Case Studies
Wabbi
CASE STUDY
How Wabbi executed a drumbeat approach with confidence to show an alternative side to application security.
“We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them.”
Albert Einstein
This Einstein quote resonates deeply with Wabbi CEO and Founder Brittany Greenfield. As a founder, you wear many hats — helping with fundraising, product development, operations, etc. Greenfield was a one-woman machine firing on all cylinders across the company.
She could see the paradigm shift happening in application security and she knew she didn’t want to fall into the trap Einstein warned about — yesterday’s security thinking doesn’t work in today’s pipelines.
She wanted to raise awareness and disrupt a crowded DevSecOps market. Wabbi was on a mission to enable development teams to own security in their day-to-day operations so SecOps and DevOps teams could see the relevant information in their workflows and, in turn, deliver automated and educated decisions.
To do this, they needed to develop a unique point of view (POV) looking to reverse the status quo and put security first (SecDevOps) with today’s modern application security needs. Greenfield and the Wabbi team turned to York to fine-tune that POV and ensure Wabbi’s content production reflected that notion through and through so it builds a compelling brand story.
Who is Wabbi?
Wabbi is a continuous security platform enabling companies to deliver more secure code while reducing delivery risk. By making application security scalable across DevOps pipelines, rapid development teams no longer have to decide between agility and security. Wabbi looks to drive the transition forward in building resilient products that put security first.
Security is a shared responsibility, and Wabbi believes development teams should be enabled to manage the day-to-day of application security in their existing workflows, integrating security into every stage of the software development life cycle.
Kate Campbell, vice president of advisory services at York IE, immediately connected with Greenfield over a shared affinity for DevSecOps. Although Wabbi knew its core message, it was a good chance for the company to reset and reposition. The team at York IE started with a messaging hierarchy exercise to outline what words resonated with their audience and find an intelligent narrative that worked. Once they got to know the voice behind the brand, additional channels were lined up for added content, media relations and a social media presence.
As drumbeat marketing evangelists, York IE is laser-focused on telling a brand’s story over and over with relentless fervor. The more the York IE team explained the drumbeat strategy and its importance for brand building, the quicker Wabbi realized its potential to be known as an innovative leader in its space.
Coming off a great 2020, there was plenty of momentum to work off the hierarchy and build it into a drumbeat program for 2021. York IE helped identify the moments where Wabbi could not only talk about the messaging but also highlight its impressive achievements.
Despite the many challenges startups faced during the pandemic, Wabbi broke through the noise and was named one of the most promising DevOps solutions of 2020. The company was also named a top 10 finalist in the RSAC Innovation Sandbox Contest 2021. Among the finalists alongside Wabbi were most notably Strata (an identity management platform) and Satori (DevSecOps).
“Working with Wabbi was a great example of the power of drumbeat when generating brand equity. Partnering with a founder who wanted to pay attention to marketing but needed that weekly guidance to handle the strategy
was a winning combination.”
Kate Campbell, Vice President, Advisory Services, York IE
Adding to that recognition, Wabbi won an SBIR Phase I contract with the U.S. Air Force, which led to a 200% increase in demand for their SecDevOps platform.
The team at York IE knew this traction was substantial and deserved attention, and weaved that momentum with Wabbi’s messaging. They outlined a monthly cadence to establish Greenfield’s thought leadership and show how Wabbi was staying active with new hires, award wins, new partnerships and engagement on social media.
As a founder, Greenfield knew she had to engage consistently on social. York IE advised her on first steps and the discipline required to keep beating that drum so she could increase engagement and tell a story that would resonate with her audience. For example, implementing videos and graphics instantly brought Wabbi’s social profiles to life, making it more distinctive of its brand.
The message was clear: Drumbeat marketing worked. LinkedIn impressions increased 4,505% from November 2020 to March 2021, and Wabbi saw 81% growth in social followers.
“It was a synergy that just worked,” Greenfield said. “It’s not just their expertise, it’s their willingness to bring forth a cohesive strategy that pushes me to have both an authentic message for the brand and the ability to execute that message with confidence. Sometimes reflecting back on your wins is not easy, but it was as if they held up a mirror and championed us to continue to tell our story, and it worked.”