Case Studies
Citrix Systems, Inc.
Finding a voice for a technology trailblazer
Situation
Citrix Systems, Inc. is a leading technology company with products that enable a more secure, more manageable and far less costly IT environment than the status quo. Virtualization technologies from Citrix enable a host of public sector initiatives, including cloud computing, datacenter consolidation, telework, green IT, continuity of operations, and disaster recovery.
The company’s public sector division serves customers in federal, state and local government, as well as education and health care markets. Citrix needed a public relations agency capable of creating a presence for the company in these diverse verticals to earn significant, positive media coverage and increase name recognition among decision-makers. After a meticulous agency review, Citrix selected Boscobel.
Objectives
- Increase news coverage and visibility for Citrix public sector verticals
- Position Citrix as the go-to virtualization expert among media in public sector verticals
- Develop thought leadership opportunities for Citrix in the form of bylined articles and media briefings
- Create white papers and other materials to support the company’s key messages
- Help Citrix develop and execute a green IT-focused event to encourage “green” habits and highlight the green IT strengths of Citrix technologies
Tactics
Boscobel leveraged its public sector media contacts and knowledge of the IT industry to create media opportunities that showcased the client’s expertise. To help introduce Citrix to targeted media, Boscobel scheduled briefings for executives with influential editors and reporters, facilitating all interviews and working closely with Citrix executives to ensure that the company's messages were clearly communicated. Boscobel also interviewed Citrix customers to help locate and create opportunities to share meaningful customer implementation stories. Boscobel.
Boscobel worked closely with Citrix to develop proactive media pitches that showcased virtualization’s relevance with regard to timely initiatives and government mandates. By leveraging subject matter experts on the Citrix executive team as authors for bylines in targeted publications, Boscobel positioned Citrix as the authority in content areas such as desktop virtualization, green IT, cloud computing, cybersecurity and more.
Additional tactics included developing news releases and marketing materials, such as case studies and white papers, written to highlight specific categories of Citrix solutions. Boscobel also monitored industry award opportunities and worked with Citrix and its customers to develop winning submissions.
To support the Citrix goal of creating a green IT event in the federal marketplace, Boscobel team joined Citrix in creating “Power IT Down Day,” an annual event encouraging individuals in government and industry to turn off their computers, monitors, and other devices when leaving work for the day. Boscobel helped Citrix coordinate with industry partners to lead Power IT Down Day and created briefing and interview opportunities with the federal media for print, online and broadcast coverage of the event.
Results
To date, Boscobel’s public relations strategies have reached 100 percent of the Citrix top-tier media targets and have garnered millions of impressions in public sector publications.
Articles in Washington Technology, GCN, Federal Computer Week, Federal Times, SIGNAL Magazine, American City & County, Government Technology, T.H.E. Journal and others provided accurate, positive coverage of Citrix solutions and customers. Bylined articles also positioned Citrix and its executives as thought leaders in the competitive field of virtualization and tied the company’s solutions to market-specific issues. In addition, reporters and editors began reaching out to Citrix for content, comment and even story ideas. Most importantly, Citrix reported a dramatic increase in name recognition in sales meetings and business development opportunities.
Boscobel also succeeded in including Citrix customers in media opportunities, earning significant media coverage – including case studies of state and local government agencies as well as law enforcement customers – of successful virtualization implementations in a wide variety of areas.
In addition to tracking media coverage, Boscobel also analyzed the public sector media coverage of a large Citrix competitor. Citrix consistently outpaced this top competitor in terms of quotes and mentions in top federal IT publications.