The Business Situation

In 2011, Brite invested in its BriteStar Managed Services platform by building a state-of-the-art Network Operations Center featuring badged security, the latest network monitoring software and the hiring of additional staff to monitor customer networks remotely. The service offered 24×7 comprehensive IT support, off-loaded tactical support functions, patch management and secured customer networks from malicious software, viruses and attacks. By 2012, Brite refined its BriteStar offering with ancillary services: McAfee Endpoint Protection, McAfee Web and Email Protection, Email Archival and multi-year retention, software/hardware asset management, BriteMail Hosted Exchange, BriteVault+ Disaster Recovery and optional Computing as a Service (an equipment leasing program with desktop, laptops, servers and storage).

These new comprehensive product offerings were a unique bundle in the market and targeted small to mid-sized organizations. Brite needed to ensure the service hit the market effectively and with as much fan-fare as possible to not only increase the customer base, but solidify in the market its newly branded position as a hardware, services and security IT consulting company.

An integrated marketing campaign was the best approach. Brite needed to be able to create multiple brand touch points, customer facing materials and effective, descriptive communications to better explain such a comprehensive and complex product. The campaign needed to state the problem clearly, and then present the solution just as succinct. After much study and review, a plan was presented that would include print, digital and social marketing.

During the research phase, Brite confirmed that the long and sustained economic recession had caused IT organizations to shrink, but the workload and IT needs grew at an astronomical rate. The staff left on board have been overwhelmed with trying to keep up with break/fix issues, routine maintenance and growth strategy plans suffered due to lack of resources. Proactive maintenance would be neglected, and thus caused more issues, either by equipment failing, security breaches, or network capacity being so depleted productivity was affected. Businesses were struggling with security concerns, network downtime and degradation of productivity because no one was able to effectively watch their network. Hence, the tag-line for the BriteStar campaign became, “Who’s Watching Your Network?”

Brite needed to convey to small to mid-sized organizations that our service was cost efficient and did not reduce staff, but augmented them. They also needed to sell its value added services like email archival and disaster recovery that many organizations did not have the luxury of considering before.

The Computing as a Service program (which includes BriteStar services) gave smaller organizations the ability to have the latest and greatest hardware, remote desktop support and peace of mind network security without the large up-front costs.

Implementation/Tactics

The campaign was scheduled to launch May 1, 2012 and lasted through the month of July. Brite rolled out a mini-website, which included an ROI calculator, a Computing as a Service Online Estimator and Quote request. A blog was created and weekly stories were written and Tweeted to present real world examples of IT issues in small to mid-size businesses and how those issues would have been avoided if they had BriteStar, BriteMail Hosted Exchange or BriteVault+ Disaster Recovery.

To create a level of authenticity, Brite hired models, professional photographer Kurt Brownell and makeup artists to shoot all of the in-situation shots displayed in the brochure, website, advertising and blog. The advertising appeared in the Rochester Business Journal’s Daily Email Blast for five (5) weeks, as well as an email blast being sent to 10,000 subscribers. Brite also used the Rochester Business Association’s email dissemination services.

In a concerted effort with sales and operations, Brite has seen a year over year revenue growth of 43% in BriteStar Services for fiscal year 2012. New customer acquisition was 27%.

Tanya Babcock, @Brand_Gal, Co-VP of Programming of the AMA and Director of Marketing and Advertising at Brite Computers