Business Challenge
Search is the killer app of the Web. GlobalSpec knew it
and had toiled eight years building an online database
and specialized vertical advertising medium where parts
and component manufacturers paid to be discovered by
engineers. The dot-com survivor had beaten the odds,
growing its registered user base by about 100,000 a
year over its first eight years. By late 2003 however,
the still largely undiscovered vertical search engine
was at risk of being dwarfed by media darling Google,
which positioned itself as the only search engine anyone
would ever need. GlobalSpec clicked on Tech Image Ltd.
to boost recognition, build its user base faster than
before and define and lead a new category: domain-specific
vertical search.
Background
Engineers and technical buyers often encounter sketchy
data at manufacturer Web sites or in bulky paper directories.
Search engines are no exception. The results are normally
a mile wide and an inch deep. Busy engineers don’t
have time to waste. Irrelevant data slows projects and
drains budgets. They need to go an inch wide and a mile
deep.
GlobalSpec was formed by a few engineers who’d
suffered long enough, building a parametrically searchable
database
containing 78 million parts and components currently
marketed by participating suppliers. Then GlobalSpec
crawled, filtered
and indexed millions of World Wide Web pages for engineering-only
content, creating a pioneering site at (www.globalspec.com)
called The Engineering Web. It is a domain-specific
vertical search engine where engineers can enter an initial
technical
search term and then continue to probe ever deeper
on other terms related to the original term. The site
also
allows
access to the hidden Web by reaching inside firewalls
for application notes and standards.
Solution
To achieve its goals, GlobalSpec needed to define a
new category, seize ownership of that category, grow
its
user base, and become the most-discussed example
of specialized vertical search. Tech Image began
by conducting
a messaging
session to generate a clear roadmap for executives
to use
when discussing the company with media and analysts.
The sessions produced a powerful value proposition:
With Internet
search expected to evolve much like television has
-- from broadcasting to narrowcasting -- GlobalSpec
is the
premier
example of how a domain-specific search engine meets
specialized needs.
The rollout began with a media
and industry analyst tour to New York City and Boston,
followed by Tech
Image’s
work to secure interviews on the emerging vertical
search engine category. Live desktop demonstrations
effectively
explained The Engineering Web and helped convince
editors and analysts that vertical search “is
what’s
coming next.” White papers and case studies
were placed successfully with engineering- and advertising-focused
publications. Satisfied GlobalSpec users and paying
suppliers
also stepped up to the plate to share their positive
experiences.
Results
Tech Image’s contributions helped GlobalSpec
grow its user base to 1.7 million from 910,000, a one-year
increase
in 2004 roughly equal to the combined registered
user growth over the site’s first eight years
of existence. And annual sales to participating suppliers
leaped 65%.
The media tour and aggressive, ongoing media
contact
work generated 57 online demonstrations over an
11-month period.
Extensive coverage of The Engineering Web appeared
in Design News, Machine Design, EDN, Sensors, Cadalyst
and
Desktop
Engineering. Advertising publications such as B
to B, min’s
B2B, DM News and Sales & Marketing Management
also covered GlobalSpec, along with national business
and information
technology media like ComputerWorld, CIO, eWeek,
Investor’s
Business Daily and Network World.
“
I just want to express my continuing delight with what
Tech Image is achieving for us … keep it
up!”
— Jeff Killeen, Chairman & CEO, GlobalSpec
John
Battelle, founder of Wired magazine, perhaps best summed
up the importance of the category when he wrote
how GlobalSpec “allows you to refine your search
in ways that simply don’t scale in the Googleverse.” The
year-long campaign reached a zenith when GlobalSpec
landed on the 2004 eContent 100 list of fast-growing
Internet companies. To the company’s delight,
what search engine was listed alphabetically immediately
after GlobalSpec? Google.
|
“ I just want to express my continuing
delight with what Tech Image is achieving for us … keep
it up!”
— Jeff Killeen, Chairman & CEO, GlobalSpec |
