Boca Communications
Boca Communications
PR as Strategic Business Partner for Lead Generation
The Company
Cambridge, Mass.-based GenArts, Inc. (www.genarts.com) has been providing specialized visual effects software for the film, broadcast and video industries since its founding in 1996. The company's state-of-the-art software has been used to create high-end visual effects in countless feature films, television broadcasts and commercials, including 20 Oscar-nominated pieces such as Titanic, Spider Man and the Pirates of the Caribbean films.
The Issue
In its 12-year history, GenArts has secured the coveted leadership position in its space. But with minimal marketing and a vast customer base left untouched, the GenArts brand has remained small. GenArts trusted BOCA to finally put its name in lights through customer testimonials, relationships with the media and solid thought leadership campaigns.
The Insights
Thanks to a deep understanding of GenArts and its market (and a BOCA team member's own experience in the film industry), the BOCA team has executed flawlessly on the goals set before them. An extension of GenArts' in-house marketing team, BOCA works directly with the CEO and founder to evangelize the company messaging and deliver on GenArts' strategy: raising the company’s visibility among high-profile journalists with innovative pitches, customer stories and hard-hitting press releases to garner coverage, establish its brand and illustrate its overall success in the industry.
The Ideas
BOCA leveraged GenArts' big-name partners to generate buzz and align the company with large brand names. One such announcement with Lucasfilm not only garnered exceptional coverage in publications like Wired and Hollywood Reporter, it also provided an opportunity for reporters from Variety and Bloomberg to discuss the news in person with GenArts executives.
“Lucas May Open Special-Effects Kit”
GenArts’ aggressive growth strategy has presented a number of creative campaign opportunities that yielded great results for PR. Before the wondertouch acquisition, for example, BOCA initiated a mock interview with GenArts CEO Ms. Hays and wondertouch CEO Alan Lorence and posted it on YouTube, along with a link to the GenArts Web site and the distributed press release. The mock wondertouch interview received 1,078 views in just four days, and drove traffic to the GenArts Web site.
BOCA has also leveraged GenArts’ impressive list of product announcements to introduce the company to influential industry journalists and garner coverage in publications such as FXGuide and Studio Daily. Presumably, public relations is doing its job broadcasting GenArts’ name, as evidenced by Web traffic spikes. With each key announcement, its number of product downloads spikes as well.
"Q+A: You Can Rent Plug-Ins?”
With an impressive resume, GenArts CEO Katherine Hays seemed a natural choice around which to build a campaign to raise the company’s visibility – in GenArts’ own back yard. BOCA highlighted her young age and her many accomplishments and talents to secure a coveted place in Boston Business Journal’s “40 Under 40” list. The recognition served to not only emphasize Ms. Hays’ contributions to the greater Boston area, but also to draw attention to GenArts’ purpose, unique products and brand.
“40 under 40: Katherine Hays”
BOCA has also tapped GenArts’ cache of satisfied customers with a successful customer program that has produced a number of case studies. Visual effects houses working on X-Men Origins: Wolverine, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button and television show House have all participated in case studies that have garnered industry attention. In fact, GenArts cashed in on the success of blockbuster District 9 with the publishing of a company-written case study in Post Magazine, a target publication. This was an unprecedented move, and provided an opportunity for GenArts to evangelize its own messaging in the article.
“The Embassy’s VFX Works for ‘District 9’”