Aspire Technology Partners

Repositioning the hidden value of a mid-sized IT services firm as an innovative thought leader in digital and business transformation – and elevating its brand to a new level of sophistication.

IBM Internet Security Systems

Helping ISS reposition for growth and acquisition, and continuing to deliver thought leadership and branding to support IBM’s leadership in the cyber security market.

FIS

Elevating the world’s largest banking and financial software provider to a fresh new position in the market – and consolidating their vast assets under a unified brand.

IBM Internet Security Systems

The “Bad Guys” Just Keep Getting Better

That’s been the general observation from CSOs, CTOs, CISSPs, security professionals and industry analysts since the term “hacker” first became part of the mainstream vernacular. In fact, cybercrimes now account for over $100 billion in annual costs to the overall market – inflicted by viruses, malware, criminal insiders, data theft and SQL injection. And it’s not just businesses getting attacked. Consumers are feeling it every day in the form of identity theft and credit card fraud. Over 600,000 Facebook accounts are compromised every day – and botnets just employed over 120,000 “zombie” computers to generate spam since you started reading this.

It’s scary out there. And that required a powerful response from companies like Internet Security Systems (ISS): a pioneer in the development of security hardware and software, with a wide array of network and point solutions. Along with their multi-level security products and professional services, ISS also boasted some of the best security research on the planet. Their unique X-Force research group – a collection of former “black hat hackers” and security thought leaders – had forged a practice around identifying vulnerabilities across the Internet long before they were exploited, enabling ISS to patch for specific threats months before they struck.

The ValueArc Solution

Despite having these tremendous market advantages, ISS was relatively unknown. And even fewer companies understood the business value of the security investment. Aside from the growing demands around corporate compliance, governance and regulation, security was still considered a “cost” as opposed to a strategic enabler, with products viewed as individual network elements and not part of a holistic ecosystem. In recent years, they had also been battling the “whitewater” of stagnant growth, seeing a flat sales trend with little fanfare from the analyst community around their products, solutions and services.

The ValueArc Result

While competitors continued to focus on selling commodity appliances and point solutions, ValueArc revealed a more significant intangible advantage for ISS: helping their customers stay “Ahead of the Threat” with their unique blend of technology and X-Force threat research. This new position revolutionized their perception, shifted analyst conversations and moved the company’s sales in a positive direction. Leveraging a full-scale ValueArc Ascent branding program, ISS now had a cohesive, global brand that helped them stake a claim to the market – and deliver its messages through an integrated campaign architecture. The sustained activity gave them a continuous edge in the market, and the eventual result was an acquisition by IBM for $1.6 billion – five times the company’s annual revenues.

After a rigorous vetting process, IBM continued to retain the DaynerHall/ValueArc team – one of only a handful of global firms authorized to create marketing content for IBM. Today, we continue to support their vision of a smarter, more secure planet. Working as a team, our seasoned subject matter experts provide world-class content across a variety of marketing assets – and support evolving technology areas across the company. Currently, we are responsible for producing a series of strategic, highly-visible security trend and risk reports, published by the X-Force research group. These reports encompass global security data from a variety of resources, compiled into lengthy documents with detailed diagrams and infographics. The data is mission-critical, and accuracy an absolute requirement. To that end, ValueArc and DaynerHall have earned a trusted role as the go-to support team for making these time-sensitive reports available to the market.

VALUEARC PRODUCTS INCLUDED:

• Discovery, Positioning and Messaging
• Brand Architecture
• Campaign Management

FIS (Fidelity Information Systems)

What Does It Take to Be “First” in Your Market?

In a word, it takes vision – and a number of strategic and potentially risky moves along the way. But that’s a gamble Fidelity Information Systems was willing to take in order to dominate the banking software industry. In 2009, it assumed the mantle of undisputed market leadership through its merger with an up-and-coming competitor, Metavante. With a combined workforce of over 30,000 employees and nearly $6 Billion in revenue, this powerhouse was poised to change the conversation across the financial industry and set a new standard for banking software and technology.

As the agency of record during this critical transition, DaynerHall – ValueArc’s parent company – helped develop and project this new global brand to the world, from advertising to digital/traditional media and beyond. With a solid understanding of the banking anf financial industries, DaynerHall helped build an extensible platform for the FIS brand that was used successfully around the world. This expertise and proximity brought ValueArc into strategic conversations when the obstacles to growth and the challenges of security became key issues.

The ValueArc Solution

At the time, consolidation was consuming the banking world. Over half of the marketplace was now owned by the “Big Four” mega banks, and with the effects of the financial crisis still persisting, the banking technology vertical was facing serious headwinds. In addition, FIS was still largely known for their legacy core banking systems, for which they had a significant footprint but a growing perception of older, less agile products. How do you grow when you already own a large percentage of the market – and how do you reposition your commitment to innovation in an ever-evolving industry of competitive technology solutions?

The ValueArc Result

Working closely with the leadership and key stakeholders, ValueArc helped shape the unique market position and tagline of “First in Financial Technology,” which was introduced at their largest annual tradeshow and PR event. In the same year, FIS achieved the distinction of being #1 on the 2011 FINTECH 100 list – the most prestigious industry accolade for a banking and financial technology provider. This win further validated their position, and created greater industry buzz around their innovation and thought leadership. The ValueArc executive sessions also helped align FIS’ content marketing efforts within a common framework. Collaborating with their subject matter experts, the ValueArc process helped create a revolutionary new concept called “Relationship Banking 2.0”, which became the subject of a critical white paper. These messages were all translated into compelling diagrams and infographics, and supported via the broad advertising and marketing efforts across the communications spectrum – from banner campaigns to sponsorships to tradeshow and event applications.

Through DaynerHall, the ValueArc positioning helped guide and influence a host of other programs, including the integration of acquired brands into the master FIS brand platform. Making the “vision” intuitive and easily understood by new divisions and sub-brands was part of the ValueArc mandate – and was even woven into employee, client and user group campaigns and initiatives.

Leveraging the results at the highest level, FIS gained a stronger foothold in their market, repositioning themselves not just as a core banking software provider, but as an innovative, progressive and growth-oriented leader in the banking technology landscape... and “First in Financial Technology.”

VALUEARC PRODUCTS INCLUDED:

• Discovery, Positioning and Messaging
• Brand Architecture
• Campaign Management