Strict: positioning in critical infrastructure
8 April 2026 · Margiet de Ruijter

Strict: positioning in critical infrastructure

Europe's critical infrastructure - hospitals, airports, energy grids, transport systems - runs on digital systems that cannot afford downtime. The NIS2 directive, which came into force across EU member states in 2024, places legal responsibility for digital resilience directly on the boards of organisations operating in vital sectors. Compliance is no longer optional. But boardroom awareness has consistently lagged behind the scale of the risk: 36% of IT decision-makers in vital sectors reported concerns about a total blackout of critical systems, while 60% of the Dutch public feared serious societal disruption in the event of large-scale digital failure.

The strategic tension

Strict operates in precisely this gap - between the scale of the risk and the absence of structured response. The challenge was not a lack of expertise. It was visibility. In a market where authority is claimed after incidents rather than before them, Strict needed to establish thought leadership on prevention, at boardroom level, before the next crisis hit.

A campaign as market entry

Marcommit developed a Black-out Prevention campaign as a positioning instrument: original research among 300 managers in vital sectors, a concrete prevention framework, and a named expert as the public face of digital resilience. The timing aligned with two major real-world events - a global software outage and a large-scale power failure across Spain and Portugal - which validated the campaign's premise in real time and drove sustained media demand for Strict's perspective.

Market position as the outcome

On a PR investment of €58,000, the campaign generated a media reach of 7.8 million and an estimated PR value of €446,000 - a return ratio of nearly 8:1. More consequentially, Strict moved from a specialist provider known within its existing clientbase to a recognised national authority on digital resilience. In a sector where licence to operate depends on credibility with regulators, procurement committees and executive teams, that shift in positioning is a durable commercial asset.

About the author

Margiet de Ruijter

margriet.deruijter@marcommit.nl