Doherty Associates is a leading specialist in implementing, managing and securing cloud services, helping businesses achieve better outcomes through the use of insight and technology. Its innovative and highly secure solutions support companies in driving change, enabling innovation and accelerating growth. The company was founded by CEO Terry Doherty in 1991 and has been a Microsoft Gold Partner for over 15 years.
Doherty Associates has been a retained client with HeadOn PR for many years. During that time, we have delivered stand-out PR strategies, managed through our digital, traditional and social media services.
Our Objectives:
Following the lockdowns of 2020 and the enforced work-from-home and hybrid work policies, Doherty Associates was keen to highlight to businesses the increased risk of cyber-attacks and data breaches. In doing so, the company aimed to amplify its profile in the Private Equity (PE) ecosystem, reaching insurance, legal and finance firms.
Doherty Associates engaged HeadOn PR to carry out a compelling research-led campaign to investigate the cyber security threats in these sectors during the pandemic as organisations moved to a hybrid workplace.
Our Campaigns:
We provided an end-to-end PR and comms service for this campaign – ‘Who Moved My Moat’, from designing the research to creating gated content, to securing press coverage and generating awareness on social media.
Leveraging our Research Campaign services, we created a study that examined the cyber and data security practices of 3,000 UK firms and 2,000 employees in private equity, asset management, insurance & underwriters and corporate law. Undertaken in December 2020, the research revealed some powerful insights, including:
- 1 in 5 employees had closed more deals while working remotely
- Half of firms said they had not had a cyber-attack or data breach since the March 2020 lockdown
- Yet 40%+ employees admitted to emailing confidential information during this period
- A quarter of employees had experienced or caused a data breach
- 1 in 7 employees had been subject to a phishing attack or similar cyber-attack
- 1 in 5 firms reported a cyber or data breach could cost the company from £10m – £50m or more
Taking this data and combining it with authoritative feedback from Terry Doherty, CEO, we developed a telling news story that fed into press releases, blogs, and a social media campaign, enhancing brand awareness and driving traffic to Doherty Associate’s website. We also supported in the production of a gated, downloadable thought leadership report, which enabled Doherty Associates to capture valuable prospect data.
Using our newsroom and digital PR services, we secured 16 pieces of media coverage in just two days. This coverage included the industry-leading business, finance and IT news publications City A.M. and ITProPortal, and the acclaimed independent voice of European private equity, Real Deals.
