January 2007

Network PR puts the focus on digital services  

Significant coverage in media as diverse as the Australian Financial Review, Computerworld, AdNews and B&T this month for a licensing deal by fast-growing Australian digital services provider Hyro has shown the value of working on positioning and messaging as a prelude to, and part of, media outreach.

ASX-listed Hyro (www.hyro.com.au) appointed Network PR in January 2006 when it desired to establish itself as a leader in the delivery of integrated solutions for web and mobile applications aimed at organisations as diverse as consumer brands, telecommunication companies, television broadcasters and government departments.

 “However the issue we faced was that they were creating a new entity, in new space.  There was no clear consensus on how to describe their marketpace and it was made worse by media who referred to Hyro as an ‘online marketing company’, a ‘digital advertising agency’, or in fact whatever the particular journalist felt was an appropriate description of the service they provided,” said Grant Common, Managing Director of Network PR.

This posed a number of issues for the development of a PR strategy for Hyro, as there was a need to define and ‘claim ownership of’ an operational space that could be understood by three distinct markets; investors, marketers and IT departments. And Hyro needed to be consistent with its messaging.

Therefore as a prelude to serious pr activities Network PR worked with Hyro on its positioning and messaging and from this work the term ‘digital services’ was developed. 

Hyro executives embraced the term and the messaging around it, they began to incorporate it in investor-focussed material, and it became the main thrust of media related activities.

 “A year later the market is finally beginning to ‘get it’.  Media coverage that was initially hard to obtain is now much easier. Not only are the majority of our target media now interested - the are reporting on Hyro as a digital services company and are now beginning to understand the scope of digital services as a market,” said Grant Common.

View Hyro media coverage

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Network PR optimises brand appeal by matching messages to individual markets and mapping a communication ‘Network of Influence’ to ensure messages are delivered with clarity & credibility