High-technology data analysis PR for a Swedish company

When Scandinavia's biggest business information company wanted to launch a new data product into the UK, it came to Lexicon PR.

In 2004, we launched EuroContactPool, a pan-European database which has grown to be the largest and most comprehensive in the world.

Since then we have developed a highly-successful relationship with PAR, promoting its CRM plug-ins and data analysis services and working alongside Microsoft, SuperOffice and Google.

"Lexicon's excellent work has helped us establish our brand in the UK and International arena. They have a thorough understanding of our market and the PR market in the UK, delivering our message with a creative skill you don't often see."

Per Lofgren, International Product Director, PAR Sweden, Europe's leading data management specialists.

Background

PAR is Scandinavia's biggest and longest-established specialist in business information, customer relationship management (CRM) and direct marketing.

Founded in 1956, PAR has developed its business based on highly-accurate data and is a complete supplier of market information in Sweden, the Nordic countries and Europe.

Since 2006, PAR has been part of Bisnode, a multinational digital business information provider which operates in 18 countries and has more than 3,200 employees.

The Challenge

In 2004 when PAR approached Lexicon to launch its business-to-business online database, EuroContactPool, the Swedish company was unknown in the UK.

The challenge was to raise the visibility of an unknown business with a brand-new product (SaaS being still a relatively new concept in 2004) into the well-established marketing and direct marketing sector.

The Strategy

An initial launch by Lexicon at The International Direct Marketing Fair in London was extremely successful in showcasing the new online offering to the marketing community.

This led to agreements being signed with high-quality data suppliers across Europe and fuelled the growth of EuroContactPool as the first online pan-European business data resource.

As PAR's influence has grown and developed in the UK, the company has increasingly offered data management services, utilising the highly-accurate resource of its EuroContactPool database. Lexicon has been instrumental in promoting these, often communicating leading-edge technology in a way that's understandable for business managers.

More recent developments have required PR focussed on a series of plug-ins which provide a seamless interface between EuroContactPool and industry-leading customer relationship management systems (CRMs). This has required Lexicon to work alongside organisations including: Microsoft, SuperOffice, and Google.

In addition to our proactive PR activity, Lexicon provides a conduit into the English-speaking world, working with PAR to create professionally-written marketing materials and White Papers. This not only requires a high standard of English, but a keen understanding of the complexities of PAR's products.

The Results

PR outcomes

In the year to date, Lexicon has generated PR coverage with an ROI (Return On Investment) of 190 per cent.

The PAR / EuroContactPool name has appeared in the media 598 times the past year, ranging from small mentions to major features.

More than 5.4 million people have read about PAR / EuroContactPool in the past year.

Business outcomes

EuroContactPool is now the world's fastest-growing online business-to-business database. It holds data on 22 million companies and 16.6 million executives across 14 countries covering approximately 80 per cent of the total European market.

The company's plug-ins for Microsoft Dyamics and SuperOffice CRMs have been highly successful, and it has been appointed to provide business data for Google Maps in Sweden and Finland.