Innovation is key word of international PR programme
London, Paris, Frankfurt, Washington – December 15, 1999
At the London Online Information show, Questel•Orbit celebrated its
return to growth and the success of its new global communications strategy campaign
set up with the PROI agency network.
Questel•Orbit, the online provider of Intellectual Property information
services, chose i&e Consultants (France) and its PROI partners icas
Public Relations (UK), Leipziger & Partner (Germany) and Optimum
Public Relations (US), to help it transition towards market-driven communications
in the run-up to the Year 2000.
Y2K success story
Questel•Orbit embarked in 1998 on a major search engine merger when it
decided to migrate the unique features and databases of Orbit and Questel on
to a single, Y2K-compliant Questel•Orbit platform.
Driven by specifications from long-term customers –gathered in particular
through the Questel•Orbit International Advisory Council which met in
London last week – the project was finalised in June 1999.
From June through December, Questel•Orbit account managers and consultants
have been helping customers perfect their search strategies with the new global
service.
Innovation: the value of Intellectual Property
The Y2K search engine merger prompted Questel•Orbit to refocus last year
on its core business, Intellectual Property information. This market is experiencing
a renewal, as corporate decision-makers and the investment community strive
to unlock the value of patent and trademark assets.
Jean Besson, Chairman of Questel•Orbit commented: "In just one
year, we’ve put our customers back in charge. Our customers are innovators,
large and small, so they keep us moving forward. The best businesses are built
with ideas, which are protected as patents and branded for the market with trademarks
and Internet domain names. Investors are looking for companies with such a capacity
to innovate; we at Questel•Orbit aim to play an essential role in helping
our customers build this competitive advantage."
Global service and marketing
The merger of Orbit of the US with the European Questel also enables Questel•Orbit
to provide truly global service to customers who increasingly integrate their
R&D and marketing processes through worldwide knowledge sharing over Internet-enabled
networks.
Researchers from Munich to Palo Alto and Tokyo can now compare their search
strategies and produce consistent results. Questel•Orbit has re-organised
to address globalisation with worldwide patent and trademark business development
and single account management handled by sales representatives in over 20 countries.
With the support of PROI agencies, a new global marketing initiative was launched,
to highlight the benefits to customers of Questel•Orbit’s focus
on Intellectual Property. The PR programme included strategic PR consulting,
corporate identity, opinion research, customer communications and media relation
in the US, the UK, France and Germany.
PROI: to help companies in 31 countries improve
their international business effectiveness
Public Relations Organisation International, Inc. (PROI) is the world's
oldest and one of the largest international networks of independent public relations
and marketing firms.
Every Partner serves its national and international clients in its country.
PROI supports cooperation and coordination of its Partners to build international
PR programmes.
