The main role of a B2B company is to respond to its customers' needs. stakeholders. But there are situations where it's best for customers to represent themselves, and to do this we need to empower them with useful tools so that they can express themselves and interact.

The engineers are the customers of electronic component distributors and are often misrepresented as aloof and clumsy, when in reality they are catalysts for innovation. Engineers come from all over the world, from various backgrounds and with different areas of interest. They are a passionate and diverse group, essential for the common good.

A campaign by Newark - one of the largest distributors of electronic components in the world - revealed the essence of this group, positioning itself as one of the biggest advocates of these professionals, increasing its reputation in the sector, positively influencing perceptions of the profession and convincing more people to pay attention to the various aspects of engineering.

Walker Sands, the agency responsible for this campaignbegan by investigating the online community of 400,000 engineers to understand their concerns and stereotypes. There were three main results: they wanted more content, insights and information about their work; they felt distant from their peers; they were open to the idea of a platform that represented their community and of which they could be an active part.

The result was the #ImAnEngineer concept, to develop a platform dedicated to engineering in the form of a hub of content. On this platform, community members would find relevant and original news, personal stories, analysis, interviews and various other multimedia content. "ImAnEngineer.com" would be a celebration of engineers and their work, where they could share experiences and opinions, and connect.

In six months of activity, the site has provided 155 pieces of content, generating 13,500 visitors a month. On social media hashtag #ImAnEngineer had a large number of mentions and the content accumulated a large number of likes and shares. There were also 330 people who subscribed to newsletter and the specialized media reported the campaign favorably.

The website no longer exists, but the content and ideas have migrated to Newark's community website, which is still a source of relevant content and a hub for engineers to discuss ideas and share experiences.

The #ImAnEngineer campaign reveals that good PR is not always about us, but about helping customers and stakeholders a find your voice.