Traditionally, the best technology public relations firms have been headquartered on the coasts, but over the past few years some of the best and the brightest have emerged in the middle of the country, markets such as Chicago, Denver, and even Detroit, where Airfoil has its headquarters (although the firm did open a Silicon Valley office in 2006; it now derives about $1 million of its $6.8 million in fee income from the west coast operation).
Airfoil has traditionally been structured around three broad technology areas—business-to-business, business-to- consumer and automotive—and in 2009 it sought to broaden both its client portfolio—it is well on the way to becoming a full-service marketing communications firm—and its service offering, adding integrated digital services, public affairs, strategic research and government relations capabilities. But last year saw an evolution of the firm’s account management approach, moving away from industry-specific groups to a portfolio management approach that more ensures more consistent involvement from all of the senior management team and customizes teams to meet individual client needs.
The firm remains committed to its “Higher Thinking” strategy, which begins with an investment in people supported by a commitment to process and a focus on performance. It’s an approach that has helped the firm attract major clients such as Microsoft, eBay, MobiTV, Parrot, Altair Engineering, supplemented last year by new business from the likes of Achates Power, eBay Classifieds, NVIDIA, Zoomerang, CiRBA, PhotoMedex, Brookstone, FordDirect, and LinkedIn. That helped the firm bounce back from a difficult 2009 with 7 percent growth, enough to secure its place as one of the top 10 tech-focused firms in the country.
Highlights of the past 12 months included some innovative and far-reaching work. The agency’s program for Achates Power, a developer of environmentally-conscious and cost effective internal combustion engines, leveraged marketing communications strategies that allowed Achates to permeate Indian and Chinese media and sales markets. The firm continued to deepen its experience with European audiences through its work helping California-based MobiTV, developer of mobile media management solutions, position its platform in overseas markets. And in North America, Airfoil worked with NVIDIA, a leader in visual computing technologies, to promote the company’s products to the automotive community.
“We’ve been with Airfoil since April 2007; that’s most of Carbonite’s lifetime,” says David Friend, chairman and CEO of the online backup company. “Prior to that, we had three PR firms in two years. We’ve been really happy with our relationship because the Airfoil team is enthusiastic, hardworking and really feels like an extension of our own staff.” Adds Amy Messano, senior public relations manager, US midmarket, for Microsoft: “It’s rare to find a PR partner who is strong in both strategy and execution. With Airfoil, we’ve executed one of the most highly integrated and successful communications programs I’ve ever been a part of. Our ‘Work without Walls’ remote working campaign was a highly strategic initiative that allowed us to drive demand for Microsoft solutions in an efficient manner by targeting a globally relevant business issue on both a national and local level. The thought leadership behind the campaign is changing the way we are working with our strategic business partners and finding its way into the conversations we’re having in the boardrooms of our customers.”
On the internal front, the firm celebrated its 10th anniversary by bringing in its California-based employees for several days of revelry bookended by staff-wide leadership training sessions, a City of Detroit scavenger hunt (the “Air”mazing Race”), and one big night of formal celebration.—PH