| Type | Public Relations Agency |
|---|---|
| Industry | Communications |
| Founded | 1987 |
| Headquarters | global |
| Key people |
Lou Hoffman Managing Director of Europe |
| Products | Public relations |
| Employees | 130 (2008) |
| Website | http://www.hoffman.com/ |
The Hoffman Agency is a global high-tech public relations firm. It employs more than 130 people across nine offices in Europe, Asia Pacific and the United States. Some of the company's customers include Black & Veatch, Novellus and Axis Communications.[4]
The company manages global public relations programs for technology companies in the semiconductor, business-to-business and consumer industries. It also has clients in technology areas such as nanotechnology, web 2.0 and clean-tech.
The company offers specialty services including media training[5], storytelling workshops[6][7], corporate blogging workshops, business press, web 2.0, social media[8] and broadcast media[9][10].
Contents |
The Hoffman Agency was founded in December 1987 with Meridian Data, a company specializing in CD-ROM publishing systems. In 1988 the company successfully publicized HP's new concept of a CD-ROM and later won the business of HP services.[11] HP's name brought credibility to the small operation, which helped the agency increase its client base across the technology industry.[12]
In 1993 the firm won the Silver Anvil award for its work launching HP’s miniature disk drive, Kitty Hawk.[13] In 1994 The Hoffman Agency initiated its first global campaign in launching Hyundai’s (now known as Hynix) MPEG-2 chip in Europe and Asia Pacific.[14]
Global expansion followed the work for Hyundai with the firm opening offices throughout Asia, including Beijing, Hong Kong, Shanghai, Seoul, Singapore and Tokyo between 1996 and 2000. The opening of the company's Beijing office in 2000 marked a milestone for The Hoffman Agency as it became the first Silicon Valley technology PR firm to enter mainland China.[15][16][17] The Hoffman Agency expanded to Europe in 2001 with the opening of an office in London.[18]
The company has received more than 100 industry awards including the Crystal Award of Excellence (Communicator Awards) and the Platinum Award (Marcom Creative Awards).[13] In 2007 the agency won the Bronze Anvil award for a B-Roll project called “Delivering Explosive Results for the Latest Anti-terror Technology” for Sony and a thought leadership campaign called “From Blogs to BusinessWeek” for ThinkFree.
Fenwick & West
The Hoffman Agency won a 2008 Gold Bulldog Award[13] for its work with Silicon Valley-based law firm, Fenwick & West. The Hoffman Agency extended the firm’s reach to the business press, ultimately building equity in the brand through high-profile pieces in Associated Press,[19] BusinessWeek,[20] Forbes[21] and the Wall Street Journal.[22] The Hoffman Agency also landed a speaking opportunity for a Fenwick & West attorney at the Silicon Valley Churchill Club.[23]
HP - HPServerNews
When HP launched a new type of computer blade server in 2002, it was clear that a detailed web site would have to be an integral part of the campaign. The Hoffman Agency helped HP run an educational Web campaign via HPServerNews.com. Following the campaign, “the site drew more than 28,000 unique visitors and more than 34,000 total visits during the four-week campaign and resulted in more than 33,000 content downloads and 72,000 downloads of multimedia items.”[24]
Plantronics Hands-free Campaign
The Hoffman Agency won the PRSA Bronze Anvil Award of Commendation in 2009 for its work with Plantronics on a campaign called “Driving Thought Leadership Surrounding Hands-free Laws.” The campaign educated more than 27 million drivers in California and Washington about legislation that banned drivers from talking on cell phones behind the wheel after research showed that more than 70% of drivers in these states were unaware of the stipulations of the new laws.[25]