In Braunschweig and Berlin, wirDesign ‘s team of around 70 employees professionally handles tasks such as brand management, corporate design and corporate communication, as well as reporting for various clients. This also includes workshops on the topic of branding. The creative agency has been in existence since 1983 and is one of the top 10 largest corporate design agencies in Germany. In addition to the main activities, press work “on our own behalf” also plays an essential role. However, this was not always the case: In the initial phase, internal PR and agency marketing was handled on the side by the board members, sporadically with external PR support. But as the list of clients grew longer and the agency grew larger, the demand for continuous, effective PR for both its own interests and those of its clients grew. Today, press officer Anita Lüder-Bugiel is responsible for wirDesign’s holistic ‘Corporate Communication’ and relies on the PR CRM system PressFile.
PR-CRM for public relations and public relations work
Eight years have passed since she was hired. Right from the start, she knew what was needed to organize her activities in press relations efficiently and effectively: “Shortly after joining wirDesign, I created a PR wish list in which I documented everything that could support my work in contact management. Based on these parameters, I started looking for a suitable software that met my requirements,” Anita Lüder-Bugiel answered when asked about her approach to finding a PR CRM solution. “After extensive research and a few user examples later, I was able to obtain three quotes. It has to be said that there are only a few providers in this field. It quickly became clear that PressFile offered the right price-performance ratio for us. Shortly after our first telephone conversation with Florian Fischer, we received demo material for the software. To this day, we are completely satisfied with PressFile and the customer service – as our eight-year cooperation impressively shows,” Lüder-Bugiel continues.
Cheat sheet from Anita Lüder-Bugiel’s wish catalog:
Press contact handling requirements:
Easy data import, for example from Excel or other external databases, as well as detailed and clear contact information – this includes: Salutation, medium, editing, contact options, notes, automatic contact history, linking with clippings or selection options and many more.
Press shipping requirements:
Individualized and automatic e-mail dispatch including attachment function (PDF, image material) as well as the recording of soft or hard bounce. It is also necessary to ensure that sent e-mails do not end up in the spam folder of the addressees.
Press management – from the database to the distribution list to clippings
In organizational terms, it is impossible to imagine wirDesign’s core PR processes without the PR CRM PressFile. For example, internal target groups – including freelance editors, multipliers from politics or event providers such as the Chamber of Industry and Commerce or various marketing clubs – are created web-based and sorted into different distribution lists. “PressFile enables simple process control in the automatic and individualized dispatch of a press release to different addressees. At the same time, I regularly receive absence notices and can use the returns to precisely adjust the distribution lists – exchange, update or delete contacts.” wirDesign works with distribution lists that comprise up to a maximum of 180 contacts. In one example, Lüder-Bugiel explains further: “In the exchange with the trade magazine ‘Page’, I always document all relevant information – such as the last contact, appointments or publication dates. Since notes can also be added under each contact created in PressFile, the info is sorted and assigned right from the start. At the same time, they are entered into my iCalender, so I always stay up to date.”
PressFile and Service
After eight years and good cooperation, the PR CRM solution PressFile is now an integral part of internal PR processes at wirDesign and in Anita Lüder-Bugiel’s words: “PressFile is a useful online or tool-based service for us to manage press contacts and releases. In addition, customer support is handled via the direct route, without major delays and essentially straightforward.” By way of example: “Some time ago, there was a delay in a deadline dispatch. Florian Fischer and I discovered that the press releases from wirDesign (as the only PressFile customer!) were still being sent via the PressFile mail server – after an exchange with our IT expert, we quickly and easily changed this,” Anita Lüder-Bugiel explains her personal experience with PressFile’s service.
Would you recommend PressFile to a friend?
“I definitely recommend PressFile to others. Especially when it comes to the time-consuming press work involved in saving contacts, creating distribution lists and sending out press releases.”
Anita Lüder-Bugiel
wirDesign communication AG
wirDesign is a creative brand agency and is one of the top 10 largest corporate design agencies in Germany. With around 70 employees in Braunschweig and Berlin, we develop, implement and manage design branding, corporate design and communication projects for national and international companies. With around 15 annual and sustainability reports produced each year, the agency is also one of the most renowned addresses in Germany in this field. wirDesign was founded in 1983 by eight design students in Braunschweig and is still independent and owner-managed.
