Case Study:
Harris Corporation
Industry: Public Safety
- Secured high impact bylines and case studies in more than 10 key trade and vertical outlets
- Articles generated interest from C-level state government executives
- Effectively countered chief competitor's 'disinformation' campaign through positive and aggressive thought leadership
Part of an ongoing media relations initiative for Harris Corporation, a Matter Communication's client for almost five years, is to promote the organization's thought leadership efforts in the public safety community. This initiative has a number of priority topics including industry standards, new technology solutions and large-scale communication networks.
The challenge of positioning Harris Corporation as a thought leader is complex, as there are a number of different, but related topics in the public safety communications industry. Additionally, Motorola is the company's chief competitor and the 800-lb. gorilla of the industry. Often Motorola's positions are regarded as fact by a large number of industry professionals.
To address these challenges, Matter relied on its extensive network of media relationships with a wide number of trade and vertical publications. Matter did not just concentrate on outlets focused on the public safety community, but it targeted publications that were read by influencers including CIOs, information technology departments, industry consultants as well as law enforcement (police, fire and EMS) officials. Matter focused on securing bylined articles and case studies that would provide fresh insight for communities inside and outside the industry, outlining important communications issues and how to successfully address them. When article opportunities were secured, Matter actively guided the entire lifecycle of the article from identifying content experts to content generation on to approvals and finally submission.
The results of this campaign were noteworthy and highly influential. While a small sample of the results that Matter generated on this initiative, three articles placed in POLICE, American City & County and MRT (Mobile Radio Technology) were standouts. Each piece expertly positioned Harris on three key 2007 industry trends (interoperability, standards and statewide radio systems). The articles were widely regarded as establishing a new vision for the future of the industry and were a tremendous tool for the company's North American sales force. In fact, after the CIO of Missouri read M/A-COM's Public Safety IT article on statewide communications systems he asked his staff to be sure to include the company in a $200 million RFP and to arrange a meeting for him with Ron Bender, the author of the article.
