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The PR Report
Strategies & Actions
April 2007
PanGo: Reaching No. 1

The window of opportunity that defines markets and crowns leaders is noticeably shrinking. PanGo's acquisition by InnerWireless in late Q1 is the most recent example of how PR put the company squarely ahead of two fierce competitors in one of the hottest markets in healthcare.

Our 15-month run at the market was incredibly aggressive, to prove market readiness and PanGo's leadership in a noisy, copy-cat competitive landscape. We made PanGo a highly-visible option - and a budget priority - for hospitals seeking innovative asset-tracking systems.

How did we do it? From the outset, our goal was to be #1 of the three players in the field. We measured success by repeated visible endorsements in the media, being listed first instead of alphabetically and regularly appearing in all of our competitors' news coverage.

We also purposefully managed PanGo's profile with Cisco, a key partner that had relationships with all of the best-of-breeds. Within a few quarters, PanGo emerged as the clear thought- and market-leader overall - and in Cisco's partner network.

Here are the core tenets of our program:

  • Speak the truth. Like any early market, we faced challenges: Few users, hardware integration issues, slower-than-hoped-for adoption caused by infrastructure issues. Our honesty about industry-wide obstacles cut through noise and was a tremendous opportunity to build thought-leadership equity - because it was carefully packaged. We borrowed a page from best-practices in crisis communications: Assess the state of the market and articulate a forward-looking vision that propels the next phase of the adoption curve.

    Top editors saw PanGo as the refreshingly clear voice in the industry, and the go-to expert source.


  • Speak to the business value. We never focused on the technology - even as we told an advanced technology story. Instead, PanGo was the 'asset management company' - a platform for a multi- industry solution. In contrast, competitors stayed stuck in the intricacies of RFID.

    When building allies among technical advocates, we spoke to larger issues. Competitors pushed for proprietary network solutions; in contrast, we pushed for standards, interoperability and long-term investment protection.

    As a result, the ROI case was convincing, and PanGo outpaced the others in signing deals.


  • Speak where it matters. HIMSS is the place to be for anyone selling into healthcare markets. As expected, the marketing noise is deafening. We began working with PanGo 30 days before the 2006 event - and lined up a dozen briefings, creating immediate attention and planting seeds for substantial coverage in subsequent months. The next year, we created a full-blown campaign, with bylined articles appearing right before the show, an aggressive news campaign that kept the heat on and another full round of contact with all of the industry influencers. This integrated approach demonstrated PanGo's clear and strategic leadership - driving the value equation behind the acquisition.
 
Market-Shaping Outreach

In early-stage companies and markets, leadership has to think creatively to get a greater share of voice. Competition is fierce - as large players use deep-pocketed marketing strategies to maintain the status quo, and like-size competitors often sound very similar.

Breaking out of the pack is really a simple proposition: Know the market, its influencers and stories they want to tell, and communicate messages that will still resonate in 6 months.

Focusing on issues, trends and the bigger business problems your customers face lets you use PR to define and frame the market, generating favorable coverage that gives you visibility beyond product and company activity. The result: Your brand is inextricably linked to market leadership and the solutions that enterprises need most.

Owning the Trends in Security

Today's security stories have shifted to focus on the risk presented by trusted insiders - employees and partners with authorized network access. These users are responsible for a high percentage of data breaches and identity theft cases, and their actions help determine whether companies pass audits - all hot-button issues.

The biggest challenge for many reporters is coming up with new angles.

In February, a Delaware newspaper broke the story of a former DuPont employee pleading guilty to stealing $400 million of company trade secrets, with the intent to provide them to his new employer - a guaranteed story for business and trade press.

While this type of story naturally gives executives opportunities to talk about technology problems and employee monitoring, we offered Guardium and TNT executives to comment on the larger themes of insider threats, identifying gaps in most enterprises' internal security plans to show how other organizations could also be victimized, and offering strategies to help readers mitigate risks.

The results: 2 cover stories (InfoWorld and Computerworld), and 2 online features where our clients were the only vendors quoted - dominating the news and shutting out competitors.

Both companies are capitalizing on a fundamental shift in tech PR. Back in the days of high-profile viruses and worms, dozens of vendors got coverage by proclaiming that their solutions could have stopped new threats. Today, it's less about providing the right technology (though that can help), and more about adressing real business problems.

Beyond the News

We expect this theme to resonate into 2008, as both security and compliance stories focus on business risks. The ongoing goal for TNT and Guardium is to define insider issues, being on the receiving end of reporters' calls as they dig deeper for their stories.

The DuPont case is just one example of delivering a more strategic message. Regardless of the industry, 'typical' PR activities - such as interviews, news, bylined articles and briefings - can easily become opportunities for analysis that positions your team as industry authorities and begins to build a reputation as a trusted resource for reporters.
 
In Our Corner
"Corporate Ink continues to amaze me. We're changing the home page of the Web site to accommodate all the new press you get us. "

-Aline Kaplan
director of corporate communications
Guardium, Inc.


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New Clients in Hot Industries

Corporate Ink's client roster has expanded in 2007, with fast-emerging leaders in two of the hottest markets in IT - Axeda, offering secure remote service of mission-critical devices, and DarwinSuzsoft, which guides the F500 into China for offshore IT development.

Both companies get to the core of what keeps CIOs awake at night: "How can I make the most of a tight IT budget, and make an impact on the corporate strategy?"

Our newest clients expand Corporate Ink's reach into mainstream IT markets, and are getting out ahead of big waves in their sectors.

  • Axeda is changing how mission-critical devices are serviced once they're deployed in the field. It lets OEMs remotely monitor and manage equipment to optimize - or eliminate - service calls. As secure, reliable service increasingly differentiates vendors, Axeda is the new "secret sauce" for customer loyalty.

  • DarwinSuzsoft is showing businesses that China has much more to offer than just low-cost manufacturing and assembly. With more than 1,000 expert IT developers split between the U.S. and China, this consulting firm is helping Western companies establish a foothold inside the world's fastest-growing economy.
We'll tap our worldwide network of partner firms in the Worldcom Public Relations Group for outreach across APAC and EMEA.
 
Corporate Ink Wins Award

We're delighted to be named one of the industry's top boutique PR firms by The Holmes Report, widely considered the benchmark for agencies of all sizes. More than 125 firms competed for the categories this year.

It's our first award - and affirms our commitment to creating a pretty cool place to come to work. Our staff was interviewed as part of the judging process, which also evaluated our intensive training programs and our willingness to share management opportunities.

Creating a stimulating environment with plenty of room to grow makes our team effective and keeps turnover low, which benefits our clients.

 
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http://www.corporateink.com

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