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5 Oct 2010
I need to declare up front that the thought leadership case study I am about to share was run by two sister companies in the Ogilvy Public Relations stable in Australia, Howorth and Parker & Partners. It is a great example of thought leadership in action and it recently won the WPP Communications WPPED Cream award for best PR campaign.Background
In late 2008, Australia’s leading telecommunications and information services company, Telstra, approached the team at Ogilvy PR Australia to devise a communication strategy to support its reinvigorated business-to-business offering.
The ensuing ‘Telstra Productivity Indicator’ campaign, not only successfully generated positive coverage in target business news and technology media, but the communication platform laid the foundation for all of Telstra’s marketing collateral: internal communications, website content, existing customer communication, advertising material and sales tools.
The successful execution of the brief was demonstrated through increased sales figures and improvements in independent brand and media audits. Telstra’s positioning was so relevant to target business and government audiences that the then Australian Prime Minister, Kevin Rudd, quoted key research findings developed for the campaign during a national press conference in April 2009.
The campaign
Telstra’s largest division is Telstra Enterprise & Government (TEG), which provides network based solutions and services to organisations across Australia and New Zealand.
In a crowded marketplace, Telstra was finding it difficult to achieve neutral or positive media coverage, despite its world leading information and communication technology (ICT) offerings. The Ogilvy team wanted to present TEG as a leader in ICT and an expert in productivity. It followed research which showed that while Telstra’s competitors and other key stakeholders in the ICT space were all fighting for a share of the ‘innovation’ space, everyone was ignoring the driving force for potential customers – productivity.
There was a distinct lack of conversation around the topic presenting an ideal opportunity for TEG to embrace productivity and use it as the platform for the campaign.
The target publics
In order to communicate with their tier one target audiences: senior decisions makers, key influencers and IT executives within Australian business and government organisations, the campaign first had to reach business and technology media, industry associations, business groups and government stakeholders.
Implementation
1. Research – Survey Report
An independent research company was commissioned to conduct a survey of senior decision makers at Australian business and government organisations on their approach and treatment of productivity and how it was defined, measured, managed and funded. The findings were compiled in a report titled: ‘The Telstra Productivity Indicator: A Report on business attitudes towards improving productivity in Australia’.
2. Research – Whitepaper
Supplementing the report was a 36-page white paper, commissioned from a second independent organisation. The paper, ‘ICT as a driver of productivity’, examined in detail the impact of ICT on productivity and economics in Australia and around the world.
3. Branding the insights – identifying Australia’s ‘productivity gap’
The research not only provided interesting content for media engagement, but uncovered insights to underpin the campaign. Critically the results showed that while 78 per cent of Australia’s largest organisations said improving productivity was a high priority, only half had any systems to measure improvements or set targets.
This was termed the ‘Productivity Gap’ – the gap between the importance placed on productivity improvements and the lack of measurement and management around it. With productivity a large part of the rationale for ICT investment, the findings provided framework for new conversations with Telstra’s target audiences.
4. Key messages identified, spokespeople briefed
Senior spokespeople were comprehensively briefed on the research with a series of key messages designed to deliver the productivity story.
5. Direct mail to business and government
A personalised letter from the CEO detailing research findings and implications was sent to government officials and the heads of leading Australian business associations.
6. Strategic media outreach
An extensive media outreach plan was implemented including:
· Embargoed media interviews with Telstra’s most senior spokespeople and tier one media
· An embargoed media release distributed to IT and telecommunications media the day before the launch
· A general news release distributed on launch day
· Targeted, long-lead media outreach with tailored byline articles for vertical press
7. Speaking opportunities
Speaking opportunities were set up at corporate events for senior Telstra spokespeople.
8. Employee Communications
The research was launched internally to employees through Telstra’s intranet.
9. Sales Tools
The sales teams were armed with new diagnostic tools to present to existing and potential clients to quantify areas for productivity improvement.
10. Advertising
The insights were supported by an above the line campaign including print, outdoor and online with a budget edition wrap of the Australian Financial Review newspaper.
Measurement
An independent media analysis company compared the analysis to Telstra’s competitors across reach, impact and favourability. From January to March 2009, TEG significantly increased its share of voice over competitors, holding 55 per cent of the brand mentions (with 96 per cent favourable). A spike in coverage was traced against the launch of the productivity campaign.
The Telstra Productivity Indicator dominated media discussion, with 29 per cent of coverage directly related to how Telstra could help enterprise and government improve productivity through the innovation and functionality of Telstra services. The analysis tracked an overall increase in the number of key messages appearing within campaign coverage. More than 60 per cent of TEG coverage featured at least one of the pre-agreed key messages.
Importantly, the PR campaign set the foundation for all of TEG’s marketing and communications collateral and the messaging was adapted seamlessly for internal communications, existing customer communication, website content, an advertising campaign and sales tools.
The campaign drove online traffic to Telstra’s productivity website, becoming the second most visited site after the Telstra homepage. At the time of the campaign, Google click-through increased by 72.3%. There were 178 whitepaper registrations and site interactivity (clicks, print-outs and forwarding of content) increased by 200% month on month.
Over the campaign, Telstra sold and activated thosands of new PDAs and smartphones, migrated thousands of 2G devices to the NextG network and sold a number of fleet deals. The campaign elevated the Telstra brand to one synonymous with improved business productivity that in turn has driven demand for its product and services.
The integrated campaign directly affected perceived brand value. Telstra outperformed competitors in the ‘Customer Value Analysis’ brand positioning benchmark study in May 2009 on all performance drivers (service delivery; product; brand; Account Executive performance) showing a significant spike in approval. ‘Brand’ recorded the largest increase (up 11%). Besides improved buyer preference, Telstra was able to focus customer discussions away from price and towards value.
7 Responses to “Productivity Indicator is a thought leadership winner”
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Thanks Craig; this is a great case study that hits pretty much all the high points for serious thought leadership marketing: in-depth research, internal education, integrated campaign with multiple publications and activities, personalized connection with key customers and prospects, and even serious metrics (which are so often lacking). The only gap I’d suggest is on the social media side, with efforts to inspire even broader reach and deeper engagement — which, among other things, might have driven even greater web traffic, downloads, and conversations.
Nice work by your colleagues, and kudos to Telstra for making the investment. It’s great to see serious thought leadership, and even better to see the results!
Thanks for your comments Rob, you raise a good point. I will ask about this and get back to you if in fact the type of deeper engagement you talk about via social media was pursued.
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Great case study. It has pretty much all the elements of a thought leadership strategy
What in your opinion was the novel point of view telstra came up with?
Mark I don’t think it was so much the novel point of view that was the focus in this example but rather that they were seen to be leading and framing the debate on productivity in Australia. It enabled them to put it on the national agenda and create discussion and comment on it across national and state media as well as at a business client and government level.
hi craig? im writing a paper on the subject and found great info here…. can you tell me where you found stats on the increased mobile sales after the launch?
Hi Daniel I got it from Howorth, the PR company that handled the launch of the Producitivity Indicator.
Cheers Craig