FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact:
Jennifer Schwegman
KC Associates, LLC
651.247.6640
jennifer@kc-associates.com
Minneapolis, September 1, 2006— KC Associates, LLC, the only Twin Cities marketing services and public relations agency for B2B information technology (IT) companies, today announced the addition of HotGigs, Inc. and Jumpnode Systems, Inc. to its client roster. Based in Minneapolis/St. Paul, each of the two companies recently closed venture capital deals in excess of $5 million, enabling them to increase their marketing investments. HotGigs’ cornerstone product is an innovative online staffing exchange that automates and streamlines the sourcing process for companies’ fulltime and contingent workforces; Jumpnode Systems is an emerging leader in plug-and-play IT systems and network monitoring technology.
Post-funding, HotGigs needed to cost-effectively ramp up its marketing, public relations and go-to-market strategies quickly and crystallize a differentiated value proposition—considered vital for sales to be “on message”.
“If you’re an IT company in the Twin Cities and you need a marketing and PR team that understands how to build markets quickly for IT products and services, you’d be making a mistake by using a traditional agency,” said Doug Berg, president and CEO of HotGigs. “KCA’s knowledge of the industry and experience working inside IT companies mean they ‘get it’. They share our sense of urgency and focus on meeting revenues objectives—and their strategic advice and execution are right on the money.”
Jumpnode’s strategy is to build its business around its core competency—product development and innovation. Jumpnode’s go-to-market strategy is not to build an extensive sales and marketing machine, but rather to develop OEM and value-added reseller (VAR) sales channels and to outsource its marketing function.
“These guys are amazing,” said Irfan Kahn, president and CEO of Jumpnode Systems. “I’ve never seen a group just jump in and run with something so quickly. They knew immediately what needed to be done and just started doing it—without direction from us. It’s like a fine-tuned marketing machine over night. This type of self-directed, action-oriented teamwork is critical for Jumpnode so we can focus on our core strength in product development.”
KC Associates’ services span the entire market development spectrum—from go-to-market planning and product marketing consulting to reasonably priced marketing communications, PR and outbound lead generation.
About HotGigs
Minneapolis-based HotGigs (www.hotgigs.com)
provides web-based products that automate and simplify the staffing process
for both fulltime and contingent workforces. The company’s cornerstone product,
HotGigs.com, is an on-demand staffing exchange that automates and streamlines
the sourcing process by combining a real-time online community of companies,
staffing vendors, and consultants with vendor management and recruiting tools.
HotGigs.com is used by nearly 2,500 companies, 8,000 staffing vendors and
more than 28,000 consultants throughout North America.
The company’s other products include: Gigs2Web, a sophisticated search engine optimization service for company career sites; ContractCentral, a set of cost-effective, self-managed contingent workforce tools.
About Jumpnode Systems
With a customer roster that includes nearly 100 companies, Jumpnode (www.jumpnode.com)
develops IT systems and network management tools, using a unique architecture
that combines preconfigured plug-and-play hardware appliances with software
delivered as a hosted service. This architecture greatly simplifies the way
companies manage their IT infrastructure, and significantly reduces deployment
and maintenance costs. The company’s initial product is a monitoring and
remote access tool that gives users a unified view of the network through
a web-based dashboard. Based in Minneapolis, Jumpnode markets its offerings
through resellers, managed service providers and original equipment manufacturers
(OEMs).
About KC Associates
Since 1988, KC Associates (www.kc-associates.com)
has provided marketing and PR consulting and communications services for
IT companies, including applications and systems software, IT services, storage,
networking, communications and hardware devices. Unlike traditional firms
and agencies, KC Associates is a virtual organization comprised of nearly
20 seasoned information technology-specific marketing professionals, each
with 10 or more years’ experience in the IT industry. KC Associates’ services
span the entire market development spectrum—from go-to-market planning and
product marketing consulting to reasonably priced marketing communications,
PR and outbound lead generation.
Clients have included service organizations such as Apex IT, Analysts International,
Magenic Technologies, and industry research firm IDC (Framingham, Mass.);
software firms, including Wolters Kluwer (Bankers Systems), SoftBrands (Fourth
Shift), Lawson, and ShowCase; and hardware companies such as CNT, Ciprico,
NetEx and Lucent Technologies (Hyannis, Mass.).