Data, Data, Data: Generating demand for a new service in an old sector while conveying reliability.
Critical PR Challenges
Let’s call them the “Data Dinosaurs:” those large data companies that have been filling salespeople’s Rolodexes for years. For this start-up client, going up against these dinosaurs and introducing a new and disruptive model for compiling and distributing valuable business contact data presented its share of obstacles. They found businesspeople were hesitant to try out a new approach to organize their contact data, which is often considered the “life line” or “back bone” of their operations. And potential investors and critics labeled the innovative model for crowd-sourced business contact data as intrusive and unreliable.
They came to Antenna asking: How could they generate the demand for a new technique to creating contact databases while building trust and conveying reliability in the new model? How would they remove the stigma of the social network entering the workplace?
Analysis
At the time, stories or mentions of data companies in the mainstream media were not common to say the least. After an exhaustive media audit, we knew the social- or business-networking angle would open the door to tell the crowd-sourced data story. Social networking was exploding (think: Facebook, MySpace, LinkedIn), and we saw an angle to ride its coattails straight from the data publications into mainstream outlets. Antenna Group recommended a launch with a two-pronged approach that used the social networking angle to get into the mainstream media as well as the data publications. We wanted people to say, “I never knew data could be so sexy.”
Action
It’s not often a company launches a new idea and finds the media already primed for its story. At the time, social networking had the spotlight -- it just didn’t expect to share it with business contact data. Antenna Group jumped on this opportunity with a fresh perspective—displaying how data and business-to-business (B2B) processes could be part of the conversation. Soon we were able to line up a feature in the New York Times that crossed the desks of the client’s target audience and investors. The hook was set, so we worked quickly and diligently to launch the client and reel in additional press in industry trade magazines and top-tier outlets: CNet, Business 2.0 (now FORTUNE), San Francisco Business Times and The Wall Street Journal.
Impact
The client quickly developed a large user base, as well as, increased demand and notoriety from the influx of press. By winning speaking spots in a wide breadth of industries—HR, sales, recruiting, technology, marketing—Antenna showed the multi-dimensional capabilities of the product. With Antenna’s expertise, the media educated businesspeople about the limitations of the old way of organizing their contact information and the benefits of our client’s new model. The client receive national recognition as a company with a “big dose of the savvy,” and its “rebel CEO” gained notoriety locally through Antenna Group’s Salon Dinners and local media engagement.
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