The Connecticut-based and award-winning PR agency Marx Communicationsconducts several case studies.
It does so as it finds ways to boost PR (public relations) results for companies. Its clients include top national and regional businesses.
Some of these case studies involved an online financial services company in New York as well as various advertising and marketingcompanies.
What can the expertise and X factor of Marx Communications do about it?
Helping Investars
How do you become a highly-regarded financial resource when you’re two guys with a good idea but are totally unknown?
That was the situation facing Investars.com, an online financial services resource established in 1999.
Recognizing that the launch of a financial services company by itself was a non-story, Marx Communications, in conjunction with Sprung PR, developed a strategy that focused on the firm’s research, rather than its business.
This included helping the company streamline its website so its messaging was crystal clear and providing special press site passes and online media tours.
By selecting the most explosive Investars.com data, we were able to let the information speak for itself.
Results
The B2B (business-to-business) PR campaign resulted in exclusives in virtually every major outlet worldwide, including:
- Barron’s
- Bloomberg TV
- Financial Times
- The New York Times
- The Wall Street Journal
CNBC named Investars a “trustworthy provider of investment information.”
The extensive media coverage resulted in the CEO of Investars testifying before Congress. It also led to partnership deals with:
- Bank of New York
- Dow Jones
- JP Morgan Chase
- Nasdaq
Marketing Services Company
Your company has no press coverage. Your services are complex for your clients to consume but vital to their business.
How do you build your company brand?
It’s a common business problem.
One the chief executives of a marketing services company realized they had to address in order to keep their business thriving.
The marketing company offered services that on its face could be considered “geeky.”
But in reality, they are vitally important to companies since ultimately, they help major brands improve the ROI (return on investment) of their marketing.
Before Marx Communications started working with them, they had virtually no press coverage.
Since we began providing public relations service to the firm in 2005, the marketing company has been featured in nearly every publication covering marketing and advertising and many media outletsand blogs, including:
| Advertising Age | OMMA |
| Click Z | The Advertiser |
| Direct | The New York Times |
| Media Post | The Wall Street Journal |
So, how did we trigger interest among the company’s client base?
We developed a thought leadershipand business-to-business brandingprogram, positioning them as experts in marketing ROI - and in “hot” areas, such as:
- sponsorship
- celebrity marketing
The Marx Communications approach leveraged traditional and new-media avenues of PR publicity:
| blog and Twitter outreach | speaking engagements |
| by-lined articles | surveys |
| podcast | white papers |
And it worked.
We turned the marketing company’s executives into “rock stars” while simultaneously creating new alliances with key industry groups.
As a result of all the publicity it has received, the company is perceived as a leader in its category, and its executives as noted experts in their respective fields.
The company relies solely on PR and marketing for new business development, and all of its new business is attributed to PR and its offshoots.
Market Research Firm
When it comes to exposure, you’re the David. They’re the Goliath.
So, what’s the right ammunition for winning results?
A market research firm found its upcoming forecast report - which focuses on alternative media research - at a disadvantage before it was even launched since it was issuing the report just after one of the largest U.S. research organizations had issued a similar report.
The company needed a smart, unorthodox way to win the day.
Marx Communications created a business-to-business (B2B) public relations campaignand offered exclusives to select reporters, using the interactive space to generate curiosity and let reporters cherry-pick data.
We linked the press release to an informative podcast and a special media site where media could access data on the report - all to make their job easier.
We also provided ready-to-use, visually compelling charts and an easy-to-understand executive summary.
The release was also tied to a landing page where anyone reading it could get more information and purchase the report.
The result was that we made it exceptionally easy for the press to create a great story.
The research report became the subject of more than 175 stories, including mentions in:
| Associated Press | Financial Times |
| Businessweek | Forbes |
| CNBC | Reuters |
| CNNMoney | The New York Times |
| Dow Jones | USA Today |
Online Advertising Company
An online advertising company planned to launch a new online product.
Rather than wait till or near launch time to issue a press release, Marx Communications geared up a B2B PRcampaign.
This included creating original B2B marketing and B2B PR contentfrom SEO-optimized press releases to reports to podcasts all linked to landing pages.
The content was widely downloaded and in just three months, the campaign generated nearly 200 leads:
- half of whom are decision-makers
- the other half key influencers
In addition, Marx Communications unearthed a real need for the company’s product through case studies and an online survey, creating a major opportunity for the digital advertising company’s sales force.