Client: Touchpaper
PR Team: Lewis PR
Campaign: Media relations
Timescale: April - June
Budget: £5,000
Touchpaper, formerly royalblue technologies, is a helpdesk software
vendor quoted on the London Stock Exchange.
Objectives
To position Touchpaper as a regular feature in the top ten IT and trade
titles; to capitalise on existing brand loyalty and attract new
customers.
Strategy and Plan
Helpdesk technology is a niche market. Industry publications are limited
and coverage elsewhere is sparse.
Lewis PR needed to come up with a newsworthy angle that would hook
journalists while communicating Touchpaper's core values: understanding
customers' needs and providing technology to solve them.
Lewis attacked the problems that people within the industry face by
commissioning an independent report by ICM Research, yielding some
provocative results such as exposing call centres as the 'sweatshops' of
the industry.
By presenting human stories based on credible research, Lewis provided a
strong hook for journalists. Several news angles were reported, ranging
from high stress levels and physical demands to the pressures of dealing
with IT jargon.
Measurement and Evaluation
Lewis generated 33 pieces of coverage from the research initiative,
striking all of its media hit-list, including Financial Director,
Business and Technology, Computing and Computer Weekly, as well as
customer service press.
The audience reached was 1,129,822 from print media and 621,500 unique
users per month from online coverage.
Results
Lewis turned research into a branding opportunity. By humanising the
helpdesk industry it succeeded on two counts: in reaching a broader
audience such as the business press and positioning Touchpaper as the
straight-talking authority in the industry. The campaign has
re-established relations between Touchpaper and IT publications.
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