A Fitting Message

PUBLIC RELATIONS

Photos courtesy of Healing Waters International.

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A Fitting Message A customer engagement effort turned PR campaign helps boost brand awareness and perception for both B-to-B vendor Industrial Specialties Manufacturing and its nonprofit client, Healing Waters International

BY CHRISTINE BIRKNER | SENIOR STAFF WRITER

 cbirkner@ama.org

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ndustrial Specialties Manufacturing (ISM), an Englewood, Colo.-based supplier of fittings, filters and flow control products used by the medical, automotive, mechanical, ink-jet printing and outdoor power sports

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industries, was looking for a creative way to boost customer engagement and expand its industry reach. But what started as a simple social media contest turned into a PR effort to boost brand goodwill.

In April 2014, ISM launched a contest encouraging customers to submit a photo and description online of how they use ISM products. All entrants received $20 Amazon gift cards, and the winner— chosen by ISM’s internal judging committee—would receive an iPad Mini.

ISM posted the entries on its Facebook and Google+ pages.

The goal of the contest, initially, was to increase ISM’s Facebook “likes,” gather customer testimonials to use in the company’s marketing materials, and help ISM pursue more business in specialty industries, says James Davis, ISM’s president. “We wanted to find the most interesting company … with an interesting target market that we could use, so we could go to that market and

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PUBLIC RELATIONS

say: ‘Look at this company. They’re a leader in your industry and they’re using our products.’ ” The contest’s goals evolved, however, when ISM received a submission from Healing Waters International, a Golden, Colo.-based nonprofit that builds water treatment systems to provide clean drinking water in Africa, South America and Central America. Healing Waters uses ISM strainers and fittings in its water systems to purify drinking water in developing countries. The organization submitted a photo of a young man in Somalia smiling next to a water filtration system, and it struck a chord with the ISM team.

“We realized that the filters and valves that we provide them are being used to actually help children in these countries,” Davis says. “The Healing Waters story was so compelling that we changed direction and said, ‘Rather than do this to promote our products, why don’t we promote the concept of helping companies with products that help people?’ We tried to make it less self-serving and more charitable.”

Healing Waters won the contest, and ISM donated free fittings to the nonprofit to cover their needs for the next year. Then ISM publicized the effort by posting an article about Healing Waters on its website and Facebook page, and in its quarterly customer e-newsletter, which is sent to 11,000 recipients. In August, it also mailed press releases, accompanied by hardcopy photos of children drinking clean water thanks to Healing Waters’ work, to 300 national publications. The press release explained Healing Waters’ mission, mentioned ISM’s donation to the nonprofit through the social media contest and encouraged other businesses to donate to charitable causes.

ISM’s press release distribution list consists mostly of trade publications for the industries that it serves, including the medical, automotive and mechanical sectors. ISM’s marketing department sends hard copies of press releases in additional to e-mailed releases because the company believes that paper releases are better at gaining people’s attention, according to Davis.

ISM initially planned to promote the contest via a targeted e-mail or newsletter campaign rather than through a widereaching press release, but Healing Waters’ story changed that, Davis says. “For us to do a press release, it has to be somewhat compelling, not just, ‘We did a contest and this is who won.’ This was compelling.”

Ryan Decker, director of partnerships at Healing Waters, adds: “It was exciting for a supplier to take an interest in our work and market that to their own customers. We love when our suppliers know what we’re doing, so they can join

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in on the mission. More than anything, we appreciate that they were willing to help us, not just with parts, but to be willing to add our [story] to their website.”

At press time, ISM didn’t have metrics on the PR effort, but its overall goal is to generate customer goodwill, Davis says. “We’re doing it more as a message and less as a lead generation or branding strategy. Hopefully, our customers will realize that we’re a company with integrity and they’ll continue doing business with us because they like what we’re about.” m

Healing Waters International submitted this photo of a young man in Somalia standing next to a water filtration system featuring ISM’s fittings, which struck a chord with the B-to-B vendor.

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