Approva Corporation
Company: Approva Corporation, Herndon, VA
Entry Submitted By: DBC PR + New Media
Company Description: Approva’s the leading provider of continuous controls monitoring (CCM) software and the industry standard for 3 of the 5 largest audit firms and approx. 200 of the world’s largest companies. Founded in 2001, Approva automates IT and financial controls for all major applications companies use to operate, helping reduce risk/fraud, lower costs and identify areas of improvement.
Nomination Category: Corporate Communications, Investor Relations, & Public Relations Awards Categories
Nomination Sub Category: Communications or PR Campaign of the Year - Marketing - Business-to-Business
Nomination Title: Approva Corporation – “Control Freak”
Tell the story about this nominated campaign since January 1 2010 (up to 500 words). Focus on specific accomplishments, and relate these accomplishments to past performance or industry norms. Be sure to mention obstacles overcome, innovations or discoveries made, and outcomes:
For years, people have talked dismissively about Control Freaks, portraying them
as sniveling, pocket-protected pencil pushers and overly obsessive number
crunchers. But Approva, which helps finance, internal audit and IT security
teams monitor their financial systems to prevent fraud and compliance issues,
knows the truth: Control Freaks are the lifeblood of every successful operation
known to man (and woman) kind.
Seeking to rehabilitate the unfair image of the stereotypical Control Freak –
and celebrate the work of Type-A people everywhere – Approva launched its
“Control Freak” campaign in September 2010 to support the release of its new
Continuous Control Monitoring software suite, Approva One. Under the slogan “You
can call us Control Freaks. We call it good business!” the light-hearted,
tongue-in-cheek campaign was designed to differentiate Approva as a fun,
innovative company taking a fresh approach to the admittedly serious topic of
financial governance.
The results speak for themselves. Within six months of the campaign’s launch,
corporate website traffic at (http://approva.net) increased 203%, visitors
were spending 165% more time on the website, the sales pipeline increased 106%
and revenue for the company’s new product suite increased 77%.
The multi-channel campaign included significant investments in original content
presented in interesting, engaging and innovative ways designed to tap into
prospects’ social networks by bringing attention to the value that Control
Freaks bring to organizations large and small – while educating them on how they
can use Approva to become even better Control Freaks.
Core campaign elements include:
CAMPAIGN MICROSITE: The microsite (http://www.ilovecontrolfreaks.com) is a
virally appealing entry point designed to quickly and concisely expose visitors
to all original campaign content no matter how they found us.
“OFFICIAL CONTROL FREAK eHANDBOOK”: Written to inform and entertain prospects,
this handy step-by-step guide (http://www.ilovecontrolfreaks.com/ebook)
explains how Continuous Controls Monitoring technology – and the people who use
it – are driving positive change in all sorts of situations.
ONETROPOLIS: This virtual, 3-D city (http://www.onetropolis.com) uses cutting
edge web technology to create a virtual office where visitors see first-hand how
a business operates when Control Freaks run the show.
“SHOULD’VE HAD A CONTROL FREAK” VIDEO SERIES: These two-minute “ripped from the
headlines” videos (http://www.ilovecontrolfreaks.com/watch) chronicle
real-life situations crying out for a little help from a Control Freak (or two)
and explain how Approva’s software could have prevented mishaps.
“OUT OF CONTROL” SURVEY SERIES: This survey trifecta
(http://www.ilovecontrolfreaks.com/compare) polled senior finance, IT and
audit execs in order to take the pulse of both what’s under control and what’s
out of control in corporate America.
“I LOVE CONTROL FREAK” BUTTONS: A “special edition” set of collector pins
(http://response.approva.net/content/ILCFbuttons) with slogans ranging from “I
(heart) Control Freaks” to “Certified Control Freak” and “Proud to Be a Control
Freak” let prospects declare their true Control Freak feelings.
CONTROL FREAK BLOG: Approva renamed its corporate blog Control Freak
(http://www.approva.net/controlfreak) and reoriented its content to appeal to
the hearts and minds of Control Freaks everywhere - offering timely, thoughtful
commentary on industry trends, news and Q&As with prominent Control Freaks
delivered in an irreverent voice.
List hyperlinks to any online work samples, news stories, press releases, or other documents that support the claims made in the section above. IMPORTANT: Begin each link with http://, and enclose each link in square brackets; for example, [http://www.youraddress.com]:
Campaign Microsite:
http://www.ilovecontrolfreaks.com
Campaign launch press release:
http://approva.net/company/release/calling-all-control-freaks/
Control Freak Buttons:
http://response.approva.net/content/ILCFbuttons
“Should’ve Had a Control Freak” Videos:
http://www.ilovecontrolfreaks.com/watch
The “Official Control Freak eHandbook”:
http://www.ilovecontrolfreaks.com/ebook
Onetropolis:
http://www.onetropolis.com
“Out of Control” Surveys:
http://www.ilovecontrolfreaks.com/compare
Approva One Product Suite Microsite:
http://approva.net/one
Approva corporate web site:
http://approva.net/
The Control Freak Blog:
http://approva.net/controlfreak
Control Freak Q&A series:
1. http://approva.net/controlfreak/2010/09/09/caleb-newquist-blogger-and-founding-editor-going-concern/
2. http://approva.net/controlfreak/2010/10/06/control-freak-qa-with-francine-mckenna/
3. http://approva.net/controlfreak/2010/09/29/control-freak-qa-with-michael-cohn/
4. http://approva.net/controlfreak/2010/09/20/control-freak-qa-with-eric-krell/
B2B Magazine Interview with Michael Evans about campaign:
http://www.btobonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20100915/CMO_NEWSLETTER/100919938
B2B Magazine Coverage of the Campaign Launch:
http://www.btobonline.com/article/20100908/FREE/100909954/approva-introduces-new-8216-control-freak-8217-marketing-campaign#seenit
Provide a brief (up to 100 words) biography about the leader(s) of the team that carried out this campaign:
Michael Evans, Vice President, Marketing
Michael brings to Approva 15 years of experience in marketing, product
marketing, product management and business strategy.
Prior to Approva, Michael was Vice President of Marketing at Aspen Technology
(NASD: AZPN), a global provider of process modeling, manufacturing optimization
and supply chain management software and services.
Prior to AspenTech, Michael was a consultant at Gemini Consulting focused on
developing corporate strategies for companies in the software, technology and
telecommunications industries.
Michael holds a B.A. degree in economics and classics from Brown University and
an M.B.A. from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania.