Case Study: CarMax Launches Online Pressroom

 

Summary: CarMax, Inc. (NYSE: KMX), the nation's leading specialty retailer of used cars, has launched a new online media center inside their Web site - which runs on proprietary software from iPressroom™ Corporation - to make it easier for the news media and the public to access company news and information on-demand via the Web.

 

Issue: CarMax's corporate communications group had no method for servicing the media online and no way to easily post their press releases and other key media relations content to their website without involving IT. Their existing site contained investor relations information - but there was no dedicated online newsroom that would allow them to control their content related to new store openings, community involvement and other outreach activities.

 

Solution: Based on ease of use, expert supprt and rapid deployment capabilities, CarMax's corporate communications group turned to iPressroom's Online Media Center. Designed specifically to accommodate the needs of journalists, analysts and others interested in following developments at CarMax, the new online media center features current company background information, press releases, news clippings, high-resolutions photos suitable for print reproduction, opt-in registration and RSS news feeds with integrated measurement reporting.

 

Benefits: "We already invest a good deal of time and resources searching for journalists who may be interested in covering our news," said Lisa Van Riper, CarMax, vice president of communications. "With the new online media center, we're making it easier for journalists to search for us, and preparing the company for what's coming next in the world of online public relations and marketing."

 

The iPressroom Online PR software application -- which the CarMax public relations team employs to manage the online media center without the aid of technical personnel -- also accommodates streaming media on-demand, electronic newsletters, blogs and podcasts.

 

"CarMax realizes that the trail of bread crumbs has to actually lead somewhere," said Eric Schwartzman, iPressroom CEO, a career publicist with nearly two decades of hands-on media relations experience. "In today's networked world, traditional P.R. distribution methods like news wires, email and fax have become first and foremast a way to lure visitors back to your web site. And when you do, iPressroom makes sure you're ready to deliver on their expectations, and convert that interest into information you can use."

 

A study published by the Nielsen Norman Group titled "Designing Websites to Maximize Press Relations" -- in which a group 20 journalists where asked to evaluate the online press rooms of 18 companies in a variety of industries -- found that journalists had a bad impression of those companies whose online press rooms scored poorly.

 

According to one participating journalist interviewed on the correlation between poor online pressrooms and negative news coverage:

 

"My momentary frustration, I like to think it will not spill over into my story. But it makes me wonder about the competence of the people in the company. You know journalists use the site. Makes me think someone is being evasive, or that they are incompetent."