Results from PR investment: Veeam 2019 case study

Veeam Software is a privately held information technology company that develops backup, disaster recovery and intelligent data management software for virtual, physical and multi-cloud infrastructures. DUO Marketing + Communications was appointed as the PR agency in South Africa in 2012, tasked to ensure that then, relatively unknown Veeam, become a significant brand in the South African market to the channel and businesses. We are very proud to have achieved this.

In 2013 DUO won the Most Collaborative Agency award - globally
In 2016 DUO won their Agency of the year award - globally

We conducted a 2019 review for Veeam to show what results were achieved over an 11 month period by a team at DUO comprising an Account Director, specialist writer and media relations professional. This Johannesburg based team was also supported by our Cape Town team for regional events, media opportunities etc.

Results

179 pieces of coverage were generated from January to November 2019. The majority of coverage targeted the Executive Decision Maker (60%), followed by the Technical Decision Maker (20%). 6% of all coverage received was targeted at a business audience.

75% of coverage obtained during the period was in Tier 1 publications highlighting that DUO Marketing + Communications targeted the right media, with the right messaging and to the right audience.

Tier 1 coverage increased from 57% in 2018 to 75% in 2019.

Advertising Value Equivalent (AVE)

The AVE of the coverage over this period is just over R3 million. This is what it would cost to buy the same amount of media space based on the coverage achieved. The result is x5 ROI based on the AVE and the retainer over 11 months. The AVE value is almost triple when compared to 2018.

Audience/ Reach

The coverage obtained in 2019 potentially reached over 3.5 million people based on the daily unique browsers for online articles; daily, weekly or monthly circulation for print publications and the audience number for that particular broadcast. This is a more than 50% increase when compared to 2018.

Prominence

54% of coverage obtained mentioned Veeam in the headline, or lead paragraph. Due to the nature of the South Africa media landscape, DUO ensured content was always locally relevant and worked with the local spokespeople to ensure commentary was aligned to the news agenda in South Africa.

Messaging

Data management and cloud were the key messages in all coverage, followed by the growth & momentum and partner/alliances messaging that were featured in fewer pieces.

Coverage drivers

The main coverage driver was features, followed closely by local bylines and global releases.

Brand awareness in the industry was done through various thought leadership articles and newsjacking opportunities (responding to current media articles). For example, when a ransomware attack took place in South Africa, DUO created a motivation from Veeam that was pitched to the media covering this topic.

The motivation addressed the importance of a data management strategy and the need to backup and replicate data for an always-on environment. This ensured that Veeam was part of a topical conversation that was taking place in South Africa and allowed them to provide invaluable advice to companies in South Africa.

Additionally, DUO linked Veeam’s messaging and news to the local narrative for even greater impact. Thought leadership articles were developed to compliment the heightened interest in the Fourth Industrial Revolution and smart cities following the State of the Nation address and to touch on topics such as skills development and Africa’s evolving cloud landscape with more multi-national data centres arriving, that were topical in 2019.

Journalists were targeted with tailored commentary from Veeam’s local spokespeople as part of a broader news story or to secure follow-up interviews. For example, DUO worked closely with Veeam’s local spokespeople to provide context for major company announcements so that media had an opportunity to highlight the local impact of these announcements and how they fit into the company’s strategy for Africa.

Tailored content that plugged into the local narrative did exceptionally well and this is one of DUO’s key strengths; to marry global companies’ messaging with the nuances of doing business in Africa and creating content that matters to journalists and their readers.

For a more consolidated and detailed report that includes more statistics, details and coverage snapshots, please email contact@duomarketing.co.za