Matthew Briggs
Senior Vice President, Healthcare | Boston, MA
8x8: Taking a Global Approach to Build Broader Brand Awareness
0
Secured Articles
0.5%
Increase in Coverage Growth
0%
Increase in Tier 1 Coverage
Introduction
Global Thought Leadership Yields Results
PAN’s primary focus has been on top-of-funnel earned media awareness through a blend of trade, technology and business press to reestablish 8×8 as a high-value brand in a hot market (video conferencing and collaboration). The team successfully identified timely thought leadership opportunities for executives and capitalized on company news, with the goal of increasing visibility for 8×8’s technology, vision for enterprise communications and contact center.
PAN launched a PR program focused on getting their CEO out there on trending topics such as workplace productivity, artificial intelligence and 5G. We developed creative content supporting these broader content themes to further position the brand and its expertise as forward looking vis-à-vis where the industry is going.
The Challenge
30-Year-Old Company Needs to Establish Innovation
8×8 needed a more strategic, integrated approach to its awareness-building efforts to reestablish itself as a brand with legacy and vision on the forefront of innovation in the video conferencing and collaboration market. As a 30-year-old company, we had to think differently about how to draw upon their pedigree but also shape a new vision forward as it complemented the company’s integrated platform message. Part of that is helping 8×8 executives be more succinct in their message and defining how their work complements their brand beliefs and values.
The Solution
Strategic Media Relations
PAN expanded 8×8’s visibility with a concerted effort to secure articles across its core trade press landscape and among upstream technology media, demonstrating the breadth of its platform, technical innovation and customer success through platform adoption. These three legs of the media relations stool helped differentiate 8×8 from competitive offerings through a blend of technical and visionary commentary.
Messaging and Positioning
We worked the better part of our first year of engagement to crystalize 8×8’s business value proposition, articulate its product differentiators and establish content pillars to help set the company apart and communicate its relentless commitment to product innovation.
Thought Leadership
We positioned 8×8 as thought leaders in the UK market, setting up a more regular cadence of interviews for their executives with national, business and trade media by helping them advance a data-driven story and showcasing a more personal side of the brand though a more diverse spokesperson bench.
Rapid Response
PAN brought new life to existing content for outreach and support of aggressive trend monitoring and rapid response. Rapid response opportunities included major UC industry announcements, enterprise and workforce trends and research, and competitor product announcements.
The Impact
187.5% increment in coverage growth in less than a year
The 8×8 program has generated more than 100 articles (and counting) about the company, its product enhancements and strategic acquisitions since beginning its partnership with PAN. This volume marked an 187.5% increment in coverage growth in less than a year, increasing from 16 to 46 articles. Media coverage, including Forbes, The Wall Street Journal, ZDNet, and Information Week, helped extend the reach of the company’s content marketing and lead generation initiatives with credible and referenceable articles that help validate its leadership stake in the market.