The McRae Agency

 

Business-to-Business Marketing Case Study                                                  

Solatube International Inc.

Commercial Division Launch

 

Summary                    

Solatube International Inc., based in Vista, Calif., is the innovator of the tubular skylight product. Solatube revolutionized the skylighting industry in the 1980s by developing a tube-shaped skylight that offered a compact, leak-proof, inexpensive alternative to traditional box skylights. For over a decade, Solatube has been the market leader in the tubular skylight industry – an industry it created.  The company’s roots are in the residential market, but after a decade of success, Solatube decided to enter an entirely new realm – the commercial market. For the past five years, the agency has supported Solatube’s brand and market position with a strong and well-maintained public relations program for the residential market. With Solatube’s entry into the commercial market, the agency would have to take a different approach – a more refined and technical approach to public relations. As we were preparing to launch the commercial division, California was faced with the initial effects of an energy crisis. Businesses across the state were being hit by rolling blackouts, and the rest of the country was looking to California to see how it would solve its energy woes. The timing could not have been any better to launch an energy-efficient daylighting product that would allow businesses to work even after their lights had gone out. Our goal was to establish Solatube as a leading player in energy-efficient products for commercial applications.

 

We did not have enough money in our budget to conduct primary research.  However, we conducted extensive secondary research.  We worked long and hard to fully understand each facet of the commercial division. First, we took part in an extensive orientation program on the commercial product, so we understood how it worked inside and out. We participated in an all-day strategic planning session with key members of Solatube’s sales, marketing and research and development teams. We attended daylighting conferences and dealers seminars. We interviewed builders, contractors and architects to find out what made each tick – to get inside their brains – so we could develop a targeted program specific to their needs. We researched the appropriate trade associations and conventions dedicated to the commercial market. We also performed a competitive analysis to gauge the presence of other tubular skylight companies who may be present in the commercial market. Our client claimed to be the first, but it is our job to do all the necessary research to support this assertion. Although we had been working with Solatube for over five years, it was as if we were working with a new client. The commercial division was brand new to Solatube and to us. Company management was still trying to figure out the final strategy for bringing the product to market, and they looked to us for advice.

 

Within the time period of one month, we researched, developed and implemented our program for the San Diego launch. We tested the waters with the soft launch in San Diego, but we followed up with a national launch three months later. We developed our plan based on the information we gathered through our secondary research.  We targeted architects, facility managers, energy managers, building owners, contractors, etc. (all of those decision makers in commercial buildings).  We received a quick course in how to communicate with the movers and the shakers in the commercial market. These meetings allowed us to better target the appropriate media for each group.

 

We developed an aggressive publicity program targeting various commercial media, including business, real estate, architecture and building trades, facility managers, building owners and end-users. We knew we needed to provide our target audiences with more than a shiny new product announcement. We needed to present them with hard data to show the true value of daylighting commercial interiors. Fortunately, some data was available through the technical director of Solatube who conducted an analysis of Solatube’s headquarters (which were completely daylit with Solatube units) to show the energy savings in comparison to electric lights (which was an amazing 86 percent!). This was great information to share with the world, but we knew we needed to supplement this with real evidence from other sources (giving extra credibility). Because Solatube’s commercial line was just entering the market, we didn’t have other case studies from which to draw. We would need to pull more general daylighting research to demonstrate the benefit of daylighting. We believed if we educated businesses and the real estate trades about the benefits of daylighting that itself would help sell the Solatube product. We created an entirely new and more technical press kit. We continually monitored commercial daylighting research on the Internet and created a “Facts and Figures” sheet to accompany the commercial press kit. This data was collected from studies and articles found through online research that proved daylight had many benefits, including improved mental and physical health, improved worker productivity and morale, increased retail sales, reduced absenteeism, improved property value and marketability, etc. We sent targeted pitches to key commercial publications to seek coverage in the most well read publications. We monitored key trade organizations for unique marketing opportunities, including advertising, sponsorship and appropriate speaking opportunities that would help reach our target audiences. We implemented the soft launch of our public relations program in San Diego in October 2000. We implemented the national launch of the program in January 2001. Our objectives for the launch included:

 

 

Results                         

Because the energy crisis hit San Diego County in the midst of our soft launch, everyone and their brothers were trying to jump on the energy efficiency bandwagon with their product or service (the “me, too!” brigade). We needed to be smarter with our tactics, and offer the media something that was not completely self-serving, and that would truly benefit them in their daily pursuit of energy related stories. We offered them relevant hard data, unbiased expert commentary and real-world advice/tips. We met our objectives for the soft launch in San Diego. We created a tailored press kit including a company fact sheet, commercial division fact sheet, new product announcement, commercial tip sheets, “Facts and Figures” sheets on the many benefits of natural light, a list of daylighting experts with their biographies, a company history and management biographies. We secured several hits in the San Diego business media, with coverage in the San Diego Union Tribune, San Diego Business Journal,  San Diego Daily Transcript and San Diego Metropolitan, and we were instrumental in coordinating three commercial product reviews at local San Diego architectural firms. Following the success of the soft launch in San Diego, we dove head first into the national launch, which was extremely successful in terms of coverage. We secured major feature stories in the USA Today, Chicago Tribune, North Bay Business Journal and 680 Business Journal. Solatube’s commercial product appeared in over 30 national trade publications including Energy Decisions, Fenestration, Today’s Facility Manager, New Equipment New, Facilities Manager and Government Product News. Solatube’s technical director was interviewed and positioned as a leading industry authority six times by local and national media. We reached our objective of putting our technical director in front of key niche end-user media. The previously unknown commercial arm of the company was now in the public eye. Sales for the commercial division have far exceeded the company’s expectations for the first year of business.  Several new staff members have been added to the commercial division, including those in sales and marketing to handle the influx of product inquiries. The company has outgrown its new office/production facility (just two years after building it). Additionally, Solatube has landed major contracts with San Diego Gas & Electric and the California Energy Commission.

 

The Solatube commercial division launch received a bronze anvil Edward L. Bernays Mark of Excellence Award by the Public Relations Society of America.

 

Applicability                  Strategic planning, research, writing, media relations