In the B2B sector, your brand's main role is to satisfy your professional needs. However, sometimes you also need to empower your customers to succeed. Represent them on your behalf, and give them the tools to network and express themselves.

The Newark Company's customers are an often misunderstood group of professionals – engineers. The company has realized that the professionals it works with are often misrepresented.

Know your Customers

First, engineers come from various backgrounds and have diverse fields of interests. Newark realized this, and commissioned an agency to present these professionals for what they really are: a passionate and diverse group of people. In doing so, Newark would position itself as one of the industry's greatest advocates for professionals. In addition to positively influencing the perception of the profession.

The agency polled its 400.000 strong online community of engineers to understand their concerns and the existing stereotypes they face in their lives.

Evidently, they found that engineers want more content in relation to their work; they feel distant from their peers; and are open to the idea of ​​a dedicated community platform. These results led to the birth of the #ImAnEngineer concept.

#ImAnEngineer was a content hub where community members would find relevant and original news, personal stories, analysis, interviews, and other multimedia content. It was a celebration of engineers and their work, where engineers could share their experiences and connect with each other.

Community and Content

A dedicated team of writers who worked closely with industry professionals created three different types of content for the campaign:

• stories about engineers
• Interviews with engineers
• Industry insights and reports

Initially, the platform launched with a wealth of new and original content intended to be shared with the hashtag #ImAnEngineer on social media. Flyers and “business cards” were also distributed at a major industry event. Finally, marketing tools in the form of display ads and promotions were also used to engage website visitors.

In its six months of activity, the site displayed 155 contents, and had 13.500 visitors per month. Consequently, trade media outlets reported the campaign favorably. On social media, the hashtag #ImAnEngineer was also successful. In addition, 330 people subscribed to the newsletter.

Today, the content and ideas have migrated to the Newark community site. Good PR isn't always about you, sometimes you need to empower your customers. This is an effective online reputation management principle.