If you’re fortunate enough to have a number of startups being launched within a short period of time, you’re also faced with a challenge: How do you market all of them? The answer, says Joe Hornett, senior vice president, treasurer, and COO of the Purdue Research Foundation, is to use a variety of marketing strategies customized to the specific technologies. Hornett knows whereof he speaks: Purdue formed ten startups between July 2007 and June 2008. “In some cases it’s as simple as developing logos for letterheads, business cards, and web sites,” he says. “We offer support on web site design, and we can assist with preparation and actual distribution of news releases. We also work with the founders and provide media training, so they will be more adept at interviews.” The TTO team also creates company profiles, and has produced TV commercials focusing on start-ups that to run in local and regional media to target both customers and investors. “Another thing we’ve done is find [start-ups] opportunities for recognition,” says Hornett. “For example, there are contests, like ‘The 50 fastest growing companies,’ or ‘Life Science companies to watch.’ We look for those opportunities and if we think they will help them we put together packages to enter those contests, because a lot of media goes along with those events.” A detailed article on marketing multiple start-ups appears in the October issue of Intellectual Property Marketing Advisor. For subscription information, CLICK HERE.

Posted October 28th, 2008 under Uncategorized

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