The CommsCo podcast is back for its fifth instalment. In the podcast, we sit down with business leaders in the B2B tech sector to discuss current and future trends in the industry.

CommsCo is launching ‘Accelerator’, a division for innovative tech developments coming from UK universities. Since the pandemic, the company has launched three such university spin outs, including Aegiq, Navenio and Weaver Labs.

SALESmanago, the Krakow-based martech company, has selected B2B tech PR agency CommsCo as its retained PR agency to elevate awareness of its customer engagement platform and drive a leaner marketing movement across Europe.

It hit a million users and then became unavailable to download (and I’m not talking about the Glastonbury site experience). ChatGPT, the latest chatbot by OpenAI, has been the talk of the AI world over the last two weeks. But while remaining out of action, even the download landing page featured a ChatGPT limerick to amuse its visitors.

The global fashion house Balenciaga recently released a series of images as part of its Objects campaign with children holding ‘fetish-themed’ teddy bears. It feels weird even writing the words. There are plenty of issues at play here, but from a PR standpoint specifically, it’s an interesting one to say the least.

From a PR standpoint, it has been a litany of failure. From every angle you look, countries, organisations and influencers have stripped away everything that made the World Cup feel special. It has come to epitomise elitism, corruption and, most importantly, a lack of genuine empathy.

The recession has again made the B2B world a delicate realm to enact strategy and decision-making. Do companies engage in more business and spend to counteract its impact? Or buckle up and tighten the purse strings until things look a bit rosier?

To be a climate tech startup or scaleup is to be a challenger brand - it’s in the DNA. A challenger brand goes beyond traditional means and looks to create lasting change in its sector.

If we gratuitously take the sandwich as a PR lunch staple and an analogy in the ‘B2B tech PR’ world, what makes a staple PR agency? Here we dress down three must-have ingredients.

Will Elon Musk's Twitter takeover make the platform a more harmonious and democratic space, or will it propel us into an Orwellian future that conjures up more hate speech?

There’s a growing – and necessary – demand for sustainable approaches, not only in terms of the green agenda, but also for maintenance and durability. But what defines ‘sustainability’? And what does this mean for marketing?

The connection between psychology and PR may not jump to mind immediately, but there are a number of insights the subject can provide. At its core, PR is the act of persuasion to influence an audience. Being able to understand the audience and clients is key; their attitudes, motivations, what they appreciate, all of which is imperative to tailor the approach and engage effectively.

Liz Truss finally broke her painful silence with a series of short interviews with local radio. This perhaps shows poor PR advice to begin with. Our experience of local media is that it is anything BUT non-influential.

The CommsCo Tech Chat podcast has returned, following last month’s launch with scaleup advisor Adam Hale. In the podcast, we sit down with business leaders in the B2B tech sector to discuss current and future trends in the industry.

TikTok now has more than 1bn users, well on the way to Facebook’s 2.9bn. LinkedIn may not have as many users as Facebook, TikTok, or Instagram, but at 850 million members worldwide, it's one of the largest social media networks in the business community.

Temperatures have exceeded 40 degrees in the UK for the first time since records began. The grass has turned yellow but people wine and dine in the sun, the sound of chinking tinnies ringing in the still air. Energy prices are surging. Fires and floods ignite around the world. But they’re “just temporary bursts”. There’s always calm before the storm - and that’s what’s coming.

We were recently joined by Adam Hale on the launch episode of the CommsCo Tech Chat podcast. In the podcast, we sit down with business leaders in the tech sector to discuss current trends and the future of the industry.

IRIS Audio Technologies, the company developing innovative and life-enhancing audio technology, has selected B2B tech PR agency CommsCo as its retained UK PR agency to elevate awareness of its AI-powered voice isolation software, IRIS Clarity.

A recent survey of tech business leaders has revealed that 83% are concerned about a looming recession. That’s according to B2B tech PR agency CommsCo, who surveyed 185 UK IT founders and leaders to uncover the concerns felt in the face of the current economic climate.

As retail heads back to the high street, M-Cube has hired CommsCo as its retained UK PR agency to promote its immersive in-store digital engagement solutions to some of the world’s best known brands.

This week, the CommsCo team attended London Tech Week. Not only was it a great chance to hear from some inspiring innovators, network with journalists and founders, it gave us plenty of reasons to be optimistic about the future of the technology sector.

News came out earlier this week that Joshua Ma, a senior executive at ByteDance, the company that owns TikTok, said that he doesn’t believe in maternity leave. ByteDance’s UK ecommerce team, which Ma headed up, has seen mass resignations as a result and a Financial Times expose has only added fuel to the fire.

CommsCo’s event division had a fantastic time supporting the AltoVita team at its 2022 Smart, Safe, Sustainable Summit last week. The summit focused on the company’s commitment to making the corporate travel industry greener, with insights from a range of different speakers, new features announced and industry champions recognised in the ‘Smart Safe Sustainable Honours Awards’.

With rising sanctions on Russian oligarchs, the launch of the Metaverse, and increasing UK tax evasion, First AML has hired CommsCo as its retained UK PR agency to help fight money laundering.

The new division, which will be spearheaded by experienced Account Manager, Roseanna Lane, will see CommsCo manage a range of events for its B2B tech clients, across sectors including travel, property, HR and AI. From event planning to delivery, CommsCo’s offering will include marketing theme, venue, media and stakeholder management.

Earth Day is the perfect time to recognise and show support for environmental sustainability and green initiatives. The UN has marked the occasion by naming Sir David Attenborough as the ‘Champion of the Earth’. His efforts in advocating for environmental protection and climate change throughout his lengthy career has made him a national treasure and role model.

The COVID pandemic has put an enormous strain on the UK economy over the last two years. This has especially been the case for the aviation industry where operations were almost completely halted for a year following the onset of the pandemic in March 2020.

CommsCo launches corporate and crisis communications division to help clients navigate challenging news agenda and provide issues support

We’ve been lucky enough to work with some incredibly innovative clients across the technology sector since CommsCo began. One that CommsCo has had the pleasure of collaborating with in the last few months is Weaver Labs, the Web3 startup democratising access to telecoms infrastructure with 5G and blockchain.

As someone who is currently undertaking their master’s degree in digital communications, I feel it’s vital to gain hands-on experience within the PR industry. Here are my five main reasons for undertaking a PR internship at CommsCo, and why I think other students should consider it too:

We’ve had an interesting start to 2022… Thankfully, we’ve beaten January blues – it was a damp, but not exactly dry January, shall we say. This didn’t stop the CommsCo team from making the most of the New Year spirit, particularly when it came to kicking off some fantastic campaigns and forging new client relationships.

Tower Bridge. A name and image synonymous with London, it can lay a very good claim to being the most famous bridge in the world.

In the world of public relations, securing brand awareness is the name of the game - but it’s not as straightforward as it can sometimes appear.

As COP26 winds down, the role of technology and its link with sustainability has been a topic found at the top of the agenda among world leaders during the conference.

The CommsCo team had the pleasure of attending the ScaleUp Institute's 2021 Annual ScaleUp Review at The National Gallery on the 9th of November. Amongst many things, the 2021 report explores the innovation strategies, diversity initiatives, future talent challenges, and barriers of growth and expansion of UK scaleups across all sectors.

AI platform creates a ‘real view’ of employee engagement and sentiment through untapped data, helping organisations to succeed with transformational change

New sectors being driven by digitalisation during the pandemic have spurred CommsCo to launch its dedicated Proptech, Traveltech and Healthtech divisions.

The expo brought together representatives across various tech industries including digital culture, cyber security, AI, and cloud, to explore digital transformation. Our Senior Account Executive, Julia Horvath, went along to find out more…

Last week we got face-to-face (at last!) with many of our clients for the first time on the roof terrace at Harvey Nicks. Apologies for the stereotypical choice of PR venue, but it felt like a truly special occasion simply to be out again meeting our clients!

he topic of Equity, Diversity and Inclusion can often be scary and uncomfortable to confront - especially in a professional working environment. But, if we’re to drive change then it’s time to get comfortable with being uncomfortable.

One in five LGBTQ+ people working in PR and Communications have experienced discrimination in the workplace because of their sexual or gender identity. Despite general equality and acceptance, diversity is an ongoing issue in our industry. So, what does this mean?

StaffCircle, the cloud-based HR platform that uniquely combines performance management, comms and culture to boost employee engagement and connect workers, has selected CommsCo to be its retained UK PR agency.

With the countdown to freedom-day fast approaching, it’s fair to say that the thought of returning back to the somewhat alien concept of “normality” is an exciting but daunting prospect.

After a year in which tech has donned its hero cape to carry us all through life-changing circumstances, the opportunities now lie ahead for it to shape our societies, cities and lifestyles for a new era.

London scaleup helping homecare agencies improve performance and provide better care appoints tech PR firm to drive UK profile

In May, CommsCo attended (and supported) Scale Up Week 2021, pioneered by The Scale Up Institute, BGF and the UK Government, to listen to thought-provoking discussions on the business-critical issues facing startup and scaleup organisations as they navigate the course towards sustainable success.

Disruptive Recruitment Process Outsourcing provider appoints challenger tech PR firm to drive UK and US profile

In a week where it was announced that the world’s wealthiest people have added $5tr to their bank balances during the pandemic, it would be reasonable to assume that COVID is a rich man’s game. After all, even our own prime minister has exalted the virtues of capitalism as our main route back to normality.

Over the last few months, we’ve seen some really clever social campaigns - from Weetabix and beans, to Ryanair’s self-deprecating TikTok account that’s won the hearts of a meme-loving younger generation. Amazon and Burger King, however, have left much to be desired with their recent social antics, having sent their PR colleagues straight to E.R. instead.

So far, I’ve already learnt so much about the world of PR, but what’s just as important is that I’ve learnt what it takes to brush off uncertainty in the face of COVID-19.

We have been forced to limit our time in the outside world, have reduced our contact with others and adapt our exercise habits due to gyms and other sporting facilities closing. It is no surprise that our health as a nation has taken a hit.

The president said he hates Big Tech. Yet his frequent, controversial tweets to his 88 million followers suggest otherwise. Trump loved Twitter, using the platform to side-track the media and speak directly to his right-wing voters. But after a recent crackdown on the president’s promotion machine, the social media giant has barred the president indefinitely. Checkmate.

Ah, yes. Just as many of us were gearing up for that much needed respite and return home - smack - a new tier to rule them all - tier 4. Perhaps an unsurprising end to a year that has spiralled in a confusing spectacle of regulations, rhetoric and questioning what the hell is going on

The world’s environment in the 21st century has reached breaking point and is crippling our precious ecosystem. As each hour passes, we use our natural resources indiscriminately and fail to manage our waste effectively, which is both destroying our climate and seeing our planet’s future slowly becoming irreversible

For this week’s listening, tune into latest episode of PR Week’s podcast The PR Show, hosted by Arvind Hickman and featuring a panel of leaders in the tech PR industry to offer their opinions on what has been quite the year for the tech (PR) world.

PropTech – the application of information technology and platform economics to real estate markets.

Around March 16th I, like most, was fearful of what lay ahead. The implications of Covid-19 stretching its awful hand over the world made for grim consideration not just in personal life, but also in the evident threat to my clients’, my team’s and my own livelihood.

The Guardian recently released an article written by an AI robot. Yep, that’s right, a fully coherent persuasion on, get this, the topic of whether AI will destroy the human race...

As a student, it’s bad enough having your final year of school cut short by a virus that’s compiled merely by a single-stranded RNA, a few proteins and thin lipid envelope approximately 120nm in size. Now, an untested algorithm has knocked a few letters off your predicted grades. Oh 2020, haven’t you done enough?

Lucinda Carney is CEO of Actus Software, a chartered psychologist and a client of CommsCo. She gives her perspective on hiring a PR agency on the day the lockdown started.

In the latest of our CommsCo Catch Ups, we chatted with award winning entrepreneur, investor and global executive leader, Paul Excell, COO and Director at ScaleUp Group (SUG).

Covid 19. Coronavirus. Lockdown, Social-Distancing, Furlough, ‘Quarantinis’... the list goes on and on.

Donald Trump is in the news again (shock). This time for tweeting something controversial (shock). It’s a fake video of a racist baby (sh…OK, actually this is bizarre, even for the President).

This week our amazing team helped host a virtual press conference for 63 journalists across 18 countries. On the same day, we won a new account.

Amongst global headlines quite rightly dominating the news, it might have been easy to miss the recent announcement from the Audit Bureau of Circulation (ABC), that national newspapers can now keep their print circulation figures secret

In a recent CommsCo Catch-Up, we sat down with AI advisor and founder of Greenhouse Intelligence, Andrew Burgess, to discuss how AI can help organisations weather the current crisis.

We’re well aware that the current crisis means many businesses are having to think on their feet and re-shape their services. It’s a difficult time for all, personally and professionally, but at CommsCo we’re committed to doing everything we can to help.

In an age where we subscribe to so many digital services, should we be paying for quality newsgathering as well?

Late last year, The ScaleUp Institute announced the appointment of successful scaleup entrepreneur Adam Hale as its new chairman. Hale is also advisor to the ScaleUp Group, Chairman of DevOpsGroup, non-executive director of Unit4 and board advisor to e-days.

In our latest 'media insights' blog, we pick the brains of NS Business editor Dan Robinson, talking everything from good PR practice and autonomous vehicles to Morrisons meat pies

In our first blog post of the decade, CommsCo talks to PR Week's news editor Arvind Hickman about the biggest news stories of last year, the ethical issues of certain comms campaigns, and what 2020 holds for the media and PR.

There have been some awe-inspiring events that have driven me to summarise the end of this year at CommsCo. Amidst a crazy 12 months’ political upheaval, we’ve been quietly – or rather, loudly - building the profile of our portfolio of scaleup companies, and that at least is something worth celebrating.

Don’t get me wrong - I thoroughly enjoyed my three years of communication studies. This blog is not going to criticise PR degrees, nor it is going to be full of regrets of undertaking one

Ensuring your PR and marketing strategies are aligned is critical to maximise its potential within the organisation – so how can the two departments work together? In the first in our series of CommsCo Catch-Ups, we chat to Adam Sharp, CommsCo client and co-founder and CEO of MarTech consultancy, CleverTouch Marketing to discover more.

The journey; a stalwart of mankind’s history and littered throughout literature and art, each one brings its own, unique challenges.

Big reputations and big names often gravitate towards PR agencies that are just as large. With hefty budgets at their disposal and the need for a sizeable PR team to manage operations, it’s a reasonable move for multinational organisations. Yet smaller companies often want a piece of this same sizeable PR agency pie, mistakenly believing that the bigger the agency, the faster and better the results.

Given we have the pleasure of working with many brilliant startups and scale ups in the tech scene, we were delighted to see the launch of Startups Magazine this year.

We're back with our 'Media Insights' series as we catch up with Joe Bush, managing editor at Electronic Specifier, the design engineers' resource guide to news, products and technology from the global electronics industry; and contributing editor to Startups Magazine, a digital and print magazine helping tech startups connect the dots on their entrepreneurial journeys.

Picture the scene. You’ve set your client up for a Sunday Times business profile but the opportunity isn’t quite right for them. You have set another up for radio but they really wanted TV.

On Your Bike Likes - the start of a new Instagram era?

In the midst of countless new world days, today marks potentially the most millennial of them all: #WorldEmojiDay; or, in emoji,???(ironically, there is not an emoji symbol for an emoji so I’ve used the most popular, dubbed, ‘Face with Tears of Joy’). A day created to celebrate all things emoji. If anything typifies 21st Century socio-cultural norms, this is it?

Last week we were approached by a business journal to explain why PR is so valuable to startups and scaleups as they turn their innovative ideas into businesses. As the agency for challenger brands, we know just how important it is to find your voice in the ever-expanding tech market. Stealing mindshare for exciting scaleup brands is why we exist.

Former Notbinary automation arm selects the PR agency for tech challenger brands to promote its work with government and Not For Profit organisations

When I first started university, my Dad told me that only half of what I would learn would be in the classroom, and the other half would be life lessons learned outside of academia. I was sceptical about that ratio then, and I’m still sceptical now, but for an entirely different reason.

Today’s a good day. You’ve worked with your client to get an insightful piece of thought leadership written up, and pitched it to an interested journalist. Now you’re just waiting for it to appear.

Disruptive HR tech scale up appoints challenger tech PR firm to drive UK profile

We continue our Media Insights blog series as we catch up with Lisa Baker, editor of UK Tech News.

In the first in our 2019 series of ‘Media Insights’ blogs, we caught up with Abby Sorensen, Chief Editor of Software Executive Magazine, SoftwareBusinessGrowth.com and Executive Editor of Channel Executive Magazine.

As CES 2019 draws to a close, this year’s show has provided insight into the coming tech trends of 2019 with 8K TVs and folding phones some of the hottest technologies on display.

It goes without saying that regardless of your business focus, innovation isn’t just for January. But when it comes to PR programmes, a lot of companies seem to run out of steam as Q1 creeps to an end. Those multi-tabbed comms plans so painstakingly constructed in the dark days of December may, by February, lay as long forgotten as most new year’s resolutions.

It seems almost everything, from politics to football, has been compared to a ‘finely poised game of chess’ at some point, often with varying degrees of accuracy. But what about PR? For those of us who don’t know our poisoned pawns from our Nimzo-Indians, what can Magnus Carlsen and his recent triumph over Fabiano Caruana in the world chess championship teach us about PR strategy in 2018?

Last night CommsCo PR took its clients, partners and journo friends on a journey around Europe via the medium of wine at a tasting at the Humble Grape in London.

This week we welcomed Matthew Carrozo to the CommsCo offices, as he traded in laid-back Lisbon for bustling London. Head of Communications at Unbabel, the translation-as-a-service AI scaleup that’s breaking down language barriers around the world, Matt chatted to the CommsCo blog team about the differences between Portugal and the UK, how to forge a successful agency relationship, and of course, his dog Moses.

As part of the budget this week, it was announced that the treasury would be releasing a commemorative Brexit 50p coin on 29th March 2019 as the United Kingdom leaves the European Union. Having been campaigned for by The Sun, it reported the news as a victory for the paper. The coin, which will read, ‘Peace, Prosperity and Friendship with all Nations’ is described as ‘an enduring gesture to mark Brexit as a landmark national moment’.

5 October 2018, London: Unbabel– the enterprise software company that combines Artificial Intelligence (AI) with a global crowd to break down business communication barriers has chosen CommsCo as its retained PR agency for the UK, EMEA and North American regions.

Some tips for driving results while keeping it simple

Last week I finished my internship with CommsCo, where the team took me under its wing for three weeks and showed me the ropes of PR in a professional environment. I’ve interned elsewhere for longer periods, but nowhere has taught me more in such a short time. It’s been educational, exciting, and engaging in equal measure – for anyone in my position considering applying for some PR experience themselves, I definitely recommend it. Here are just three reasons why:

Last week, amongst the disconcerting headlines about the uncertainty of the British high street, with retail giants such as House of Fraser struggling to stay afloat, emerged an encouraging story of a small fish making waves in a big pond. As well as being picked up in local waters by national papers and the BBC, the story of Scott’s Fish and Chips, on the A64 outside York, popularity has even been promoted by Chinese state media because of the buzz it has created almost 5,000 miles away.

Twitter chats are an increasingly useful tool when it comes to opening discussions with influencers and industry professionals. As well as achieving more social traction, they’re also a platform to show off your client as a trusted voice and an expert in their field.

It’s been three months since GDPR came into effect, yet organisations are still sending out marketing emails to individuals who have not opted-in. ‘Legitimate interest’, the loophole that businesses everywhere are using to continue outbound marketing, has been a saviour for marketing teams. Unbeknownst to many, however, that loophole is about to be closed for good.

If someone told you that one day marketers would be marketing to an algorithm, would you believe them? Would you be even more shocked if you were told it’s already happening?

You may not love it, with its clunky platform and wonky algorithms, but LinkedIn has steadily built its potential to be a key part of business sales strategy over the last few years.

Normally, if you can summarise the outcome of a meeting by saying:“So, we’re all the same. But we’re all different too.”

From policing pollution to sending satellites to the stars—Poland is tech’s hottest hub

And so London Tech Week comes to an end – with 55,000 of the world’s best and brightest minds finishing their final conferences and discussions on latest industry happenings and developments.

Gorkana’s State of the Media Report sheds some light on the all-important relationship between PRs and journalists today. The findings show that 75% of the media prioritise an accurate story over a breaking story, and only 3% say that they are willing to trust content from social media and blogs.

In a piece that initially appeared in UKTN, CommsCo MD Ilona Hitel explains how tech founders can roll out a successful PR media strategy to help their businesses flourish.

In days past, companies were winning if they managed to sort out storage solutions that could stand up to big data and somehow manage to extract useful data for analysis. As time marched on, many of the large global big data firms were able to demonstrate the benefits of big data analysis, usually via large global customers, a handful of whom consented to basic press releases extolling the technical veracity of big data in action.

Hosted by John O’Connell, chairman of the UK’s ScaleUp Group, last week’s event provided valuable advice for technology entrepreneurs in the UK ScaleUp space.

After three years of battling through your degree comes the time to join another fight, the fight for employment. That’s the great thing about graduating: you’ve spent three years, sitting through lectures and seminars wondering where it’s going to get you. Well, now it’s time to apply those skills.

GDPR. We know you’d rather not dwell on it, but the 25th May deadline isn’t something that small businesses can ignore. With strict new laws around data protection, you might be in the dark about what PR and marketing “post GDPR” is going to look like. Well, we’re here to help.

When the “London tech scene” is mentioned, what part of London do you think of? Shoreditch? Camden? East London? It’s likely that the Borough of Richmond does not spring to mind.

In an era of ‘security tool fatigue’, it’s more important than ever for cyber security companies to stand out from the crowd.

(Or, oh no, not another article about GDPR!)It’s May 25th 2018 and you want to send an email inviting your database of contacts to a great event you’re hosting. But wait, do you have their consent to email them, or to even hold their data?

Wondering what 2018 could mean for PR/journalist relationships? We caught up with Adrian Bridgwater, journalist for Computer Weekly, TechTarget, Forbes and The Register to find out his tech predictions, surprises, and how he sees the state of the media in the year ahead.

Now we’ve helped you master the email pitch, the next frontier is the arguably more fearsome phone pitch.

There are some B2B tech topics and themes that stand the test of time. After many years of industry discussion, they’re still relevant in today’s technology landscape. Then there are the others. A tired collection of buzzwords that have been done to death, and will not under any circumstances be regarded as “news” to any editor. Here are a few that spring to mind:

Earlier this month, we spoke to Jessica Twentyman, contributor to the FT, the EIU and Diginomica, and Editor of Internet of Business, to find out about her PR bugbears, the state of the media and her biggest tech surprise of 2017.

2017 was a huge year for tech scale ups. With ‘top ten’ start-up listings cropping up everywhere, it’s hard not to be amazed by the variety of new tech talent — from workforce management to automation and AI to cyber security companies.

When assessing what makes effective PR, it’s important be self-critical where necessary, and address where there is need for improvement. In business, new year’s resolutions are a chance to improve ourselves, our teams, and the success of the company’s brand.