Goliath vs. Davids

When a member of the Birnbach Communications team started working for a large office products giant, the company was late-to-market with Internet postage. They were in the unusual role of playing catch-up to two dot-coms at the height of the dot-com bubble.

The challenges

• The client wanted to convey its commitment to PC-based postage and electronic metering, including its leading Personal Post product.
• Other PC-based postage providers were being very aggressive, using the end of mechanical metering to drive coverage of their PC-based solutions.
• Stamps.com and epostage.com were perceived as fast and aggressive while the company was considered to be a dinosaur that did not have many offerings for the small office/home office market.

The opportunity

We needed to temper enthusiasm for PC-based postage by emphasizing that it is only one part of postage solution, not the postage solution – and certainly not the right solution for everyone. We decided to initiate an aggressive media relations program to ensure the company would be included in all postage-metering stories.

The activity

• Identified reporters likely to be following this topic and contacted them to educate them on the company's PC-based postage solution.
• Planned “vision tour” with company execs; targeting key SOHO reporters.

The results

The media included our client in coverage formerly driven by strictly PC-based technologies. The company was positioned as a total solutions provider. We developed relationships on behalf of the client with top-tier media. Best of all, even before the dot-crash, we helped change the client's perception to a smart, stable and nimble company – quite a difference from being a dinosaur.

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