PR Agency Case Study for E Ink Corporation



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	E Ink Corporation


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E Ink Corporation

Founded in 1997 based on research started at the MIT Media Lab, E Ink Corporation was established to create a new medium for visual communications. Today, E Ink is the leading supplier of electronic paper display (EPD) technologies. Products made with E Ink's revolutionary electronic ink possess a paper-like high contrast appearance, ultra-low power consumption and a thin, light form. E Ink's technology is ideal for many consumer and industrial applications spanning handheld devices, watches, clocks and public information and promotional signs. Future technology developments will enable many new applications through ultra-thin, lightweight, rugged, flexible, full color displays.

Image courtesy E Ink

Business Challenge

With the successful launches of several consumer devices including the Amazon Kindle and the Sony Reader, 2008 was a turning point in the evolution of the eBook. As such, E Ink’s goal was to leverage PR to ensure that it received credit as the enabling technology behind these popular consumer devices, while educating the market about the attributes of its technology. E Ink also wanted to firmly position its offering to the publishing industry and distinguish E Ink Vizplex™ displays from other traditional and emerging display technologies.

The problem was that in the electronics components market, suppliers traditionally did not generate market demand nor were their brands recognized as driving forces in the market. Nevertheless, E Ink was instrumental in creating the market and sought recognition for its brand.

Schwartz PR Strategy

Relationship building: Schwartz targeted top-tier business, consumer and trade media for E Ink briefings, and initiated a relationship-building campaign focused on in-person and phone briefings with some of the most noteworthy consumer electronics reporters in the country including key reporters with The News York Times,, USA Today, Associated Press, Forbes, The Wall Street Journal, among many others.

Leverage partners for key media campaigns:

E Ink also offered Schwartz Communications’ media expertise to some of its key customers as they launched their products in the marketplace. Schwartz conducted media tours and helped position some of E Ink’s customers’ products.

Optimize press releases for maximum exposure:

Schwartz significantly improved press release pick-up by strategically incorporating content and search-optimized text. E Ink experienced a huge spike in press release pick-up. One release (from July 2008), optimized by Schwartz, received more than six times average pick up, according to BusinessWire, which now uses that release as a case study.

Speaking and trade show support:

Schwartz helped secure a key panelist engagement for E Ink at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) 2009. Schwartz also arranged media interviews and tradeshow booth tours to further communicate E Ink’s message to the market.

Results

Secured top tier coverage in The New York Times (four quality placements and several blog posts), USA Today (two stories), hometown paper The Boston Globe, Forbes (E Ink company profile), NPR, Newsweek, PBS, and dozens of other dailies and online media outlets.

Secured coverage in key trade, technology and science press, including EE Times, ECN, EDN, Appliance Design, CNET, Computerworld, Popular Science, Scientific American, Smithsonian Magazine and The History Channel "Modern Marvels."
Increased technical trade press coverage of E Ink from a few stories in 2007 to 30 by Q3 2008. This was a key strategic goal to help get the E Ink brand and its technical capabilities in front of the many hundreds of thousands of engineers, designers and developers who read these publications.
Reporters and producers from more than 20 countries outside the USA--the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Japan, India, Canada, Italy, Denmark, Australia and Brazil--turned E Ink into a global story.
Secured coverage in key local media to support employee recruitment efforts and local branding: Boston Globe, Boston Business Journal, Mass High Tech (cover story) and Cambridge Chronicle.
Firmly cemented E Ink’s position as the undisputed leader in the eBook space. This has resulted in a flood of media inquiries and helped establish solid relationships with many of the nation’s top consumer technology reporters who now look to Schwartz and E Ink for opinion, commentary and insight into the next evolution in publishing.
Made the E Ink brand synonymous with eBooks and the electronic display industry.

Further Proof Points

E Ink revenues more than double in 2008.
E Ink received more than 10 million searches on Google in 2008, according to Google Trends.
In 2008, E Ink’s website traffic increased more than 30 percent over 2007.
E Ink and Schwartz received hundreds of inquires from potential customers, partners and investors interested in the company and its electronic ink technology.

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