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Bear Icebox Communications

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Vainu

The problem

Vainu, a fast-growing SaaS sales intelligence company founded in Helsinki with four offices across Europe, came to Bear Icebox around the time it opened up its New York office in early 2017. While the company had captured large market shares across Europe, it was a new entity in the United States, launching a new AI-powered sales database and hiring a team in the U.S. The had a few goals in mind: adapt to the U.S. market, grow brand awareness, and generate local interest in the Vainu database Vainu had been looking for a nimble team adept with both the North American market and European brands. They turned to Bear Icebox to develop a public relations campaign that would hit these targets.

The solution

As a self-funded tech startup using machine learning in its platform, Vainu had an intriguing brand story to tell. And that name was interesting. We played up on the uniqueness of the name (Vainu, in Finnish, means “scent of the hunt”) to tell the brand story of how Vainu helps sales teams and companies on the hunt for the right leads find the right scents on the prospecting trail. With all that in mind, we developed the following strategy: Leverage a compelling brand story, focusing on Vainu’s unique value to sales teams, positioning Vainu as thought leaders, compiling data and, generating buzz to boost brand awareness.

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20+

Earned media placements in half a year

Top 100

Received recognition as a top 100 startup in Wired U.K

2x Traffic

Website traffic more than doubled in six-month period

Results

Through a steady drumbeat of data, thought leadership articles, news releases and sourced articles, we secured 20+ placements in half a year, landing in targeted publications including: Business News Daily, CMS Wire, Business2Community, Markets Insider and more. As the brand continued to grow and develop in the U.S., its European presence increased alongside it, and Vainu received recognition as a top 100 startup in Wired U.K. and recognition from Business Insider as a major player in the Nordics. And as the relationship evolved, Bear Icebox has helped contribute to blogs, ebooks, trend reports and data analysis and more. Website traffic to Vainu.io increased dramatically, with leads increasing and web traffic on an already flowing B2B website more than doubling in a span of six-month period.

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“We started working with Bear Icebox after launching our New York office. Through our core messages, they’ve landed useful press coverage and contributed to ebooks, trend reports, infographics and blogs. We’ve seen nice increases in web traffic and online leads.”

Mikko Honkanen, Co-Founder @ Vainu

Awards and Accreditations

Clutch logo.

Top B2B Brand

Expertise logo.

Top Ranked Chicago-Based PR Firm

Enterie logo.

Sole US Partner Serving Global Clients

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Member of Unified Strategies PR

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Top 100 PR Professional

Entrepreneur logo.

Top Franchise Supplier 2022

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Latest Podcast: Tune in to our podcast GC & More for some ear-time with Bear Icebox co-owners Bob and DeAnna Spoerl. They discuss leadership, entrepreneurship and work-life balance with other industry professionals…and crack a joke or two along the way…. Listen now

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