9/16 02:12 EST
公共关系（PR）是指对组织和公众之间进行的信息流通进行有效管理，但是信息流量和媒体数量的剧增，一个组织往往管理得力不从心，那么就需要PR对此进行有效管理，这就是Vocus(代號:VOCS) 能够为我们提供的服务。这是一家将整个PR生命周期的资料数字化并归档在一处的企业。应用于公共关系管理的网络基础软件，即所谓的软件即服务 software-as-a-service（SaaS）消除了大量的前端硬件和软件成本，以及执行性挑战。SaaS业务模式使得公司能够连续10个季度推动营收增长35% 。
Vocus的关键技术在于多元化投资组合，包括九项软件项目以及来自700,000份媒体合同的数据，能够为所有形式和规模的企业进行地方和国际交流。使用Vocus软件的客户可以自动化PR任务，比如媒体关系、新闻监测和新闻分类，以及测量这些项目的效率。公司还向包括保健、金融、保险、科技、制药、零售以及政府机构、非营利性部门的大量客户出售相关项目。
自1999年首度发行产品以来，Vocus已经成为SaaS行业中所向披靡的领头羊，ThomasWeisel分析师Tom Roderick表示：“拥有横向覆盖率和极高的效力，Vocus绝对是首屈一指的业界大鳄，产品价格也是颇具竞争力的。”公司产品的平均售价为 25,000美元，市场的年费为每家公司40,000美元。如果要购买公司的全套软件产品，那就要支付近100,000美元。但是此种价格还是很低的，这种低价战略使得公司的市场准入十分轻松。分析师表示：“PR是一门在所有机构中都能通用的学问，从财富前500强到非营利性企业，这是经营必备的宝典。”
事实上，美国的PR 市场在04年就拥有600亿美元的预算，创造出100亿美元的营收是不成问题的。因此，Vocus坐拥的是一个年营收超过20亿美元的市场份额，但是这对于不断增长的国际市场来说简直就是九牛一毫。分析师表示：“Vocus刚刚开始其国际市场的运作，潜力巨大。公司的目标就是在全球市场重演美国的龙头老大地位。” Vocus二季度净新增265位客户，同比上升了54%，总数至2,911位。公司账面价值上升了35%至2080万美元。
分析师表示：“在扩展产品发行的同时，公司还专注于向大、中型企业合作，并与小型企业进行合并。”07年最后一个季度公司提交的Small Business Edition软件价格为3,000美元，每年平均的合同价格为10,000。二季度公司还发布了60家新企业客户订单。分析师预计将创造额外的8250 万美元营收。“加上之前的国际新型市场营收，我们预计总营收将达到1亿美元。”
二季度销售额上涨了36%至1910万美元，营收比上市前增长了35%；每股收益飙升了91%至0.21美元，高于预期0.09美元。本季度自由现金流量超过了585万美元。公司将通过追加新的软件产品或股票回购重新获得自由现金。公司还将进行一系列收购交易，尽管美国经济发展放缓，但是公司不会大幅降低 PR产品的开支。有调查显示，08年初美国PR公司的年营收增长为7.5%，“尽管经济并不处于最佳状态，我们仍然认为公司的产品将拥有巨大市场需求。”
Investor's Business Daily
PR Software Helps Companies Polish Their Image With Efficiency
Monday September 15, 5:56 pm ET
Brad Kelly Public relations is the practice of managing the flow of information between an organization and the public.
But the volume of information and the number of media outlets have grown to the point where an organization can no longer do PR with just a Rolodex and a spreadsheet.
That is where Vocus (NasdaqGM:VOCS - News) can help. The firm digitizes the entire PR life cycle for organizations and puts it all together in one place.
Vocus makes on-demand, Web-based software for public relations management. It is known as software-as-a-service, or SaaS, which eliminates large upfront hardware or software costs and implementation challenges.
The SaaS business model has allowed the company to drive consistent revenue growth of 35% or better over the last 10 quarters, says Terry Tillman, a Raymond James analyst.
Diverse Portfolio
The firm's technology -- a diverse product portfolio consisting of nine software programs and a database of roughly 700,000 media contacts -- helps organizations of all shapes and sizes manage local and global communications.
Customers using Vocus's software can automate key PR tasks, such as media relations, news monitoring and news distribution in addition to gauging the effectiveness of these programs.
It sells to a wide range of customers in the health care, finance, insurance, technology, pharmaceuticals, retail and consumer products industries, as well as government agencies, nonprofit organizations and educational institutions.
Since its first product launch in 1999, Vocus has become the clear leader in the software-as-a-service space, says Tom Roderick, an analyst with Thomas Weisel.
"The company is the clear leader because of the breadth and effectiveness of its software offerings, which are priced competitively," Roderick said.
The company's average selling price is about $25,000, and within the larger enterprise market it is a roughly $40,000 annual subscription fee. If a company were to buy the entire suite of software programs, as Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV - News) has done, it would cost over $100,000, Roderick says.
The low-cost price tag makes an attractive entry point 19. typical on-premise business applications that can entail hundreds of thousands of dollars in upfront expenditures as well as ongoing maintenance and integration costs, Tillman says.
"PR is a ubiquitous function for all organizations, from a Fortune 500 company to a nonprofit," he says. "It is a required cost of doing business."
In fact, U.S. companies with more than $10 million in revenue had an aggregate annual PR budget of $60 billion in 2004, according to a survey by Thomas L. Harris/Impulse Research.
Extrapolating from the Harris survey data, Vocus has forecast a total addressable market of more than $2 billion for its on-demand PR solutions.
However, that amount does not address the emerging growth opportunities within the small-business sector or the international market, Tillman says.
"Vocus has begun its international expansion by adding more sales force abroad, where there is a lot of potential," he said. "Vocus aims to replicate its U.S. leadership overseas, where technology is nascent."
Vocus added a record 265 net new customers in the second quarter, up 54% from a year ago, for a total of 2,911 active subscription customers. Bookings were up 35% to $20.8 million.
The customer base is just the tip of the iceberg, says Brendan Barnicle, a Pacific Crest analyst. There are roughly 10,000 large enterprises, 300,000 midsize firms and 5.5 million small businesses, according to the company and Harris estimates.
"Instead of expanding its product offerings, the firm is looking to build out from its installed base of large- and midcap companies and target smaller businesses," Barnicle said.
In the last quarter of 2007, Vocus unveiled its bundled Small Business Edition (SBE) suite with a base price of $3,000 and annual average contract value of $10,000.
The company reported 60 new small-business subscription customers in the second quarter, which compares with about 36 in the previous four months it had been on the market.
If Vocus can achieve a 0.5% penetration rate within the 5.5 million small organizations and there are no add-on capabilities, Tillman estimates an incremental revenue opportunity of $82.5 million.
"Combined with opportunities in emerging international markets, from which the company generates 15% of its revenue, we envision a $100-million-plus revenue opportunity," Tillman said.
Second-quarter sales rose 36% to $19.1 million. Vocus has achieved 35% or better revenue growth since going public. Earnings surged 91% to 21 cents a share, beating views by 9 cents.
Free cash flow more than doubled to $5.85 million during the quarter. Vocus tends to quickly reinvest its cash back into the company by adding new capabilities to its software offerings or repurchasing shares.
Acquisition Strategy
Vocus even makes the occasional fold-in acquisition, like it did back in 2006 when it bought privately held PRWeb, a pioneer in online visibility and search-optimized press release distribution.
"Acquisitions remain an option, but Vocus generally puts its cash flow right back in its business by aggressively reinvesting in sales and marketing or adding more functionality to its software," Roderick said.
While the U.S. economy is less than stellar these days, Vocus does not expect organizations to significantly cut PR spending, CEO and co-founder Rick Rudman said in a post-earnings conference call.
He cited a recent study by the Council of Public Relations Firms showing that U.S.-based PR companies saw a 7.5% increase in revenue on average for the first quarter of 2008 vs. a year earlier.
"Although the economy is not in top form, we continue to see strong demand for our products and do not see significant changes to selling cycles, budget restrictions, deal sizes or other metrics related to market demand," Rudman said.
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