Case Studies

• B3 Communications conducted an extensive perceptual audit for publicly held enterprise software company, Broadbase, to assess corporate and product messages and address inconsistencies in internal perception and external communication.

In 1999, Broadbase, an enterprise software company offering analytical applications, expanded its portfolio to include marketing automation software with the acquisition of Rubric. After 10 months of extensive press and analyst relations campaigns, including two major product launches, Broadbase needed to measure the consistency of its messages and assess the perceptions of internal and external audiences to ascertain how well key messages were resonating with the market.

The B3 Communications Solution

B3 Communications conducted an extensive perceptual audit to assess Broadbase’s overall corporate and product positioning and messages. The B3 team looked for consistencies and inconsistencies in the perception of external audiences such as customers, partners, and industry analysts, as well as the internal audience – the company’s employees.

The audit consisted of a series of telephone interviews with analysts, customers, partners, and employees. B3 Communications contacted 44 external influencers and 36 internal influencers and asked each person six questions regarding Broadbase’s corporate message, product brand message, market/category message, product benefit message, differentiation message, and finally, their branding message. The B3 team evaluated key messages and their impact to ensure that internal and external constituencies were on the same page and uncover any messaging adjustments that would be necessary to fully leverage what was happening in the market.

Results

The B3 Communications perceptual audit resulted in a 45 percent response rate from external audiences and a 65 percent response rate from the internal audience.

The intelligence uncovered through the audit armed Broadbase’s marketing team with significant and illuminating intelligence about the positioning of the company. The team learned that media influencers were positioning the company consistently and correctly, and that the company’s perceptions and messages were on target and similar for both internal and external audiences. The team discovered inconsistencies in how various audiences regarded the company’s differentiation and worked to address discrepancies.

During the completion of the audit, Broadbase continued its acquisition trail with the purchase of ServiceSoft, a provider of intelligent e-service solutions. Broadbase’s marketing team wanted to determine how to best position the incorporation of ServiceSoft technology into Broadbase’s existing offering. With the results of the perceptual audit, B3 Communications was able to make messaging and positioning recommendations for the ServiceSoft acquisition and make critical changes in the messaging strategy.