Positioning a Company for an IPO
 The
Challenge: Secure Computing Corp., the premier maker of Internet
firewalls (which prevent hackers from invading corporate computers),
was moving into the commercial market after years of specializing
in government contracts. The company was poised for an IPO to take
advantage of the strong market for Internet stocks in late 1995.
Secure Computing was well-known in computer circles, but at the
time the average person barely understood the Internet, much less
a company that was a leading manufacturer of Internet firewalls.
It was important to build a strong reputation in the general business
press quickly, both to attract investors and to help the company
move into the commercial market. Complicating the task was the company's
location in Roseville, Minn., far from the concentration of computer
press in New York, Boston and Silicon Valley.
The Solution: We moved quickly to
create a professional press package, translating the arcane language
of firewall security into terms that could be easily understood
by the general press without being so simplistic as to insult the
intelligence of the technical press. We worked with Secure Computing
to update the Web site, establishing its "Sidewinder"
snake logo as an innovative brand. We developed ideas for photography
and video B-roll (an electronic press kit for television) that made
it easier to understand a product that is inherently difficult to
picture.
Within less than a week after completion
of the press package and B-roll, we accompanied Secure Computing's
CEO to a major trade conference in Washington, D.C., where he appeared
on network television. CNN used the B-roll on national and international
broadcasts. We tied other interviews to travel plans of company
executives. Strong publicity in the general business media and trade
press followed during the next few months, including Financial News
Network, The New York Times, and The Wall Street Journal.
Results: When Secure Computing went
public, it had the highest opening day gain of any IPO in history,
more than tripling the stock price in one day.
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