Entrant’s Name: Gary Lintern Organization’s Name: Tenzing Communications Inc. and Canadian Institute of Chartered Business Valuators Division/Category: Division 1, Category 7: Marketing Communication Title of Entry: The Price of Change Time Period: February 2011-July 2011

Brief Description: The 35-year old Canadian Institute of Chartered Business Valuators launched their first significant communications program (ever) during the late Spring of 2011. Starting from near-zero awareness and even less market familiarity, research proved they had a tough journey ahead. It also proved the mettle of their value proposition if spelled out in detail. So, armed with just enough budget to break through for a month, the journey began.

Need or Opportunity The Need: CBVs are well-educated, professionally accredited business asset valuators. They tell

business leaders, owners, bankers and even judges what a business or its assets are worth - so those same leaders, owners, bankers and even judges can put a fair value on any purchase, sale, recapitalization or divorce proceeding (when necessary). They work in private practice, for big accounting firms and for business leaders across Canada.

Sadly, few if any business owners and leaders know CBVs by name or designation.

According to research conducted to inform the new CBV brand, only 3% of business leaders named CBVs unaided. Of the many participants who'd been through valuations in the last five years, none had used a CBV. Equally troubling, very few of the owners and leaders we talked to could see the inherent value of CBV services.

The Opportunity:

(1) Based on proprietary qualitative research, less than 3% awareness can be converted into 60% interest among senior business leaders when a new CBV Value Proposition is explained in detail.

(2) Over the next eight to ten years, up to 70% of business owners and leaders of large

private enterprises could either step back or retire outright. This will create a rush of succession and leadership change - which will create ideal market conditions for business valuations.

Intended Audience(s) and Audience Characteristics

Who Why Canadian Business Leaders Business asset valuation and capitalization

decisions are made by senior managers and advisory Boards.

Private Enterprise Executives Executives in private enterprises have more flexibility in choosing their valuation partners than their counterparts in publicly traded enterprises.

Business Owners, Age 50+ Business owners (age 50+) are primary targets for valuation services as part of succession

planning; also most impacted by value erosion in their businesses due to the recession.

CA & Legal Professions Business owners and leaders look to key advisors for valuation advice; CBVs require stronger ties to these key influencers.

Canadian Business Media Canadian business media is where Canadian business leaders find resources, insights and opinions that are relevant to the success of their organizations.

Chartered Business Valuators Engaging 1,400 CBV members in local positioning and preparing them for local marketing in the future is another core initiative.

Goals and Objectives Demonstrate how CBVs add value to business leader decision making. (1) Initiate media interest in the CBV point of view. - Earn at least one article in major Canadian business journals. - Earn additional coverage in online versions of daily and business newspapers. (2) Generate incremental traffic at the new CBV website. - Attract unique, new traffic as a direct result of marketing communications. - Link media and visits to CBV thought-leadership content downloads. (3) Engage member CBVs in the new brand and thought-leadership dialogue. - Start using social media to connect CBVs for the first time. - Distribute local marketing support packages and presentations. Solution Overview We created a layered communications program of proprietary content development,

earned media, paid media and online communications in English Canada through June and into July for tracking. We decided punching through in a short burst was better than stretching the slim budget out and not breaking through at all.

Business valuations are not typically newsworthy unless they are attached to large, well-

known companies. So to start, we had to manufacture compelling content by learning something new about the current business climate, how business leaders are coping and what all that means in the context of business value.

We interviewed 150+ senior managers in an online panel and conducted 40 in-depth

interviews with business owners and leaders across Canada. The research covered both CBV awareness and value proposition testing, and business leader opinion. We packaged the research and made it available to all CBVs across Canada (see Point 6 below).

Then we started the outbound communications work. (1) We used the refreshingly candid commentary from the business leader’s in-depth

interviews to create the narrative for a CBV thought-leadership paper called the Price Of Change.

Our interviews revealed a Canadian business executive group that had grown distrustful

of forecasting, succession planning and many of their advisory partnerships. We used their unique perspective to create our media relations messaging and the hooks for paid business media creative.

(2) We focused a media release program on this fact: 50% of the business

leaders/owners we spoke with are not prepared for succession planning. Two waves of releases were sent out:

- Exclusive distribution to key journalists - CNW general business distribution three days later We exceeded pick up expectations and earned two feature stories (Toronto Star and

Financial Post). Media kits and follow-up packages were also produced and distributed. (3) The Price of Change was loaded online and used to generate engagement with web

site visits and links from online (Globe & Mail) advertising. (4) The media team negotiated four advertorial full page inserts in the Globe Report on

Business. The content team re-packaged the business leader interview insights, added senior CBV practitioner interviews to the mix and released the inserts once per week for four weeks - while the media relations were also running. This earned and paid media blend helped CBV messaging break through based on both tracked and anecdotal feedback.

(5) We created a CBV member LinkedIn Group (a first for this association of very

conservative business people). (6) We created professional CBV member kits (for all CBVs) that included a media-

training video, several copies of the Price of Change (plus downloading guidance), a local area marketing kit for private practitioners and a PowerPoint presentation connected to the research and for use with local business service groups, bank branches and law offices.

Implementation and Challenges Implementation: Planning research commenced in late 2010 and was completed in early

2011. Media was negotiated with the Globe & Mail special sections group during the winter, interviews with CBVs wrapped up in April and the campaign started running in June, finishing in early July. Results and reports were completed by the end of July.

Challenges - there were several: • CICBV is a risk-adverse, volunteer-based association of professionals who have

significant responsibilities with their firms. They are not marketers - nor was the campaign their priority. The results of the research (near zero awareness) increased the urgency.

• Their budget was half of what was recommended to start and about 20% of what's needed to run a national campaign. We adapted by narrowing the focus on layering earned and paid media to greater effect.

• Local, practicing CBVs are a wait and see group - they don't do social media nor do they market themselves very well. This was a tough sell as well, but the results started to show with the LinkedIn group and the local area marketing tools.

Measurement of Outcomes and Outputs Goal: Initiate media interest in the CBV point of view. Results: 2 Business Press Stories Financial Post Toronto Star 1 Interview Toronto Star 30 online media pickups (major city papers, business pages, all markets) Numerous Blog Mentions Media Equivalent: Approx. $250,000 Media Impressions: 300,000 online + 1,200,000 Paid circulation of Globe & Mail in June 2011. Goal: Generate incremental traffic at the new CBV web site. Result:

Pre During Post During Visits 6,300 7,300 5,700 15%+ Unique Visitors 3,200 4,300 3,400 34%+

Globe Visits 6% of traffic (3) Engage member CBVs in the new brand and thought-leadership dialogue.

Pre Post LinkedIn Group 0 443 (31% of total Membership)

Other Results: • 1,000 visitors viewed the Price of Change though-leadership content online. • Many marketing initiatives for this organization have started over the years; The Price of

Change campaign is the first one to actually see the light of day. For marketing and communications newcomers, this is a significant achievement.

• CICBV launched a new website and brand positioning initiative (Be Certain). The Brand

has received universal and enthusiastic support from the membership.