Small business PR and marketing

Pure Hacking specialises in conducting ethical hacking. Operating in 14 countries, Pure Hacking carries out internal and external penetration testing and application audits, providing ongoing security assessment and executing global agreements for penetration testing.

Credibility is essential in this field, as is profile with key decision makers in the IT, finance and business industries. I developed a PR program that involved building Pure Hacking’s profile and credibility, as well as using the business’s international expertise to educate the Australian marketplace about key security issues and the role of penetration testing.

I initially developed an article about Pure Hacking and the penetration steps and pitched this into key publications, receiving coverage in Voice & Data and Enterprise Innovation. Media releases were developed on key topics, a staff member was profiled in SMH My Career and CEO Rob McAdam was profiled in MIS.

Pure Hacking now regularly provides industry comment and has been featured in CRN, ComputerWorld, ARN, ITWire and is the security expert for searchvoip.com.au’s “Ask The Experts”. Pure Hacking was listed in BRW’s 2006 fast starters and was featured in the innovation section, ‘Small, smart, fast”.

“Catriona has direct relationships with the printed media which has accelerated the profile of Pure Hacking. Being published in print and the internet is important to the Pure Hacking client base and engaging Catriona has identified at least triple the opportunities we could have on our own,” said Rob McAdam.

Freestyle Media is an online media agency specialising in driving traffic to websites and converting online customers into purchasers of products and services. Freestyle Media had grown significantly since it was established in 2001 by Fred Schebesta, but needed further work on credibility building and improved brand awareness within the media.

Using Fred’s win as ADMA Young Direct Marketer of the Year as the launch pad, CPC implemented a PR strategy initially focusing on the marketing and business media. A media release was distributed on his win, and then CPC developed a series of editorials and commentary on the industry. Key journalists and publications were targeted and the editorials were pitched into the publications.

To improve his credibility and position Fred as an online marketing expert, CPC developed a speaker’s profile and pitched him to business networks and industry associations to speak about the secrets of online marketing. As an experienced blogger, CPC also pitched Fred in that capacity.

Within days CPC had achieved media coverage in several industry publications, including B&T and AdNews. Feature case studies have been covered in Marketing Magazine and Fred now has individual blogs on news.com.au and www.SmartCompany.com.au

Extensive speaking engagements have firmly positioned him as an expert in online marketing and he has spoken at CeBit, Terrapin, IIR, Search Summit, Ad:tech, to name a few. He is regularly asked to provide industry comment from marketing journalists.

Fred Schebesta said, “Catriona is a trumpeting swan! Elegant at promoting your business to the people who make an impact to your bottom line. Before Catriona worked with our PR we had zero profile and now we are on the journey to high profile.”

Starlight Cinema is the biggest and best outdoor cinema for those living and working on Sydney’s North Shore (and those brave enough to cross the Sydney Harbour Bridge)! It runs over the summer months in Pittwater and North Sydney.

CP Communications was engaged to significantly raise the profile of Starlight Cinema on the North Shore and with major metros in the entertainment sections. Jill Keyte, Managing Director of High As A Keyte, a boutique event management company, “engaged CP Communications to promote the ‘jewel in its crown’ of annual events, Starlight Cinema, because we were looking for a PR company with a different approach”. 

Using media releases as the medium to distribute information and engage journalists’ interest, CPC wrote and distributed 10 releases over the season. Topics ranged from a family theme targeting family and parenting journalists and publications, to music publications with bands at Surf on the Turf, activities for Australia Day and entertainment writers were contacted for the launch of both seasons.

In addition to media coverage, CPC also devised a strategy to target people not on the Starlight Cinema mailing list, by offering giveaways via enewsletters distributed to thousands of people. These included Clearly Business, Sydney Writers Centre and PRIA.

Massive media coverage was achieved with over 25 print articles covering the Cinema, and over 45 online articles/mentions. Many publications covered Starlight Cinema, including The Sydney Morning Herald, Daily Telegraph, Sun-Herald, City Weekly, Good Weekend, Drum Media, Real Surf, Mosman Daily, Peninsula Living, Northside Courier, The Manly Daily, Northern Beaches Weekender and www.news.com.au

“We liked Catriona’s enthusiasm for Starlight Cinema, her ideas and persistent drive to attract publicity, she provided excellent service,” Ms Keyte said.

 Columbia Aged Care Services is a private aged care group, offering residential aged care facilities across Sydney. CP Communications manages a wide range of communications projects for Columbia, some of which included the closing and opening of an aged care centre, respite care and low care promotional campaigns, and copywriting various brochures, websites and advertising.

The launch of the Willowood Centre comprised an initial community awareness campaign when the building was demolished, which included letters to residents and their families and managing staff communication. CEO Anne Tucker said the closure of Willowood was “obviously a very sensitive project and Catriona handled all of the media and communications with skill, sensitivity and professionalism”.

CP Communications was responsible for the launch of the new Willowood Centre by local Federal Member The Hon Dr Brendan Nelson MP. This included inviting industry and local media, developing a video of the rebuild, speeches and briefing Dr Nelson. In addition to the launch, CPC developed media angles for the sustainable aspect of the building.

The Willowood Campaign was covered in every industry publication, including InSite, Hospital Healthcare, AgedCare Australia, www.EnvironmentalManagementNews.net and both the Sydney Weekly and North Shore Times.

“Catriona successfully promoted the launch our new centre, following the rebuild and is achieving very positive media coverage in the papers and industry magazines. She is increasing our profile within the community through creative and original strategies,” said Ms Tucker.

 CPS Technology Group is a leading provider of speech enabled voice and data solutions in Australia and wanted to raise its profile in the marketplace.

“Our brief to Catriona was for her to help us raise our profile in the marketplace because our competency is technology, whilst Catriona’s competency is PR,” General Manager, Sales – Northern Region Runi Nielsen-Candido said.

Without a technical background, CPS Technology’s product offering can be hard to understand. As CPC discovered, this can be an issue in the sales process, as sales staff needed to talk about solutions and how CPS Technology products solved business issues and saved money.

To solve this situation, CPC developed a series of case studies which are used in the sales process and also pitched them to key industry publications to support sales campaigns. “Catriona has a great ability to understand and interpret the core issues of our business in order to position our company to maximise our potential,” she said.

In addition, CPC proactively created new media opportunities and used “her fantastic relationship with the media” to achieve coverage in AustralianIT, Voice & Data, Australian Personal Computer, The Rust Report, ITnews, CRN, InfoQuorum, CRM, CallCentre.net, Government News, Local Government Manager, Local Government Focus and My Business.

“Working with Catriona has made a real difference to our business profile,” Ms Nielsen-Candido said.

 Bebo is a global social networking website which aims to bring together like-minded individuals who are creative, expressive and socially aware. Bebo has over 31 million members worldwide and is the largest social network in the UK, Ireland and New Zealand and one of the top three social networks in the US, Canada and Australia.

With no offices in Australia or New Zealand, Bebo turned to CP Communications to raise its profile and increase its brand awareness with advertisers in the region. Starting from scratch, with no profile within the marketing, advertising and business media, CP Communications launched Bebo to the industry through education and a concerted pitching effort.

CPC developed a list of key journalists to target and pitched Bebo to them. CPC tailors US and UK media releases to the local market and distributes them. CPC also coordinated and executed a successful media tour, with visiting US Manager and organised for him to speak at Ad:tech.

Media coverage has included a feature article in Marketing Magazine, of which Bebo Global Communications Director Sarah Gavin said, “Wow… this a brilliant piece! Thank you for all your hard work and patience in making this happen. I am so pleased – great job.”

Coverage has also been achieved in B&T, IT Wire, Sydney Morning Herald and The Age, which has resulted in significantly improved brand awareness and profile within in the online advertising media agencies. NZ media coverage includes the national evening TV news on TVNZ, The Dominion Post, Stuff.co.nz and the NZ Herald.