The Case for Wireless
Handango, an online e-tailer of software for handheld devices, hit the marketplace in spring 2000 at a time when many dotcoms were entering crash-and-burn mode but the site's
founders were confident that their b-to-b e-commerce platform had a good chance of survival. The market for handheld devices such as PDAs and other mobile gadgets was hot.
Analysts at IDC were predicting that more than 45.4 million smart handheld devices would be shipped worldwide by 2004. And a study by Cognosco Publishing found that 64% of
enterprise-level IT buyers in the U.S. were either implementing or developing plans to equip their organizations with handheld devices.
In March 2000, Handango hired BSMG Worldwide in Dallas to help carve out a niche in the wireless technology market. The goal was to position Handango as a "handheld economy
catalyst," bringing together application developers, device manufacturers and online channel partners to offer soup-to-nuts PDA shopping. Anecdotal customer research had revealed
that while professionals -- doctors, lawyers and consultants -- were buying most PDAs, they were underutilized mainly as glorified day planners because users didn't know about
available software that could customize their devices for specific professional usages. Thus, mobile professionals and enterprise-level IT buyers became primary targets for a
yearlong PR campaign.
Have PR Assets, Will Travel
Handango had a few points of leverage that would prove useful in terms of PR strategy. First, the site represented more than 4,000 software manufacturers serving multiple
platforms, whereas most other e-tailers were platform specific, catering only to, say, Palm users. Handango's broader wingspan would make it appear more accessible to analysts and
the media, not to mention business customers.
The company's other ace-in-the-hole was CEO Laura Rippy, who'd jumped ship from Microsoft to found the start-up. To a degree, her Microsoft background gave her instant
credibility.
Using the COMDEX/Spring 2000 show in Chicago as a springboard, BSMG introduced Handango's online Business Solutions Center in a series of nine reporter/analyst briefings held
at the trade show. Over the next several months, the team trickled out announcements about new partner/channel relationships with AltaVista, Compaq, CompuCom, McAfee, Sony and
others to hinge Handango's name to brands with more longstanding equity.
Timely, plain language news pegs helped set Handango apart. "While the handheld space was growing rapidly, it was a noisy busy space," says David Nieland, managing director at
BSMG. "We were careful to avoid superlatives and buzzwords that would make [Handango] sound like everyone else." Instead of touting best-of-breed, end-to-end, save-the-world
solutions, the team pitched clever, user-focused angles such as "PDA Software for Travelers," "Turning Your PDA Into a Personal Trainer," and, in November, "Best PDA Software for
Presidential Candidates."
CEO Laura Rippy was served up as an expert, third-party source on news stories ranging from the Handspring IPO to the Microsoft anti-trust trials. By summer's end, she'd spoken
at three key industry events (Jupiter's Online Advertising Forum, IDC's Personal Technology Outlook and The Dallas Morning News' Technology Editorial Board). Analysts at
GartnerGroup, Dataquest, Giga, IDC and Mobile Insights began tapping her routinely for mobile dish. "They'd call her to get market information about which [software] titles were
selling, which industry sectors were buying the most mobile devices, and locations where handhelds were taking off," says Nieland.
Connections and Results
Handango secured an average of 50 media placements per month in 2000 and saw revenues grow by 700% from the first quarter of 2000 to February 2001. More than a million unique
visitors now visit the e-commerce site each month (up from 300,000 in March 2000). The company estimates that more than 10% of handheld owners in the U.S. purchased products from
Handango.com in 2000.
In February, Handango began to feel the economic crunch and terminated its relationship with BSMG a month ahead of schedule, pulling its PR program in-house. "They didn't go
out of business, so we still feel good that this was a viable business model and that they'll survive the dotcom shakeout," says Nieland. "We understand that when the economy goes
south, marketing, advertising and PR budgets are the first to get cut - and that's not just occurring in the dotcom world."
(Contacts: David Nieland, BSMG Worldwide, 972/830-9911; Ashley Walker, Handango, 817/548-2192, [email protected])
From Invisible to Pervasive
During its launch campaign, Handango grew its software-developer partnerships from 3,000 to 4,000 and built strategic relationships with handheld companies including Palm,
Microsoft, Sony, RIM, Symbian, Compaq, McAfee and Ericsson. Handango now powers handheld computing sites for portals such as Yahoo!, AltaVista, Lycos and Excite@home.
Media hits in The Wall Street Journal, Fortune, Newsweek, Industry Standard, Internet World, Wireless Week, Smart Computing, Entrepreneur and many more helped put the company
on the map.
Campaign Stats
Budget: $300,000 (agency fee) plus roughly $25,000 in out-of-pocket costs for press kits, b-roll, photography and other vendor services.
Campaign time frame: March 2000-February 2001
Key Handango Players: CEO Laura Rippy; VP Marketing Wendy Gibson; marketing analyst Ashley Walker.
Key BSMG Players: Managing Director David Nieland; Senior AE Stephanie Coggin; AE Wendy Dunn; Assistant AE Lance Looper.
Handango account staffers at BSMG who use handheld devices: all four.
Handango competitors: PalmGear, Tuckows.