Client: Hewlett-Packard Education (Mountain View, CA)
Client: Hewlett-Packard Education (Mountain View, CA)
PR Team: Hoffman Agency (San Jose, CA)
Campaign: Launch of E-Learning-on-Tap
Time Frame: December 1999
Budget: dollars 15,000
HP had been using its own Virtual Classroom technology since early last
year to train employees and hold meetings. It worked well for them, so
why not offer the service to customers?
Virtual Classroom allows businesses to train and meet over the Internet,
without having to buy extra software. Some 1,000 people at one time can
get schooled or catch up on pertinent company information. Distance
learning is being touted by experts as the next Net ’killer app.’
Strategy
HP decided to launch E-Learning-on-Tap at the E-Business Expo in New
York City in December. Better to show than tell, and the company wanted
to strut its stuff visually and virtually. The solution: virtual
briefings with the media and analysts - a risky proposition if there
were technology snafus. Another challenge: journalists at the show would
miss the virtual experience if they weren’t at their desks.
The campaign had two goals. The first was to show that HP was ready to
enter the market. The second was to link the service with the company’s
overall e-services attack. ’We say in our new advertisements that we are
a company of inventors, and this new technology is but one example,’
says Diane Scott, worldwide media relations manager for HP’s Customer
Services Support Group.
Tactics
Leaving nothing to chance, HP tested its virtual press conference with
one analyst. That went smoothly, so HP proceeded with the real
thing.
To solve the logistical challenge of showing off the technology
virtually to media at the show, the company conducted the virtual press
conference the day before the show officially opened. Additionally, the
Hoffman Agency, which handled the campaign for HP, placed
E-Learning-on-Tap’s director on a Web-based education panel.
Results
USA Today ran a feature on E-Learning-on-Tap in its Tech Report
section.
Industry publications VARBusiness, Informationweek and Computer Reseller
News also gave HP prominence in its write-ups. CBS radio’s coverage of
the show included an interview with an HP executive. Some 30 members of
the press and potential and existing clients attended the reception.
Furthermore, having an HP expert speak at the Web education forum
sparked business leads, says Brian Schwartz, account manager at Hoffman
Agency.
’It was so easy to run the virtual press conference that we may have
stumbled on a new market - hosting virtual press conferences for other
companies,’ says HP’s Scott.
Future
Instant replay. Scott says HP will do a virtual press
conference/briefing to launch the service in Europe and Asia early this
year. Who knows, you might even see head honcho Carly Fiorina playing
professor.
