Remote Access Software Company Doubles Global User Base to 200 Million, Reaps $14 Million in Quarterly Media Value Thanks to Strategic Work-from-Home PR Campaign
TeamViewer is an international technology company whose digital workplace platform connects people and technology, helping organizations simplify workflows, boost productivity and optimize their digital workplaces. The company was launched in 2005 in Goppingen, Germany, as a remote access and online meeting provider.
While customers now use its software to connect, monitor, and control computers, the company started as a simple, free-to-use remote access tool that helped people connect and work from anywhere.
By 2011, the client had become one of the world’s leading remote access solutions, boasting 100 million users. Media coverage at that time focused on technology product, feature and platform updates. Meanwhile, American journalists were unfamiliar with TeamViewer, its technology, and how it enabled teams to collaborate remotely.
Public relations helped the client capitalize on the growing remote work trend to introduce TeamViewer to U.S. audiences, strengthen its position in the remote access market and double its global user numbers through a strategic earned media campaign.
Challenge
Despite its global reach, free product offering and ease of use, the company had yet to gain any media traction or establish brand recognition in the U.S. Instead, U.S. reporters covering remote access and web conferencing focused on better-known companies such as GoToMeeting, WebEx and Join.me. When the company did appear in technology outlets, reporters delved into software improvements, new mobile capabilities and version updates.
The company needed a U.S. brand-building strategy that would expand awareness beyond its remote access software niche. This would involve educating audiences about the value of its technology while positioning the company as a “must-have” tool for those working from home (or anywhere). The challenge was to translate a technical product story into a compelling narrative for mainstream audiences and journalists across multiple industries, while differentiating the company from competitors in a crowded market.
Strategy
The client turned to PR to build its brand presence in the U.S. through earned media, creating a foundation for continued growth. The driving theme: TeamViewer is the software that makes working from anywhere actually work. Our PR experts worked to connect the client’s remote access capabilities to the wider discussion around the future of work, including the timely work-from-anywhere trend. The campaign offered reporters across a range of beats a newsworthy reason to cover a software company that was largely unknown in the U.S. market.
We built the PR campaign around four key initiatives:
- Turning third-party survey research into news hooks: We commissioned national surveys through Harris Interactive and mapped the findings to timely cultural conversations. For Valentine’s Day, research revealed that 5% of Americans would divorce if it meant they could work from home. For Earth Day, our campaign highlighted telecommuting’s environmental benefits. Summer research findings showed that 61% of Americans planned to work through their vacations. Another survey found that 63% of U.S. adults used two or more computers weekly, highlighting the need for seamless access across devices.
- Creating a steady drumbeat of thought leadership and contributed content: We developed bylined articles with practical workplace tips, giving reporters fresh angles on remote work and its influence on how people live and work. This stream of contributed content and expert commentary created an ongoing pipeline of media opportunities that extended beyond company news and product announcements.
- Showcasing the technology’s impact through customer stories: We developed real-world customer stories that demonstrated the client’s technology in action across multiple industries. One standout customer story illustrated how doctors used the client’s technology with MediTouch hardware to facilitate a child’s rehabilitation remotely following a car accident. This resulted in healthcare media writing about the company’s technology. We also developed targeted media lists to reach a diverse set of verticals, from restaurant trade publications to holiday gift guides.
- Maintaining client visibility through product news: Our launch campaigns for the client’s products kept the company top of mind with technology reporters. Journalists could test and experience the product themselves with hands-on reviewer’s guides.
Bospar inserted the client into high-profile, mainstream media stories that expanded the company’s reach across consumer, business and industry audiences. We secured and sustained year-round coverage, helping the company double its global user base.
Our PR strategy:
- Generated 85 million impressions in one week with the Valentine’s Day survey, earning coverage in Huffington Post with the memorable headline: Divorce Survey: TeamViewer Finds 5 Percent Would Divorce In Order To Telecommute. CNN, CBS (Suzanne Lucas reporting), Forbes, Inc., GigaOm, CNET (Chris Matyszczyk reporting) and PCMag also ran articles with the survey results that week.
- Delivered 38 articles, 40.9 million impressions and $4.5 million in advertising equivalency from the Earth Day initiative. Forbes (Kenneth Rapoza reporting) led coverage with To Save Planet On Earth Day, Work From Home, Survey Says. PC World, Computerworld, Inc. and CIO also covered the findings.
- Secured mainstream consumer media coverage with the vacation survey story with articles in Huffington Post, CNET, Los Angeles Times (Hugo Martin reporting), USA Today (Andrea Kay reporting), MSN Money and ZDNet (Joe McKendrick reporting).
- Extended vacation survey story coverage more than a month after findings were released, with additional articles in Network World, the Miami Herald and syndicated pickup to outlets in India, Malaysia and Canada.
- Built awareness with healthcare decision-makers with the MediTouch story, resulting in interviews with and coverage in mHealth News, MedTech Media and HIMSS media.
- Landed coverage across a range of key media verticals and industries, including consumer and enterprise tech, lifestyle, workplace, sustainability and healthcare, with placements in Forbes, TIME, CNN, Huffington Post and The Wall Street Journal.
- Established strong media relationships, with reporters proactively contacting the PR team for client news updates.
This helped transform an unknown U.S. brand into a cited source in the work-from-anywhere movement within a year’s time.
