CASE STUDY
NCR Retail & Hospitality
NCR Building

INDUSTRY

Retail and hospitality technology

EXPERTISE

Public relations

MAKING THOUGHT LEADERSHIP POSSIBLE

How does a 130-year-old company secure its position and stay relevant in a market as fast-moving as technology?

Throughout its history, NCR has continued to innovate alongside technology to help retailers, restaurants and financial institutions run their businesses front to back. It even reimagined its brand to align with today’s digital-first economy and the rapid pace of innovation.

To share its refreshed brand and technological expertise with the market, NCR brought Arketi Group onboard to build and execute a media relations campaign to establish its retail and hospitality subject-matter experts as trusted, forward-looking thought leaders.

HOW WE DID IT

DEFINING TOPICS THAT RESONATE

We knew our goal from the start: position NCR as the leading technology provider helping retailers and restaurateurs run their businesses. This required an understanding of the challenges its customers face in their everyday work, plus how NCR was helping them overcome.

David Wilkinson and Dirk Izzo are presidents of NCR Retail and NCR Hospitality respectively. Working with NCR’s customers each day, these two have in-depth knowledge of NCR’s audience and a direct line to their most pressing needs. They would serve as our subject-matter experts and spokespeople for each business line.

To kick things off, we conducted a brainstorm to identify top industry trends and angles for potential media interviews, contributed articles and bylines. Additionally, we collaborated with each line of business to create a pipeline of press releases announcing new products, partners or customers that would excite the media.

We then developed a monthly calendar of media pitches and topics divided by audience persona. For example, all retail content was crafted to reach decision-makers in the food, drug, mass merchandise, convenience and fuel, department and specialty retail verticals. Hospitality content was similarly designed with restaurant operators, franchises, leadership and executives in mind.

DEVELOPING INTERESTING, INFORMATIVE CONTENT

In PR, where the rubber meets the road is outreach to reporters.

Using our calendar and strategy, we began proactive pitching around our planned topics – offering live interviews, written responses and contributed articles from Wilkinson and Izzo. We also took charge of developing and distributing NCR press releases and advisories on a variety of topics, including customer wins, awards and industry trends.

Among the topics that resonated most with media and NCR’s audience were:

  • Industry labor shortages – How technology fills the gap between understaffed stores and increasing consumer demand.
  • Cryptocurrencies – Enabling in-store and online crypto capabilities.
  • Digital innovation – Using next-generation technology for stores and restaurants to streamline operations, engage customers and drive revenue.

Depending on the opportunity, Arketi would then develop articles on the expert’s behalf or draft briefing guides with potential questions and talking points to support media interviews. Throughout this process, Arketi fostered new and existing relationships with reporters to keep Izzo and Wilkinson top of mind for upcoming or future stories.

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media hits

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M+

audience reach

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established thought leaders

Arketi’s strategic and consultative approach to media relations drives consistent coverage for our Retail and Hospitality businesses quarter-over-quarter. Securing timely and thoughtful opportunities has had a meaningful impact on NCR’s public perception and share of voice, and Arketi operates at the center of this initiative.

Scott Sykes

Executive Director of Corporate Communication

NCR Corporation

Over the course of our campaign, Arketi secured 140+ earned media placements for NCR Retail and 105+ for NCR Hospitality. Combined, the two lines of business saw a total audience reach of more than 407 million across more than 200 media hits.

Featured in publications such as Modern Restaurant Management, Today’s Grocer, Chain Store Age and TotalRetail, NCR’s media coverage achieved our original goal of demonstrating NCR’s position as a leading provider of software and services for restaurants and retailers to run their business end to end.

Likewise, our work strengthened the visibility of Izzo and Wilkinson as trusted thought leaders in their respective fields.

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