Oftentimes companies in the communications space ask me how they are doing compared to their competition in the areas of marketing and PR. They generally do this by asking me to take surveys about their company’s standing in the market. In addition, I often get calls from organizations on Wall Street asking about specific companies. These analysts typically want to know if target companies are worth investing in, etc.

 

While I am not a financial analyst myself I feel I am in a pretty good position to discuss a communications and or technology company’s standing in a market. Sometimes I even offer up my advice when it isn’t asked for. Recently I told a company they weren’t well known in the communications space and they subsequently disagreed.

 

I started to think about this situation as it doesn’t make logical sense to me. After all, a company should know if it is well-known or not, right?

 

So I figured it made sense to highlight a company that has gained immense PR and marketing traction in the past year so others can see what I consider to be a successful branding campaign coupled with successful execution. This particular organization plays in the SMB space and is called Allworx. The company has done some smart things to stay ahead of the competition and you can apply their successful techniques to any market you like… Not just communications or technology.

 

The company has literally caught fire in the market these past months. Their name is everywhere and their team seems to be omnipresent. For example I heard a company representative at the latest IP Sizzles event in Dallas speak about just how well things are going. In addition the resellers at the show seemed to be very enthusiastic about the Rochester, NY-based PBX company’s products.

 

On top of that the company is proactive in seeking press. They are smart and aggressive. They know to set up meetings with journalists and analysts at every communications event they can. While this may seem like common sense, most companies in the communications space do not do this.

 

They also blanket the market with positive PR. They are active… Very active. They put out announcement after announcement and the press can hardly keep up with it all.

 

In addition their entire team overflows with passion and enthusiasm.

 

Last month, Erik Linask, the Associate Editor of Internet Telephony Magazine had this to say in an article about the company, “Everything coming out of Allworx lately has been positive — it’s partnerships, the growth if its channel, enhancements to its product line, all point to a successful operation.”

 

In the same article Linask mentions the company was purchased for 25 million dollars (details) but in my mind they exude the PR and marketing of a company more than twenty times larger.

 

So in the future, rather than criticize any company for being unknown, I am thinking of not answering anymore of those surveys that come across my inbox and instead just start referring companies to Allworx. If you are doing all the things Allworx is then you are doing your job and the press and lots of potential buyers know about you.

 

If not, you have room for improvement.

 

Here just a few of the recent articles about the company. They seem to always be in the news: