Company: The Tambellini Group, LLC, Irvington, VA
Company Description: The Tambellini Group is the world’s leading market research and advisory firm for higher education executives, organizations, and investment firms interested in higher education market research, analytics, and advisory services. Tambellini provides analyst services and market insight across strategic campus-wide technologies, as well as departmental-specific solutions.
Nomination Category: Communications & Marketing Awards Categories
Nomination Sub Category: Communications or PR Campaign of the Year - Media Relations
 Nomination Title: Tambellini Group Media Relations
- Which will you submit for your nomination in this category, a video of up to five (5) minutes, explaining the nominated campaign or program - its genesis,development, planning, commission, and performance to date - OR written answers to the questions? (Choose one):
Written answers to the questions
- If you are submitting a video of up to five (5) minutes in length, provide the URL of the video here, OR attach it to your entry via the "Add Attachments, Videos, or Links to This Entry" link above, through which you may also upload a copy of your video. If you are submitting written answers to the questions, provide them in the appropriate spaces below:
- Specify the date on which this campaign or program was launched:
September 2020
- Reference any attachments of supporting materials throughout this nomination and how they provide evidence of the claims you have made in this nomination (up to 250 words):
Total 204 words used.
- The [REDACTED FOR PUBLICATION] WorkSamples document shows:
- The quality and detail of the media outreach materials our media manager developed for our flagship annual Market Trends and Leaders reports.
- The contrast between the lack of a focused strategy employed prior to our media manager’s contributions, and the embargoed proactive strategy she successfully executed.
- The impactful, tangible results her extensive targeted media outreach effort yielded.
- Our newsroom and the attached [REDACTED FOR PUBLICATION] document list all of our earned media placements and the the sharp increase in volume over the past two years.
- The [REDACTED FOR PUBLICATION] presentation highlights our media relations success in mining our team’s blog and thought leadership content for innovative story angles and new trends that resulted in reporters covering new issues instead of just quoting our analysts on ones they already cover.
- The [REDACTED FOR PUBLICATION] presentation provides examples of:
- The strong impact of our media relations program beyond mere news story placements quoting our CEO and analysts.
- The significant positive engagement on social media we garnered with industry influencers and thought leaders.
- Our success in providing useful insights and building mutually symbiotic relationships with media members who trust us and rely on our understanding of the market and their beats to inform and shape their reporting and content.
- Describe the development of the campaign or program: the planning process, the goal setting, the creative and media development, the scheduling, etc. (up to 250 words):
Total 248 words used.
Tambellini hired Liz Farrell as our media manager. Because Ms. Farrell had spent a decade as an award-winning journalist in national newsrooms, she kicked off her efforts the way any skilled reporter would start to build a great story: with thorough research and in-depth interviews.
After reviewing Tambellini’s extensive research and blog content, meeting one-on-one with internal experts, and analyzing media coverage in dozens of relevant media outlets, Ms. Farrell developed the company’s first strategic media plan. She set two ambitious goals:
- Make Tambellini’s CEO and analysts trusted, go-to sources for every reporter covering higher education technology issues.
- Pitch and place articles and opinion columns written by Tambellini experts
Ms. Farrell identified key opportunities for Tambellini’s experts to fill a large information void [REDACTED FOR PUBLICATION]
Tambellini’s vast trove of proprietary data and research was another key asset reporters could benefit from [REDACTED FOR PUBLICATION].
- Describe the genesis of the nominated campaign or program: the reasons it was initiated, the challenges it was created to address, the problems it was developed to solve, etc. (up to 250 words):
Total 240 words used.
As the leading technology research and advisory firm focused on higher education, the Tambellini Group (Tambellini) has steadily grown and expanded its market influence since 2001 by providing valuable vendor-agnostic research, data, and strategic guidance to hundreds of campus technology leaders and the vendors that serve them [REDACTED FOR PUBLICATION].
Tambellini has the largest research analyst team devoted exclusively to higher education technology, with 150+ years of combined experience at technology companies and higher education institutions. [REDACTED FOR PUBLICATION]
In the pandemic’s aftermath, journalists were writing more stories than ever before examining the myriad ways evolving technology tools and systems were rapidly transforming higher education. Despite Tambellini’s strong name recognition and longstanding reputation as a trusted and influential authority within our industry, our media presence remained virtually non-existent: from July 2018-Sept 2020, our analysts were quoted only eight times in four outlets.
Our experts were missing out on opportunities to share their perspectives and insights because Tambellini lacked name recognition with journalists. It was time for us to educate relevant media about our organization and the unique value our team could bring to their voluminous coverage of technology’s impact on postsecondary education.
In September 2020, we hired a media relations expert to develop and execute a strategic public relations program with the goal of increasing our media footprint and elevating our research experts as thought leaders.
- Outline the activities and concrete results of this campaign or program since the beginning of July 2020. Even if your initiative started before July 2020, limit your response to activities and results since the beginning of July 2020 only (up to 250 words):
Total 248 words used.
In less than two years, our program has far exceeded our reach goals and significantly outpaced our competitors:
- 68 earned media placements in 30 target outlets, an eight-fold increase over the previous two years; 260 million media impressions compared to 4 million from July 2018-2020.
- Placements included 79 quotes, 139 data and research citations, and 10 original thought leadership articles bylined by our CEO and analysts.
- Won 2021 Stevie Awards for Company of the Year and Thought Leadership, with judges citing our impressive media results.
Our placements prove our influence in shaping media coverage: Ms. Farrell crafted 40+ compelling newsworthy story pitches that captured the interest and attention of journalists by educating them about new significant trends and issues they were missing on their beats. Reporters proactively seek out Tambellini’s CEO and analysts for their perspectives on major news developments. Editors regularly ask Ms. Farrell for story ideas because she has earned their respect as someone who understands their audiences and uncovers interesting news angles and trends. Tambellini experts have become an indispensable resource for journalists because our team excels at super-serving media by:
- Rapidly responding to breaking news developments
- Sharing exclusive insights and data
- Connecting reporters with credible outside sources to ensure their stories are balanced and comprehensive.
This seismic shift is the direct result of Ms. Farrell’s successful efforts to build trusted symbiotic relationships with media and educate and train Tambellini’s thought leaders through dozens of one-on-one interview coaching sessions, extensive written briefings, and biweekly meetings.
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