Case Study
Hijacking Breaking News to Build a Corporate Profile
John Bates, CTO of Progress Software became a go-to resource for broadcast outlets around the Flash Crash.
Background and Goals Client: Progress Software Corporation Date: May 2010 to February 2011
“I’ve heard about John Bates. He’s supposed to be the man when it comes to consolidated audit trails.” - Reporter from the Financial Times
O
ver the past 30 years, Progress Software Corporation (NASDAQ:PRGS) has grown into one of the largest technology companies in Massachusetts with yearly revenues of more than $500 million. Historically, the company was known for selling “middleware,” the software that ties different technology products together, selling as many as 15 software products that are used by nearly 140,000 organizations in more than 180 countries, including 70 percent of the Fortune 100. Until recently the company had more name recognition for its individual software products than it did as a corporate entity. In early 2010, Rick Reidy, CEO of Progress Software shared his business and marketing goals with LEWIS. In order to compete with IBM, Microsoft and Oracle, the company would need to do more than provide excellent software solutions for businesses. Reidy wanted to take the company to the next level by providing enterprise software that would allow customers to identify and respond quickly to business opportunities and threats. LEWIS was charged with rolling out communications around Progress Software’s rebranding effort “RPM” or Response Process Management, which combined most of the company’s products and brands into one suite. The objective was to build out a corporate profile and personality for the company and launch RPM.