Last week, Arch’s Marketing Manager, Hamish, sat down with Ilona Hitel, MD at CommsCo, to discuss how CommsCo's 'Challenger PR' approach supports rapidly growing, disruptive technology brands in breaking into the market with agility, smart thinking, and eye-catching campaigns.
CommsCo is a B2B tech PR agency founded in 2013 by Ilona Hitel. Specialising in 'Challenger PR', they focus on supporting tech and professional service brands aiming to challenge bigger competitors with smart and creative messaging and agile marketing and PR campaigns. CommsCo is known for its unique approach in helping Davids go against Goliaths and innovators to establish a market presence and gain new customers.
Let’s get into it.
Can you provide a brief overview of CommsCo's 'Challenger PR' approach and how it specifically caters to rapidly growing, disruptive technology brands?
CommsCo is a B2B tech PR agency on a mission to support tech and professional service brands that want to go up against bigger competitors with smart and creative messaging, and agile marketing and PR campaigns. We call it ‘challenger PR’ but effectively we support Davids going against Goliaths and innovators who need to create a story in the market, either for profile or to gain new customers. Typically both.
What are the key components you believe are essential for a successful PR launch for a tech brand in today's competitive market?
To launch a brand you need credibility factors, but also ‘news’ to pin the story to. So, the former could be an interesting customer or application, investment, or partnership, the latter could be data highlighting key issues in the marketplace that the product or solution addresses. Ideally, this all fits within a campaign of content with a compelling story, so that messaging is not only stand out but is consistent across web, social channels and online or other placements.
How does CommsCo ensure that the PR campaigns crafted for its clients are unique, resonate with the target audience, and effectively differentiate the brand in the marketplace?
Competitive and media audits are just one of the research tools used at the outset to ensure the positioning is differentiated and stands out in the marketplace. Often businesses can’t articulate – even at an exec level – what they stand for, or what they want to be famous for. This is an all-important exercise to go through at the outset. You might have different messages for different audiences – perhaps up to three – but there should be one stand out message that encapsulates everything the company does.
Could you elaborate on how CommsCo integrates content marketing and social media strategies into its PR campaigns to maximise reach and engagement for tech brands?
We target specific influencers to maximise the reach of campaigns, whether journalists, partners or customers. A good idea or campaign should have a long tail and start either on social or a media outlet, but ideally, they integrate and each amplifies the other. If you consider data within a campaign like this you’ll likely have a long tail to the content too, with influencers referring back to it as relevant issues crop up. This reaches as far as email marketing, events and awards – carrying consistent messaging specific to the campaign so the end effect is momentum, and feedback as we recently had from one CRO: “I see this client and its report everywhere”.
How does CommsCo prioritise KPIs for its tech brand clients when measuring the success of a PR launch? Additionally, what guidance do you provide to clients who may be unsure about which KPIs would best fit their specific launch objectives?
This can take the form of a number of measurement criteria, very much dependent on the client. From MQLs and leads to placements, to message traction, to competitor benchmarking. We advise on which best supports the business objective. So, if a client is seeking an investment profile, then business awareness/LinkedIn reach and inbound enquiries might be one metric, if it’s an industry report launch, the ROI is linked to the number of downloads. We can also set metrics for website traffic or social following.
How does CommsCo collaborate with its tech brand clients to ensure alignment in messaging, objectives, and overall strategy throughout the PR launch process?
The team holds an initial kickoff workshop where it downloads input from key stakeholders in the business. This forms the basis of a messaging and content plan, which is reviewed regularly for traction and results.
You can check out more about CommsCo via their website. Thanks to Ilona Hitel for taking the time to sit down with us, and Rosie Robson, Senior Account Executive at CommsCo for her support.
If you’ve got an app, website or digital product you’d like to launch, drop us an email or give us a call. We’re here to hear about your ideas!