Human nature is to be curious. This principle set the stage for the following blend of PR and social experimentation, which proved to be very successful for all parties involved, including the public.
ComPTIA, a leading association in the IT sector, commissioned a project. Its aim was to establish the brand's authority in cybersecurity, ahead of the introduction of its new CyberLaunch program. The B2B agency's plan consisted of creating a social experience. For a campaign that would draw public attention to cybersecurity, and provide measurable and valuable storytelling results.
Learn a valuable insight
Since its inception, ComPTIA has issued almost 2 million certificates to experts. For this reason, their reputation is well established on a professional level. However, they have aimed their new program, CyberLaunch, at employees with little or no knowledge of IT. Moreover, up to this point, it has focused mainly on network and server technologies, rather than cybersecurity.
Two main objectives thus emerged. Firstly, to reach a new audience, less specialized in technology. Secondly, to claim credibility in a new field.
As a solution, the agency created a program for National Cybersecurity Awareness Month in October. A campaign which had to be convincing for the tech community and arouse interest among decision-makers in companies. The project centered around a social experiment testing safety practices in the workplace. It all started with the distribution of 200 USB cables in public spaces in four major US cities.
All the devices contained agency information, with contact instructions. This made it possible to trace how many USB cables were used and where. Of the people who took part in the experiment, 17% connected the cable to a machine belonging to their company. This willingness to insert unknown devices into work networks that could contain malicious software was alarming, even for non-professionals.
Tell it like a story
When the social experiment was over, the company compiled all the information into a single package. They sent it to the media, cybersecurity experts and HR divisions in the form of a whitepaper complemented by infographics and a survey of the IT security habits of 1,200 professionals. Finally, a four-part video summarized the whole experience.
The campaign was extremely successful, CompTIA becoming a household name for IT and HR professionals. References to the organization appeared in 115 press clippings during October and November, in media such as The Wall Street Journal, Fortune, NBC and HR Magazine. Their stories generated 53 million impressions and 30,000 shares in the media. In addition whitepaper had 2,430 direct downloads.
With the help of PR and social experimentation, CompTIA created a unique and valuable campaign. They drew attention to a modern threat present in everyone's life by generating a compelling story on a niche topic.