Client Case Study: Network Instruments

Challenge

As Network Instruments prepared to attend the 2010 Interop trade show in Las Vegas, they were searching for the best way to generate media coverage. Interop is acknowledged as one of the leading trade shows in the IT industry, and a great place to garner media attention and market a company’s products. But without major corporate news to report, Network Instruments would likely receive far less coverage than the other companies which were making major announcements at the conference.

What We Did

Network Instruments worked with Connectsm to develop a survey to administer to conference attendees. The survey was designed to attract editorial interest by questioning IT professionals about current trending topics in IT, specifically cloud computing and virtualization. The survey was administered by Network Instruments staff members at their booth, with the results tallied for the final day of the show and pitched to the editors of technology publications who were attending the conference.

Results

The results of the survey showed a lack of IT preparation and resources in virtualization and cloud computing, which proved important to editors within the industry, resulting in more than 15 articles in trade publications, including Network World and CIO Insight. Overall, the survey proved very successful at creating interest. This coverage was far more complete than Network Instruments would have received had the survey not been conducted, in light of announcements made by competitors at the conference.