As she reads on, she sees plenty of stories about Survue's competitors - but little about Survue. Since RFPs are often written with a specific contractor in mind, this is a problem. Julia starts thinking about the messages she needs to get out.

One of the topics of interest across Survue's peer group is ISO 9001. Everyone's shouting about their certification - except Survue. Which is remiss, since Survue's been certified for over a decade. She's got her first message.

Secondly, where Survue is mentioned, it seems to be in the same breath as much smaller regional competitors. That's odd, since Survue's the third largest, spanning the length and breadth of the UK. Do civil servants think Survue lacks scale for the big jobs? Julia resolves to counter that perception.

Thirdly, she notes a three-year old legal case involving Survue is being mentioned again and again - negatively. Are competitors engaging in dirty tricks? She drills down and looks at the bylines. Suspiciously, the two journalists involved both write for the local newspapers in towns where Survue's competitors are based. Bingo!

Survue hasn't ever won a contract in either of those cities. This is big: negative stories may have led to Survue's exclusion from millions of pounds in contracts. That's a job for message three, then.

Next: analysing Survue's position among the peers.