The Challenge
In the summer of 2001, the state of New York was the first
to enact a ban on hand-held cell phone use in moving
vehicles. The issue generated a lot of media coverage
around the nation, since New Yorkers would either have
to select a hands-free alternative or forego use of their
cell phones while driving, and 40 other states had similar
legislation pending.
International Components Corporation (ICC) had a hands-free
product, the PowerPlus digital speakerphone, which
held many advantages over other speakerphones and headsets.
But the product had limited distribution and virtually
no visibility in the marketplace. ICC believed they
could interest the major wireless carriers to stock
the product if they could leverage the issue and prove
consumers would select a PowerPlus unit as their solution.
Faced with a limited budget, they turned to Tech Image
to help generate a buzz quickly and efficiently.
The Solution
Tech Image recommended a strategy of local market rollouts,
beginning with Chicago (ICC’s home market),
and New York. The objective was to hone the messaging
and focus the efforts to best take advantage of the
hand-held ban issue. Among the tactics were:
- E-mail and
phone pitches to reporters and editors talking
about the legislation, and offering an expert
who
could comment on it.
- Pitching product reviews and product
comparisons to print and broadcast reporters,
including a product
sample to keep.
- Letters to the editor in local newspapers
from an ICC vice president stating what consumers
should consider
in a hands-free unit.
- Byline articles in local (as well as national)
publications offering tips when selecting a hands-free
unit.
- A video news release that provided a complete,
ready-to-run story with voice-over, as well as B-roll
footage with
ambient sound for use in their own stories.
- Available photography of the product by itself
and in use.
The Results
The program generated a variety of local and national
placements that ICC was able to use as part of their
sell-in program to wireless carriers. A single focus
feature on the company in the Chicago Tribune, a
letter to the editor in the Chicago Sun-Times,
byline articles
in ePrairie and Laptop magazine, and product features
on WNYT-TV (NBC) in Albany, NY and WROC-TV (CBS)
in Rochelle, NY were among the major placements
over a
five-month period. This visibility contributed to
their landing corporate accounts with Verizon,
Cingular,
and Sprint, and more than doubling unit sales in
the same period. |
“We thought that the news hook of hand-held cell
phone bans would be a good one, but Tech Image has far
exceeded our expectations. The effectiveness of public
relations is often difficult to measure, but in this
case we’re seeing an impact both on the sell-in
and the sell-through.”
— Peter Sadler, Executive Director, Strategic Marketing, ICC
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