CHALLENGE:

"We had a breakthrough product slated for release with no staff available to take on the outbound marketing role," recalled Junne Moy, Marketing Manager at HP. "I had previously filled that role but had moved on to another position. The release was important because it was a breakthrough, next-generation product that could revitalize the the HP Integrity NonStop product line for mission-critical businesses.”

SOLUTION:

Still feeling responsibility to the group and its products, Moy brought Celia Lawren, marketing communications consultant, on board to take on the marketing role. Having worked with her on other projects, Moy was confident that Lawren could get up-to-speed quickly on the technical features and, with her marketing savvy, be able to expertly message the product, as well as meet a tight deliverables timeline.

Lawren worked diligently with the product management team to nail down features and benefits of a totally re-engineered design. She continued to sharpen the overall theme, making sure the key messages and supporting proof points were cohesive, compelling and grounded with as many metrics as possible from beta customer testing. This was the first bladed system on the market for mission-critical applications, so positioning and messaging were extremely important to migrate existing customers off older systems and to convince new customers to switch to high-end servers.

The launch was a complete success, and the product went on to be selected for 2008 Product of the Year Gold Award in the server class by SearchDataCenter.com. In addition to the messaging, Lawren managed over 35 pieces of collateral and all field and executive communications for the release, ensuring message consistency -in every piece.