Communicating complex concepts

The Challenge

Raising market awareness and establishing strong opinion leadership positioning for a company previously perceived as engineering-led and operating in the complex, supposedly dry world of process optimisation is a tough task - even when the company itself is highly respected with a reputation for unsurpassed expertise in the sector.   

This was the challenge facing Whiteoaks in 2008 in taking on the AspenTech account. Previously, there was little knowledge of AspenTech in national and business media and limited awareness in core IT trade or vertical media. Fortunately, Whiteoaks has extensive expertise in communicating complex concepts in a clear and lucid manner and then developing pragmatic media programmes to drive these messages with target media.

In addition to this, Whiteoaks also took on the related challenge of providing a broader EMEA co-ordination role, designed to ensure that the AspenTech message was delivered across the key European markets of France and Germany on an ongoing basis and, through project work, in the Middle East and South Africa regions.

The Response

Whiteoaks recognised that these goals could best be achieved by focusing on the business benefits of process optimisation rather than by seeing it as an essentially dry and complex debate about technology features and functions. In pursuing this approach, Whiteoaks focused on training a pool of EMEA executives to assist in the PR programme and reached out to spokespeople across the US to make effective use of their domain expertise.

This engagement has proved critical in enabling Whiteoaks to effectively cut through the complexity and developed a broadly-based issues-led PR campaign focused on building strong IP through benefits-focused copywriting. The programme was designed to build opinion leadership through a series of commentary and opinion articles, which reflected AspenTech understanding of the issues facing engineering companies across the process industries, backed up by case studies, which showed how, in clear and practical terms, organisations across the process industries were benefiting from the AspenTech solutions.

The Result

The success of the Whiteoaks campaign to date can be judged by a number of measures. From a standing start, the company has developed a focus on vertical and trade publications in three major European countries (UK, Germany and France), engaged with business and national media in the UK and developed project work in the Middle East and South Africa for major launches.  In FY09, Whiteoaks and its partners delivered a total of 219 clippings for the EMEA region, more than double its target of 100. In the UK and Germany alone, it achieved 189 clippings.

Critically, the campaign has delivered coverage into leading national and business titles. In the UK, successful hits include The Financial Times, The Times, The Sunday Times and the Channel 4 News’ website, underlining the success achieved in translating AspenTech’s complex technology into a clear explanation of the business benefits it provides.

Closely linked to this success is Whiteoaks’ achievement in driving the development of AspenTech spokespeople in the EMEA region together with the company’s content pool. Whiteoaks provided media training for Paul Taylor, vice president EMEA and five direct reports, media briefed and engaged with six of the company’s leading business consultants as well as delivering five articles bylined to those consultants.  

As Ann Morgan, senior manager, corporate communications EMEA puts it: “Working with Whiteoaks is working with the professionals. It is all there - from taking the brief, integrating with the company, ensuring maximum budget benefit and on target delivery. Combine this with an in-depth understanding of technology and the best agency support team that I have ever worked with on a European platform and we have an ongoing winning formula for AspenTech.”