Situation

Telecom network vendor Tellabs had already achieved considerable success and wanted to make the most of the 2007 NXTComm conference, the industry’s biggest tradeshow.

Goal

Cut through the clutter! Journalists and analysts at NXTComm are barraged with press releases, product announcements, and events to attend. Gaining their attention is a major challenge, yet lining up face-to-face meetings with market influencers was a must for Tellabs.

Solution

Strategic took advantage the 2007 NXTComm event’s location in Chicago, which is also the site of Tellabs’ headquarters. In addition to promoting Tellabs’ industry expertise, Strategic promoted their knowledge of the host city. Tactics included:

• Creating a mash-up website, SweetHomeChicago.tv, to help out-of-towners enjoy their visit to the conference, with helpful tips on where to eat, drink, and play, and even how to avoid the cab line at the convention center.
  The website also included information on Tellabs’ speakers and events at the show, as well as introduction of the company’s new 7100 Nano, a product for delivery of video over optical networks.
• Sending notebooks and detailed maps of Chicago, along with announced contract wins for the Tellabs 7100 Nano™, to about two dozen key journalists and analysts.
• The website also included information on Tellabs’ speakers and events at the show, as well as introduction of the company’s new Tellabs 7100 Nano™, a product for delivery of video over optical networks.
• Conducting a survey of telecom trends in association with Telephony magazine.
• Capitalizing on Tellabs’ position as a provider of “carrier class” solutions, an approach recommended and implemented by Strategic. With telecom carriers being the most demanding customers, carrier class represents an even higher standard than the typical “enterprise class” standard: 99.999% reliability compared with 99.8%, which translate to 5 minutes of downtime a year compared with 17 hours.

Results

As detailed in PR Week, Tellabs secured more than 25 meetings with press and analysts. Media hits included Light Reading, CNET/ZDNet, and Wireless Week. Post-show analyst reports included a wealth of positive coverage for Tellabs.