SIEMENS NIXDORF AG

"Sally Goodsell has a very professional approach to the press and did a wonderful job for Siemens Nixdorf - she was very fast and very effective with the key press in our market ....

Rainer Volck, Managementberater, Siemens Nixdorf Informationssysteme AG

Note : It was a great compliment - and very unusual - for a British person to be chosen to handle German work for a German client in the German market.

OBJECTIVES

Data marts, and even data warehousing, were hardly known by press and prospects at the time. The German market can be conservative and reluctant to invest in new technology so sales were slow.

Siemens Nixdorf urgently needed to give visibility and credibility to the concept of data warehousing and data marts. This had to happen rapidly so that Siemens Nixdorf could become the 'gorilla' of the German data mart market. This visibility needed to be built on with the various executives involved in the purchase cycle : CEOs, Financial Directors, Market Development Executives and IT people at all levels from management to those who compile the 'shopping lists'.

RESULTS

High quality and extensive coverage was achieved in the national press including Handelsblatt, Der Tagesspeigel, Die Welte, in the computer press including ComputerWoche, Computer Zietung, Markt & Technik, Information Week, etc, plus the business and banking press.

Due to the rapid start, which gave Siemens Nixdorf a head start, it was seen as the Number 1 Data Warehouse Company in Germany, and was ideally positioned to address new niche markets.

The market responded well and high quality enquiries were generated. These, along with the general publicity and use of press material as collateral, supported the morale of the Siemens Nixdorf sales people. This support was essential because data marts were more of a 'vision sell' than the sales people were generally used to.

STRATEGY AND TACTICS

The client was advised that the problem of slow sales was generally due to competitors getting stronger or concerns about cost, as neither of these were relevant in the German market, it was recommended that Siemens Nixdorf work on increasing confidence and creating a sense of urgency in the market.

This strategy would be communicated through a combination of the gurus, analysts, consultants, peer groups, and inspiration by the client, to be effectively communicated via the press. There would be a two-pronged strategy - educating the market regarding the benefits of data warehousing / data marts and the specific messages concerning PowerMart. This was a tall order but would enable the client to be seen as the leader and thus set the parameters which subsequent supplies would be judged by.

SG made a thorough review of German press regarding the few journalists who were writing about data warehousing, nobody was writing about data marts at that time, and then who should be writing about data marts and data warehousing. She also identified key analysts and consultants.

SG analysed and agreed key messages and differentiators with the client.

Interviewed customers and wrote releases and case studies of users - Viessman, Rohde & Schwarz, FRoSTA etc., together with press releases designed to address technical, inspirational and credibility strategies.

Arranged one-to-one interviews for client and computer, business, banking and national press, as well as their attendance at press conferences. Briefed client on working with press and, specifically, each publication and journalist in terms of areas of interest and what had been written before.

SG had launched the original vendor, Informatica Inc, in the UK and visited with them in California so had good relationships with the management and marketing people. These were leveraged as to enable Siemens Nixdorf to plan the German launch of new Informatica products etc.

To increase credibility, SG worked with German and European analysts and consultants and developed two documents : one contained analyst quotes - American, European and German - concerning the PowerMart data mart product, and another highlighted all the favourable comments from industry figures and partners such as Microsoft etc. It wasn't anticipated that these documents would be used per se by the press but they did help give credibility and a platform for regular press announcements.

To create a sense of urgency, SG developed Y2K and single European currency strategies to show that there was an overwhelming need for businesses to understand where they stand during periods of continual change and how data marts would simplify the transitions, and thus leverage the opportunities that these changes brought about.

"Sally Goodsell has a very professional approach to the press and did a wonderful job for Siemens Nixdorf - she was very fast and very effective with the key press in our market" concludes Rainer Volck, Managementberater, Siemens Nixdorf Informationssysteme AG.