Recently a client asked me, “What has Cognis been doing in the past year?”
2017 was in fact quite the year for all of us at Cognis. Many projects, many challenges, many successes. Below is a quick snapshot.
PUBLIC RELATIONS
We started the year off with BGN Technologies, the technology transfer company of Ben-Gurion University (BGU). Although BGN initially hired us to draft a new marketing strategy and the marketing plan for 2017, we found ourselves focusing on public relations. It turned out that Lavin Communications, the PR firm working with BGU in the U.S. was doing excellent outreach and media focus. To deepen and expand the impact, we created interesting stories with strong messaging that got across to the right media and end-customer.
Our ten press releases on BGN research-based ventures got extensive coverage by targeted publications, but what’s more important – five of them gathered either investor or customer interest – or both.
Examples include the new therapy for ALS, research on protection from cyber threats posed by peripheral equipment, and a new company to commercialize the first Israeli AUV.
Following in tow was Qmarkets, an innovation management company that hired us for the second time (they previously participated in the SaaS consortium I managed). This time around, we provided them with PR and social media services, including a Twitter campaign to connect with journalists and potential customers, create brand awareness, and promote company events.
BRANDING
We also landed a large-scale branding project with Phytech, an agriculture IoT company. Omer Kotzer, a seasoned creative designer who worked for years in the U.S., brought us on board, and it was a great opportunity to learn from the very best.
We created company positioning that is geared with surgical precision to its customers, as can be seen on their website and the polished visual language that seamlessly encompasses all their communications, including the product user interface.
We also conducted a branding project for Exodus, a startup system for evacuating and managing crowd safety, and Creo Partners, a capital raising and M&A advisory venture, for which we created the company name.
OVERALL MARKETING
Next came Amdocs, which hired us to provide overall marketing services for their Services R&D unit, an in-house incubator for new services and technologies.
Cognis’s core specialty is SME’s, but we took the plunge, built the positioning and messaging for six new ventures, and created marketing tools (both internal and external).
RavTech, a new kid on the Israeli software services block (with a twist: all its employees are Haredi rabbinical scholars), took us to do some hardcore branding, and build their website and marketing collateral.
RavTech provides religious scholars with a vocation that utilizes their capabilities, and our role was to build a coherent story that would emphasize their uniqueness, and place it in the right context.
BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT
CENS, a portfolio company of Incubit Ventures, develops technologies for rechargeable batteries. We developed marketing tools for them and launched a highly successful LinkedIn campaign to contact potential customers, who are major battery manufacturers. Some of the leads we landed include Panasonic Automotive & Industrial Systems, 3M electronics & energy, and Samsung SDI – oh yes, we’re proud.
INVESTOR PRESENTATION
Last but not least is MiRobot, a startup in the field of dairy farming. We created an investor presentation, including content and design, but – as often happens – we didn’t stop there. We also took a closer look at the projections and showed much more clearly how much the farmer would save using the product, and presented additional benefits in a more clearly defined way. One investor liked what he saw and they are now in talks.
Indeed, a fruitful year.