Acacia

Background:

A small publicly owned company that acquires and licenses technology patents to other companies, Acacia hired INK to help get coverage in the business media. INK took a different approach and offered Acacia's CEO as an expert on high profile patent cases. In a period of 60 days, INK had Acacia's CEO on CNBC three times. Here's how

Sample of Hits:
Los Angeles Times - "Blackberry Saved by Settlement"
CNBC - "Patent System Broken?"
CNBC Squawk Box- "Blackberry Deal"

Access360

In less than a year-and-a-half, INK Inc. client Access360 went from being a fairly unknown enterprise software start-up to a recognized leader in the suddenly hot "security provisioning" space that caught the eye of IBM, which acquired the Irvine, California-based company in the fall of 2002. We believe strategic, well-executed PR -- and the resulting media exposure it generated -- contributed to the company's success. Here's how

 
Sample of Hits:
Newsweek.com - "Hacking grows with Internet use"
Insurance Executive Technology - "System Sabotage: Are you secure?"
New York Times - "Clearing the password buffet"

Avamar

Background:

Avamar Technologies, Inc., is an Irvine, CA company that has provided patented disk-based back-up, restore and disaster recovery solutions since 1999. Axion, Avamar's main solution, efficiently stores and protects a company's data while providing online accessibility. Avamar's software was highly touted by industry experts but the company had to overcome a huge perceputal juggernaut: Avamar's solution was disk-based and broke from the status quo of tape-based backup systems offered by behemoth industries like Veritas and IBM. INK developed a strategy to overcome these obstacles and resulted in more than 36 media placements in 2005. Here's How

Sample of Hits:
Byte and Switch - "Avamar Rolls The Tape"
Network World - "Avamar enhances disk-based backup"
Search Storage - "Tapeless backup gains favor among storage architects"

Candlewood Suites

Background:
In only eight months, INK garnered positive editorial coverage for Candlewood Suites' (www.ichotelsgroup.com) "Grandparents Stay Free" with more than 40 major media outlets -- including the Wall Street Journal, USA Today and Washington Post -- reaching a combined audience of more than 23 million. The increase in publicity correlated with a significant increase in participation of the program nationwide. In December 2003, InterContinental Hotels Group, one of the largest hoteliers in the world, purchased the hotel chain. Here's how

Sample of Hits:
USA Today - "Grandkids mean a great deal - as in discounts"
MSNBC - "Got Grandkids?"
American Way - "Isn't that suite"

CARSTAR

Background:
CARSTAR (www.carstar.com), North America's largest collision repair network, hired INK in April 2003 to conduct a media relations campaign aimed at helping strengthen its brand image among consumers and its preeminence within the industry. To date, INK has garnered the company coverage in key trade and regional media, as well as in national heavy-weights such as ABC World News Tonight, Christian Science Monitor, CNBC and Forbes. Here's how

Sample of Hits:
Wall Street Journal - "The disposable car: More cars end up totaled"
Forbes - "The disposable car"
Christian Science Monitor - "New cars are getting too expensive to fix"
Kansas City Star - "Auto repair field grows, changes"

ClearPlay

Background:
ClearPlay, (www.clearplay.com) ,which makes software that filters sex, graphic violence and profanity from DVD movies, is a small company with a great product. However, ClearPlay also faces a steep uphill battle. On the eve of signing major retail and manufacturing agreements to launch a ClearPlay-enabled DVD player for the consumer market, the company was lumped in with film-censoring video store chains such as CleanFlicks and other film-editing technology companies and named a co-defendant in separate lawsuits filed by the Directors Guild of America and eight of the major Hollywood studios over what they deemed to be trademark and copyright infringement. INK helped ClearPlay fight back by enlisting the power of the media and public opinion as an adjunct to its legal defense.

INK has secured coverage for ClearPlay in virtually every major regional, national and international media outlet, reaching a combined audience of more than 80 million. Here's how

Sample of Hits:
PC World - "Gadgets keep getting smarter"
Forbes - "Monster in the box"
USA Today - "ClearPlay technology sanitizes DVD viewing"
Los Angeles Times - "This dad demands final cut"

Freedom Is Not Free

Background:
Freedom Is Not Free is a non-profit organization that raises money and awareness for wounded veterans and their families. The group has done everything from assisting with travel expenses for families of fallen soldiers to buying burn beds for road side bomb victims to paying utility bills and mortgage payments for recovering veterans. Their primary means for raising money was by selling a 2007 “America’s Heroes” calendar that featured current and former Recon Marines. INK's efforts efforts resulted in more than 50 local and national radio interviews as well as national and international coverage in radio, television and print. Here's how

Sample of Hits:
London Times - "Marines Get Their Kit off to help the lads"
Regis & Kelly - November 27, 2006 airing
In Touch Weekly - People in the News

James B. Nutter & Company

Background:
James B. Nutter & Company (www.jamesbnutter.com) is one of the nation’s largest privately-owned mortgage companies, founded in 1951 in Kansas City, Mo. When it hired INK in May 2002, the company was well known and respected in the mortgage industry as well as the Kansas City community, but had received little attention on a national level. James B. Nutter & Company asked INK inc. to increase awareness of the company through a national media relations campaign. In the end, INK established the company's CEO, James Nutter, Jr., as a nationally-known expert in the industry. Here's how

Sample of Hits:
Reuters/CNN.com - "Mortgage activity eases 9%"
TIME Special Report - "Curing the late-payment blues"
USA Today - "Attitude worthy of Clint Eastwood might tame refinancing costs"

Kansas City T Bones

Background:
The Kansas City T-Bones are a Northern League baseball team. Northern League teams are not minor league teams because they're not directly affiliated with any Major League Baseball club. But the play and skill levels of the players are similar to that of a lower level minor league team. The T-Bones have a very loyal fan base and are near the top of the league in attendance. But because the team is in a 'big league' town-sharing the spotlight with the Kansas City Royals, the Kansas City Chiefs, three major universities and a nationally known racing speedway-they tend to get lost in a lot of the sports media coverage. In July 2006, the T-Bones hosted the Northern League All-Star Game for the first time. The T-Bones hired INK to help raise the profile of the team and to promote the Northern League All-Star Game and its festivities. Here's how

Sample of Hits:
38 Sports - January 18 airing

Russell Stover Candies

Background:
Clara and Russell Stover began making candy in the kitchen of their Denver bungalow home in 1923. The company is now the largest producer of box-chocolates in the United States. In 2003, Russell Stover (www.russellstover.com) hired INK to publicize it new line of "low-carb" chocolates. Within six months, INK generated coverage of the low-carb sweets on media heavyweights such as ABC's The View, Associated Press, NBC's Today show, People magazine and USA Today -- among others. Here's how

Sample of Hits:
People magazine - "Low-carb craze rocks the food chain"
USA Today - "Candy sellers box up low-carb chocolates"
Associated Press - "Russell Stover selling low-carb chocolates"

Veritasiti [Family Media Guide]

Background:
FamilyMediaGuide.com is a Los Angeles-based company that offers parents comprehensive information about the content of movies, television and video games. It’s a free web site that catalogs the exact amounts of profanity, sex, violence, and tobacco use in the movies, television shows, and video games that kids may be watching or playing. FMG employs trained auditors who literally count and document every curse word, act of violence, sex scene, and instance of tobacco use.

FamilyMediaGuide.com believes the current industry ratings for movies, television and video games are vague and don’t give parents all the information they need in order to determine if a particular entertainment option is suitable for their children.

FamilyMediaGuide.com hired INK to raise awareness of the company both in the general public and within the entertainment industry. Here's how