www.kinshipdigital.com

Case Study: Red Hat Inc.

Background Red Hat, Inc. (NYSE: RHT) is an S&P 500 company in the free and

open source software sector, and a major Linux distribution vendor.

Founded in 1993, Red Hat has its corporate headquarters in Raleigh,

North Carolina with satellite offices worldwide. Red Hat has become

associated to a large extent with its enterprise operating system Red Hat

Enterprise Linux and with the acquisition of open-source enterprise

middleware vendor JBoss. Red Hat provides operating-system platforms

along with middleware, applications, and management products, as well

as support, training, and consulting services.

Challenge Red Hat has an extensive array of Social Media properties. There are

significant customer/ prospect visits to those sites and a lot of content

is consumed. However, there was no accurate measurement of how

engaged the customer was in the process, how they felt about the

engagement, what they said about the engagement and how these

comments compare to what is said about competing brands. KINSHIP

digital suggested to Red Hat Australia and New Zealand that their

challenge was to understand:

• Where are their customers online?

• What are their customers’ social behaviors online?

• What social information or people do Red Hat customers rely

on?

• What is the customers’ social influence, i.e. who do they trust?

• How do Red Hat customers use social technologies in the

context of your products?

.

Strategy KINSHIP digital undertook a comprehensive assessment to identify

relevant places and spaces occupied by Red Hat customers and looked

at what concerns or issues they have with ‘like’ products and services. In

order to get a holistic view of Red Hat’s social media situation, KINSHIP

digital undertook the same assessment for Red Hat partners, customers

and competitors.

Results • A factual outline of the current Social Media engagement for

Red Hat Australia and New Zealand brands, customers, and

competitors as outlined above.

• An analysis of those findings and the implications for Red Hat

Australia and New Zealand.

• A SWOT analysis of Red Hat Australia and New Zealand social

media situation.

• A set of strategic recommendations to further improve the

engagement of Australia and New Zealand customers through

social media in order to support Red Hat’s business goals.

Client Testimonial “The team at KINSHIP digital has

helped Red Hat define our social

media strategy, planning and

executing within a cross

functional business strategy.

Through a Social Media

Assessment KINSHIP digital

assisted Red Hat leverage social

media for demand generation,

improving brand reputation,

creating a better customer

experience, analyzing market

dynamics in near real time.”

Stella Kordonis

Marketing Director

Red Hat Australia New Zealand