Compensation data was the exclusive currency of consulting firms until Salary.com leveled the playing field by making competitive intelligence about pay scales universally
accessible online. In May 2000, the company was set to launch its Web site and main product, the Salary Wizard compensation tool, which would allow job-seekers and corporate HR
managers to generate their own salary reports online by specifying industry, experience level and geographic location.
The founders of Salary.com knew it wouldn't be long before the digital ground it was breaking became cluttered with other players, so time was of the essence. But a limited
budget ruled out advertising its launch. Schwartz Communications was hired to position the company exclusively through media relations.
To kick off the launch, Schwartz leveraged the start-up's first syndication partner, Yahoo!, as a means of courting other heavy hitters. The next step in the credibility game
was to pitch Salary.com execs to the media as experts on stock options, raises and corporate vacation policies. Media outreach for the launch campaign resulted in 887 articles,
with 70% of placements featuring expert "commentary" from Salary.com consultants. An additional 112 stories reinforced the message that Salary.com was the de facto leader in the
field. Significant ink appeared in such venerable pubs as Fortune, Money, The Wall Street Journal, eWeek, eCompany Now, Elle and USA Today. Broadcast coverage included ABC's "Good
Morning America," NBC's "Weekend Today," CBS' "MarketWatch Weekend" and CNNfn's "Business Hours."
The buzz generated by the media blitz yielded not only significant increases in site traffic, but also syndication partnerships with more than 130 career and recruitment sites,
online news sources and business portals. Following the site launch, the number of unique visitors to Salary.com reached 2,423,619 in August.
In a post-campaign cost/benefit analysis, Salary.com Webmaster Johanna Schlegel observed that while a generic banner ad would have started at a minimum of $2.00 CPM (cost per
thousand viewers), the media campaign averaged out at a CPM of $1.50.
(Manya Rossignoli-Chait, Schwartz Communications, 781/684-0770)
Client: Salary.com, Wellesley, Massachusetts
Agency: Schwartz Communications, Waltham, Massachusetts
Campaign timeframe: May - December 2000
Campaign budget: $276,000 ($34,500 per month)