UPS Systems

The client

Cleaner, greener, smaller, quieter... Fuel cells are the future: an alternative source of power worth getting excited about. And our client has taken it upon itself to bring them to the UK.

UPS Systems is a major player in the market for standby power products. Already it has installed a number of commercial hydrogen fuel cells for standby power, including the first two in the UK, and is providing fuel cells for a range of other uses. As an independent provider of the technology, UPS Systems follows fuel cell developments closely. Years of tracking new technology and product lines have made it something of an expert in this field.

Their needs

Having piqued the interest of the early adopter market, UPS Systems now wants to introduce fuel cells to the mainstream. There are many organisations that can benefit from the efficiency and ease of maintenance that fuel cells offer, and to win them over UPS Systems needs to raise awareness of its technical expertise in the fuel cell arena.

UPS Systems realises that it has to be cautious in its approach to ‘green marketing’. Although fuel cells create just two harmless emissions – heat and water – and can be considered ‘green’ if the hydrogen they use is produced by reforming natural or anaerobic digester gas, it is fruitless to talk up these eco-friendly credentials if doing so neglects the functional benefits that customers are likely to prioritise.

What we do

Public relations (PR) is essential to UPS Systems, given that it needs to convey a lot of information to a broad audience that it cannot reach in other ways. Our first challenge was to establish which sectors of the potentially huge fuel cells market to approach first. As well as helping to segment the market, we needed to decide which audiences to target and identify the publications they were most likely to read.

We made sure we had a firm understanding of UPS Systems’ marketing environment before we refined our promotional messages and put our plan together.

UPS Systems frequently trusts us with new projects and stories. In addition to writing and issuing news releases, we have been writing articles and case studies and pitching them to the key publications, as well as investigating some of the less obvious ways to engage prospective fuel cell buyers and the people who influence them. We identified relevant industry groups that act to promote the effective and efficient use of IT in local government and the public sector, and are helping UPS Systems to take an active role within the London Hydrogen Partnership, which advocates the use of green technology in the capital.

We were also asked to write the copy for a new print brochure.

The results

Our results speak for themselves:

Over 80% of our feature pitches are successful
We have secured coverage in titles that reach each of UPS Systems’ target markets
In the first six months we secured coverage in a third of our carefully selected tier-one titles, each of which reaches a good concentration of the right target audience
We are achieving excellent coverage in the right online publications
We have secured speaking appointments and interviews that have led to in-depth feature articles

Tom Sperrey, managing director, UPS Systems, is pleased with the results that we are achieving. “I have no reservations about putting my byline on Resonates’ articles,” he says. “Their understanding of the industry issues and the benefits we offer are completely appropriate for communicating our value to our audiences.”

Our view

We really enjoy working with UPS Systems, helping them to promote a technology they feel passionate about and exploring and crafting messages that reflect what ‘green’ really means to prospective fuel cell customers.

Another plus for us is that the marketers at UPS Systems like to get involved in PR and know how to get the most out of an agency. Their approach is conducive to achieving great results.

Visit the UPS Systems website

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