The Challenge
Interactive
Intelligence offers an innovative approach to integrated business
communications. Using proven, open standards it can deliver high
functionality across the whole spectrum of communications, at a
significant cost benefit over its competitors – which include industry
giants such as Cisco – and at the same time deliver tremendous
operational efficiencies.
The
traditional IT audience already had good awareness of Interactive
Intelligence. But the company needed to pitch at the top level of its
target customers, to demonstrate that the time was right for a new
approach. At the same time, the economic climate was driving those
prospects to pull major purchasing decisions further up the food chain.
With
a large number of vendors pitching to a small number of CIOs, it was
vital that Interactive Intelligence found a way of cutting through the
noise to make its distinctive voice heard.
The Response
Whiteoaks
tackled the challenge with an initial 12 month campaign based around
high impact coverage. The intention was to dramatically boost the share
of voice enjoyed by Interactive Intelligence, not just in column inches
but in thought leadership.
The
focus was on placing Interactive Intelligence and its senior staff as
the authorities on key market issues. Critical to this was very fast
response work to pounce on hot topics as they emerge and make sure the
Interactive Intelligence viewpoint was heard. That meant building close
relationships with editors and with industry analysts, and quickly it
became their standard practice to include comment from Interactive
Intelligence.
The
partnership between agency and client was greatly helped by the
commitment of Interactive Intelligence’s charismatic founder and
president Don Brown who made himself available for media tours and
briefings whenever he was in Europe. Local staff also became recognised
for the quality of their opinions and views on the wider industry.
Comments
and opinion pieces, together with a good stream of case studies and
testimonials – in print and video – demonstrated clearly and very
visibly that Interactive Intelligence is a trusted brand which delivers
on its promises.
The Result
An
independent audit of press coverage, weighted to reflect the high level
audience sought, was commissioned from Apollo Research. The researches
evaluate 170,000 stories from Europe and the US each month, valuing them
according to prominence, themes and influences.
To
determine the initial success of the Whiteoaks campaign, coverage of
Interactive Intelligence in the first half of 2008 was compared with its
previous positioning in the first half of 2007. The results were
astounding, with its share of the voice rising by 460% year on year.
As
a result of the Whiteoaks campaign the Interactive Intelligence share
had risen to 24.9% according to the independent Apollo ranking, far
exceeding the industry average of 18.8% and even the press share of
Cisco – a $30 billion company – at 20%. It was second in its sector only
to Avaya, from whom it had taken a significant proportion of coverage.
The
Interactive Intelligence proposition depends on a very high degree of
brand recognition and comfort with those at the very top of its
potential customers. The immediate impact of the Whiteoaks approach was
to massively increase that recognition. The campaign continues with
further opinion leadership and demonstrations of the company’s success
through more case studies.