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CheckFree Corporation (Nasdaq:CKFR) of Atlanta provides the secure platform that powers electronic billing and payment for consumers, billers and financial services companies across the United States. The company’s wide range of financial e-commerce solutions, which include software and outsourced services, are focused on enabling customers to receive electronic bills and statements, make electronic payments and collections, automate paper-based recurring financial transactions and conduct secure Internet transactions. IndustryCheckFree’s products and services are sold across a wide range of business-to-business markets, from financial institutions and brokerage firms to global billing companies and other organizations that are automating financial transactions and the data associated with those payments. Business ChallengeAs the use of the Internet becomes ubiquitous in the United States, more and more people are discovering the ease and convenience of many online services. Million of Americans pay their bills online each month through CheckFree-powered sites such as the Bank of America, US Bank, Wachovia, SunTrust, NetBank, Yahoo!, Merrill Lynch and more, and this number is expected to grow dramatically in the next few years.The company has a clear goal: accelerate consumer adoption of the online payment services provided by its corporate partners. CheckFree asked Schwartz Communications to help it meet this goal by securing media coverage in markets with substantial consumer, biller and bank penetration. Schwartz PR StrategyWorking with CheckFree’s marketing and corporate public relations departments and its largest partners, a plan was developed that focused on the top 25 markets for media outreach. It was named the Market Acceleration Program (MAP). The markets were selected based on size, media audience, critical mass of billers offering electronic bills and presence of a major CheckFree financial service partner. The primary message was that paying bills online is easy and convenient, fitting in with today’s Internet lifestyle.The Schwartz team targeted local dailies in each of the 25 target markets and approached personal finance, consumer interest and high-tech writers. Additionally, Schwartz and CheckFree built a strictly consumer-focused press kit that provided a publication with all the necessary components to write compelling features on the ease, convenience and time-saving benefits of receiving and paying bills electronically. Concurrently, to help round out the surround sound approach to the consumer awareness campaign, Schwartz targeted national consumer and personal finance writers at magazines, large dailies and on morning shows. ResultsStories reflecting the main messages of the public relations campaign appeared in each of the 25 identified markets and in all 50 states. Altogether, during the MAP campaign, Schwartz secured 243 newspaper features, including syndicated articles in the Associated Press, Gannett News and The Los Angeles Times. Over the course of a year, stories about online bill payments totaled more than 22 million impressions.While women are the primary bill-payers in most households, the classic early adopters of electronic billing and payment were male. In order to fuel growth among mainstream consumers and the ideal bill payer, the PR team also targeted national women’s magazines. Articles about the advantages of online billing and payment appeared in Cosmopolitan, Consumer Reports, First for Women, Women’s World, Real Simple and Martha Stewart Living.By focusing on key markets, providing reporters the material they needed, identifying local and national CheckFree partners, and profiling consumers, these public relations efforts have been part of a successful program to increase consumer awareness and understanding of the benefits of receiving and paying bills online. Enrollments are up, with the number of people using CheckFree-powered services growing by more than 40 percent in the past year. Overall awareness of electronic bill payment grew to 99 percent according to a study by Harris Interactive.The public relations campaign was so successful it was awarded the Silver Anvil in 2002 (the Oscar for PR) in the category Consumer Services-Technology.Schwartz’s CheckFree consumer public relations campaign continues today and has expanded the messages of electronic billing and payment, as well as the target publications that can help drive additional grassroots awareness and adoption. Results include Money Magazine; TIME; Southwest Spirit, the in-flight magazine for Southwest Airlines; and The New York Times.
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