|
 |
|
Media campaign
positions Smoothwall as major player in security market |
Background
SmoothWall is a Linux-based internet security specialist, offering
a suite of firewalls, Virtual Private Network (VPN), content
filtering and bandwidth management solutions for SMEs, large
corporations and educational establishments.
SmoothWall hired Wildfire PR in April 2003 with a PR brief to
build the company’s credibility as a leading security
vendor, as SmoothWall managed the transition from an Open Source
project to become a viable commercial business.
The Brief
In February 2004, SmoothWall wanted to ramp up PR in preparation
for a major new product launch planned for the second half of
2004. The company wanted to communicate a series of product
upgrades to the market, ahead of the launch of version 4 of
its flagship product, Corporate Server.
| Objectives |
| • |
Launch SmoothTunnel 3.1, SmoothRule 3.1 and SmoothMonitor
3.0 |
| • |
Communicate the SmoothWall philosophy of ‘affordable
and easy-to-use internet
security solutions’ |
| • |
Position SmoothWall as the leading open source security
vendor for SMEs and a major
market player |
| Strategy |
Wildfire’s strategy was designed to
generate maximum media exposure for each product:
|
| • |
Arrange a media tour to demonstrate SmoothWall's innovative
SmoothTunnel VPN product to the mainstream IT press |
| • |
Follow-up the media tour with two additional product announcements
to generate momentum and demonstrate the constant innovation
in the SmoothWall product range |
| Results & Evaluation
|
The campaign generated the results below within
just four weeks:
|
| • |
32 pieces of coverage published in the trade and consumer
press, with a further 5-10 items confirmed or awaiting confirmation
|
| • |
Nine face-to-face and telephone interviews with IT and
security press |
| • |
Four reviews secured for upgraded products in target publications |
| • |
PC Plus Value Award awarded to SmoothWall for its SmoothWall
Corporate Server 3 as a result of face-to-face meeting |
Top of page
|
