How would a respected manufacturer of networking not known for consumer mobile handsets get the attention of major news organizations at the largest consumer eletronics show in the world? More importantly, could Sterling pull everything together in time?

The Background
Since 2002, Sterling has steadily built NETGEAR'S reputation with the business, financial, and lifestyle press as a leading global provider of technologically advanced, branded networking products that address the needs of home users and small- and medium-sized businesses. The company's suite of over 100 products enables users to share Internet access, peripherals, files, digital multimedia content, and applications among multiple personal computers and other Internet-enabled devices.

The Challenge
In the fall of 2005, NETGEAR (Nasdaq: NTGR) briefed Sterling on its plans for a wireless mobile phone for the immensely popular Skype service for Internet communications. The NETGEAR Skype WiFi Phone was the first Skype-certified device to enable consumers to make unlimited free domestic and international calls to other Skype users over a wireless network, without being tied to a computer. As well as increasing its consumer product portfolio, NETGEAR wanted Wall Street to take notice of this addition of voice applications to its existing smorgasbord of connectivity, multimedia, security, and storage devices.

Sterling Communications planned every detail of the press conference, individually pitching top industry influencers, writing show presentations, scheduling interviews, and enforcing embargoes on the hottest news to ever come out of the company.

The Results
Nearly 200 media attended the press conference, including representatives from many international outlets and such top-tier US publications as Barron's, BusinessWeek, Newsweek, and The Wall Street Journal. Dozens of flashbulbs popped and cameras whirred when NETGEAR's CEO held up the ringing phone.

The NETGEAR Skype WiFi Phone was included in "best of show" round-ups in virtually every major media outlet. "We received dozens of pieces of positive print and broadcast coverage during CES thanks to Sterling's hard work," said Doug Hagan, NETGEAR's director of corporate marketing. "We recouped the entire cost of our booth with that single photo of the new NETGEAR Skype WiFi Phone that appeared in USA Today."

In the months following CES, the NETGEAR Skype WiFi Phone continued to generate more public interest than any product in NETGEAR history. Within one week of the show, more than 2,000 people around the world had registered on the company web site to receive information on the phone. After one month, the number stood at 10,000, a true testament to the power of the press and public relations.