StreamServe

Locations:  Headquartered inBurlington,MA, European Headquarters inLondon,UK

 

Company Description:   StreamServe, Inc., a leader in the fast growing business communications management market, is the only organization to provide an independent software platform for the two way exchange of critical business information in any channel or format.  StreamServe has over 4,000 customers in a 130 countries.

Company Size: 26M

 

Challenge: StreamServe was building a nice customer base for itself despite the tailspin in which the technology sector had found itself.  The problem was that a major competitor had grabbed mindshare in theU.S. and was gaining awareness by presenting itself as the sole solution in the industry. This was affecting StreamServe’s worldwide business and reputation.  With StreamServe’s competitor getting the jump in theU.S. market, StreamServe hired Ripple Effect.  “As a European company trying to break into theU.S. market, we needed to find a firm that could produce an integrated communication’s roadmap for us that would ensure we would meet objectives,” said Hal Bennett, President of StreamServe Americas.  “StreamServe demands accountability for all of our service providers and Ripple Effect Communications was the only firm willing to guarantee results.  We started out small and conducted a pilot just to see how we would do in theU.S. market and to test out Ripple Effect’s talent and strategy in developing our messaging, and overall company vision for today and the future.  As soon as we saw the dynamic relationship of each of Ripple Effect’s strategic methodologies and the results they produced, we decided to scale up to a large, full-service public relations program,” continued Bennett.

 

Solution:  To promote StreamServe as a viable provider of information delivery software platforms to succeed against itsU.S. competitor, Ripple Effect implemented the following plan of attack.

 

  1. Ripple Effect conducted an extensive messaging workshop to help focus StreamServe’s executives to drive consensus on positioning and develop an “umbrella” message.

 

Results:  Ripple Effect developed a messaging workbook, detailing messages and process exercises derived from the workshop.  The team then created a script that clearly stated StreamServe’s positioning, identified defensible proof points and tailored key messages for each unique audience.  The messaging workbook served its purpose in driving consistency across all company communications; it was utilized for media training to ensure executives remained on message throughout the course of all media interviews, employee communications, analyst meetings, speaking engagements, networking events and customer/prospect sales pitches.

 

  1. Ripple Effect leveraged analyst and third-party partners.

 

Results:  Through Ripple Effect’s efforts, Hal Bennett, President of StreamServe Americas was invited to speak at the SAP SAPphire event and Oracle’s tradeshow where Ripple Effect positioned Bennett as a thought leader in the industry.

 

  1. Ripple Effect carried out an aggressive PR campaign, leveraging news, events and proactive approach.

 

Results:  In just six months, StreamServe was mentioned in more than 60 articles including feature coverage in the Associated Press, The Boston Globe, The Christian Science Monitor, CNET and the New York Times.  The articles in these publications contained StreamServe’s key messages and have become an integral part of StreamServe’s marketing efforts.

 

 

The Big Picture

Objectives Achieved: “We were amazed at how quickly Ripple Effect could turn the market around for us.  They had out of the box thinking and took action fast in leveraging analysts and third-party partners,” stated Hal Bennett President of StreamServe Americas.  StreamServe increased its visibility through key coverage, new relationships forged with such analysts as Forrester and IDC, and was awarded the Frost and Sullivan award which Ripple Effect secured for them.  StreamServe’s major objective was achieved through a 30% increase in inquiries from U.S. based prospects.  Through Ripple Effect’s alliance relations, Ripple Effect introduced StreamServe to SAP’s top executives.  As a result, StreamServe partnered with SAP, aligned themselves closely with SAP’s salesforce in conducting joint sales calls, and attained a leading telecom company as a customer – a customer worth $1.3 million in new business to StreamServe.

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