Rubric Inc is a global Language Service Provider (LSP) that helps companies speak directly to the hearts of their customers in 128 languages. Working with companies from Cape Town to Cairo, it delivers high quality translation and localisation services to businesses in the high technology, software, manufacturing, tourism, marketing and media publishing industries.
The language services market is a very fragmented space of over 26 000 LSPs. Spot number one is claimed by military contractors and the Top 100 firms range from $427million down to $4million in size. The rest of the industry is much smaller contributing an average of $1million per year.
A big challenge is standing out from the masses. There’s no central touch point for translation clients – it could be any company, in any industry, at any job level, in different departments. And there are no local media that specifically reports on this sector for exposure.
Objective
Rubric enlisted DUO’s communications services in January 2013 to establish its brand and build its profile in South Africa. A big task for the communications campaign was to distinguish Rubric from the local cottage industry. While the local market has great translation skills, it lacks the project management and general technical expertise to take on more complex jobs.
DUO recommended a website makeover with a design and content refresh. Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) was suggested to pull in organic searches for translation and localisation services. This was extended into online advertising with Pay-Per-Click (PPC) and banner adverts to maintain visibility. As part of the communications strategy, DUO pursued high level thought leadership in the business, technology and marketing press. Classic marketing was suggested to target specific audiences with email marketing campaigns and personal selling. This would extend into content marketing with blog posts and multimedia attracting companies to the website where they could be converted into clients.
Highlights
Since the start of the engagement, DUO has overhauled the website with new content. Keyword research has been conducted for a plan to make site-level and page-level SEO improvements. DUO secured 194 pieces of media coverage from 20 thought pieces and wrote 24 blogs. DUO also wrote copy for six direct mail campaigns to the advertising and tourism industries. These mailers averaged opening rates of more than 40% (the industry benchmark for the opening of emailers to the professional services is around 20% according to MailChimp).
Having made a good start in raising awareness for Rubric, the communications campaign is now moving to content marketing to aggressively promote consideration of the company.
