PR . Marketing . Consulting
ProVI, a provider of BIM software for transportation infrastructure planning, was spun off from the OBERMEYER Group in 2019. With support from Fortis PR, ProVI CEO Christian Frank developed and optimized a comprehensive inbound communication strategy. As a result, revenue increased by nearly 280% to approximately €5 million by the end of 2022.
“I value our collaboration with Fortis PR for four key reasons: client focus, market understanding, scalability, and their network. Fortis PR stands out for its exceptional customer centricity and its intuitive grasp of what matters to the client. The agency’s decades of experience in communicating complex capital goods in the B2B software and technology sector have been a major advantage for me. We started with small one-off projects and gradually increased the scope. Fortis PR showed great flexibility and, thanks to its strong network, was able to bring in and coordinate the right experts across other specialized fields. This has been a foundational element in the success of our partnership,” says Christian Frank, CEO of ProVI GmbH.
After ProVI was spun off as a software provider for route alignment in 2019, the brand’s communication and positioning were strategically reworked from the ground up. The first step was PR through media relations and coverage in trade publications. This was followed by the creation of a new, modern corporate identity and the launch of a new website.
“Our main goal was to reach potential customers and generate demand. The existing communication was highly technical and did not resonate. We revised it step by step and developed a new marketing presence. During the pandemic in particular, we realized that it was more effective to create a pull effect that would draw interested prospects to us. That was the beginning of a strategic inbound communication approach. We began placing content on relevant channels to capture our target audience’s attention and encourage direct engagement,” Frank explains.
Several communication channels were expanded, starting with ad planning and placements in trade media, social media, and newsletters, and extending to SEO, SEA, and tracking. A hybrid, industry-relevant symposium was also created: ProVI.digital.
“We steadily professionalized our communication — both in terms of how we used the channels and how we aligned our content strategically. Fortis consistently took on the role of lead agency, coordinating all other service providers, including graphic designers, web developers, the SEO agency, and the event team. It was an ongoing process in which we deepened the content while distributing it more precisely across more and more channels in a budget-conscious way. At first, the major changes — especially the realignment of our corporate identity, the website, and the communication style — triggered internal resistance, because the team strongly identified with the old setup. Fortis PR was a great support to me during internal positioning. Their careful and thoughtful approach to introducing new initiatives made all the difference. In the end, the new CI, the new website, and the other developments were well received and have since become something our team strongly identifies with again,” adds the CEO.
“The numbers speak for themselves. Over time, we aligned our sales goals and communication efforts more closely — and they grew hand in hand. As a result, we achieved lasting commercial success, increasing both revenue and profit by over 400% in just four years. Fortis PR’s flexibility in adapting each step to our company’s development pace and performance data was invaluable. Just as important was their strong customer focus and the genuinely human quality of the collaboration,” Frank concludes.