Meeting the Press Face-to-Face

What do you imagine when you think of a press briefing? For many business leaders they probably have an uncomfortable image of flashing bulbs, a packed room of gossip-hungry hacks and immense pressure to say the right thing. Images of a tabloid roasting are a common cliché, boosted by celebrity and political scandals and yet the reality can be a completely different, far more agreeable experience if managed properly. At MCC International we take a special kind of pride in setting up beneficial press briefings. If you’re selling an interesting new service or product, or if you have something interesting to comment on your industry sector, a good technology journalist is likely to want to have a friendly and genuinely interested chat about it. Of course you need to be careful, what’s said can’t be un-said – but some of the finest press coverage can come from a good one-to-one meeting with the right journalist (and increasingly through video interviews that many publications are becoming hungry for). Not only does it demonstrate your expertise to your clients (and potential clients) but also shows your competitors that you mean business too. We’ve had a great week of pitching clients to the press, and as the trade show season progresses it becomes an increasingly important weapon in the PR arsenal.

If you want a demonstration of how PR (and digital social networking channels such as Twitter in particular) can have a huge influence on the world of business at all levels, look no further than the case of The Hobbit pub in Southampton, as reported in our local newspaper The Southern Daily Echo. The whole furore over the name of the pub and the corporate licensing ramifications of it went way beyond the city as actors Stephen Fry and Sir Ian McKellan (who both appear in the upcoming adaptations of The Hobbit – debate in our office wondered how this might affect their situation there!) waded into the mire to defend the establishment against branding scrutiny. It will be interesting to see if the ballooning of this story can bring a peaceful resolution to the situation – if nothing else it has brought the dispute to a much higher level of public awareness and seems to have persuaded the protagonists to engage more directly to find a resolution. It’s amazing the power that 140 characters can unleash through Twitter!

The big technology news this week is the launch of the new Apple iPad – although it seems to be a little coy on its identity. Tech Radar in its review is referring to it as the iPad 3, and yet Apple themselves have avoided this nomenclature simply referring to it as the ‘New iPad’. Since the new model hosts a full 1080p HD screen, some commentators had suggested using the HD moniker – but whatever name you favour, the press reviews, such as Charles Arthur in The Guardian, rate it very highly and consider it a marked, if subtle, improvement on the iPad 2. Realising that even slightly older technology is still popular (look at the sales tiering of the iPhone models for instance), Apple is still selling the iPad 2 at a reduced price, making way for the new model to take on the premium price bracket and appealing to early-adopters. Apple obviously understands that for many businesses the previous model will cater for more modest needs very nicely, especially as its products have burrowed out a very lucrative niche in the business world. Surely this is a key to the success of the product range as a whole - our client, IT Solutions Consultant ramsac has even created an Apple Business Unit to cater for this commercial interest, recognising that the iPad has helped to fuel a big shift in the business IT sector as a whole.

It’s Showtime!

Now we’re properly into March its feeling more like Spring (intermittently between flurries of wintery snow that is!) and in the world of technology PR our thoughts are turning to this year’s trade show and events season and the best ways for our clients to make maximum impact on their markets. As much a part of the PR and Marketing campaign as press releases and case studies, trade shows give your business the chance to meet potential clients in the flesh, to talk directly about your products and services and to sell the personality and integrity of your business using the expertise of your team. Drawing visitors to your stand with well-targeted, highly relevant PR is much more effective in attracting potential clients and the type of visitors you want as opposed to simply relying upon gimmicks, which may superficially appeal to a broader audience, but not necessarily the ones you might like! Big upcoming events for MCC International and our clients include the British APCO (Knowledge Exchange for Public Safety Communications) at Manchester Central, 16^th-17^th April, INFOSEC Europe at Earls Court, 24^th-26^th April and IFSEC 2012 at the Birmingham NEC 14^th-17^th May

This week has seen coverage of the TED (Technology, Entertainment and Design) Festival in California, which is worth checking out not such much for the technology but more as an insight into the direction technology business leaders see it moving. We were particularly interested by Sherry Turkle’s stance that new technology and communication channels do not necessarily mean we are truly connecting with other people or organisations – a positive message that making communication more personal (such as attending trade shows for example!) is far more effective than simply dipping a toe in every communications medium and hoping to reach the right contacts.

With the Olympics looming this year, BBC Technology News has covered a new kind of speed record – that of a four-legged robot dubbed ‘Cheetah’. Achieving a somewhat slower pace of 18 mph than its feline counterpart (64mph has been recorded in short bursts apparently), or indeed the likes of sprinting superstar Usain Bolt, this robot doesn’t really conjure images of Robert Patrick’s T1000 sprinting after Arnold Schwarzenegger in Terminator 2. However, when you consider this robot was developed without the aid of thousands of years or evolution (or Hollywood CGI), its starts to look more impressive. It also highlights the media and public interest in technology firsts and the kudos that having a World Record still holds (as well as a great PR opportunity) - which has to be admired!

Seeing PR from the business end

As PR professionals we (obviously) spend the majority of our time planning and actively running campaigns for our clients. Occasionally though, we get to put our skills towards a little self-promotion – something which we have done this week with a press release announcing our relocation to Southampton Science Park in Chilworth. It can be a strange and somewhat surreal experience for a PR agency, writing copy about yourself and posing for photos – the kind of thing that we are very well drilled upon for our clients, but a bit less familiar with when we are on the other side of the camera lens. Despite being in somewhat unfamiliar territory, the whole team at MCC International agreed it was a great experience, making us think about our strengths, the power of teamwork and how good PR does as much for company morale and pride as it does for external awareness.

Something else that caught our attention this week was the announcement of the latest educational IT must-have, the rather deliciously named Raspberry Pi (a nice addition to the fruit-based IT product names in the ilk of Apple, Blackberry and for those of us who are old enough to remember it, Apricot!) Whereby other popular IT devices such as the iPad and smartphones boast even greater performance and higher resolution displays, Raspberry Pi bucks this trend by offering all the basics of a PC for pocket money prices (we’ve found it on offer for less than £22). IT Pro has called it ‘A BBC Micro for today’s generation’ – which seems spot on and if you are a 30-something like me, it conjures up images of the well-loved early-generation 1980s personal computer (found in many schools) that inspired so many of us to bother with IT in the first place. Essentially using a motherboard, ARM processor and running Linux, the Raspberry Pi offers pretty impressive performance for such a small item – all you need is a TV, a keyboard/mouse and an Ethernet connection to essentially have a full PC. It even comes in a clear case so curious kids can see the innards and learn more about how a PC system is built and developed.

We were also reminded this week of the strength of industry awards with the announcement of the Queen Elizabeth Prize for Engineering. Backed by the likes of TV physicist Brian Cox (who is often muted in the office as a bit of a look-a-like of our in-house web and print designer Neil!), the award is designed to raise the profile of engineers, who are the driving force behind most of the technology that we take for granted. We are delighted to see another way for the innovative individuals and teams recognised, something which we highly recommend to our clients and actively seek to embrace in their PR campaigns. Technology is such a key part of the modern world and our everyday lives that we need to be shouting about it!

One of the UK’s Longest Serving Science and Technology PR Agencies Makes Southampton its New Home

MCC International Moves to the University of Southampton Science Park to Promote Innovative Businesses from the Solent Region

Southampton is the new home for one of the longest serving public relations (PR) and marketing communications agencies in the South. Established in 1988, MCC International, brings to the city more than 24 years’ experience in the promotion of science and technology businesses, from its new home at the University of Southampton Science Park in Chilworth.

Based in Winchester for the past 11 years, the award-winning agency has made the journey down the M3 to join a growing community of science and technology innovators that have chosen Southampton for its heritage and University links, as a place for developing and launching exciting new technology products and services. Each of its ten-strong agency team is a highly-skilled communications professional with specialist expertise in marketing, journalism, social media, web design and of course, PR.

Managing Director at MCC International, Fiona Brewer, comments on the new office: “The city and surrounding area is a hot bed of technology talent, innovation and entrepreneurial spirit. The University of Southampton Science Park is the perfect location for MCC International, as we want to help fan the flames and be evangelists for local businesses, telling their stories to the wider world and helping them to grow and succeed in the Solent region.”

MCC International already works with many national and international businesess that are based in the region including Fibercore, NICE Systems and TDSi, to promote their technology and expertise to UK markets. The agency also has a large network of affiliate agencies around the world and has recently run campaigns in France, Italy, Germany, China and North America.

UK Businesses believe PR and Marketing is worth investing in

There is a common belief in some business circles that when the economy gets tough PR and Marketing are the first services to find their budgets cut. Conversely, many business leaders realise that when the market gets tough it is prudent to push your products and services even harder to potential customers who are very likely to be looking more closely than ever at what they buy. We were interested to see a BBC News article this week, referring to a survey by research group Mindmetre that suggests a significant percentage of polled businesses are looking to raise their marketing budgets in 2012. This is juxtaposed by figures in the same survey that suggest a third of UK company directors believe the country may fall back into recession this year, suggesting the belief in PR continues to grow.

We have seen this renewed interest in PR on a personal level this week with two new MCC International clients. Whilst it’s always a pleasure to win new business, we are particularly inspired by working with clients who have a renewed enthusiasm for good PR and recognise that speaking to your potential clients on a number of levels (be it print press, online press or social media) gives the market greater confidence in the ability to deliver on promises.

Finding the right voice for your audience is always a hotly debated subject in PR and Marketing circles, so a story that really caught our eye this week was in the Independent regarding advertising that claims to only display to a female audience. Installed at a bus stop in London’s busy Oxford Street, the advert aims to highlight the plight of the world's poorest girls by showing a video to female pedestrians as they pass by using facial recognition. The jury is out as to whether facial recognition technology can successfully determine a female from a male face, but the publicity it has generated by its novelty factor alone has to be admired as a clever piece of marketing.

Having produced an article looking at the falling popularity of email in our lives (on behalf of a client this week), we were interested to see the results of a survey by Ovum which suggests mobile network operators lost £8.8m in lost SMS revenue last year due to the popularity of social messaging applications. Naturally the younger members of the MCC International team weren’t surprised, at least once we had prised them away from using WhatsApp on their iPhones!

What does your website say about you?

What is the first encounter most of us have with a new business? Chances are the website will be your first impression of any firm you buy products or services from. A website gives your business a public image and substance to what you offer, arguably becoming one of the most important tools for publicising yourself in the busy marketplace (alongside an on-going PR campaign of course!). This is something that is freshly in our minds at MCC International this week as we have launched our brand new website.

Presenting the right brand image, telling potential customers what you can offer and keeping existing customers well informed, is the key to a good website. But the competition wasn’t always so tough, as our Agency Director, Graham Thatcher, reminisced this week. Fondly recalling his university days in the 1990s, Graham pondered on the delights of gaining access to the World Wide Web for the first time and looking to see which companies had managed to buy their domain name and actually put a web page online (and in those days it often was one page with basic details!) Whilst the novelty value of actually having a website is hardly the same in 2012, making sure it is well written, easy to navigate and relevant to your audience are all key considerations – and are as important to your Marketing and PR campaign as any other material that you present to the public.

In the wider world of technology, there continues to be further evidence that mobile apps are becoming one of the most important ways we access the online world. The BBC News website reported on a new app that allows the transfer of money which promises to revolutionise the ways in which we pay for everyday things. Whilst it promises greater freedom for personal banking, it also raises the inevitable question of mobile security – a symbiotic sector which is rapidly growing thanks to pioneering companies such as our client Aptica. Whilst looking towards future trends we were also interested to see that mobile apps sometimes play on our sense of nostalgia, such as the story on the Independent website about a new Hipstamatic iPhone app which recreates the sense of anticipation that used to come from using an old film camera and not really knowing what you had taken until the whole roll had been developed. In a world of photo manipulation and vanity censorship it might be interesting to see some of the dodgy old shots we wished hadn’t been taken!

2012 - a year to to shout about

Two thousand and twelve (or twenty-twelve, depending on your preference for saying 2012) is proving to be a significant year. From claims that the Mayan calendar ends, apparently spelling the end of the world (which may or may not be true depending on which source you believe!), to the Chinese Year of the Dragon, to more tangible events closer to home (such as eagerly anticipated the London Olympics and HRH Queen Elizabeth II’s 60 year anniversary of her accession to the throne), there is no denying this will be a landmark year.

This is also a year of important anniversaries for a number MCC International’s clients. Both access control specialist TDSi and speciality fiber manufacturer Fibercore celebrate their 30 year anniversaries in 2012, whilst leading IT solutions consultancy ramsac turns 20 years old in March. What all three companies demonstrate is that despite the shadow of wider economic difficulties, successful, well managed and well-motivated businesses can continue to thrive and should be shouting about their success to the wider world – which is something we, as PR specialists, are helping them to do.

Further afield, this has been another interesting week in the world of technology. One story that particularly caught our attention was a roundup of statistics on popular web use for the likes of Google, YouTube and Twitter which really brings it home how much of our lives are now conducted online. Equally, a BBC article entitled ‘Mobile, social, cloud changing the way we work’ looks at how technology has changed the way we all work and how it is inspiring people to work more closely together.