Prompt worked with smartFOCUS sales and account teams to map out an ambitious pipeline of customer news for content development. Covering the key verticals of finance, retail, utilities and technology, Prompt developed a system for working with end customers and engaging them in the PR process. This involved collecting customers' thoughts and experiences of working with smartFOCUS, paying particular attention to ROI and results achieved directly as a result of smartFOCUS software.

All writing and approvals were handled by the Prompt team, with more than one customer announcement pitched and distributed each month on average. The benefits were two-fold; in addition to pitching the customer stories to relevant press and creating a pipeline of press coverage in relevant magazines, sites and publications, Prompt also ensured the content was also re-purposed as sales collateral.

Prompt can always be counted on to take the initiative necessary to produce extraordinary results. Whether that is developing case studies, stepping up to conduct surveys to create news or being available to support our needs at events, we know that the team is always ready and willing to take on the challenge.

Suzanne Butler
Group Marketing Director
smartFOCUS

This customer news release pipeline was complemented by further news releases created and pitched specifically to announce new products, business partnerships, company expansion and other timely news. This ensured a strong and relevant flow of news to demonstrate the growth and success of smartFOCUS.

To further support the sales team via customer testimonials, Prompt worked with established smartFOCUS customers to write and produce case studies that highlighted results and metrics attained through smartFOCUS technology. Again, these were used to support sales processes as well as highlighting the challenges, solutions and benefits experienced by smartFOCUS customers across multiple industries.

Prompt's copywriting team also produced contributed opinion pieces that could be bylined to smartFOCUS experts in order to demonstrate the company's understanding of a technology, an issue or a market. Once written and approved, these opinion articles piece were pitched and placed with relevant press to showcase smartFOCUS as an industry thought leader. Completed and placed articles covered subjects relevant to the sales process and market from digital marketing, customer engagement strategies, analytics, email and social media adoption, to campaign management.

smartFOCUS milestones with Prompt

15: average number of customer win press releases completed and pitched per year

30: completed customer case studies

24: bylined articles written and placed covering digital marketing, customer engagement strategies, email and social media adoption, analytics and campaign management

1,000: marketers and digital marketers directly surveyed for PR and communications materials and news releases

Outstanding reporting capabilities and an unwavering drive to produce exceptional results make Prompt the ideal agency for any business looking to work with a PR team that will help that company reach the next level—whether in terms of sales, customer engagement or to boost general visibility in the press. Prompt can do it all.

Suzanne Butler
Group Marketing Director
smartFOCUS

Measurable results

Since it began its work as smartFOCUS' communications agency, Prompt has achieved consistent results:

Gained coverage in core UK media outlets including Marketing Week, Direct Marketing International (DMI) and Brand Republic. With some readership and circulation figures topping 40,000, the company's visibility in a competitive landscape has seen a steady increase

Achieved press coverage in core US target publications including BtoB, 1to1, Direct Marketing News and Target Marketing

Reached out to European and American analysts in large analyst houses such as Gartner and Forrester, as well as more niche research firms with a specific focus on marketing automation and CRM capabilities

Attended and supported smartFOCUS at more than 30 events in the UK and the US, securing an average of three-to-five interviews per event

Coordinated and completed ten surveys, polling more than 1,000 people ranging from consumers to key marketing decision makers within the industry. Results of the surveys were then evaluated by Prompt's internal research team. Full reports were created to show thorough analysis of each survey's data, which could then be formatted, packaged and used for content to be pitched to the press or turned into collateral for a variety of purposes

"We don't have a corporate marketing team in the UK. I needed an agency with well respected expertise that could serve as an extension of our team," says Allison O'Brien, director of marketing at KANA. "Prompt came to us highly recommended."

"Working with Prompt is a great business decision if you're looking for an agency that will be a true partner for you. They consistently exceed expectations, bring a lot of expertise to the table and will work with you to meet all your objectives and exceed them in many cases."

Prompt works closely with KANA's team in the UK, including regular and ad-hoc meetings at KANA's offices. "Prompt doesn't act like an external agency, just carrying out one-off programmes," says O'Brien. "Prompt is very much a strategic part of our team. The sales team can feel free to call and ask for support and treats them like an extension of our business. Prompt proactively comes up with new ideas, programmes and strategies to improve our marketing exposure and sales readiness. The Prompt team consistently goes above and beyond the requirements we set."

Because Prompt has been appointed to manage KANA's marketing in the UK and KANA's in-house marketing team is based in the US, good communications are essential. "Our communications are very strong," says O'Brien. "I have a very high level of trust and respect for the Prompt team. I know that they can execute our marketing plans without any handholding from me. I don't have to worry day to day about whether they're getting the work done. I know they're accomplishing what we've agreed."

A database of 14,000 high-quality contacts has been developed by Prompt, using a combination of events, online promotions and telemarketing. "Online campaigns are managed in a similar way to events," says O'Brien. "Prompt helps us evaluate which sites are best for us in terms of audience and reach. Then Prompt negotiates the package and writes the advertising copy. Sometimes Prompt creates downloads and other times we link to white papers produced in the US. The details of people who express an interest are stored and managed by Prompt."

She adds: "As the final step, Prompt manages the logistics and coordination. That includes planning the event management, setting up and breaking down the booth, and organising collateral and staff. Prompt liaises with the speakers and provides the speaker materials needed by organisers. Someone from Prompt is on site for us, as an extension of our team, making sure that everything runs smoothly."

For all the activities, Prompt looks after KANA's budget. "The Prompt team manages our budget as if it were their own and makes sure we get the most for our marketing dollars," says O'Brien. "I don't have to worry about the line items we're spending money on because I know Prompt will ensure that we don't exceed our quarterly budget."

Steganos, based in Germany, is the European leader in providing security and privacy software for consumers and SMEs. Best known for its encryption products, the company also produces software for anonymous surfing, spyware eradication, spam filtering and virus protection.

Before working with Prompt, Steganos had been working with another agency in the UK. "We were not satisfied with the performance and effort of our old agency," says Steganos marketing manager Katja Pryss. "Prompt came highly recommended to us and submitted a promising and very good proposal. Unlike previous agencies we've worked with, Prompt is exceptionally proactive and engaged. They're always dependable and responsive, and deliver excellent results backed up with regular reports."

Prompt manages a reviews programme for Steganos. This involves contacting the reviews editors on target publications, explaining Steganos's proposition and offering software for review. Should journalists need any help with the software during the review process, Prompt liaises between the writer and Steganos's technical team.

Within three months of winning the Steganos account, Prompt had secured published reviews in eight of Steganos's target titles: PC Advisor, Personal Computer World, PC Answers, Micro Mart, CTO: Computer Trade Only, PC Pro, TechWorld and PC Explorer. Prompt sends Steganos press coverage as soon as it is published.

In the first three months of working with Steganos, the Prompt team came up with some ideas to create some news. A survey about security and USB keys was designed and carried out as part of the retainer. The Prompt survey team found that 41% of UK employees surveyed were using USB keys to carry company data, but 83% were not using any encryption. The survey results were analysed by Prompt and a press release was created. This was pitched to key publications by phone prior to its distribution. "One of the best things about working with Prompt is that they create their own ideas instead of just waiting for our input," says Pryss. "Their ideas are fantastic and they react promptly to current events and discussion topics."

As a result of the USB key survey Prompt secured news coverage in a range of Steganos's target publications: ComputerWeekly.com, Computer Reseller News (CRN), Secure Computing (SC) Magazine, ISP News, Continuity Central, Channel News, ITsecurity. com, Channel Info, and Security Industry News.

"The USB survey was a very good way to draw the customer's attention to our products," Pryss adds. "Because Prompt took the initiative in designing and conducting the survey and then interpreting the results and drafting a press release, it was easy for us. Survey-led PR was unfamiliar to us, but it's proven extremely effective."

Cover CDs on magazines are an important way for Steganos to put its software into the homes of potential customers, so they can easily try before they buy. Prompt approaches top publications to ask about covermounting Steganos software and negotiates editorial coverage inside the magazine and payments from the magazines where appropriate. "Cover CDs are an important part of our marketing programme because they increase awareness of our software while at the same time delivering it directly to our potential customers," says Pryss. "It is a risk-free way for customers to put our software to the test."

As well as securing independent editorial coverage, Prompt's team writes articles on behalf of its clients to help them to communicate their messages at greater length. The dedicated technology copywriting team produced a story for Steganos about how businesses can introduce best security practices. The full-page article, bylined to Steganos CEO Aston Fallen, was pitched by Prompt to Better Business, which published it in its September 2005 issue. The article was accepted on merit and was independent of any advertising.

When Steganos CEO Aston Fallen visited the UK, Prompt organised a press tour, giving Fallen a chance to meet with leading IT journalists in London and Bath. "The tour was useful for developing good relationships with the press," says Pryss. "It helped us to get to know what's going on and what topics and issues are currently important to the magazines' readers."

She concludes: "Prompt works professionally and efficiently on our behalf, and always with a smile. Our working relationship is straightforward - communication is easy but effective. Prompt is enthusiastic and great fun to work with. To any other companies thinking of working with Prompt, we would say: just do it! Since we moved to Prompt, our press coverage has more than doubled. It's really impressive."

"Unlike previous agencies we've worked with, Prompt is exceptionally proactive and engaged. They're always dependable and responsive, and deliver excellent results backed up with regular reports."
- Katja Pryss, Marketing Manager, Steganos

"To any other companies thinking of working with Prompt, we would say: just do it! "
- Katja Pryss, Marketing Manager, Steganos

Synopsis

Yell is a leading international directories business operating in classified advertising markets in the UK, US, Spain and Latin America through printed, online and telephone-based media. Yell's UK brands include Yellow Pages, Yell.com and Yellow Pages 118 24 7.

Yell understood that, as a high-profile organisation, it needed to know what people were saying about its services and practices. Yell hired Prompt to monitor social media for mentions of its company and products in the UK. Thanks to the quality of the social media reports that Prompt provides, Yell has been able to contribute to, and react to, discussions about the company so it can protect and enhance its brand.

Why choose Prompt?

Prior to hiring Prompt, Yell had become increasingly aware of the growing importance of social media. "We had realised that the company was increasingly mentioned in blogs, forums, wikis and message boards." says Demelza Fryer-Saxby, corporate PR manager for Yell UK. "We found that our existing media monitoring arrangements did not provide an appropriate social media monitoring service for our needs, so we started doing it in-house." Fryer-Saxby and colleagues used online news alerts and blog readers to search the web for mentions of Yell, but doing so proved to be problematic. "We were getting lots of duplication," says Fryer-Saxby. "The same blogs were coming up multiple times in a search." The result of this was that Yell's PR team was spending too much time individually sifting through search results. "It just wasn't productive," says Fryer-Saxby.

In October 2007 Yell started actively looking for a company that could monitor social media for it. Fryer-Saxby read about Prompt's social media monitoring in PR Week magazine. "It was exactly the service we were looking for," she says. "We could not find traditional media monitoring companies that could offer us that service so, after a very positive meeting with the Prompt team, we had no hesitation in hiring them."

What Prompt does for Yell

Prompt produces daily social media reports for Yell. These reports provide a clear and complete overview of all Yell's social media mentions in the previous 24 hours. Prompt uses its own dedicated social media monitoring tool to search for social media content that talks about Yell. "With the sheer quantity of content published on the web, not everything that mentions the word 'yell' will necessarily be of interest to us," says Fryer-Saxby. The social media team at Prompt goes through the search results meticulously and discards those that will be of little use to Yell. "Everything in Prompt's reports is relevant to us, which means we can start using the information straight away," Fryer- Saxby says. Because the social media reports are delivered daily, Yell is able to react to what has been written online. "Having daily reports is very important to us," reveals Fryer-Saxby. "It means we can quickly respond to what people are writing about us, be it positive or negative."

At the end of each week, Prompt delivers a weekly round up of all social media activity. As Fryer-Saxby explains: "It's good to have the whole week's activity captured in one email. It helps us see a complete overview of what people are writing about us and helps us compile coverage reports." The daily and weekly reports that Prompt produces are easy to follow and attractively presented. "We never have to search through the reports to find the information we want - it's right there in front of us," Fryer-Saxby says.

Results

Because Yell receives daily reports from Prompt it is able to respond quickly to what people are saying. "Obviously we don't respond to every blog - it differs from week to week." Prompt's social media reports have helped Yell to see what people focus on when they talk about the company. "The blog coverage we receive is mixed - both positive and negative," explains Fryer-Saxby. "We have positive messages on the use of Yellow Pages directories and strong environmental credentials, so we are eager to explain this to people and present the evidence that supports our case." Yell is very upfront when it comments on blogs and discussion forums. "We make it very clear who we are straight away," Fryer-Saxby says.

The blogs, message boards, and forums that Prompt uncovers for Yell also offer the company opportunities to promote its services. "Prompt highlighted a blog that was discussing Yellow Pages directories," says Fryer-Saxby. "The blogger had moved on to discuss local mobile search services, and focused on a number of our competitors." The blog entry did not mention Yell, so the Yell PR team saw an opportunity to demonstrate Yell.com mobile. "We gave the writer information about our mobile services, and established a friendly dialogue with him on the blog," says Fryer-Saxby. "He had assumptions about Yellow Pages directories that were incorrect, and through this discussion we were able to help him get a more accurate view of what we do."

As well as its core products, such as Yellow Pages and Yell.com, Yell has noticed that there is an increasing focus on its environmental practices. Over the years, Yell has developed a strong focus on recycling initiatives, winning awards and being listed in a number of sustainability indexes. "What we are seeing from Prompt's social media monitoring service has reinforced the increasing importance of sustainability to consumers," says Fryer-Saxby. "We have always taken our environmental responsibilities seriously, so it's important that when people talk about us in relation to the environment, their information is accurate."

Fryer-Saxby is delighted with the service Yell receives from Prompt. "We are no longer spending so much time monitoring social media," she says. "The Prompt team is attentive and the reports they produce are attractive, very easy to use, and delivered on time. The social media monitoring service that Prompt offers is still unrivalled."

Orchestria is a venture capital-funded provider of compliance software, primarily targeting the financial services industry in the investment banking centres of London and New York. Founded in the UK, it is now headquartered in New York with a sales offices in London Boston.

Orchestria's software is designed to monitor staff use of email, instant messaging, the Web and proprietary communications channels like Bloomberg for compliance with internal company policy and external regulations such as those mandated by the Financial Services Authority (FSA), the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the National Association of Securities Dealers (NASD).

The market for software like Orchestria's - which the company terms Active Policy Management - is growing rapidly. Financial services organisations are subject to heavy regulation which is being increasingly enforced, with hefty organisational and individual fines for non-compliance. Nine of the world's leading investment banks are already using Orchestria, and the company has also found success in the Insurance, Mutual Fund and Asset Management sectors.

Prompt's Role and Successes

Orchestria appointed Prompt Communications as its lead PR consultancy in September 2003 to launch the company, increase awareness and brand recognition, gain credibility with prospects, customers and business partners and educate the market about the capabilities of, and need for, Active Policy Management.

Our remit was to launch Orchestria to press and analysts, to position Orchestria as the de facto leader in the Active Policy Management software category for the financial services industry, and to create awareness of the company and its software product among primary decision makers on both sides of the Atlantic, including:
• Chief Executive Officers
• Chief Financial Officers
• Chief Compliance Officers
• Chief Risk Officers
• Chief Information Officers

To do this we have focused on gaining positive press coverage for Orchestria in a targeted roster of highly influential media outlets, including:
• Chief Executive Officers
• Chief Financial Officers
• Chief Compliance Officers
• Chief Risk Officers
• Chief Information Officers

To do this we have focused on gaining positive press coverage for Orchestria in a targeted roster of highly influential media outlets, including:
• Business Media
• Compliance Media
• Financial Services Industry Media

We have demonstrated that Orchestria understands the regulatory pressures facing financial services organisations and shown how its software protects companies from regulatory investigations, fines and embarrassment. To achieve this we use a range of PR techniques including:
• Regular flow of topical, useful and sometimes opportunistic news
• Regular drafting and placement of authoritative bylined articles
• Pitching Orchestria comment to writers of scheduled forward features
• Forging relationships between Orchestria senior management and influential media
• Writing letters to editors for publication in response to relevant editorial articles

Using these techniques we have achieved a flow of regular, highprofile and measurable press coverage for Orchestria in key target media.

News creation

We work closely with Orchestria to identify news stories that will be of interest and relevance to the target audience. We also look for opportunities to lead the debate around compliance in electronic communications, for example:
• Secured a slot for Orchestria chief technology officer Pete Malcolm to be interviewed on CNBC about the need for email compliance monitoring in the banking industry.
• Wrote a news commentary on Marsh & McLennan (February 2005), highlighting the perils of electronic communications in the finance, banking and insurance industries
• Issued a press release on the back of David Blunkett's resignation outlining how ill-advised emails can damage careers and reputations, which was picked up and placed wholesale in at least one influential IT publication.

We pitch every news story verbally to the target publications, which results in a higher proportion of accurate coverage than if we had just issued the release. For example, a recent Orchestria news release was covered in both the Financial Times and Business Week as a result of verbal pitching on both sides of the Atlantic.

Bylined articles

We write one new article every two months for Orchestria, and every one has been placed in one or more target publications, including:
• Compliance Monitor (UK)
• Strategic Risk (UK)
• Sarbanes-Oxley Compliance Journal (US)
• RiskWaters (US)
• Complinet (US and UK)

We have been informed by the client that the article placed in RiskWaters was instrumental in influencing a top 10 global investment bank to purchase Orchestria for worldwide use.

"It goes without saying that having an editorially placed bylined article in a title such as RiskWaters, which the prospect saw while making a decision on our solution, played a part in closing the deal," said Paul Johns. "Prompt understands how PR and communication support the sales process. Working with Prompt supports our marketing efforts with PR campaigns that are perfectly in sync with our sales plans. Prompt has been instrumental in helping us to educate the market and to position ourselves to gain mindshare and credibility with buyers. They have raised market awareness of and interest in Orchestria, which has laid the groundwork for our sales team to pitch successfully to the world's largest and most sophisticated financial institutions."

Forward features and relationship building

We regularly track the scheduled forward features in target publications and ensure that Orchestria spokespeople are given an opportunity to comment wherever possible. This is complemented by relationship-building meetings - both formal and informal - with key editors, staff writers and freelance journalists.

"Prompt's consultants provide compelling content that is relevant and interesting to our readers. Their team is professional and understands the issues in the compliance market." - Timon Molloy, editor, Compliance Monitor

"The team works hard in pitching clients such as Orchestria. They respond in a timely fashion with relevant ideas and understand what their clients offer and which elements are potentially newsworthy." - Danny Bradbury, freelance journalist

Other Successes

Prompt provides a range of complementary services to Orchestria in addition to pure media relations work. These include:
• Analyst Relations
• Agency Management
• Business Copywriting
• HTML and Desktop Publishing

Analyst Relations

Prompt liaises with relevant industry analysts based in the United Kingdom and Europe on Orchestria's behalf. We identify the most appropriate analysts, arrange briefings and ensure the analyst has the right information about Orchestria.

This has resulted in some strong, positive analyst reports and commentaries that we have been able to use for PR purposes as independent third-party endorsements.

Agency Management

Prompt acts as Orchestria's lead PR agency, responsible for managing the time, budget and activities of the company's US agency.

Business Copywriting

Prompt has a team of professional copywriters with a range of senior journalistic and PR experience. This team works with Orchestria to produce a range of documents including market backgrounders, brochures and a regular quarterly newsletter to customers and prospects. The copywriting team is also responsible for producing Orchestria's bylined articles to high editorial standards.

HTML and Desktop Publishing

Prompt's creative department works alongside the PR and copywriting teams to produce a quarterly HTML newsletter and to provide design, layout and typesetting services for Orchestria marketing collateral.

What Orchestria Says about Prompt

"I am impressed with the seniority and experience of the Prompt consultants, their understanding of how our business works and where we need to get to - and the way they translate that understanding into positive, concrete results."
- Pete Malcolm, Founder and Chief Technology Officer, Orchestria

"I have worked as VP Marketing in several high growth companies in the last 12 years. I have struggled in that time to find a truly focused, results-driven and totally dedicated PR firm. Prompt has grown, as it has acquired new clients, but their on-going commitment to our firm and the results they have achieved have been incredible. We have more coverage, more analyst airtime, more placed bylined articles than any of our competitors. Our weekly PR calls contain concise and intelligent plans which are executed upon flawlessly. I have worked with both large and small PR firms over the years and what sets Prompt apart is their simple 'can do' mandate. For the first time in many years I have a working, practical and well executed PR plan."
- Paul Johns, Vice President of Global Marketing, Orchestria

"Within three months of being a Prompt client we had more media coverage, press meetings and analyst briefings than had in a year with our previous PR agency. I would recommend them to any technology company targeting financial services organisations and looking to get more out of their marketing spend."
- Paul Johns, Vice President of Global Marketing, Orchestria

"Prompt's consultants provide compelling content that is relevant and interesting to our readers. Their team is professional and understands the issues in the compliance market."
- Timon Molloy, Editor, Compliance Monitor

About Prompt Communications

Founded in January 2002, Prompt Communications offers expertise across all marketing disciplines, teaming its consultants' extensive knowledge of the technology industry and markets with experience of pan-European media, analyst and marketing campaigns. Using highly targeted marketing, PR and corporate copywriting initiatives, Prompt Communications helps its clients gain the visibility they need to achieve their business objectives, from increasing sales to enhancing reputation with stakeholders. For more information please visit www.prompt-communications.com or contact us directly.

Clickstream provides software for gathering data about how people use websites. Although the company doesn't provide tools for analysing this data, it does partner with many companies who provide such tools in what is known as the 'web analytics' market.

Clickstream was formed in 1999 and in 2004 it engaged Prompt Communications to manage its public relations programme. "Clickstream had never done any marketing before, but the company had reached the stage where it needed to raise its profile in the marketplace," says Titus Suck, Clickstream's director of sales and marketing. "We had to get information out there about what we do, how we do it and where we do it. I can't see how a technology company of our size (15 people) can find out all the places this information needs to flow, so we decided to work with a PR consultancy who could provide specialist help."

Ten PR agencies were screened over a period of six months before Prompt was selected. "We got a boilerplate response from a lot of companies, but not Prompt," says Suck. "Prompt quickly grasped our technology and what we were trying to achieve. We also clicked with the personalities of the team: we felt we were in safe hands and that Prompt would help us on our way."

Messaging grid

Prompt began by consulting with Clickstream and producing a messaging grid, outlining the key ideas Clickstream wanted to communicate to its prospective customers, partners and investors. "It wasn't clear to us at the beginning how much we would get out of this," says Suck. "It can seem all too trivial, but the messaging grid came into its own. It was immensely helpful - it clarified in our own minds what the messages should be and helped identify where we hadn't thought the message through. We've used it to improve all our collateral development and sharpen our verbal communication with potential customers on the phone."

He adds: "Technology companies of virtually any size are so convinced of their own technology, they forget that they need to get the message out in a way that is intelligible, hits some hot buttons and makes people take notice. The messaging grid really structured our thought process."

Press releases

Prompt has been ensuring a regular flow of press coverage for Clickstream by producing and distributing a press release each month, including pitching by telephone to key publications to ensure journalists have a clear understanding and are more receptive to the story. The press releases have included a major product launch, a thought-leadership survey about online privacy and two strategic partner announcements.

"What we most appreciated about the press releases - apart from the fact that they are always clearly written - is how quickly Prompt reacted," says Suck. "It's all well and good to plan to have one press release a month, but sometimes something happens suddenly and you need to get something quickly into the marketplace."

Prompt has a team of dedicated professional writers with a range of senior journalistic and media experience. The writers begin by interviewing appropriate team members at Clickstream to research the press release before drafting it. "Press release production never took much of our time," says Suck. "We would talk about a press release and it would just happen. In terms of management time, that was perfect."

Prompt also helped Clickstream to identify news opportunities and package news in a way that would be attractive to target publications. "It was helpful for us to receive guidance on how to structure a press release, what we should do with it and how to move from trivial internal news to outward facing stories that get coverage," says Suck.

Clickstream identified New Media Age as a key target publication and Prompt pitched news stories to the editorial team directly, resulting in a quarter page of news coverage of Clickstream's new product Datasherpa and a compelling write-up of a privacy report Clickstream published. "Prompt did a brilliant job on this," says Suck. "Within weeks of us discussing NMA and identifying it as a key publication, we were in it. We were very excited about that."

Within the first six months, Prompt had secured Clickstream coverage in top priority publications including Information Age, New Media Age, and Revolution.

"Press coverage reinforces the value of Clickstream to our partners and customers and plays an important role in communicating our growth to our investors," says Suck.

Case studies

One way Clickstream demonstrates the value of its products is through case studies, revealing how other customers have used Clickstream's technology to reap business benefits. Prompt's specialist writing team interviews Clickstream's customers to research the case studies before writing them up.

"It's no mean feat to put together a well written case study that avoids a lot of the jargon we're typically confronted with," says Suck. "We've been able to use the Virgin Money case study to demonstrate capability but we're not just using it as a testimonial - through the customer interviews conducted by Prompt we're also learning about how our customers are using our technology and we are using that knowledge to actively sharpen how we pitch ourselves to prospects."

Expertise

Prompt only works with technology companies, and its consultants have extensive experience of a wide range of hardware and software technologies.

"It was certainly helpful that the Prompt team had a knowledge and an understanding of the web analytics market," says Suck, "but it went deeper than that: Prompt has an understanding of technology issues that is independent of specific applications, and this will be more important as Clickstream moves beyond the simple horizon of web analytics."

He adds: "Prompt has a clear understanding of technology issues and speaks technology language. Even if there are specific aspects of what we do that might not be known to the Prompt team, or there is jargon we use to describe it that they're not familiar with, they have an instant grasp of what we're talking about. Everyone in the team has worked with different technology companies a number of times. It comes through in how Prompt writes, how Prompt thinks, the suggestions they make, the publications they suggest - literally everything they do is underpinned by that technology expertise."

"Prompt quickly grasped our technology and what we were trying to achieve. We also clicked with the personalities of the team: we felt we were in safe hands and that Prompt would help us on our way."
- Titus Suck, Director, Sales & Marketing Clickstream

"Prompt is always there for us. They're always responsive and I can use them as a sounding board: I never feel the clock is ticking."
- Titus Suck, Director, Sales & Marketing Clickstream

Seekport, headquartered in Germany, works across Europe providing white label search services for big brands and content owners to incorporate in their websites. The company competes on quality, delivering nationally relevant results thanks to the work of a human index quality team in each of the countries in which it operates.

Before working with Prompt Communications, Seekport had been working with another agency in the UK but Seekport wasn't satisfied with the results. "They got us next to nothing by way of coverage or raising awareness," says Nick Morley, head of sales UK for Seekport. "Prompt is priced the same as our previous agency but is a million times better. Comparing the two is like chalk and cheese. What we really wanted was an agency that was proactive and that would keep coming up with ideas and pushing our boundaries to make us think slightly differently. Prompt does that."

In the first month, Prompt secured 15 published pieces of coverage mentioning Seekport by pitching stories by phone to key journalists. During this month, Prompt also arranged face-to-face press briefings with Future Publishing, the company behind several of Seekport's target publications including PC Answers and .net. "We went from almost zero to having a good level of awareness within six months," says Morley. "Prompt quickly grasped what we do and what we needed to do and showed a lot of enthusiasm and proactivity. We've come a long way in a short time."

Prompt introduced Morley to journalists from key titles in a series of briefings. "Media briefings are important to us," says Morley. "Because Prompt has helped us to build rapport with key journalists, we can make things happen much more quickly than we could ourselves when we have news to share. Now that we've built relationships with magazines like New Media Age (NMA), Revolution and B2B, we're finding they come to us for comment when they're writing relevant stories. That's a big turnaround. That wouldn't have happened before we started working with Prompt."

Prompt also organised analyst briefings with influencers such as Gartner, which resulted in an immediate business lead. "As we bring out new products, the analyst community will be increasingly important," says Morley. "We've made a good start on building relationships there."

A rolling thunder campaign ensures that Seekport remains in the public eye. It has resulted in coverage in a wide range of magazines, including Marketing Week, New Scientist, and Revolution.

Because Seekport positions itself as delivering results that are relevant to the UK, excluding US-based English sites where appropriate, Prompt conducted a survey to discover what it means to be British. The resulting story was picked up by magazines worldwide and resulted in nearly 30 press stories including in top tier publications The Daily Star, The Daily Telegraph, NMA, and B2B Marketing. "That was Prompt's idea, and Prompt pitched it to us, convinced us of the benefits and we took a leap of faith on it," says Morley. "It worked brilliantly. It's a good example of how Prompt is proactive in creating opportunities for coverage."

Seekport's profile has been significantly raised by Prompt's PR work. "One of the benchmarks was that we wanted to be mentioned in the same sentences as our major competitors in the right publications," says Morley. "Six months on, that's now happening."

Prompt has a team of full time writers who have worked as journalists for leading IT magazines. As well as producing press releases, the team has produced brochures and ghostwritten articles, including one that was placed in Seekport's target publication The Sharp Edge. The team also helps with written answers to journalists' questions. "The articles are very high quality," says Morley. "Prompt either writes something we can review and approve, or sometimes Prompt will talk over ideas with us and write it up. Having intelligent comment inside industry publications is a powerful tool - it really helps our sales."

Prompt has a translation team and is able to work with German source material from Seekport's headquarters. "It's massively helpful," says Morley. "We are a German company and there will always be slight cultural differences as well as the obvious language differences. Prompt is sensitive to that and is able to speak the language."

Each week, Prompt sends a comprehensive report in Seekport's own format, outlining progress on all current projects and summarising coverage. Prompt provides all its reporting as a free service to its clients.

Although initially recruited to provide public relations and copywriting services in the UK, Prompt has helped Seekport with telemarketing, events management, design and translation as well as with public relations outside the UK. With news of a new Arabic search engine, Prompt arranged telephone interviews for Seekport Arabia's managing director with Arabian Computer News and the Egyptian sister publication to the International Herald Tribune.

A successful telemarketing campaign resulted in a number of appointments with senior figures in the UK publishing industry. Prompt also created the stand display, presentation slides and flyer for Seekport's stand at the Internet World trade fair. "Although we engaged Prompt initially for public relations, we always saw that there was potential to stretch beyond that," says Morley. "We have a close working relationship with Prompt and because Seekport has a small team in the UK, the support that Prompt provides is invaluable."

He concludes: "Prompt is about so much more than just PR. If you want a public relations agency in the technology space that is very knowledgeable about internet technology sales, you can't go wrong. If you then want to extend your activities into copywriting, telemarketing, events planning, brochure design, marketing materials and more, Prompt can help with all that and adds a lot of value."

"Prompt is about so much more than just PR. If you want a public relations agency in the technology space that is very knowledgeable about internet technology sales, you can't go wrong."
- Nick Morley, Head of Sales UK, Seekport

"Prompt quickly grasped what we do and what we needed to do and showed a lot of enthusiasm and proactivity."
- Nick Morley, Head of Sales UK, Seekport

Tatara Systems invents, develops, and deploys solutions for communication service providers allowing them to offer converged mobile services to their subscribers. Tatara's Mobile Services Convergence Platform gives service providers the ability to offer a rich and consistent set of converged mobile broadband services over multiple network technologies, including WLAN, WAN/3G, wireless broadband, and wired, and with the same high level of real-time control on roamed networks as they have on networks they own.

Tatara Systems, Inc. is headquartered in Boston in the US, with an EMEA operation headquartered in London. Some of Tatara's announced service provider customers include; Vodafone, 02, Telus Mobility, BT, and Verisign.

For more information about the company, visit www.tatarasystems.com

Why Prompt?
Prompt Communications has been working with Tatara since the launch of its EMEA operations starting in May 2004. During the selection process, Prompt's proposed campaign was reviewed alongside a number of other leading PR agencies.

"As a focused and growing company we wanted to find a consultancy that understands our business and that would work closely with us to fulfill several key criteria," said Richard Hubble, EMEA director for Tatara Systems.

"First they must understand how mobile networks work and the underlying technologies involved; they must also have good contacts in the mobile, business and telecommunications press and analyst communities; and finally they must have a proven, hands-on approach and a determination to produce results."

He adds: "Prompt not only met all these requirements but the consultants that first pitched are also the consultants we get to work with - their approach was, and continues to be, refreshing."

EMEA launch makes a splash
Prompt worked closely with Tatara to implement the EMEA launch which involved briefings with key telecommunications publications press and analysts including Global Mobile, Planet Wireless, Mobile News, VanillaPlus, Current Analysis, Gartner Europe, Ovum and IDC.

"We knew we were off to a good start," said Richard Hubble.

Technology expertise
Prompt is 100% focused on technology companies, and its consultants have extensive experience of a wide range of mobile, telecommunications, hardware and software technologies.

"The Prompt team's knowledge and understanding of the mobile telecommunications market went beyond just knowing a few acronyms," said Hubble. "They can write a 1,500- word article about any of the technology areas that we touch upon, which often covers a wide range of communications topics due to our position in the market across both fixed and mobile technologies."

Well-written commentary
A key part of the ongoing PR programme for Tatara Systems has been assisting with the writing and placement of bylined articles. The Prompt consultants come up with ideas and synopses based on themes and issues that they know are being tracked and written about by relevant journalists and editors.

Prompt works closely with Tatara every step of the way including pitching, writing, and finding placements across relevant publications.

"Prompt's writers have a great grasp of the things that matter: beyond the technologies; they know how to ensure an article is accepted by a publication," said Richard Hubble. "They also understand that we're busy and they need to do as much of the legwork as possible: we often provide them with just the initial ideas and they take it from there. We can trust them to come up with solid article placements," concluded Hubble.

Prompt has placed articles for Tatara with top tier titles such as 3G Bulletin, Unplugged, Global Mobile and VanillaPlus.

Event support
To help Tatara maximise its marketing investments, Prompt also helps support Tatara's events programme. This often includes providing logistical help for European events; pitching for and securing speaking slots and providing onsite assistance at events when needed.

Prompt has worked with Tatara at mobile events including the WLAN Event (London), Wireless and Wireline Broadband Technologies (Czech Republic), Wireless Broadband (Spain), Public WLAN (London), WiCon World (London), Wi-Fi Business Development Summit (Paris) and GSM World Congress (Cannes and Barcelona).

Creating news
In quieter news months, the Prompt team applies creative methods for of securing coverage. For example, recently, a survey was carried out about users' attitudes to Wi-Fi. Prompt designed and conducted the survey in central London, surveying 100+ respondents who worked in the financial district and owned laptops. Prompt analysed the results, drew up conclusions and helped draft the press release. The story was also pitched by Prompt to key publications prior to its distribution, to ensure that journalists understood the relevance of the story to their readers and knew Prompt was on-hand to help develop the story. As a result, the survey was covered in Cellular News, Comms Dealer, Commsday Global, ISP Review, New Media Age and Total Telecom.

"One of the best things about working with Prompt is that they never take the retainer for granted - in quiet news months they will come up with ideas to constantly provide value: they never take our business for granted and offer great assistance with consultancy, creativity and delivering results," said Hubble.

Sample Publications where Prompt has helped secured coverage for Tatara Systems:

Computer Business Review (CBR) - Global Telecoms Business - Computerwire - Computer Reseller News (CRN) - Mobile Business - Planet Wireless - 3G Portal - 802.11 - Wireless IQ - Unstrung - Vanilla Plus - Channel News - ZDNet - Silicon.com - ISP News - International Telecommunications Intelligence - Telecom Paper - Total Telecom - European TechWire - New Media Age - Cellular News - EE Times - Wi-Fi Planet - Wireless Week - Microscope - Computing

Sample Analyst briefings that Prompt has helped secured for Tatara Systems:

Current Analysis - IDC - Gartner Europe - Ovum - Frost & Sullivan - Disruptive Analysis - Rethink Research - BWCS - Bloor Research - Analysys - Datamonitor

Richard Hubble concludes: "The team at Prompt is a delight to work with: they know what they are doing, enjoy their work and are passionate about helping clients achieve their goals."

"Prompt's writers have a great grasp of the things that matter: beyond the technologies; they know how to ensure an article is accepted by a publication"
- Richard Hubble, EMEA Director, Tatara Systems

"The team at Prompt is a delight to work with: they know what they are doing, enjoy their work and are passionate about helping clients achieve their goals."
- Richard Hubble, EMEA Director, Tatara Systems

"Prompt's consultants have a good grasp of the telecoms industry, including the trends and the technology involved. On a personal level they are an extremely pleasant, responsive and helpful company"
- Paul Skeldon, Editor, World Telemedia

"I have worked with Prompt PR for several years and have always found that they have responded to my requests in a timely and helpful manner. Prompt has, on occasions, gone beyond the call of duty to ensure I have received quality information against tight deadlines."
- George Malim, Editor, Vanilla Plus