Blog | Catapult

Market Leadership

20 Quotes on Category Building to Sharpen your Messaging Strategy

The concept of category building enables organizations to differentiate themselves and redefine market landscapes, while opening creative and thoughtful conversations internally. Startup founders, business executives, and marketing gurus face an important question at some point in their careers: Are you trying to define (and own) a new or existing market category? The answer to this question will inevitably transform the way you communicate with external and internal stakeholders. To dive deeper into the purpose of

Guy Murrel April 18, 2023

Market Leadership

Want to Lead your Industry? Start with a Strategic Narrative Workshop

As a CEO or marketing leader, will you shake up and clarify your corporate messaging by elevating it to a higher level? Many executives are faced with this opportunity, and there can be several approaches to help achieve your goal. However, sometimes it takes an outside perspective to rid yourself of any internal challenges that can get in the way. As strategic narrative experts, we believe in taking a different approach to corporate messaging that

Guy Murrel March 23, 2023

Strategic Narrative

10 Reasons Why Your Company Needs a Narrative Assessment

Powerful and attractive brand experiences begin with an impactful strategic narrative. Why? Because a great story that brings customers to your doorstep and gets them to believe in your company’s vision and mission. There are numerous reasons for developing a strategic narrative (a business strategy for storytelling) as we will delve into further in this post. Namely, strategic narratives are a keen way to establish brand leadership in increasingly competitive marketplaces. Narratives can assist in

Guy Murrel February 7, 2023

Strategic Narrative

How a Strategic Narrative Helped DevOps Institute find its ‘Why’

“Catapult’s narrative process played a powerful role in shaping DevOps Institute’s messaging and offerings,” said Jayne Groll, CEO of DevOps Institute. “Through the narrative, we adopted a human-centric focus that has driven everything we do. We wouldn’t be where we are today without looking for an external resource to help us hone in on our ‘why’ and create a company vision that we continue to pursue several years later.” Who is DevOps Institute? DevOps Institute

Christin Jeffers December 7, 2022

PR Tips

B2B Social Media in 2023: Six Noteworthy Trends

Social media has become an integral part of our lives. About 4.74 billion people use social media worldwide, 59.3 percent of the total population. The average time people spend on these platforms is two hours and 27 minutes daily. Needless to say, social media is an essential tool for businesses to connect with customers and prospects. The social media landscape is ever-changing, making it important to stay on top of the latest trends. With 2023 only

Adele Barbles November 9, 2022

PR Tips

Content Marketing: 15 Quotes That Might Change Your Perspective

It’s no surprise that traditional (non-digital) marketing is on the decline. This is due to the rise of social media and digital communication. Overall, marketers continue to reduce their traditional advertising budgets, “while growth in expenses on digital marketing remained positive…In February 2022, CMOs in the U.S said their digital spending grew by 16.2 percent.” Content marketing, however, is gaining steam as the world modernizes and adapts to the digital world. To better understand this

Adele Barbles July 19, 2022

PR Tips

My First Month at a B2B Tech PR Firm: What I’ve Learned

A new job is a new beginning. I just began my first job out of college at a public relations (PR) agency – Catapult PR-IR. Like many people, I had anticipated my first day and was looking forward to the opportunity. The prospect of starting a new job was exciting. The first day can be nerve-racking as you meet many new people and try to soak up as much information as possible. I didn’t know

Adele Barbles June 29, 2022

Market Leadership

B2B Social Media Marketing: 10 Quotes to Use as Guiding Principles

As marketing professionals, we all use social media interchangeably throughout our day. It’s how we stay engaged, have conversations and create connections. The tricky part is promoting these concepts to our B2B customers. Marketers need to try and tell a story from a strategic narrative point of view. If there is one thing I have learned, B2B social media marketing gains attention when storytelling is at the forefront. B2B marketing on social platforms is a

Adele Barbles June 1, 2022

Strategic Narrative

Join Catapult for a Strategic Narrative Storytelling Panel

A compelling narrative sets a company apart from the competition. At Catapult, we’ve dedicated decades to helping companies tell a more meaningful story with an industry narrative. Next week, our Co-founder and Chief Narrative Officer, Guy Murrel, is partnering with SOFTWAREcolorado and local marketing leaders to discuss important insights around strategic narrative storytelling. Marketing leaders and CEOs will learn how an industry narrative can help their company stand out and create better alignment. You can

Christin Jeffers April 21, 2022

Market Leadership

Catapult PR Helps SOFTWAREcolorado Expand Social Media and PR Program as In-kind Sponsor

Catapult PR Helps SOFTWAREcolorado Expand Social Media and PR Program as In-kind Sponsor SOFTWAREcolorado and Catapult aim to increase awareness of local technology innovation among the Colorado software community BOULDER, Colo., November 10, 2021 — Catapult PR-IR (www.catapultpr-ir.com), a public relations agency for software delivery and B2B tech companies, today announced it has received an In-kind Sponsorship by SOFTWAREcolorado (http://softwarecolorado.com/) to help further the organization’s local Colorado presence and awareness. As an In-kind Sponsor, Catapult

Christin Jeffers November 10, 2021

Thought Leadership

B2B Tech PR: The New Reality of Securing Coverage

Earlier this year I overheard someone say regarding pitching journalists, “Public Relations is just expectation management,” and that could not be more true. However, it’s becoming more challenging as a public relations professional, especially in the B2B tech space, to manage expectations in a consistent way. It seems the tactics to get coverage are changing constantly. Is it due to the COVID-19 pandemic? Perhaps partly. But, according to Cision’s 2021 State of the Media report,

Olivia Heel November 4, 2021

Uncategorized

Join the Team! Catapult PR is Hiring

Public Relations Junior Account Executive Catapult (www.catapultpr-ir.com) is an authentic, strategic and results-driven public relations agency focused on exceeding its clients’ expectations every day. Located in Boulder, Colo., we believe strongly in the mantra of “work hard – play hard.” We are a specialized, high-tech PR agency that cares not only about our clients, but our employees. That means we like to hire people who are just as passionate about their jobs and careers as the

Christin Jeffers September 28, 2021

Strategic Narrative

Three Realistic Reasons to Focus on Category Building

It’s no secret that category building has become a popular positioning and marketing strategy during the past few years. Companies that lead categories have an envious position. They clearly stand out, are more attractive to customers, are loved by media and analyst influencers, and, at the highest level, have the highest market valuation. Who raises the most money, gets acquired and reaches the promised land of startups — an IPO? Category leaders Let’s look at

Guy Murrel September 16, 2021

Uncategorized

Catapult PR Celebrates 22 Years in B2B Tech and Enterprise Software

Boulder-based PR firm prospers by helping tech firms develop industry narratives that position them as category leaders BOULDER, Colo., Sept. 9, 2021 /PRNewswire/ — Catapult PR-IR (www.catapultpr-ir.com), a narrative-driven public relations agency for B2B tech companies, today announced 22 years in business. Catapult provides strategic public relations programs and narrative services to B2B tech firms around the world and helps clients generate awareness and leading market positions, especially within the Agile and DevOps space. “It has been an honor

Christin Jeffers September 9, 2021

Thought Leadership

Use this Template to Create Your Category Narrative

Companies often adopt the Strategic Narrative Marketing approach because they want to lead markets, stand apart or define an industry category. The approach requires the development of an industry narrative to articulate your company’s vision and align it around a purpose-focused positioning statement. Sometimes, the narrative reveals uncomfortable truths. Perhaps an organization isn’t truly aligned with current trends that are impacting the future of the industry. Or, maybe the organization is aligned, but changes need

Guy Murrel September 1, 2021

Strategic Narrative

There’s No Better Time Than Now to Adopt an Industry Narrative

As we transition into the ‘next normal’ for business, many marketers are re-evaluating their positioning and thinking about how to emerge as a leader in a changing and unpredictable world. We have long advocated for all companies to have an industry narrative, and if there was ever a time to adopt one it’s now. An industry narrative is the guiding light of an organization’s highest aspirations. It goes beyond what you ‘do’ and provides a

Guy Murrel August 24, 2021

Strategic Narrative

How Narrative Ties into the Customer Experience

Companies are more focused than ever on delivering a quality customer experience – especially in B2B tech. Part of that experience is how the company connects with the customer – on a human level. People want to work with companies who relate to their challenges, clarify industry misperceptions and know the industry trends that directly impact them. Many of the leading companies do an incredible job at this by articulating a focused industry narrative. Not

Guy Murrel August 18, 2021

Strategic Narrative

Freshen Up Your Messaging Strategy: Spring Your Narrative Forward

Spring is in the air — and we are reminded of new beginnings. We see blossoming flowers, green growth on trees and longer days. In business, Springtime reminds us that the company messaging strategy also benefits from newness and growth. So many companies suffer from stale, ineffective messaging with no significant changes for years. Or, internal efforts result in inward and narrow messaging that is ineffective and draining. After repeated tries at differentiation and capturing

Christin Jeffers March 25, 2021

Thought Leadership

What Social Media Managers Need to Know About Monitoring

A social media managers’ job is not done once posts are created and scheduled. In a previous article in this series, we dove into exactly what it takes to craft the perfect social media post. However, to run a successful social media program, social media managers must regularly monitor all active accounts for mentions, messages, comments and more. For larger brands, there could be dozens of social media managers whose job it is to track all incoming

Olivia Heel February 2, 2021

Thought Leadership

Social Media Management Tips for Small Teams – The Art of Posting

Social media management is officially a full-time job and serious career path. While this trend has been on the rise for many years, the COVID-19 pandemic and recent social justice movements have pushed even more people to sign up for social media accounts. With new social platforms popping up at head-spinning rates and algorithms changing constantly, assuming a role in social media management is no small feat, for small and big teams alike. Social media

Olivia Heel January 18, 2021

Uncategorized

Narrative Consultations for B2B Tech Companies

Catapult PR Now Offering 30-minute Narrative Consultations to Help B2B Tech Companies Engage Their Community and Lead the Industry Category Free narrative consultation includes a review of the current company story and offers applicable tips for a stronger narrative BOULDER, Colo., Dec. 10, 2020 —Catapult PR-IR (www.catapultpr-ir.com), a narrative-driven public relations agency for B2B tech companies, today announced it is providing free 30-minute narrative consultations. Catapult PR offers more than two decades of communication leadership

Christin Jeffers December 10, 2020

Market Leadership

Catapult PR Selected by Chili Piper as Public Relations Agency of Record

Tech-focused PR firm partners with Chili Piper to help drive industry awareness and adoption of its inbound revenue acceleration solutions BOULDER, Colo., Oct. 7, 2020 /PRNewswire/ — Catapult PR-IR, a narrative-driven public relations agency for B2B tech companies, today announced it has been selected by Chili Piper (https://www.chilipiper.com/) as its public relations agency of record. As Chili Piper’s public relations partner, Catapult will execute a strategic program aimed to build and strengthen its market positioning as the leader in

Christin Jeffers November 11, 2020

Market Leadership

Catapult PR Celebrates 21 Years of Narrative-driven PR Strategies

Boulder-based PR firm continues to offer industry-leading strategic PR and narrative services to organizations in DevOps, Agile, Cloud, Security and Tech BOULDER, Colo., Sept. 9, 2020 /PRNewswire/ — Catapult PR-IR (www.catapultpr-ir.com), a narrative-driven public relations agency for B2B tech companies, today announced its 21-year anniversary as a leading high tech B2B PR firm. Catapult PR helps its clients become industry leaders with a narrative-driven communications strategy including, social and content marketing, media and analyst relations, and Strategic Narrative Marketing

Christin Jeffers September 9, 2020

Strategic Narrative

Four Essential Elements of an Industry Narrative

At Catapult, we have long advocated for the industry narrative. Think about the digital world we live in. Narratives matter because stories spread like wildfire, especially on social media. Every organization has the opportunity to leverage an industry narrative to lead and influence the direction of your industry. You and your organization’s leaders know better than anyone what is impacting and changing your industry – and you should be talking about it! You can drive

Guy Murrel June 10, 2020

Market Leadership

Three Reasons You Need a Strategic Narrative Messaging Assessment

It can be hard to get out of your own head. In business, we are all so close to our company messaging that we sometimes miss the flaws or opportunities for a better narrative. At Catapult, we’ve talked to dozens of CEOs who are unsatisfied with their company narrative but unsure how to go about improving it. When you’re busy running a business or leading teams, you tend to be inwardly focused on your products

Christin Jeffers April 23, 2020

Market Leadership

Align Your Company with a Category-focused Strategic Narrative

A building is only as strong as its foundation. The same is true for relationships, education and business. One of the core foundational components of any successful business is organizational alignment. Organizations founded upon and aligned around a set of core values and a clear vision tend to lead industries. From our experience as a PR firm in the tech industry, alignment can be achieved through a strategic narrative that defines a new or existing

Christin Jeffers April 10, 2020

Thought Leadership

Twelve PR Quotes That Still Ring True Today

“This is not a secret press bureau. All our work is done in the open. We aim to supply news.” -Ivy Lee In 1906, Ivy Lee issued the “Declaration of Principles.” This “declaration” laid the groundwork for public relations. In his “Declaration of Principles,” Lee stated that the public and the press had a right to know timely and accurate information regarding a company’s actions and thus the ideology of public relations was born. Ivy

Megan Boudreau February 25, 2020

Market Leadership

How to Achieve Narrative Authenticity in 2020 and Beyond

“Knowing yourself is the beginning of all wisdom” – Aristotle What separates an ordinary business from a market driver that propels an industry forward? It’s not just about the company’s products and/or services and it goes beyond being ‘cool’ or ‘edgy.’ You have to look a little closer and see what is woven into the fabric of these organizations. Simply put, these companies are all about narrative authenticity. They stay true to who they are

Christin Jeffers February 4, 2020

Market Leadership

PR Predictions for 2020: The Great “PR” Revival

Over the summer, my family and I spent a long weekend at a cabin in the Colorado mountains. Having two young children, a campfire and S’mores were an essential part of our plans. The kids asked about 100 times when we were going to have S’mores – and on our final night, we made it happen. To my husband’s surprise, a chocolate ad promoting S’mores popped up in his Instagram feed the next day! This

Christin Jeffers December 9, 2019

Market Leadership

Top Marketing Tips for a Strong 2020 from Forbes

A solid plan and fresh ideas are great ways to kick off a new year in business. Marketers have a lot to consider as they enter 2020. What are the marketing goals and are they aligned with the overall business strategy? What is the budget? What worked and what didn’t work in 2019? Forbes Communication Council shared tips from 15 marketing thought leaders – including Catapult’s chief narrative officer and principal, Guy Murrel – on how to

Christin Jeffers December 6, 2019

Market Leadership

Another DevOps Enterprise Summit in the Books

As DevOps Enterprise Summit 2019 comes to a close, the Catapult team heads home after three days of immersive learning and networking in Las Vegas. If you’re not already familiar with the DevOps Enterprise Summit – it is the premier industry conference for business and technology leaders to learn how to develop and deploy software faster and win in the marketplace. The Catapult team provided PR and social media support for the event for the

Megan Boudreau November 1, 2019

Uncategorized

Live From DevOps Enterprise Summit Las Vegas

This week, the Catapult team traveled to Las Vegas to provide PR and social media support at the DevOps Enterprise Summit (#DOES19). The DevOps Enterprise Summit is the premier industry conference where business and technology leaders gather to learn how to develop and deploy software faster and win in the marketplace. We absolutely love being a part of this event and we’ve had the honor of supporting it since its beginning in 2014. Over the

Guy Murrel October 29, 2019

Strategic Narrative

Catapult Celebrates 20 Years: 20 PR Lessons Learned

Twenty years ago today Terri Douglas and I took our own good advice and started our PR firm — Catapult PR. Since 9/9/99, there’s been a lot of hard work, an awesome group of employees past and present, many great clients, and a whole lot to be grateful for. There are also many lessons learned along the way on this wild and crazy ride. This year is especially significant because it marks the big “2-0”

Guy Murrel September 9, 2019

Uncategorized

How to Prepare for Your First Day at a PR Firm

A new job is a fresh start for many people. Whether you’re moving to a new state, starting at a new company or landing your first job after college, it’s an exciting time. For me, I landed my first job out of college at a boutique PR firm in Boulder, CO. Like many people, I had been dreaming about this day for a long time and the hard part was finally over, I got a

Megan Boudreau August 27, 2019

Strategic Narrative

Elements of Strategic Narrative Marketing for Category Leadership

‘Strategic Narrative Marketing’ elevates company positioning and messaging to help B2B organizations become category winners through their industry narrative BOULDER, Colo., June 12, 2019 — Catapult PR-IR (www.catapultpr-ir.com), a high-tech public relations and Strategic Narrative Marketing agency, today released the four elements for building a strategic narrative focused on industry megatrends, insights, vision and category definition. The four elements help companies discover their narrative for the industry so they can tell a story that is

Christin Jeffers June 12, 2019

Uncategorized

Boost Productivity with these Five Favorite Google Apps and Extensions

I’ve found that whenever something frustrates me or slows me down in my digital workspace (which is pretty much 100% Google Chrome) — there’s an app for that! Chances are, if I’m getting tripped up time and again, someone else has had the same problem and a solution is out there. The Internet ecosystem includes hundreds of helpful and creative Gmail and Chrome browser extensions that make work life easier. Over the years I’ve installed

Laura Balboni May 21, 2019

Uncategorized

Increase Productivity with Music: Best Playlists to Help you Work

(I’m a Spotify user so sorry to everyone who uses a different platform. You can still use these tips on how to build out your own playlists on your preferred platform.) Is it just me or does it seem like music platforms like Spotify, have a playlist for everything? Some activities might be better if you had a little music to accompany it but on the occasion of being productive, music can either be helpful

Megan Scharf May 14, 2019

Strategic Narrative

Strategic Narrative Marketing: Four Lessons Learned

It has been a couple of years since we (Catapult) formally launched Strategic Narrative Marketing. What a roller coaster ride it has been to introduce something totally new to the PR market! If one thing is clear today- it’s that Strategic Narrative Marketing is our true differentiator as a PR firm. Along with our journey, we’ve had the opportunity to refine and adapt Strategic Narrative Marketing. If you’re new here, Strategic Narrative Marketing is an

Guy Murrel April 16, 2019

Market Leadership

Gift Guide for the PR Professional in Your Life

It’s that time of year again, a magical time when no one knows what to get each other for the holidays – but have no fear. Here to help you out is a list of great gift ideas for the PR person in your life. Even if you forget to get someone a gift, a couple of simple last minute ideas are here to save the day. In the PR world, we usually use this

Megan Scharf December 19, 2018

Thought Leadership

Webinar: Learn What Makes a Category Champion

As 2018 nears the end, many of us are busy planning and developing strategies to make 2019 an amazingly successful year. On Wednesday, Dec. 5, 2018 at 11 a.m. PST/Noon MST, I will be hosting a webinar to help business leaders and marketers learn why industry category champions win in the marketplace. These are the companies that people want to hire, work for and invest in, and we’ll dive into why this is so important

Guy Murrel December 3, 2018

Thought Leadership

The Recipe for Landing Your First (PR) Job

The holiday season is a wonderful and magical time. It’s a time for making lasting memories, and a wonderful time for spending time with loved ones. Can it be a magical time for landing your first real job? Yes! From personal experience, I am most grateful for my new job during this holiday season at Catapult PR in Boulder, one of the top B2B high-tech PR agencies. Some of you may have been wondering why

Jacob Harvey November 29, 2018

Market Leadership

The DevOps Industry Narrative Journey

Narrative leads every industry forward. For the software industry, two major movements — driven by narrative — has led to the rise of Agile, and more recently, DevOps, from concept to mainstream practice. From the Agile Manifesto (Feb., 2001) and Marc Andreessen’s famed 2011 WSJ column “Why Software is Eating the World,” to the much used motto “Building Better Software Faster,” narrative stories have helped lead both practitioners and vendors alike to collective benefit. Last

Guy Murrel November 14, 2018

Thought Leadership

Budgeting a Strategic Narrative: Why Your CEO Will Love It

It’s that time of year where the B-word is front and center. That’s right, the budget. Budget planning brings up mixed feelings and it can get a little intense. As marketers, it’s not always easy to get the CEO on board with certain budget items. Demonstrating value and ROI can be tricky – and the CEO wants to know that the investment is worth it. Unfortunately, marketing also tends to get a bad rap for

Christin Jeffers October 19, 2018

Strategic Narrative

We’re Celebrating Our 19th Anniversary as a High Tech PR Firm

Wow – it’s hard to believe that we’re celebrating 19 years in business. Time flies when you’re having fun – and boy do we know how to have fun. As we reflect over almost two decades of hard work and success, we can’t help but feel a sense of pride as we think about all the good work we’ve done to help our tech company friends build awareness, thought leadership and create attention-grabbing positioning and

Terri Douglas September 11, 2018

Market Leadership

Catapult Adds Zype to B2B High Tech Client Roster

We are pleased to announce that Catapult has been retained by Zype, a video content and distribution company out of New York, for PR and Strategic Narrative Marketing services. Through our Narrative Practice service offering, we will help position Zype as a market category owner in the rapidly growing direct-to-consumer streaming video market. Zype CEO, Ed Laczynski, shared his thoughts on this new partnership: “We’re excited to position Zype as an industry leader with Catapult’s narrative

Christin Jeffers August 30, 2018

Strategic Narrative

Brand Leadership And The Narrative Economy

The following is an excerpt from an article by Guy Murrel titled, “Brand Leadership and the Narrative Economy,” that was originally published on Forbes.com While just “words,” the power of narrative is now a force to be reckoned with — from politics and pop culture to social movements and business. All too often, we now see narrative take down the mighty and powerful and, at the same time, expose the once obscure to great fame.

Guy Murrel August 28, 2018

Top Quotes on PR and Narrative from Catapult

In a previous blog, I shared some tips on what I learned from my first couple of weeks in the PR industry. One thing I learned after joining the Catapult team is that, “Tips from co-workers are the best… if a co-worker gives you any information on how to make your time more productive or to make others in the office happier, take it. Many of my co-workers at Catapult have helped me with this.” Shouldn’t

Megan Scharf August 22, 2018

Market Leadership

Collaboration: the Ultimate Win/Win for Everyone

Think about it. What is it about certain people or environments that make you enjoy your work more? You probably feel empowered, that there is an open exchange of ideas, and encouragement to express your thoughts, ideas and suggestions. Whether it’s personal or in the business world, it is clear. The more collaboration, the greater the trust, learning, growth and innovation. According to Wikipedia, collaboration is “the process of two or more people or organizations

Terri Douglas August 15, 2018

Market Leadership

Strategic Narrative and Category Building are Front and Center for CEOs

Messaging and positioning are more than just marketing’s priorities These last few years I’ve seen Catapult go in and help organizations create strategic narrative messaging and execute PR efforts that lead markets and create new categories. In that time, I’ve noticed some patterns in the way that organizations 1) realize they need help with telling their story, 2) reach out to third parties to gain an outside perspective and, 3) involve executive leadership to implement

Laura Balboni July 23, 2018

Market Leadership

Anchor Your B2B Content Marketing Strategy with a Strategic Narrative

Your content is only as good as your B2B content marketing strategy. Evidence supports this theory in the Content Marketing Institute’s 2018 B2B Content Marketing Benchmarks, Budgets and Trends report. According to the report, 91 percent of respondents use content marketing. However, similar to previous years’ reports, it’s the organizations with documented content marketing strategies who report higher levels of content marketing success. Yet, only 37 percent of respondents have a documented strategy. A top reason

Christin Jeffers July 16, 2018

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