Case Studies
Building Credibility in a New Market
Opportunity:
A manufacturing company developed a high performance database to
meet the needs of the factory floor. After years of testing, the
company determined that the database was also appropriate for other
high performance applications where relational databases and
object-oriented databases were proving to be too slow. The company,
however, had no track record in the database marketplace, and there
were several well-established players in the IT and
telecommunications markets that the company was targeting.
Strategy:
To go up against established database companies, Breakthru developed
a complete set of background materials drawing from academic texts
on database technology and from the documented results of using the
new database in manufacturing applications. In addition,
simple-to-understand diagrams contrasted the “entity-relation”
database with relational databases – both organizationally and in
terms of execution time. After researching current and planned
articles on database technology, we also created a checklist
comparing relational databases, entity-relation databases and
object-oriented databases on a variety of criteria. This checklist
clearly demonstrated where each database technology stood out, and
also where the weaknesses lay.
Results:
The company’s materials and the credibility their spokespeople
made an impression. The product launch was reported not only in
manufacturing trade publications, but also in prestigious IT
journals. Over the months to follow, several in-depth articles
contrasting relational databases and object-oriented databases also
included material on entity-relation database technology. The
company was able to open several new markets for its database.
A Landmark Conference
Opportunity:
A young organization targeting professional women had held several
small conferences. The last conference had scored the coupe of
having a well-known feminist figure as keynote, and the coverage had
been disappointing. The keynote speaker got the publicity; the
conference was mentioned as an afterthought. It was important to
build credibility for the conference and the organization to give it
the boost it needed to national visibility.
Strategy:
Breakthru counseled to focus on the unsung achievements of
professional women in the target market to bring the emphasis of the
conference, and its coverage, on the need for and benefits of a
women’s professional organization. By establishing a “Hall of
Fame” for women who had made significant, and often unrecognized,
contributions in their fields, and by focusing the conference on
women people should know about (but probably didn’t) we felt we
could drive home the need for this organization and the benefits
that would accrue to both corporate sponsors and individual members
who associated with the organization.
Results:
Front page and major business section coverage of the conference in
the local newspaper. Significant coverage for the conference and the
Hall of Fame in industry publications. Dramatic increase in the size
of the conference the following year.
Vertical Market Positioning
Opportunity:
A privately held company does most of its marketing in vertical trade publications. The company’s products are a critical component of any industrial control application; however, they are one of many components that make up the final infrastructure. There are only two horizontal publications in their key market, and only a small percentage of the vertical publications’ annual space is devoted to product information, case studies and technical articles and roundups regarding the types of products the client offers.
The company determined that the power utility industry was an ideal target market. As a part of the strategy, the client would later acquire a company with complementary products, which had a strong base in the power utility market. Although the objectives of the two companies were synergistic, there were very different corporate styles.
Strategy:
The objective was to build as leadership image through a focused media campaign in publications targeted both to management level and distribution/substation engineering groups in the power utility markets. This included developing positioning to explain and validate the merger, and to rationalize the integration of the two product lines. In addition, we wanted to position the company as a player in and commentator on relevant major trends and issues in the power utility market.
Components
- Maintain annual face-to-face communications with top editors as well as reporters in key publications covering this industry
- Create and send product news releases that included specific reference to the power utility market to increase coverage opportunities
- Take a leadership role in translating NERC’s Critical Infrastructure Protection (CIP) regulations as related to substation planning
- Create visibility at a major industry show through participation in its technical track (not easy to do as a vendor)
- Promote application notes for developing into articles by publications as appropriate
Results:
- Integration of the two companies was handled smoothly to enhance client brand with integration of new products
- Client is recognized as one of the top vendors in its field by key industry analysts
- Client has been co-moderator of an annual panel at a key trade show for the last six years
- Client provided major by-lined technical article on substantive industry issue in leading management-targeted trade magazine annually for 3 years – including a cover story
|
