A SUCCESSFUL BUSINESS PRESS PROGRAM
/51/
Business Press Hits
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Billion Business Press Impressions
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Customer Profiles in WSJ
Situation
Despite being a leader in their field with strong relationships with Fortune 50 customers, Blue Yonder (previously JDA Software) lacked national media connections and top-tier business coverage. Looking to develop strategic media relationships to showcase their industry knowledge and large market share, Blue Yonder partnered with Matter to build their business media program from the ground up. The program was initially focused on boosting awareness for the company’s industry capabilities - including retail, manufacturing and logistics - but grew as the company evolved into a leading player in the AI/ML space.
Strategy
We developed a “media first” program that focuses on industry thought leadership over self-promotional, product driven media relations. Positioned as an extension of the internal team, Matter’s close relationship with SMEs has allowed us to capitalize on quick turn around media opportunities with commentary featuring their unique perspective. Similarly, choosing survey topics and questions based on conversations with reporters has allowed for timely, impactful data guaranteed to interest media and the larger industry. We also partnered with Blue Yonder customers to tell their story, leveraging Blue Yonder’s existing media relationships. The exciting and valuable results highlighting their business objectives strengthened relationships and showcased the ROI for additional PR activities, like speaking and awards submissions.
Results
Blue Yonder has become a go-to resource for media, particularly whenever major retail news hits. The responsiveness with thought leadership commentary has positioned Blue Yonder as a company with its pulse on the hot topics of the day. We’ve also built productive working relationships with Blue Yonder’s customers, which resulted in partnership profiles for True Value and IKEA in The Wall Street Journal. In 2019, our business press relationships resulted in extensive coverage across national press outlets, including the Associated Press, Business Insider, CNN and others, with a total 51 business press hits. The coverage was a mixture of proactive pitching outreach and inbound requests based on the strong relationships built through the timely commentary.