“TREW’s marketing expertise and knowledge of the embedded space make them a trusted advisor to help us drive awareness and demand, as we continue to grow our business and market share,” said Jason Clarke, Vice President of Sales and Marketing for Crank Software. “They have a proven track record developing and executing strategic marketing plans that focus on results, and we’re extremely pleased with the results they helped us achieve on our launch of Storyboard Suite 3.0.”

Crank Software specializes in embedded user interface (UI) solutions that enable R&D teams to more quickly develop UIs for resource-constrained embedded devices like in-car graphical displays and animated GPS systems.

When Crank needed to launch the latest version of their flagship software, Storyboard™ Suite, they chose TREW Marketing for our experience in developing product launch plans that target embedded design engineers. Crank sought to increase awareness of Storyboard Suite 3.0, drive web visits and capture leads through software evaluation downloads.

Deliverables:

Marketing communication strategy for the Storyboard Suite 3.0 launch including:

• Media relations strategy and execution
• Search engine optimization and advertising
• Launch email and automated direct marketing
• Social media strategy and execution
• Partner co-marketing with QNX in the Consumer Electronics Show concept car

Results:

• 85% increase in evaluation downloads
• 56% increase in online leads following the launch
• 38% increase in total web traffic following the launch
• 237 news release postings to online sources
• 2 contributed articles in RTC and Embedded Computing Design
• +3-minutes time-on-site to launch landing page
• 2-hours time-on-site generated from Twitter links

Beyond the Storyboard Suite launch, TREW Marketing continues to serve as Crank Software’s marketing partner, providing ongoing strategy consulting, brand and product-level messaging and positioning, media relations, content marketing, partner co-marketing, search engine optimization, search advertising, social media and email marketing services.

Want to learn more about product launches?

So you’ve developed a new product for your technical industry – spent hundreds of hours and undergone multiple rounds of revisions and beta tests, figured out your pricing and distribution model – and now it’s time to bring it to market.

The initial step towards launching your product is to name it.  You’ve invested significant time creating it and it’s your baby — not just any name will do. It needs to be memorable, searchable (particularly on search engines), unique in your industry, and relevant to your target audience.

So where do you begin? First you need to collect ideas. Gather a cross-functional team from across your organization of at least 3, but no more than 10, to brainstorm name ideas. After the initial brainstorm, have a few decision makers come together and decide on the top 5-8 names. Then take those 5-8 names and create an online survey that you can distribute to your internal key decision makers.  From there, you can reduce the options down to the top 3, and vet each one out and make final recommendations.

The following 7 tips will help guide you through items to discuss when narrowing down the choices to a final product name.

1. Determine a naming strategy that you will follow for this and future product names. Two primary strategies exist in the realm of product naming: highly descriptive and suggestive. The former will roll under your company brand and will not be trademarked, the latter may be stand-alone brands or can be linked with your corporate brand and can be trademarked. An example of a descriptive naming strategy is Apple, with its iPod, iPhone, and iPad products. OXO is an example of a suggestive naming strategy with names like GoodGrips, Touchables, and SteeL. While less descriptive than Apple’s product names, the OXO product names still strongly suggest what distinguishes the different line.
2. Use short, descriptive names that are generally three or fewer syllables.
3. Make it easy to spell, pronounce, and remember. Italics and capitalization of different letters make it difficult for people unfamiliar with the product name to remember how to spell it correctly.
4. If the product will be launched and used globally, consider the implications of the product’s name in other countries.
5. Avoid naming a product by an acronym that has to be spelled out in order for the public to understand the mark.
6. Research potential product names by performing online searches for third-party use of an identical or similar name, mark, or description used in connection with similar products
7. If you plan to apply for a trademark, visit www.upto.gov to search the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office for third-party applications or registrations of a similar designation for a similar product. If the application or registration has been abandoned or listed as dead, know that the third party still may have rights, where you would want someone in the legal field to review.

Evaluate the potential names with specificity and objectivity. It’s not enough to say, “I like it” or “I don’t like it.” Use the following eight categories to understand why a name will or won’t work.

1. Appearance – Is it easy to spell? And how will the name look in a logo, ad, billboard, etc.

2. Distinctive – How different is the name from the relevant product competition?

3. Depth – Names with depth have layers of meaning and association, and keep surprising you with new ideas with each layer.

4. Energy – Does the name have life to it? Can it carry an ad campaign on its shoulders?

5. Positioning – How relevant is the name to the positioning of the product?

6. Sound – This is two-fold – how does the name sound and how easily is it spoken to the customer? Word of mouth is a big part of marketing, but if people aren’t comfortable saying the name, the word won’t get out.

7. Trademark – This is easy, is it available? It’s either likely available, may be available, or not available.

8. Web Domain Name – Again, this is easy, is the URL available? If so acquire it before someone else does. If not, determine if the URL is available for your option 2 or option 3 name; or find out who owns the URL and see if you can acquire it from them.

After you have chosen a name for your product. It’s time to launch it. Smart Product Launches for Engineers provides a framework for how to plan, position, and implement a marketing activity plan that generates buzz and drives leads for your new product.

Related Blog Posts:

How to Use a Well-Time PR Launch to Spread Your Message

Practical Steps for Creating a Product Positioning Statement

Want to Marketing Against Your Competitors? Proceed Carefully

Today, TREW Marketing released a new e-book, written specifically for the business owner, product manager, and marketing leader preparing to launch a product targeted to technical audiences in the B2B space. Available for download on our site, Smart Product Launches for Engineers provides a framework for developing your product launch plan, discusses how to position your product in the marketplace, and includes practical tips for choosing, implementing, and measuring smart marketing activities and tools. It also includes case studies of three diverse, successful product launches.

In this guide:

1. Plan the Launch
   You spent a great deal of time and resources developing your product, now you need to launch it to market, but how? You need a plan. Walk through the process of creating a successful product launch plan that can have significant long-term success. Identify your target audience and determine your marketing goals and measurable objectives.
2. Brand Your Product
   With a plan in place, follow our three step process and learn how to define your product brand and position it in the marketplace. Also included are examples that help illustrate the process.
3. Determine the Marketing Mix
   Execute your product launch and achieve your objectives with a smart mix of integrated marketing activities. Review important considerations and explore various activities to determine which marketing channels will make the greatest impact at driving awareness and generating demand.

New Portal of B2B Marketing Resources Provides Other Case Studies, Free Guides to Assist Science, Engineering, and Technology Companies in Integrated Marketing

AUSTIN, Texas – March 26, 2013 – Silex Technology America, Inc., a leading embedded technology company specializing in network and wireless technology, today announced it selected TREW Marketing as its marketing partner for brand positioning, messaging and marketing communications activity planning. Silex Technology provides hardware, software, embedded modules, and turnkey connectivity products to device manufacturers and partners with leading suppliers including Green Hills Software, Freescale, QNX, and Qualcomm Atheros. The company chose TREW Marketing because of the agency’s distinct experience in marketing to engineers and proven success leading a co-marketing campaign that drove a 320 percent increase in new leads for Silex Technology.

Building on Proven Results

TREW Marketing led the efforts for Silex Technology’s 2012 co-marketing campaign with Freescale, promoting Silex Technology as the exclusive provider of Wi-Fi connectivity technology for Freescale’s i.MX 6 platform. Through this launch, Silex Technology sought to:

• Build awareness of its Wi-Fi solutions among i.MX 6 customers
• Drive traffic to the website
• Generate leads and create new opportunities for its embedded Wi-Fi sales team

To achieve these goals, TREW Marketing developed a product launch and co-marketing plan centered on web and content marketing. A new campaign on the Silex Technology website educated design engineers about the company’s wireless connectivity solutions for Freescale’s i.MX 6 platform. TREW Marketing led the creation of product collateral, a news release, videos, and an online co-marketing event that all drove traffic to this dedicated web portal. A white paper download and multi-touch e-mail campaign also engaged visitors to learn more. And, Freescale featured the Wi-Fi solutions in its Design News customer e-newsletter and Product News sales e-newsletter to build awareness with design engineers and the Freescale sales force.

In the first two months of the launch, web traffic grew by 30 percent, and monthly leads grew by 320 percent with a nearly 25 percent lead-conversion rate. This in turn created new opportunities for the Silex Technology embedded Wi-Fi dedicated sales team.

“TREW Marketing’s integrated approach and diligent execution of the co-marketing campaign with Freescale delivered record results for Silex Technology,” said Keith Sugawara, vice president of business development at Silex Technology America. “The agency’s further insight on our company positioning and marketing activity planning will set us up for even more success as a leading network technology company.”

TREW Marketing Resources: Free B2B Marketing Guides for Scientists and Engineers

TREW Marketing also released TREW Marketing Resources, a portal of B2B marketing resources that can help science, engineering, and technology companies begin to see success like Silex Technology realized with an integrated marketing approach.

The new portal houses a compilation of free case studies, videos, and marketing guides that contain best practices, industry data, and practical how-to’s on a variety of topics specifically for marketing to technical audiences. TREW Marketing Resources includes guides like Smart Marketing for Engineers, an e-book that helps technical business leaders build and execute an efficient and effective marketing program.

About Silex Technology America

Silex Technology America, Inc. is a subsidiary of Silex Technology Inc., a 35-year developer and leading network technology company specializing in network and wireless technology, providing hardware, software, embedded modules and turnkey connectivity products. Silex Technology has regional offices for sales, marketing and development in Japan, United States and Germany. Silex Technology is integrated vertically to support customers from design to production, maintaining the highest quality standards. For more information, please visit www.silexamerica.com.

About TREW Marketing

TREW Marketing, headquartered in Austin, Texas, is a full-service marketing firm uniquely serving leading companies and organizations in the engineering and science markets. TREW Marketing uses decades of specialized technical marketing experience to create strategies and plans, and execute services such as research, positioning and messaging, product launch planning, media outreach, website strategy and design, and search marketing for clients. To learn more about TREW Marketing, readers can visit http://www.trewmarketing.com.

Related blog posts

Crank Software Selects TREW Marketing for Embedded Industry Outreach

ERP Integrator Selects TREW Marketing for Brand and Marketing Communications

TREW News: National Defense Solutions Provider Selects TREW Marketing

Companies know that appearing at the top of search engine results is important to build corporate awareness, but how can you influence natural search results for your company outside of optimizing your website? In Part 1 of Lasting SEO Results, we learned how PR affects SEO, and in Part 2, we will give practical steps you can take to get those lasting SEO results with PR efforts.

Like we discussed, there are many factors that play into to search engine optimization, and backlinks are one of those important factors. By focusing on PR efforts, you can create quality backlinks to your website, but you may ask, “How do I do that?”

You can use PR to get the some of the best third-party validation for your messages and backlinks to your site. To use PR and gain search results for your company or products, you should focus on three specific efforts, which we’ll discuss alongside a case study of Wineman Technology’s PR efforts as an example:

1. Wire News Releases

Using a service like PR Newswire or PRWeb to wire news releases pushes your news out to third party sites that publish wired news on specific topics. Using a wiring service makes your news more readily available to journalists, and gives your release a place on the wiring service’s website where the release will be hosted long term.

Wineman Technology, an engineering firm that specializes in test solutions, sought to improve PR efforts. Last August, the company wired a news release announcing a new vehicle simulator, Dynacar. The company used PR Newswire for their news release.

Using PR Newswire to wire a release guarantees that the news is distributed to major publications around the country, and that the news lives at a permanent URL on prnewswire.com.

2. Develop Consistent News

Sit down in Q4 with your leadership, sales, and marketing teams and think through the new products, events, partner news and marketing campaigns and activities you have planned for 2013. Rank these by how newsworthy you think they are, prioritize the product announcements, think through news hooks for your campaigns and plan out 4-8 news releases for the year, spaced fairly evenly. This allows you to more easily allocate resources toward creating the news and have a constant flow of coverage and key talking points with journalists.

Wineman Technology planned news releases throughout the year to correlate with product launches, company events, significant customer achievements, and awards. They wired each release with PR Newswire, and the news releases now appear in the first two pages of search result for the company:

Now, a search for Wineman Technology shows multiple news items, boosting public credibility of the company. Each piece of coverage also contains valuable backlinks to the company's site.

3. Reach out to Targeted Journalists

To increase coverage of your news in the specific publications your target audiences read, your first step is to build relationships with the top 3-5 reporters who cover your company and/or industry. Engage with those journalists to seek out third-party coverage in their publications. Coverage in industry publications not only puts your name in front of all audiences who regularly read those publications, but coverage in those publications will also appear when someone searches for your company. Having these articles appear in search results both boosts the natural optimization of your own site, and provides third-party validation for your product or company. We talk about this and the public relations marathon in detail in our post building relationships with the press.

In addition to Wineman Technology’s news release for Dynacar, the company also reached out to editors who were attending the tradeshow where the news was announced. Wineman Technology experts met with editors, discussed the product, and ultimately gained coverage in top engineering publications.

Design News featured editor-written coverage of Dynacar.

The Dynacar coverage provided third-party validation for the new product.

In Conclusion:

These three PR practices will help you create lasting SEO results. By engaging in PR efforts with wired news releases, consistent news, and outreach to targeted media, you will not only increase PR coverage for your company, but also create the third-party validation through backlinks that delivers SEO improvements for your organic search efforts.

Related blog posts:

Four Steps to Building Meaningful Relationships with Journalists

5 Core Steps in the PR Marathon

Five Practical SEO Tips for Promoting Your Website

Summary:

See how an IT company with an emerging product in an undefined space used a number of different PR tactics to improve a key performance indicator – feature article coverage – by more than 125%, and achieve record web traffic and target media engagements.

Challenge:

The company wanted to create awareness of a new product in a quickly evolving, noisy, and undefined IT/networking space with aggressive competitors.

Goal:

The goal of the product launch was to create product awareness, garner media coverage, and begin to build relationships with key editors and analysts in the industry.

This was the most successful product launch in the client’s company history. As a result of this launch and ongoing outreach, the company now has a strategic and measured PR program, it’s visibility and coverage have increased,  and it is gaining on its competitors.

Campaign:

TREW Marketing sought to create a PR program for this IT company that would quickly address their known challenges – their product was emerging in an undefined market, the market is fragmented and crowded with many tools providers, and their primary competitor was aggressive in its messaging. To achieve success and address these challenges, TREW created a tiered media list of publications and editors, drafted targeted high-quality content, reached out to prioritized media, executed a major product launch, and now continues to build on the newly-established relationships and company awareness.

Step 1: Develop a Targeted and Tiered Outreach List

TREW sought to develop a strategic media list for the IT company. Developing the list involved extensive research including tracking competitor coverage, searching for new publications, categorizing journalist beats, and identifying the data and articles that had been the most influential for the IT industry. This research resulted in a list of more than 25 media contacts who write for an audience relevant to the IT company’s existing product offerings and soon-to-be-launched ground-breaking new product.

To prioritize efforts with journalists, TREW ranked journalists as high, medium and low priority, and established interaction goals with each group of journalists. TREW, with the help of the IT company, then executed both proactive and reactive outreach  based on occurring events such as new articles, blog posts, and company and industry news, and introduced the IT company to the journalist when the company and its expertise could be helpful.

Step 2: Plan and Create Quality Content

For the major product launch, TREW created several pieces of targeted content, starting with the news release. Based on TREW research and several launch messaging meetings, the release focused on the product’s unique benefits for the market and application-leading specifications that factually ensured the product would stand out prominently over aggressive competitors who had a larger voice in the market, yet a technically inferior product. In addition, TREW created a one-page flyer that highlighted specific pain points of potential customers and used diagrams and explanations to show how the new product saved time, cost, and set customers up for future success.

Alongside the news release and one-page overview, TREW helped develop the slide content, flow, and messaging that positioned the company and introduced the product. In addition TREW created article abstracts that company experts could write for publications. The IT company presented the slides in run-throughs of the presentation, each time making changes and adjustments so that their messages were clearly and accurately conveyed.

Step 3: Reach out to the Media

A few weeks before the launch of the product, TREW began to contact journalists it had begun developing relationships with since Step 1. TREW introduced the product and invited journalists to meet with the company leadership and technology experts to learn more about the product and how it would meet the needs of the journalists’ audiences.

Since the PR launch process began with researching the best contacts and building relationships, as outlined in Step 1, TREW already had a start on raising the company’s visibility with key journalists which helped ensure they would more easily accept the invitation to hear about the new product at the time of announcement.

Step 4: Launch the Product

The week of the launch, the news release was distributed via wire and the IT company met with journalists across the country. They presented slides, answered questions, pitched article abstracts or offered assistance with other articles where applicable, and TREW continued to watch the targeted publications for places the new product could be included.

Step 5: Sustain the Media Relations Program

With a successful launch underway, TREW continues to build relationships with key media for the IT company. By consistently staying in touch with top media and making valuable offers of expert spokespeople, new content, and company news, overall engagements (i.e., journalist responses) are growing. As TREW and the IT company look to build on this success into 2012, a key focus is on additional compelling content and ideas to strengthen relationships with editors and grow the IT company’s image as a leader in the markets they serve.

Results:

With the PR program development and strategic product launch, the IT company secured 125% more coverage than prior launches. Throughout the launch, the company received:

• Six times more feature article coverage than their top competitor in the launch month
• Strong feature article headlines and product messaging
• Industry analyst quotes in multiple top-tier publications
• Feature coverage in four of the targeted publications
• Article headlines that included key messages promoted through the presentations, news release, and additional information materials

This week, the Association of Marketing and Communication Professionals (AMCP) awarded TREW Marketing a MarCom Award. With more than 6,000 entries from around the world, the 2011 MarCom Awards were given to organizations including Burson-Marsteller, Northrop Grumman, Princeton University, Seimens, US Airforce, United Healthcare, Vistaprint, Weber Shandwick, Wells Fargo, and TREW Marketing.

TREW Marketing won its Gold Marcom Award for a promotional campaign around our downloadable e-book, Smart Marketing for Engineers. We stood out for our resourceful and creative approach to marketing a professional, well-branded publication.

To promote the book, the TREW crew used a variety of channels including web marketing, public relations, social media, email marketing, and a video, all timed around a global, technical industry conference.

“We pride ourselves in creating custom marketing plans and activities for our customers that support their business goals,” said Rebecca Geier, Principal of TREW Marketing. “It was only natural for us to create a successful campaign to promote our own product using the marketing strategies, channels, and activities that we recommend and implement for our customers.”

Results of the award-winning promotional campaign included:

• 600% in web lead growth during the book launch
• 217 news release postings in the first two hours
• 47 media views of the news release by journalists within the first two hours
• 4505 Twitter users reached with news of the book and a link to download
• Average visitors to trewmarketing.com from Twitter during the launch spent more than 15 minutes viewing more than 10 pages on the agency’s site
• 60% of traffic from LinkedIn to trewmarketing.com during the launch came from first-time visitors to the agency’s site
• 35% higher email open rate from email marketing than the industry average
• TREW email marketing for the book achieved double the industry average for clicks through email
• 10 engineering firms interviewed at industry conference to personally promote the book and TREW’s services to potential clients
• 65 YouTube views of the video

In August 2011, Wineman Technology and Tecnalia Research introduced Dynacar, a fully validated, real-time vehicle model simulator for developing and testing passenger and light commercial vehicles. Dynacar is fully developed by Tecnalia and produced with the help of Wineman Technology, The platform is created in National Instruments LabVIEW Real-Time and integrated into a vehicle’s design and test platform using Wineman INERTIA software, NI VeriStand, and off-the-shelf PXI control and test hardware.

That being said, Wineman and Tecnalia made the natural decision to release Dynacar in the US at NIWeek, National Instruments’ annual user conference. By using Wineman and Tecnalia’s business partnership along with the proven National Instruments LabVIEW and NI VeriStand platforms, and promoting the product at NIWeek, the companies were able to share their news through multiple channels.

• Wineman and Tecnalia released their news on the first day of NIWeek, and let relevant journalists covering the conference know of the announcement.
• They had a significant presence on the NIWeek show floor with a booth staffed with Wineman and Tecnalia experts. In addition, both companies joined together for joint press meetings at the conference.
• Dynacar was featured in the NIWeek keynote, which was uploaded to YouTube and posted on Wineman’s facebook page.
• Dynacar was covered in top engineering publications including Automotive Testing Technology International and Design News.

Overall, it was a highly successful launch. The product was covered in print, in video, in the conference keynote, and across the web. In fact, Dynacar received so much publicity that traffic from PR efforts around the launch more than doubled Wineman’s average monthly web traffic from referring sites.

Which event attracts over 3,000 of the world’s brightest engineers, educators, and scientists from around the world each year? Answer: NIWeek – a premier event on graphical system design organized by National Instruments.

TREW clients Alfamation and Cyth Systems participated throughout NIWeek, from the keynotes to technical sessions and the exhibit floor. TREW Marketing put our events and PR hats on to help with the wide breadth of marketing planning and execution at the show.

Alfamation

A key event of Alfamation’s 12–month marketing plan, developed by TREW Marketing, was planning and executing participation at NIWeek and showcasing three new product launches:

• SuperNova – a Test Development Software for NI TestStand
• FlexMedia VA-01 – a PXI-based high-speed LVDS HD Video BER Analysis module
• FlexMedia AM-01 – a PXI-based  automotive infotainment test module

Alfamation logo designed by TREW Marketing

TREW created technical product brochures and flyers for Alfamation’s products – SuperNova, FlexMedia VA-01, VG-01 and FlexMedia AM-01.

With years of trade show experience, we planned and executed the trade show marketing, from designing and producing Alfamation’s booth to developing the promotion strategy for driving traffic to the booth – one of them being iPad give aways for the NI sales force and NIWeek participants. Members of the TREW Crew helped staff the booth and bring energy and excitement to encourage attendees to stop in.

Alfamation and the TREW Crew also enjoyed showcasing the new products during in-person meetings with editors from some leading trade magazines -ECN Magazine, Photonics Spectra, Electronic Products, Desktop Engineering, and Evaluation Engineering.

Alfamation engineers leading product demonstrations in the booth at NIWeek

The Alfamation and TREW team effort paid off, with total leads exceeding set goals, new sales opportunities identified, and productive meetings with top-tier press throughout the week.

Cyth Systems

Cyth Systems had some very big news to share at NIWeek, and hired TREW Marketing to help. With a short time to build and execute the strategy, TREW worked with Cyth to position and launch their new product Circaflex – a low-cost, ready-to-use embedded control system for Life Sciences applications, such as bioprocess, biomedical, and biotech. The product was strategically launched around NIWeek so that Circaflex could be positioned at NIWeek and presented to key partners and customers.

TREW Marketing created various collateral elements for the product launch:

• 1-Pager for parnter sales force on how Cyth’s domain expertise can be leveraged in product marketing
• One page flyer detailing product features, key applications, and benefits
• Presentation slides to succinctly introduce Circaflex for to customers, partners, and press

Cyth Systems Circaflex Product Flyer

TREW also implemented various PR activities for Cyth such as improving web visibility and SEO, and pitching targeted in-person press meetings.

Leading trade magazines Cyth Systems’ met with during NIWeek to share more about their new Circaflex embedded controller.

Some other marketing activities that TREW executed for Cyth were:

• Developed a compelling customer testimonial for use in booth, online, and in parnter sales and marketing meetings
• Wrote and distributed Circaflex product launch press release
• Worked with NI to add Circaflex to 3^rd party partner website

Cyth and Alfamation Announcements Featured on ni.com

In addition to developing and executing the marketing plans for its customers, TREW was directly represented at NIWeek by co-founders Rebecca Geier and Wendy Covey, who presented the 5 Most Important Marketing Investments to an audience comprising small to medium-sized engineering product and service companies globally. The 5 investments highlighted during the presentation were – Website, Content and Collateral, Search Engine Marketing, Co-Partnering, and e-newsletters.  Read more about this presentation at the Building Stronger Partners blog, published by Jack Barber, NI Alliance Program Manager.

As the fall trade show season approaches, contact TREW Marketing to discuss how we might help your organization develop and execute a targeted product launch and trade show strategy.