media coverage was excellent. Conferences warmly welcomed the CTO as a speaker.
Yet, the PR placement that resulted in the most positive impact on SAGA’s sales pipeline came from an unexpected place: a vendor produced e-newsletter.
Proactive outreach to the industry analyst and media communities is the staple of most public relations programs. The increased awareness and credibility conferred by these influential audiences creates an environment in which a company can more successfully execute its growth strategy.
Core media and analyst outreach is just the baseline though. Strategic subscribes to a more creative PR approach. We work with our clients to take a deeper look at the possible channels we can tap to communicate with their most important audiences – customers, prospects, investors and employees.
Here are a couple of high-value targets we’ve identified:
1. Vendor-produced publications, e-newsletters and user conferences. Talk to your partners to learn how they market to their customers and prospects. Can you contribute a bylined article to their e-newsletter? Will they include one of your executives on a panel at their user conference?
For SAGA, our coverage in a newsletter Emailed by ERP vendor SAP to 10,000 of their customers – highly qualified, senior IT decision-makers – produced a flurry of leads.
2. Trade associations and industry groups. Many of them publish magazines, newsletters and content on their Web sites. Identify the groups with which your company is affiliated (both at the corporate and individual levels) and ask how you can support their publications with thought leadership content.
For instance, Strategic recently coordinated a Q&A with RFID edgeware provider GlobeRanger’s founder and CTO for AIIM’s series of executive podcasts. GlobeRanger’s VP of Engineering and Chief of Architect has also been centrally involved in EPCglobal’s Software Action Group and, as such, has been a vocal and visible proponent of industry certification efforts in a variety of public forums and related media initiatives.
3. Personalized social networks. Marc Andreessen’s new venture Ning hosts a myriad of user-created communities. Do a quick search to identify issues that are important to your company? And then contribute to the content via blog posts, podcasts and comment. This is a great way to reach targets who have already qualified themselves by shared topics of interest.
Yet, the PR placement that resulted in the most positive impact on SAGA’s sales pipeline came from an unexpected place: a vendor produced e-newsletter.
Proactive outreach to the industry analyst and media communities is the staple of most public relations programs. The increased awareness and credibility conferred by these influential audiences creates an environment in which a company can more successfully execute its growth strategy.
Core media and analyst outreach is just the baseline though. Strategic subscribes to a more creative PR approach. We work with our clients to take a deeper look at the possible channels we can tap to communicate with their most important audiences – customers, prospects, investors and employees.
Here are a couple of high-value targets we’ve identified:
1. Vendor-produced publications, e-newsletters and user conferences. Talk to your partners to learn how they market to their customers and prospects. Can you contribute a bylined article to their e-newsletter? Will they include one of your executives on a panel at their user conference?
For SAGA, our coverage in a newsletter Emailed by ERP vendor SAP to 10,000 of their customers – highly qualified, senior IT decision-makers – produced a flurry of leads.
2. Trade associations and industry groups. Many of them publish magazines, newsletters and content on their Web sites. Identify the groups with which your company is affiliated (both at the corporate and individual levels) and ask how you can support their publications with thought leadership content.
For instance, Strategic recently coordinated a Q&A with RFID edgeware provider GlobeRanger’s founder and CTO for AIIM’s series of executive podcasts. GlobeRanger’s VP of Engineering and Chief of Architect has also been centrally involved in EPCglobal’s Software Action Group and, as such, has been a vocal and visible proponent of industry certification efforts in a variety of public forums and related media initiatives.
3. Personalized social networks. Marc Andreessen’s new venture Ning hosts a myriad of user-created communities. Do a quick search to identify issues that are important to your company? And then contribute to the content via blog posts, podcasts and comment. This is a great way to reach targets who have already qualified themselves by shared topics of interest.
Posted by jeffM
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March 7, 2007, 10:55 pm
One Moment in Time
Last year Strategic Communications Group (Strategic) was hired by a company right after they pulled off a major coup – a big time acquisition that more than doubled their revenue, vaulting them into a new segment of the market. Everything was in place for a successful public relations campaign. Yet, after the M&A transaction was announced the PR effort lost momentum, limped along and was soon shut down by the client.
We are all about great work for great clients. The foundation of this core mission is shared expectations about the success criteria for a PR/communications program. Strategic is responsible for delivering great work, but our clients have an equally important role. It truly is a collaborative effort.
In the case of last year’s short-lived engagement, the company just wanted someone to hype their acquisition. There wasn’t recognition that a public relations campaign is never defined by one moment in time. Sure, you can ratchet up the market awareness around noteworthy corporate events, but true credibility with influential PR targets is better established by demonstrating how a company executes on its strategic growth plan over a sustained period.
It’s like giving a speech: tell the market what you are going to do, do it and then remind them what you have done. It is the hurdles of execution that separate companies destined for market leadership from those that merely have fleeting buzz.
Here is an example of public relations done right. When Tellabs decided to more aggressively pursue federal government business, the company allocated appropriate sales and marketing resources. In partnership with Strategic, positioning and messaging was formulated based on customer and partner requirements, aligned with Tellabs strengths and product differentiation.
A concise, well-defined plan was developed and is now in the process of implementation through a series of market announcements:
New Market Study: Federal Telecom Networks Needs are Carrier Class; Tellabs Launches Federal Group to Address Growing Need
http://www.tellabs.com/news/2007/nr010907.shtml
Government IT Managers Need Carrier-Class Network Reliability, Says New Federal User Survey
http://www.tellabs.com/news/2007/nr022607.shtml
The public relations results (see below) have helped Tellabs increase awareness in a new market, as well as garner critical. There’s a lot of work that still needs to be done, but the company is on a path to achieve its goals.
We encourage our clients to view public relations as an ongoing effort. It’s important to put in place near-term performance benchmarks, but ultimately success is defined by how the public relations work contributes to growth in sales, profitability and valuation. And that is rarely measured at one moment in time.
Tellabs pushes carrier-class networks for feds
Federal Computer Week
http://www.fcw.com/article97301-01-09-07-Web
GSA Prepares to Award Huge Telecom Deals
Associated Press
http://biz.yahoo.com/ap/070109/apfn_federal_telecom_contracts.html?.v=1
Study: Agencies Need Top-Notch Telecom Networks
Government Executive
http://www.govexec.com/story_page.cfm?articleid=35818&dcn=e_gvet
Tellabs Picks Up on Federal Network Needs
Crain’s Chicago Business
http://chicagobusiness.com/cgi-bin/mag/article.pl?article_id=27292&bt=tellabs&arc=n&searchType=all
We are all about great work for great clients. The foundation of this core mission is shared expectations about the success criteria for a PR/communications program. Strategic is responsible for delivering great work, but our clients have an equally important role. It truly is a collaborative effort.
In the case of last year’s short-lived engagement, the company just wanted someone to hype their acquisition. There wasn’t recognition that a public relations campaign is never defined by one moment in time. Sure, you can ratchet up the market awareness around noteworthy corporate events, but true credibility with influential PR targets is better established by demonstrating how a company executes on its strategic growth plan over a sustained period.
It’s like giving a speech: tell the market what you are going to do, do it and then remind them what you have done. It is the hurdles of execution that separate companies destined for market leadership from those that merely have fleeting buzz.
Here is an example of public relations done right. When Tellabs decided to more aggressively pursue federal government business, the company allocated appropriate sales and marketing resources. In partnership with Strategic, positioning and messaging was formulated based on customer and partner requirements, aligned with Tellabs strengths and product differentiation.
A concise, well-defined plan was developed and is now in the process of implementation through a series of market announcements:
New Market Study: Federal Telecom Networks Needs are Carrier Class; Tellabs Launches Federal Group to Address Growing Need
http://www.tellabs.com/news/2007/nr010907.shtml
Government IT Managers Need Carrier-Class Network Reliability, Says New Federal User Survey
http://www.tellabs.com/news/2007/nr022607.shtml
The public relations results (see below) have helped Tellabs increase awareness in a new market, as well as garner critical. There’s a lot of work that still needs to be done, but the company is on a path to achieve its goals.
We encourage our clients to view public relations as an ongoing effort. It’s important to put in place near-term performance benchmarks, but ultimately success is defined by how the public relations work contributes to growth in sales, profitability and valuation. And that is rarely measured at one moment in time.
Tellabs pushes carrier-class networks for feds
Federal Computer Week
http://www.fcw.com/article97301-01-09-07-Web
GSA Prepares to Award Huge Telecom Deals
Associated Press
http://biz.yahoo.com/ap/070109/apfn_federal_telecom_contracts.html?.v=1
Study: Agencies Need Top-Notch Telecom Networks
Government Executive
http://www.govexec.com/story_page.cfm?articleid=35818&dcn=e_gvet
Tellabs Picks Up on Federal Network Needs
Crain’s Chicago Business
http://chicagobusiness.com/cgi-bin/mag/article.pl?article_id=27292&bt=tellabs&arc=n&searchType=all
