Tasers
Introduction
The invention of the anti-crime devices appears to be important nowadays primarily because of the society’s needs for security. In addition, it also gives evidences that the secured feeling of the people depends on the advancement of the technologies which became another opportunity for the inventors to create security devices that may come in handy, easy to use, and at the same time reliable.
What are Tasers?
Many law enforcement agencies worldwide already capture video, but they must expend increasing resources managing ever-growing physical tape, DVD, or magnetic media libraries and complying with retention policies (CISCO, 2010). TASER International, Inc. develops, assembles and markets nonlethal weapons for use in law enforcement, corrections, private security and personal defense. It provides a solution to violent confrontation by developing products that minimize the risk of serious injury or death. TASER’s conducted energy weapons use an electrical signal to override the central nervous system and control the skeletal muscles to physically debilitate a target. TASER has been a PoliceOne client since 2002, sponsoring product categories, columnists and editorial, and community functions on the PoliceOne site as well as purchasing banner ads and newsletter insertions (Wilson, 2008).
Challenges
TASER approached the Praetorian Group in 2001 to help drive the adoption of TASERs in the law enforcement market. Its needs extended beyond the traditional branding and product marketing provided by print and tradeshow advertising. TASER knew that successfully introducing a new less-lethal weapon to Law Enforcement would require building a compelling business case for the adoption of the TASER and quickly educating the market. TASER’s objectives included the following:
· Build the business case for TASER use at departments nationwide
· Educate the market on the return of investment of adopting
TASERs by disseminating case studies outlining the reduction of officer injuries and decreased liability for departments using TASERs
· Find a timely and cost-effective mechanism to disseminate
· TASER success stories and news about TASER implementations
· Combat negative media coverage in national and local news organizations
· Create a dialogue with police officers to address product development, training and implementation
Another challenge that come at hand are the
· Introduction of innovative service to transform policing and digital multimedia evidence management
· Scale to manage exabytes of evidentiary data
· Protect sensitive law enforcement information from unauthorized disclosure and protect integrity of evidence
Solution
PoliceOne developed a comprehensive marketing program for TASER using the TASER and Less Lethal product categories as a foundation. The program married targeted promotion in the PoliceOne product categories and editorial sections with broad-based exposure through banner ads, and e-newsletter insertions. As part of this strategy, press releases, instructional and promotional videos, success stories, white papers, case studies and testimonials posted in the product categories were aggressively disseminated across the site. As TASER’s marketing strategy and business needs have evolved, PoliceOne has expanded the program to including a number of initiatives designed to develop TASER’s thought leadership position in less-lethal technology and support of the law enforcement community:
· Sponsorship of a less lethal columnist addressing how best to evaluate and use less-lethal technology
· Promotion of the TASER Foundation for Families of Fallen Officers within the site as part of the Officer Down section of PoliceOne
· Development of a online ‘TASER Forum’ designed to open dialogue between police officers and the TASER team
· Leveraging PoliceOne’s officer validation process to ensure that individuals are sworn officers before accessing the TASER online store
Results
Exposure in the PoliceOne product categories, editorial sections, banner ads and e-newsletter insertions all worked to distribute a wide range of information supporting the use of less-lethal weapons and have effectively built the business case for TASER use for the law enforcement community. The broad-based use of PoliceOne as an education tool has helped drive TASER adoption to law enforcement and has provided a cost effective public relations tool to promote announcements ranging from technology advances to legal victories. TASER’s company growth has mirrored its success on PoliceOne. In 2002, less than 1,400 law enforcement agencies had deployed the TASER. By 2007, more than 50% of major law enforcement departments and approximately 9,500 agencies had adopted the use of TASERs. Additionally, TASER’s stock price has risen from .34 in December of 2002 to upwards of .00 in recent months, including three stock splits.
References:
CISCO, (2010) Service Provider Transforms Evidence Management in Law Enforcement [Online] Available at: http://www.cisco.com/en/US/solutions/collateral/ns340/ns517/ns224/Service_Provider_case_study.pdf [Accessed 27 January 2011].
Wilson, S., (2008) PoliceOne Marketing Program Drives Rapid Adoption of the TASER [Online] Available at: http://www.policeone.com/pdfs/Taser_Case_Study.pdf [Accessed 27 January 2011]
Credit:ivythesis.typepad.com
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