Launching cloud consultancy start-up Steamhaus

Steamhaus needed to claim share of voice in an established and crowded cloud hosting market.

A s a start-up, Steamhaus needed to claim its stake and demonstrate where its offering sat in the market – positioning the business as a tailored service rather than the ‘turn it on and off’ perception of traditional data centres. Steamhaus needed a partner who could identify key selling points and communicate them effectively to the media and other stakeholders.

The first step was to carry out a messaging workshop, with the entire team. This allowed all stakeholders to share ideas and agree, as a collective, the brand story we wanted to tell.

This helped us to pursue a two-pronged approach which positioned the business as a young, exciting start-up but also established Steamhaus as thought leaders – with more than 50 years’ combined experience.

The concepts and tone of voice agreed in the workshop also acted as an anchor, helping us to shape how we talked about Steamhaus in all subsequent marketing content, from the web copy to the invitations for the launch event.

Results

Daniel Keighron-Foster, managing director at Steamhaus said: “Working with Fourth Day has been an amazing experience right from day one before our launch. They’ve not only helped us shape our ‘voice’ when producing marketing literature, but also helped us with how we perceive ourselves internally as well, which is vital for a new brand. They work tirelessly for us and proactively come up with ideas on a regular basis. They’ve been an absolute joy to work with.”

"Fourth Day have not only helped us shape our 'voice' when producing marketing literature, but also helped us with how we perceive ourselves internally as well, which is vital for a new brand. "
Daniel Keighron-Foster Managing Director, Steamhaus

At a glance:

  • Media coverage More than 15 pieces in the company's first quarter
  • Industry recognition Listed in top British startups
  • Thought leadership Established founder as an authoritative influencer

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Results

We launched a media relations campaign that ensured Steamhaus appeared on the pages of regional and business publications. This generated more than 15 pieces of coverage in the company’s first quarter, including tier one titles such as the Manchester Evening News and North West Business Insider.

This provided the perfect foundation to position Steamhaus as thought leaders and gain further coverage on a range of topics, ranging from reactions to the Autumn Statement to discussing office culture with the Guardian.

Thought leadership 

By positioning managing director Daniel Keighron-Foster as the main brand spokesperson, we managed to deliver media coverage in the tech press and other target sectors such as ecommerce. This included coverage in publications such as Retail Week discussing how retailers can stay operational during Black Friday, Computer Weekly commenting on topical issues such as G-Cloud and The Register talking about the rise of DevOps.

Awards and lists

To strengthen the business’ initial credentials we also targeted awards and magazine lists. We identified several opportunities that would establish Steamhaus as ‘one to watch’ in the start-up, entrepreneurial and regional business press.

This saw Steamhaus featured in Startups.co.uk’s ‘101 British tech start-up ideas’, while Daniel was included as a Made in Manchester Finalist in the Entrepreneur of the Year category and North West Business Insider’s prestigious ‘42 under 42’. He was also elected as a council member at trade body Manchester Digital; a position voted for by industry peers.

Media coverage

  • Daniel Keighron-Foster launches new cloud venture

    Daniel Keighron-Foster, said Steamhaus will fill the technical and customer service void that prevents companies from exploiting the potential of the cloud. Manchester Evening News

  • Retail surgery

    How can retailers stay operational as online traffic spikes? Retail Week

  • Time to quash the cloud myths

    A quick Google search highlights that enterprises are still unsure about the perceived risks that come hand in hand with cloud computing. Compare the Cloud