A company rebranding, a $471 million acquisition, growth, market disruption and an IQ quiz campaign, this turnaround case study is definitely worth the read. Click through the interactive timeline below to uncover the Peregrine Semiconductor success story.
Townsend Team met with senior Peregrine Semiconductor executives and defined a new brand promise, brand attributes, brand personality and keyword. Together, we crafted a more bold Peregrine identity, using terms like “founder of RF SOI” and “pioneer of advanced RF solutions.” This first step set a clear company vision and created a new strong brand.
To signify the company’s bold transformation, Peregrine updated its visual identity and celebrated its 25-year anniversary by putting a firm stake in the ground as the “founder of RF SOI.” To coincide with the rebrand, Peregrine—with the assistance of Townsend Team—also announced its next-generation technology platform and a key partnership with a Tier-1 fab.
“It’s time to rethink the design of the RF front end.” Global 1, an integrated radio-frequency front-end (RFFE) solution, is the culmination of years of research & development. The strategic multi-tiered campaign included an ad, animated video, press release, media alert, infographic, a contributed article, an email campaign and more than 30 media/ analyst briefings.
On August 22, 2014, Murata announced that it would be acquiring Peregrine Semiconductor (NASDAQ: PSMI) for $471 million or $12.50 per share. In the press release, Norio Nakajima, executive vice president, director of communication business unit of Murata shared, “Peregrine invented RF SOI, has led its development for 20 years and accomplished a large number of industry firsts…Their innovation, including the Global 1 all-silicon integrated RF front-end, is a key strategic area for the mobile industry.”
To continue the momentum, Peregrine announced the expansion of its integrated product portfolio and introduced a concept called intelligent integration. Townsend Team and Peregrine literally took this intelligent integration campaign around the world—from an online webinar to press briefings in New York, Boston, London and Beijing.
Townsend Team designed a new Peregrine website with the goal of making it easy to use and content rich. One highlight is the newsroom, which was expanded to feature press releases, a company blog, SOI University, feature articles and new products posts.
On Dec. 12, 2014, the acquisition closed, and Peregrine officially became a Murata company. Peregrine hosted a ceremony at its San Diego headquarters to commemorate this next chapter. The ceremony themed, “Combining Our Histories”, was based on a common pride each company has in their successful, groundbreaking histories.
Always at the forefront of RF SOI technology advancements, Peregrine introduced the first RF SOI 300 mm technology platform. Townsend Team worked with Peregrine to announce this significant semiconductor breakthrough.
On the heels of the Murata acquisition, Peregrine was tasked with growing its two business units. To accommodate this growth, Peregrine’s headquarters in San Diego added a new building. Townsend Team helped Peregrine get the “we’re hiring” word out with digital advertising, an expansion press release and an email campaign.
Peregrine’s True DC RF switch, the industry’s first and only RF integrated switch to operate at DC (0 Hz), was named a 2015 Electronic Products “Product of the Year”. Townsend Team aided Peregrine with this major product launch and award nomination.
Peregrine and e2v inc signed a strategic reseller agreement, where e2v became the sole provider of Peregrine’s high-reliability integrated circuits for the worldwide space market. To announce this news and ensure a smooth transition for Peregrine’s space customers, Townsend Team, Peregrine and e2v worked together on the tactical details of this announcement. The launch included a customer letter, video, media briefings, a press release and a new product catalog.
In a desire to educate, raise awareness and do something outside the norm, Peregrine Semiconductor and Townsend Team, launched the “What’s Your RF Integration IQ?” campaign. Peregrine asked RF and microwave engineers to take an online quiz—one that would tell them if they were a genius, an all-star, a student or an integration late adopter. To date, the online quiz has been taken over 2,700 times—a very impressive number considering the target audience’s size. But more importantly, it succeeded in educating a community and starting a dialogue around intelligent integration. The concept was carried over to Peregrine’s presence at International Microwave Symposium (IMS) 2016 with custom sudoku books and pins featuring the RF Integration Genius.
Townsend Team worked with Peregrine Semiconductor on the addition of a new online store. Peregrine customers can now visit Peregrine’s website to order products.
Peregrine’s high linearity RF switch, the PE42723, won an ECN IMPACT Award in the market disruptor category. The ECN IMPACT Awards recognize the products and services that have the greatest impact on the electronic components industry, and the market disruptor category highlights a product that forever changed the electronic engineering industry or a particular vertical within the industry. Townsend Team nominated Peregrine for this award and managed the product’s initial launch.
