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Engage PR Newsletter Volume III, Issue 1
March 7, 2005
More good news...
Engage PR Wins Two New Clients in Q4 2004
LongBoard and Reconnex have each selected Engage PR to provide
ongoing expert public relations support and consultation. Engage PR will
leverage its strategic messaging expertise and strong media and industry
analyst relationships to position and promote these two companies as
leaders in their markets.
LongBoard, founded in 1999, develops open mobile
convergence software that, for the first time, changes the economics of
mobility to favor wireline carriers. LongBoard fixed mobile convergence (FMC) solutions
enable wireline carriers to deliver
business-class managed voice over IP (VoIP)
services seamlessly across WiFi and cellular
networks.
Reconnex, founded in 2003, enables companies to
guard against information security breaches that originate within their
organizations. Reconnex pioneered the only
enterprise security platform of its kind that has the capacity to run at
gigabit speeds, is non-invasive, and can be deployed in hours, not weeks. Reconnex's electronic risk management solutions are
targeted to Fortune 1000 companies and government agencies. Key customers
include NASA, Sirva, WebEx,
and Redback.
Engage PR Team Walks for MS
Engage
PR is participating in the MS Walk 2005 in Alameda, Calif.,
on Sunday, April 10. The agency has teamed with sponsors Mercedes Benz of Oakland and Paragon Strategies, a human asset
development company in San
Francisco, to raise $1500 to support research for
a cure as well as programs and services for people with MS. The Engage PR 'Walkie Talkies' will trudge 5 kilometers at Crown Beach
in Alameda
for this worthy cause.
Engage PR is committed to serving organizations in need in the Bay Area.
Past projects include cooking at the Berkeley Men's Shelter and holding a
children's Halloween party at the Midway Shelter.
If you wish to contribute to the MS Walk, send a check to National Multiple
Sclerosis Society, Northern California Chapter Headquarters, 150 Grand, Oakland, CA
94612. In the
check's memo section, write MS Walk 04/2005, your name, and the team's
name.
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Engage PR is a full-service public relations and
communications company with a strong track record of promoting our clients to
market success. For more information, please visit www.engagepr.com.
Here we showcase how Engage PR's unique and creative
public relations campaigns have elevated our clients and their products in
the eyes of investors, the industry, and the media.
Successful
PR Campaign Helps Position Airespace for
Acquisition by Cisco
Airespace develops intelligent Wireless LAN (WLAN)
switching platforms that support business-critical applications for
enterprises. Engage PR began working with Airespace
in May 2003.
The Goal
In a market with 14-plus competitors, Airespace
intended to emerge as a market leader. To support this goal, Engage PR
implemented a strategy to raise Airespace above
the competition and position it as Cisco's leading competitor in the WLAN
switching market.
The Approach
Engage PR helped differentiate Airespace from its
competitors as the "dynamic Radio Frequency (RF) expert" and WLAN
application innovator. The agency then leveraged the expertise of Airespace's executive team to establish the company as
a market leader and to secure a standalone weekly column – "Wireless Wizards" – in Network World.
The PR team took advantage of the company's OEM partnerships with industry
leaders to provide third-party validation of the Airespace
solution. A series of press releases and article pitches about new
customers emphasized the company's growth. Engage PR also helped schedule
10 product reviews that pitted Airespace's system
against the competition and confirmed Airespace's
technology leadership; the company won all 10.
The Results
Airespace realized the true value of a
wide-ranging strategic public relations program when Cisco acquired the
company for $450 million in January 2005. The work done during the past 20
months had greatly increased the company's visibility and stature, and
industry analysts and business press recognized Airespace
as second only to Cisco in the WLAN market.
The Takeaway
After elevating Airespace above the WLAN
switching pack, EPR leveraged Airespace's
executive expertise, product innovation and excellence, key industry
partners, and strong customer base to position Airespace
for a successful acquisition.
EPR Helps Calix Land Business Week Feature
Calix creates multiservice
platforms that enable more than 150 Independent Local Exchange Carriers (ILECs) and Independent Operating Carriers (IOCs) to deliver ultra-broadband, packet-based voice,
data, and video services, including the holy grail of on-demand IPTV, over
both fiber and copper. Engage PR began working with Calix
in September 2004.
The Goal
EPR's goal was to build visibility for Calix in the business and trade press by capitalizing
on the interest in the triple play of voice, data, and video and to
establish Calix as the most experienced U.S.
vendor of triple-play solutions.
The Approach
Because CEO Carl Russo was known as an industry visionary, EPR developed a
plan to re-introduce him to the business and trade press community. Engage
helped Carl build on his relationship with Peter Burrows of Business
Week by scheduling a meeting with Burrows and editor Peter Elstrom in October 2004. This meeting led to Calix's inclusion in a story about the copper
infrastructure in the January 10, 2005, issue. News that EPR was scheduling
meetings for Calix with business press in January
2005 galvanized Burrows into writing an entire feature about Russo.
The Results
A profile of Russo in the February 14 Business Week discussed his
plans for Calix and positioned the company as a
market leader. The article resulted in increased exposure for Calix in other publications such as Investor's
Business Daily and a mention in another Business Week article.
The Takeaway
EPR's deep relationships with the media, combined
with the business press roadshow, helped build
interest in Calix and increased the company's
overall visibility.
NexTone: Demonstrating Leadership with a New Product Launch
NexTone Communications develops carrier-grade products that
deliver scalable session management and PSTN-like performance to real-time
IP services such as video, data, and voice over IP (VoIP).
Customers include carriers, service providers, and enterprises. Engage PR
began working with NexTone in May 2004.
The Goal
In December 2004, NexTone announced its new
Real-Time Session Manager (RSM), the first policy manager and real-time
call control engine to manage network resources and optimize call distribution
for service providers' VoIP networks. Engage PR
and NexTone developed a product launch plan to
position NexTone with trade press and industry
analysts as a leader in scalable session management of real-time IP
services and RSM as a key component of service provider IP Multimedia
Subsystem (IMS) network architectures.
The Approach
To promote the new product, Engage PR and NexTone
conducted more than 20 briefings with key analysts such as The Burton
Group, Current Analysis, IDC, RHK, and The Yankee Group. NexTone also spoke with top-tier trade publications
including Light Reading,
Telephony, Telecommunications, X-Change, and Network World.
The Results
The RSM announcement received very positive coverage in more than a dozen
publications, and NexTone received numerous
accolades for its vision and ability to deliver unique, high-value products
that address the needs of its carrier customers. The announcement
successfully communicated the advanced capabilities of NexTone's
products, and Telecommunications selected the RSM as "Product
of the Month" for February 2005.
The Takeaway
Strategic product positioning and a well-crafted launch, supported by
analyst briefings and targeted at the most influential publications, can
clearly communicate a company's key differentiators and generate tremendous
coverage in a short period of time.
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