Founded by Ivan Mrvoš, Include is a company that researches, develops, produces, and distributes IoT urban equipment for smart cities. Their story began in 2014 when their first smart bench was installed in Solin. Since then, they’ve expanded their smart product range to different models of smart benches, waste management, and air quality monitoring systems. Their main goal is to motivate cities to transform public spaces into modern, connected, and self-sustainable environments through innovative products that improve the quality of life of all citizens.
For this Case Study, we talked to Ivona Mrvoš, marketing manager at Include. She explained how they started using Determ and what benefits they get from the tool.
Challenge
Ivona says that the main challenge was to monitor what’s been written about Include and its products around the world. Also, in times of bigger PR coverage, they spent much time googling to collect the mentions but soon realized that that was a waste of time.
Solution & Impact
In 2018, they realized they could use a media monitoring tool while building their marketing, PR, and sales enablement structure. They got recommendations for Determ, researched, and ultimately decided that the tool fits their needs. As Ivona points out:
Include uses Determ to keep in touch with the industry news, keep track of their mentions, market research for current and potential products, and track competitors. Ivona told us an anecdote about when they first started using the tool. They’ve noticed that their competitor uploaded a video on YouTube using keywords such as smart bench, pametna klupa (smart bench in Croatian), ivan mrvoš and include. Eventually, the video got taken down. Since they had just started using the tool, they were pretty surprised to detect situations like this one.
Ivona pointed out that Determ proved quite helpful in business development. For example, through the tool, they could find out if someone is looking for smart products like theirs and reach out to see if there’s room for collaboration. Also, if some city buys competitors’ products, they immediately know about it. Since they’re monitoring mentions on social media, they were able to find potential partners and leads there, as well.
The most significant benefit that Ivona mentioned was that the tool helped them become a lot more informed about everything regarding their industry and products. For example, it’s easier for them to get feedback about their products now.
When asked what her advice would be for people who are not sure whether Determ is the right tool for them, she said:
