The Challenge

Liazon was one of the pioneers of the private benefits exchange for businesses, and had gained a solid mass of customers between its foundation in 2007 and 2011. The company was behind, however, in the public’s perception, lacking a substantial media presence in comparison with competitors neither as big nor as advanced as Liazon.

Liazon approached Emerging Media in 2012 with the hopes of transforming their media presence, and with three essential goals. 1) To gain a significant share of voice against competitors. 2) To play a key role in defining private benefits exchanges for both the media and business customers.  3.) To reach potential clients and business partners to expand Liazon’s business. Liazon expanded Emerging Media’s role in 2013 to raise awareness about private exchanges as well as to present Liazon and industry experts and leaders.

The press coverage catapulted Liazon to the top of the market in private exchanges and took them from near zero share of voice in February 2011 to a 51% share by December 2013.

  • Results

    The campaign was extremely successful. Liazon appeared in 190 articles in 2013 including:

    • 36 national media articles including The New York Times, Bloomberg, CFO, Wall Street Journal, Inc. Forbes, The AP, Fortune, Reuters and USA Today
    • 82 business journals, local publications, insurance journals and local media articles in markets they serviced

    The press coverage catapulted Liazon to the top of the market in private exchanges and took them from near zero share of voice in February 2011 to a 51% share by December 2013. The media coverage bolstered Liazon’s recognition across all three key stakeholder categories, health insurance companies, potential clients and potential partners.

    Liazon’s spokespersons became go-to sources for reporters about health care reform and private benefits exchanges in national publications. Liazon won several awards including Best Places to Work in Insurance, Web Health Awards, Fasted Growing Businesses in Western New York and was named as one of the Hottest New York City Companies.

    In November of 2013, Liazon was acquired by Towers Watson for $215 M, and became a part of the Exchange Solutions segment within the company. A goal for the future, Liazon was ecstatic that the acquisition occurred when it did, and continues to be seen as game-changing leaders in their industry. Alan Cohen was quoted saying, “In our niche, we’re trying to change the world.”

  • Strategy

    Thought Leadership

    CEO, Ashok Subramanian and CSO, Alan Cohen, were proven experts in the rules and regulations of the Affordable Care Acts and the private exchange benefits space. Emerging Media positioned Mr. Subramanian and Mr. Cohen as thought leaders of the industry, reaching out to reporters to offer them as key resources.

    PR Campaign & Media Relations

    Emerging Media then developed a specialized PR campaign to build positive awareness of private benefits exchanges throughout the media. The campaign focused on addressing the needs of businesses, and the practicality of choosing a private exchange as their health care option. Emerging Media created key case studies to further validate Liazon as a leader in the private exchanges, and the best option for businesses. Liazon generated more stand along articles than their top 5 competitors combined.

    Expansion and Growth

    Liazon experienced its strongest year in 2013 as seen by the media coverage on growth and expansion. 38% of the 191 articles that covered Liazon reported on its growth and expansion.

    Awards

    Emerging Media was tasked in identifying and nominating Liazon and its executives for various business, industry and professional awards. For all awards won, Emerging Media generated media attention showcasing Liazon’s success and expertise in the health care space.

    Conference Spokesperson’s

    Emerging Media developed a robust calendar of potential speaking engagements for Liazon’s executives. We determined the key expertise areas of the Liazon team and developed it into a speaker’s platform. We then crafted the most compelling and targeted pitches for specific shows nominating Alan Cohen and Ashok Subramanian to speak.

In November of 2013, Liazon was acquired by Towers Watson for $215 M, and became a part of the Exchange Solutions segment within the company.

Case Studies