• "I’ve worked with McGrath/Power for more than 10 years at companies in the enterprise and consumer technology markets – all with the same excellent results – driving awareness and delivering new customers – and bottom-line impact. The agency has been a trusted strategic partner at each of my companies and their value add cannot be overstated."

    - Phil Underwood

    Vice President, IPLocks

  • "PR is a very important function for our company as we operate in a crowded market with several aggressive competitors. Since we’ve worked with McGrath/Power, the change in our overall visibility has been significant and has helped move our business forward."

    - Jim Pante

    CEO, Tablus

  • "McGrath/Power has played in instrumental role in launching TiVo, helping us create the DVR product category and establishing the TiVo brand as synonymous with personal TV. The agency has great experience in both consumer and technology, which helped bring our story to life and influence our target audiences. I’ve worked with numerous agencies during my career and the TiVo launch with McGrath/Power was one of the most powerful public relations campaigns I’ve been involved with."

    - Ed MacBeth

    VP Marketing, TiVo

  • "I would recommend Jonathan and McGrath/Power to anyone wanting an exceptional, intelligent PR and Communications partner. I’ve worked directly with Jonathan for several years and at two start-ups – his quality of work is extraordinary and unique in his industry."

    - Shaun Coleman

    Co-Founder, Reconnex

  • "I’ve been impressed with McGrath/Power each time I’ve brought the agency on board as my strategic public relations partner. The agency’s ability to align the PR function with the goals of our company was key in driving business success factors, whether an acquisition or a major corporate repositioning. Beyond that, knowing that I have both the agency’s management team and skilled tacticians each playing an active role on my program enables me to have the perfect balance of strategic planning and successful program implementation."

    - Ed Murrer

    VP Marketing, Xcert
    (acquired by RSA Security)

  • "Your work exceeded my wildest expectations, and I thank you. We met with virtually every major business, consumer and tech publication that mattered and I made a dozen significant VC and carrier contacts through your efforts. From a messaging point of view, our story is crisp, clean, simple and above all, easy to relate to and clearly understood by our target audiences and the press that writes for them – a far cry from when I first approached you. I know that on this day I am your happiest client and most enthusiastic supporter. In fact, I don’t feel like a client at all. I feel like McGrath/Power is an integral part of the EasyReach team."

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    CEO, EasyReach

  • "McGrath/Power played a critical role in establishing our MailStation email appliance as an important consumer electronics offering for those without a personal computer. The MailStation public relations effort helped reposition our company in the CE space and was a key driver in our acquisition by EarthLink. I was just as pleased to refer McGrath/Power to EarthLink to provide that company with PR activities surrounding the MailStation as I was to work alongside their team."

    - Tim Dooley

    Senior Vice President, CIDCO

  • "McGrath/Power is our strategic communications partner for technology issues in the United States and the agency has demonstrated its ability to get our message heard in that very noisy market."

    - Jon Earl

    Senior Group Media Relations Manager, Vodafone Group Plc

  • "McGrath/Power provided essential strategic PR counsel and consistently solid results over the nine years we partnered with them at Intellisync. They took us from start-up through IPO and beyond while always providing fresh perspective and proactive input."

    - Brad Rowe

    Founder,
    Intellisync Corporation

RSA Security

Challenge

Broaden the Business Reach of an Industry Leader through Aligned Public Relations

  • Encryption and authentication technology security leader not widely known out of core market
  • Company desired business growth and broader brand awareness to increase shareholder value
  • Potential of global business impact of company’s authentication technology not widely understood beyond niche audience
  • Market seen as niche and finite with limited growth potential
  • Previous marketing/PR efforts “sang to the choir” and didn’t influence change in perception or drive desired audiences to take desired actions
  • Previous external communication efforts were not aligned with RSA’s forward-looking business goals, focusing almost solely on technology rather than business benefits
  • RSA’s acquisition strategy was often viewed negatively due to broader marketplace misunderstanding of company’s long-term corporate goals
  • Company faced looming challenges from new and existing competition


Approach

  • Create focused public relations program to strategically align specific solutions to specific business issues/benefits
  • Reorganize PR program into “corporate” and “solutions” tracks to focus internal teams/audiences, create synergy in opportunities and measure success
  • Develop an overarching story focusing on the problems of passwords and how they could be eliminated using RSA’s multiple product lines as supporting proof points
  • Develop a simplified message and take it to a broader audience to further build brand awareness and open new doors to business and PR efforts
  • Depose competition aggressively while proactively highlight key RSA advantages to shrink large playing field of pretender companies in rapidly growing market
  • Cultivate mainstream media relationship beyond the trade media to support business goals and communicate shareholder value
  • Encourage the company to break out of its comfort zone regarding broader use of tactics such as industry association participation, surveys, etc.


Results

  • 180-degree change in overall visibility and credibility with multiple target audiences and influencers during the course of the program from 2000 – 2005
  • Movement of PR program internally at RSA from a low-level tactical function to one of the company’s most effective marketing vehicles
  • Ownership of the password and related problem solving in the eyes of the media and analyst community and is now widely associated with authentication leadership
  • Expanded media coverage from a narrow set of trades to broad attention in the national mainstream press, with results growing year over year at 25-50 percent
  • Maximization of C-level RSA spokespeople as key sources from national media with the company’s CEO moving into a position of prominence in the industry
  • Highly successful, strategically driven campaigns such as a key consumer-focused password resulted in nearly 200 stories in mainstream media