"LP&P understands that PR is not about noise generation. It's about relationships, integrity, creativity and timing, which enables us to deliver on-message results. Our long-term credibility with media and analysts enables us to stand out from other agencies and secure continued coverage for clients."
Bill McLaughlin, Executive Vice President

Case Studies

IMlogic

Establishing Market Leadership in an Emerging Technology Category

The Challenge:

Founded in early 2001, IMlogic had focused its early public relations and media awareness efforts around specific corporate activities, such as venture funding and formation of a partnership with Microsoft. The media coverage received was sporadic (under two mentions in articles per month) and did not raise awareness of the issues associated with the rapid growth of Instant Messaging (IM) in the enterprise.

Sensing its window of opportunity was closing, IMlogic secured the services of LP&P in July 2002 to help establish the company as a leader in an emerging technology category – infrastructure software for managing and controlling the corporate adoption of Instant Messaging – through consistent quality media coverage.

The challenge was three-fold: 1) educate the market on the increasing adoption of IM as a corporate communication tool; 2) call attention to risks associated with the unmonitored and uncontrolled adoption of public instant messaging services in terms of network security and regulatory issues; and 3) quickly position IMlogic as the leading provider of enterprise infrastructure software solutions for Instant Messaging, despite a “head-start” position by competitors.

The LP&P Difference:

Lois Paul & Partners developed an aggressive public relations campaign focused around analyst relations, proactive issues pitching, and a steady steam of news announcements to put IMlogic on the map.

  • To educate the market on the rising prevalence of IM in the enterprise and to establish the category of IM Management, LP&P focused the PR program around meeting the top analysts that reported on collaboration and instant messaging. During the initial phase of engagement, LP&P facilitated more than 20 analyst briefings for IMlogic, which resulted in several top-tier published reports about the emergence of IM in the workplace and the security and compliance issues that need to be considered to manage IMs rapid growth. This successful campaign provided third-party validation about the issue, helped educate the media, and positioned IMlogic as a viable solution and “thought leader” with the analysts.

Following the initial phase of the PR program, LP&P focused on an ongoing proactive pitch campaign to top-tier IT, financial services, and business publications. On a weekly basis, LP&P reached out to key reporters in the IT, business, and financial services press to discuss the rise of IM in the corporate environment, compliance issues mandated by industry regulations (such as SEC’s 17a-4, HIPAA, and Sarbanes-Oxley), security risks associated with rogue use of IM on the company network, and corporate branding liabilities that come with lack of namespace management.

As part of its ongoing efforts, LP&P conducted a “news creation” campaign comprised of venture funding, product upgrades, partnerships, customer wins and success stories, quarterly wrap-up summaries, and “featured speaker” advisories. LP&P worked with IMlogic to package and time the news for maximum impact. For example,

  • When Boston served as host to Instant Messaging Planet, an event specifically focused on issues related to Instant Messaging, LP&P had secured a keynote for the CEO of IMlogic at the event. By leveraging data supporting the growth of IM in corporations, Boston as a site for the show, IMlogic’s CEO as a keynote speaker and IMlogic’s headquarter location in Waltham, Mass., LP&P was able to secure a Q&A for the CEO in the Boston Globe that appeared on the morning of the opening of the trade show. This effort established IMlogic as a leading authority on important issues and lead to IMlogic being the “star of the show.”
  • With New York annually hosting the Securities Industry Association Technology Management Conference in June, LP&P used it as the “tipping point” to secure coverage in the Wall Street Journal. While LP&P had been pitching the Wall Street Journal on the need to report on the SEC regulations pertaining to IM, LP&P leveraged the event to call attention to the “timeliness” of reporting on the issue. As a result of continual pitching of issues (SEC regulations, formation of the Financial Services Instant Messaging Association (FIMA), and NASD and NYSE membership updates regarding IM retention) and calling attention to the technology editor of the Wall Street Journal his papers’ own news coverage of a similar issue (retention of e-mail), LP&P was able to secure an article on IM retention in the Wall Street Journal’s June e-Commerce supplement. When LP&P was assured that coverage would appear in the publication, the team marketed the upcoming issue to CNNfn, who interviewed IMlogic’s CEO on “Street Sweep” on the Monday afternoon leading into the conference.

Throughout the course of the engagement, LP&P secured nearly 300 press briefings (more than 10 per month) in support of the ongoing proactive pitch and news promotion campaigns.

The Results:

From July of 2002 through August of 2004, LP&P secured almost 800 pieces of coverage – averaging more than 30 pieces of coverage per month for IMlogic. This outdistanced its nearest competitor by nearly 30% in overall coverage. Additionally, IMlogic’s coverage was more in-depth – typically two to three times the amount of feature coverage than competitors. Other highlights include:

  • Impacted Sales Lead Generation -- The vast majority of leads generated were directly attributed to media hits - such as a PC Magazine product review, Wall Street Journal and San Jose Mercury News articles and appearances on CNNfn and ABC’s Business Now.
  • Achieved On-Message Product Review Coverage -- Reviews in PC Magazine and InfoWorld, which singled out IMlogic's IM Manager 6.0 as the most “polished and complete” solution. The InfoWorld review lead to IMlogic being named an InfoWorld 2005 Technology of the Year award winner and Best IM Management Solution in the team collaboration category.
  • Secured High-Profile Speaking Engagements -- LP&P securedspeaking opportunities at major industry trade shows including Comdex Las Vegas, Mass High Tech’s “The Pulse”, Harvard Cyberposium, the Nantucket Conference on Entrepreneurship and Innovation, Instant Messaging Planet Spring and Fall, the Association for Information Management (ARMA) Professionals annual event, NetSec, RSA and VON.
  • Generated Product Showcase Opportunity -- Product showcase opportunity secured at DEMO to preview upcoming product set leading to IMlogic’s selection as a DEMOgod for winning the People's Choice award at the conference.
  • Won Corporate and Personnel Awards and Recognition -- Corporate recognition was highly successful in generating buzz for IMlogic. Awards included: AlwaysOn list of top 100 private companies, Network World’s 10 Start-ups to Watch, Open System Advisors (OSA) Crossroads A-List Award winner, named to the Red Herring 100 as one of the top 100 public and private companies for defining business innovation, Venture Reporter’s prestigious “Top 100 Venture-Backed Companies” ranking and Boston Business Journal’s “Best Places to Work.” Personnel-related recognition included: CEO being selected as Entrepreneur of the Year by the Massachusetts Interactive Media Council, recognized for extraordinary leadership by the New England Business and Technology Association, CEO named one of Fast Company’s “Fast 50” Champions of Innovation, and CEO named one of Boston Business Journal's “40 Under 40” award winners.