Odds are someone designed the mouse you’re using with
computer-aided design (CAD) software. Same with the keyboard, the monitor, the
stapler, your favorite pen and your cell phone.
Fact is, we rarely stop and wonder how the chair we’re
sitting in came about. It came into being because of CAD software. CAD
technology plays a role in much of our daily lives. When SolidWorks hired
Beaupre & Co. in February of 2001, it was in a fiercely competitive battle
for market dominance with well-known industry names PTC and Autodesk. The
challenge for Beaupre & Co.? Find a way to establish SolidWorks as the
undisputed 3D CAD market leader.
SolidWorks, owned by French conglomerate Dassault Systèmes S.A.
(Nasdaq: DASTY, Euronext Paris: #13065, DSY.PA), was also trying to
break into new media. While CAD industry press stories were vital to its
primary customer base, SolidWorks needed to reach a broader audience so it
could grow.
Beaupre & Co. worked with SolidWorks to create a
strategy to single out its 3D CAD products from the rest of the pack. The firm
mined the SolidWorks customer base to find validation from global,
multi-billion-dollar corporations such as pneumatics giant SMC Corporation of
America and undersea exploration equipment manufacturer Oceaneering International,
Inc. Customers repeatedly validated that SolidWorks has set the standard for
intuitive, affordable, proven 3D CAD software that doesn’t require a team of
engineers to operate.
After finding customer validation, Beaupre & Co. worked
with SolidWorks to develop a specific media target list. The goal was to secure
coverage in major media that wasn’t specifically focused on CAD,
while continuing to appear steadily in important CAD books. Beaupre & Co.
educated non-CAD-oriented publications on the technology and why they should
write about SolidWorks. The firm also worked with SolidWorks to target
high-profile speaking engagements that would increase SolidWorks’ exposure and
generate buzz outside of the CAD industry.
Media coverage jumped 900 percent in the first year that
Beaupre & Co. was hired. During that time period, Beaupre & Co. secured marquee coverage in
non-CAD publications while still grabbing headlines in the high-level CAD
press. The firm also secured coveted speaking opportunities for SolidWorks’
executives.
As 2001 came to an end, the three-way competition in the CAD
industry had evolved into a tighter two-way competition between SolidWorks and Autodesk,
with SolidWorks in the lead. Two recent events bear out the new order: 1. )
Autodesk is playing catch-up by just announcing that it is finally integrating
its 2D and 3D products to give customers the same integrated capabilities
SolidWorks has provided for years, and 2.) in late 2001, Autodesk began a
frontal assault specifically naming SolidWorks in its press releases.
SolidWorks is responding in 2002 with a “prove it” campaign that focuses on
validating market leadership with ingredients such as the most users worldwide
and the most learning institutions teaching SolidWorks around the world.
“There used to be three
companies fighting each other for a share of this market. Now there are two,
and one of them has shown it feels the pressure. Beaupre & Co. has helped
us build an industry image of market leadership, and it has measurably
increased our media visibility. This is what successful PR is all about,” said
John McEleney, CEO of SolidWorks.
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