Segra

Winning Brand Equity for Segra

Services:

Award Nominations, Content Development, Media Relations, Public Relations, Thought Leadership

Amplifying awareness and building topical authority for new leadership

Challenge: Enhance brand awareness and amplify new C-suite.

Segra was one of the largest independent fiber network and data center operating companies in the Eastern U.S., but the company had minimal brand awareness beyond its current customer base. After the company rebranded in 2019, following the merger of Lumos Networks and Spirit Communications, and was acquired by Cox Communications in 2021, Segra needed to increase awareness for its new brand and position the newly assembled executive team as credible thought leaders. Although the parent company was a known entity, “Segra” was a new, unknown brand. The team challenged BNO to win media coverage to increase visibility and build topical authority with industry trades, targeted verticals, and in key markets within the company’s footprint.

Solution: Showcase the network, innovation and leadership to elevate the brand.

Leaning into the 125-year legacy of the company, as well as its substantial fiber footprint, existing partnerships, and expansive managed services, the team worked to spotlight Segra through a variety of award nominations, interviews, and article submissions to showcase the company’s varied expertise and secure a vast array of earned media for executive leadership. Following foundational messaging development and alignment, our PR team pursued targeted media opportunities to elevate Segra’s thought leaders and increase speaking engagements at events and award opportunities.

Winning results
(Segra means “to win” in Swedish)

01
02
–02

In less than two years, we:

Won 30 awards for Segra, including those for DE&I, leadership, supply chain excellence, product and marketing innovation, and Most Admired CEO.
Helped elevate Segra to #17 on Charlotte’s Largest Private Companies list, up from outside the top 50 the previous year.
Secured over 100 media placements, building visibility and credibility in record time.
Drove substantial social growth, including a 64% increase in LinkedIn followers, a 59% rise in unique visitors, and a 45% uptick in content clicks.

In addition to elevating Segra’s presence in targeted regional and trade media, BNO ensured the award-winning “Community Builder” shared the editorial spotlight with key partners like Google, US Ignite and Open Broadband.

The BNO team developed, drafted, and placed regular contributions in relevant telecommunications, IT and data center media, as well as securing press coverage with targeted business media in the communities Segra serves. By maintaining a steady stream of coverage, we elevated Segra’s experts and built topical authority for the brand within the telecommunications and data center industries, delivering thought leadership on trending conversations regarding security, cloud, data, voice, and connectivity topics important to enterprise and carrier customers. In fact, following the company’s merger with Unite Private Networks (UPN) in 2023, the company retained the winning “Segra” name for the combined entity, due in part to the brand equity created.