|
|
AXENT TechnologiesAXENT Technologies, a publicly held information security software company, was rapidly expanding its product and services line to provide a “one stop shop” for enterprise security. For more than four years, Schwartz Communications worked with AXENT, helping the company grow from an unknown security software vendor to a $150 million market and brand leader that was acquired by Symantec.IndustryAXENT provided an enterprise-wide security solution in a security market crowded with more than 800 vendors. Each promoted a single security technology (e.g., firewalls, tokens, virus detection) as the most important.Business Challenge- Even after a solid 1996 IPO, AXENT remained virtually unknown in the industry. It had not been able to tackle product reviews for its complex enterprise solutions or sell the corporate story to national business press.
- AXENT saw an opportunity to distinguish itself with a wide selection of security solutions capable of “enterprise-wide” protection.
Schwartz PR Strategy- The Schwartz PR program attacked the larger security market and created a perception of AXENT as the single most knowledgeable source on corporate security risks.
- Even though it would be years before AXENT would build or acquire all the products needed to protect every corner of the enterprise, Schwartz knew that it was critical to create an image that AXENT could help companies with any information security problems.
ResultsWith Schwartz on board, AXENT coverage exploded, saturating the media and eventually reaching more than 100 million readers in several hundred print articles in 2000. The company had participated in just one review, received one award and briefed just five analysts in 1996, but now, with the help of Schwartz, was on a runrate of 24 reviews, 12 awards and more than 150 analyst briefings. Below is a sampling of the public relations campaign.
- Award-winning hacker campaigns—Schwartz positioned AXENT executives as security experts with the inside track on hacker techniques, culture and events. This included launching AXENT’s SWAT Team in 1996 and generating stories highlighting this team of “hacker trackers” in BusinessWeek, Associated Press, National Public Radio, CNET, Secure Computing, a large sidebar in a Software Magazine cover story on hackers and many other outlets. In four years, Schwartz placed hundreds of interviews on security threats and hackers in virtually every key publication and broadcast outlet. In fact, when Yahoo! was hacked, Schwartz moved quickly to arrange more than 40 interviews in 24 hours, giving the company visibility everywhere from USA Today and Financial Times to CNBC and the Nightly Business Report.
- Massive reviews campaign—Schwartz designed a common reviewers’ guide template for a large product line, training technical and product managers on how to deal with reviewers with a hands-on, aggressive approach that maximized results. With this support, AXENT participated in more than 75 product reviews of complex, enterprise security solutions and secured top awards from key publications such as PC Magazine, Network World, Network Magazine, Secure Computing and Communications News. AXENT solutions also performed exceptionally in eWeek Lab’s OpenHack Challenge two years in a row.
- Customer screenings and extensive placements—Schwartz orchestrated more than 40 customer and reseller profiles to demonstrate AXENT’s everyday success and generate powerful reprints for the sales force. Stories appeared throughout key trades, including InternetWeek, InformationWeek, CRN, VARBusiness, InfoWorld, eWeek and CIO Magazine.
- Widespread business press coverage—This high-profile exposure highlighted corporate vision and leadership in top outlets such as Investor’s Business Daily, The Washington Post, Forbes, CNBC, MSNBC, The Wall Street Journal and Barron’s. Schwartz also provided strategy and media execution behind several key acquisitions, generating enormous press quickly for AXENT's aggressive merger and acquisition efforts.
- Hundreds of analyst briefings heighten industry awareness—Coverage included the top right corner in Gartner’s influential Magic Quadrant on firewalls, market leadership in IDC Research’s annual intrusion detection and assessment study, one of only three virtual private network “market winners” in a Frost & Sullivan study and many other positive run-rate analyst endorsements in releases and ongoing research.
- At the height of the program, a poll of Secure Computing magazine readers found that 53 percent of all participants named AXENT the undisputed brand industry leader in security. Afterward, Symantec purchased AXENT for nearly five times its revenues, citing AXENT’s enterprise security leadership as a key attraction.
|
|
