InsidEPR

Tips for Successful PR in Europe: Richard White, AxiCom

Today’s post is the last piece of Engage PR’s three-part series with European PR partner agencies. Each partner has provided some best practices for North American technology companies looking to expand into the European marketplace and shared what companies must consider before embarking down this new path.

In our final post of the series Richard White, associate director of telecom and wireless at global technology communications firm AxiCom, shares his thoughts on how companies should engage in the European technology markets.

By Richard White

Localize the Message

The enterprise IT media landscape varies from country-to-country, which means companies must take a localized approach by make sure that everything they are doing is relevant to the local market.

Companies looking to enter into the enterprise IT market should have a plan and determine how they can fulfill their services in local markets. This may include having a local angle with a reseller, customer or company office. Making sure that the company’s sales and pricing structure is localized is also important. Reporters will look at a company’s local approach as a requirement before accepting a briefing.

Start by Testing the Waters

It often works well to start with a project for start-ups launching in Europe, which does not require a large investment. However, commitment to do basic follow-up activity is important after a company launch or debut. It is best to launch in the UK first, as many English speaking analysts are based in London or in surrounding areas. Once your company has launched in the UK, think about which other countries make sense for your business.  Other markets that seem to be popular include France, Germany and Italy.

To “test the waters,” the best recommendation is to conduct a tour where the executives meet with target media and analysts in the UK. Next, follow up the tour by issuing 1-2 press releases per quarter where the release is distributed and translated for the local market. There is no need to invest in getting “wall-to- wall” coverage to ensure a successful PR campaign in Europe.  It is also recommended to do at least one case study, which can be very powerful for helping sales.

Don’t Overextend

Many U.S. companies try to launch in five countries at once. They invest money and time by doing a tour in each of those countries to start. Then after the launch, they never step foot in those countries again, nor do they follow-up with PR in those regions. Not only is traveling to five different countries exhausting, but it’s not always a realistic expectation for a company to keep up their PR activity in each of those regions.

Start small and make sure it’s manageable. As an agency “we can scale” when needed, but can your company?  Especially when having local spokespeople, who can speak the language and respond to reporters in a timely manner, is key.

Tailor your Media Approach

Media briefing preferences vary from country to country.  Media in Spain prefers press conferences, and companies are expected to have food available for journalists after the conference. Company launches will likely attract 20 journalists. Media in Germany, however, prefer to meet one-on-one and often at the publication’s headquarters.  In the UK, France and Netherlands, the media also prefers to meet companies one-on-one either at the publication’s headquarters or at another location.

The business press is also different from country to country. For example, in France and Germany, business press reporters are very tech savvy, which means reporters will likely be more willing to delve into technical details. In the Netherlands, however, it’s almost impossible to get coverage unless your company is listed on their stock exchange.

Digital media also varies. Like in the U.S., Websites like Facebook and LinkedIn are widely used, but are customized to meet the needs of each country.

Welcome Baby Neko

By Whitney Sunseri

For the past 9 months, we at the EPR offices have watched our resident HR manager’s tummy grow with life. Now it is our pleasure to announce that Michelle is finally mother to a beautiful 6 pound, 12 ounce baby girl named Neko – born on Friday, April 16th at 8:30 p.m. With updates via Neko’s very own Facebook page (social media savvy already!) we have been able to track the new addition’s progress from hospital to home.

While having a mom-to-be in the office had its fair share of cringe-inducing moments (such as getting the 4-1-1 on the entire birthing process after each prep class and constantly anticipating she might go into labor at any moment during her last week before maternity leave), there were also several perks:

1. Frequent trips during lunch to the local cheese steak shop when there was a craving – of course, we all indulged!
2. A baby shower complete with adorable little girl clothes and delicious ice cream cake
3. And last but not least, another opportunity for the staff at EPR to partake in one of our favorite pastimes: a company-wide pool dedicated to guessing the birth date, length, and weight of baby Neko!

Though a little unconventional, thanks to a wonderfully crafted site, BabyPool.com,we were able to organize a company pool and submit our guesses for Neko’s birth stats online. Everyone was limited to five guesses on the date, accompanied by a guess for length and weight if born on that day, and the closest person to the date and time of birth without going over would win (high-fives and bragging rights, that is). The competition was fierce and the and the anticipation built each day that Michelle inched closer to her due date, but lucky for me, Neko was born the exact day she was supposed to, after my guess of 12:00 p.m. which declared me the baby pool winner!

Although the victory was sweet, it feels even sweeter to be able to congratulate Michelle and Bryan on becoming parents to a happy, healthy baby girl. Welcome to the world, baby Neko! We all look forward to your first visit to the office very soon.

Promoted Tweets: Monetizing Twitter

By Megan Atiyeh

This week, Twitter finally introduced plans to monetize its business with “Promoted Tweets.”  Much like Google Ad words, promoted tweets are sponsored tweets that appear at the top of the page when users search for keyword advertisers have bought to link to their ads or promotions. On Twitter, ads will continue to appear as long as they show resonance with users via a set of criteria like clicks or re-tweets. Ultimately, promoted tweets will also appear in personal content streams even if users do not perform a relevant search or follow the advertiser in question.

Response to the news has been mixed.  Users seem to have adopted a wait and see attitude but I anticipate there may be additional backlash when the second phase of the program is introduced and unsolicited ads begin appearing in personal streams. Its “opt-in” format is one the reasons Twitter has been so popular. As Twitter evolves, can it survive for the long haul, or will it be replaced by the next big social media phenomenon?  Only time will tell. According to recent reports, Twitter’s growth has slowed considerably.  Of its estimated 75 million users only 10-15M are active tweeters and many new users never utilize their accounts.  

What do you think?  Is Twitter here to stay?

Tips for Successful PR in Europe: Mike King, Johnson King

Today, we are continuing Engage PR’s three-part series with European PR partner agencies regarding Best Practices for North American technology companies looking to expand into the European marketplace. Each partner provided a tremendous amount of insight and shared what companies must consider before embarking down this new path.

In the second post of the series, Managing Director of UK-based technology PR agency Johnson King, Mike King shares his thoughts on what should be a company’s priorities when engaging in PR in the region.

By Mike King

Which countries are you going to focus on?

Although the technology industry is global, the market in Europe is very different from the US.  For a start the European market is highly fragmented and it is a mistake to think of Europe as one place – it consists of 47 different countries, with more than 200 different languages spoken.   Within the various European countries there are different stages of market maturity, different local competitors and very different local issues to address.  This means that the first decision US companies need to make when embarking on European PR is which countries do they want to focus on?   Of course, this needs to reflect where the most appealing business opportunities exists and doing business across 47 countries is clearly not an easy, or cheap, undertaking so having a clear idea of where to focus is essential.

Engage with the media on a local level

Europe’s diversity is reflected in its media landscape.  Areas of interest, styles of reporting, journalist expectations and levels of technical understanding vary hugely between countries.  The only way to engage effectively with local media is with on the ground PR teams who have the relationships and local knowledge required.  Of course, this means an additional local PR team for each target country.

Essential to demonstrate local commitment

An effective PR campaign needs to engage target audiences by demonstrating expertise, commitment and a good understanding of issues that are relevant to them.  This means being seen to have local language spokespeople (how can a company convince journalists that it is committed to a particular market if it doesn’t even speak their language?) and being in tune with local market drivers.

Find the right PR partner

Often, US tech companies will break into the European market by starting in one or two countries and then, as revenues build, expanding into other European countries.  When embarking on such a strategy, it is important to find a PR partner that not only understands your market (and has done it before) but also one that can comfortably expand activities to support future business growth.  A proven ability to manage pan-European campaigns from a central ‘hub’ and an open and honest relationship will mean that the right agency can help determine realistic targets and ensure expectations are met.