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Telco’s 2021 vision: The impact of covid-19 on marketing and media relations – from the journalists that matter

Telco’s 2021 vision: The impact of covid-19 on marketing and media relations – from the journalists that matter

Over the past 18 months, the mix of covid-19, global lockdowns and the rapid switch to digital everything/everywhere/any time, has forced businesses to adopt different approaches to reach their target audiences. This has included the telecoms industr...

Tinker tailor solider spyware

Whether or not global governments are willing to acknowledge it publicly, cyber espionage has become an expected, if not accepted, norm in the 21st century. The era of Cold War-style spies, represented in popular culture by characters such as John Le...

Activity in August – coverage highlights

Despite August typically being a 'quieter' month in the PR world, this year it was awash with activity for the Babel team. From welcoming new clients to issuing expert commentary following breaking news in the cybersecurity world. We have come to tha...

Maintaining lockdown behaviours: The continued need for digital growth

Even before the pandemic, companies were coming to terms with the fact that increasing digital marketing efforts and selling via e-commerce was a move likely to improve their business. However, since Covid-19 began dominating our lives, and with lock...

Making a PR research project work for you

Media pitches always need a news hook, and vendor-led research is becoming an increasingly common tool to reel journalists in. Whether it’s within cybersecurity or telecommunications, owned statistics can be a key way to secure media coverage. Here...

The top news in tech: the August digest

This month, I’m pleased to launch a new Babel blog series looking at the top tech news stories, and wrapping up four weeks of content that caught my eye. As PR professionals, it’s our job to keep on top of the news and maintain a comprehensive ov...

Risky business: the increasingly complex reputation landscape

Reputation has always been a tricky business to be in. Maintaining and managing relationships between individuals and organisations and their stakeholders has been around far longer than the industry that has commercialised the practice. As the publi...

What MWC Barcelona has taught us about the future of trade shows

Yes, it was four months late and it was a scaled down and a hybrid event, but MWC actually happened in June; a huge triumph for the GSMA and a big positive for the telecoms and events industry. Reflecting on the show, here are four things MWC Barcelo...

Making the most of an English summer with July’s coverage highlights

As COVID restrictions begin to lift, the Babel team has undoubtedly enjoyed getting back to a somewhat ‘normal’ working life. With journalist lunches now resuming and the Babel team finally getting the opportunity to meet our clients again face-t...

WHITEPAPER LAUNCH: How greentech firms can grow their brand in the year of COP26

As host of COP26, “the world is looking to Britain to deliver,” said Labour leader Keir Starmer earlier this month. “We cannot afford to miss this moment.” The UK has been trying to convince other countries to adopt more ambitious climate goa...

Agritech: improving the yields from the fields with IoT

I feel I always have to preface any blog I write on agritech with an explanation as to why I’m cheering on the use of technology in one of the world’s oldest industries, which for centuries worked pretty well without connected cows and satellite-...

Ships, greenhouse gas emissions and… software enhanced sails?

Sailing meets software development to tackle climate change: Babel looks at the ways in which cargo ships are reverting back to using sails to tackle spiralling greenhouse gas emissions. Have you ever picked up an item in a shop and wondered how i...

How to produce a podcast in PR

Since it has been six months since the launch of Babel’s podcast, we thought it was a fitting time to reflect upon the success of the channel thus far. The Digital Communicators podcast, produced by Babel’s PR and marketing manager Dan Parris,...

Ransomware – key milestones and major players

At the turn of the century, ransomware barely registered on the Richter scale of threats posed to global business operations. Today, it is potentially one of the most devastating to both multinational corporations and SMEs alike. Much has been mad...

Why playing the long game in PR reaps its rewards

In what remain very uncertain times, you may be forgiven for grasping hold of every piece of positive news. One such ray of sunlight for anyone working in marketing and PR came in the latest IPA Bellwether Report, a quarterly survey outlining comp...

100 Days in PR: What I wish I had known

This article was originally going to be called ‘Three Months in PR’ but it turns out that as of today I have been in PR for exactly 100 days and that just sounds much cooler. The last three months have gone by quickly and since it is somewhat ...

Jumping into summer with June’s coverage highlights

From attending Mobile World Congress in Barcelona to the team hosting our first post-pandemic, face-to-face client meeting, it’s safe to say, June has most certainly been brimming with activity for the Babel team. And with it, we’ve seen some fan...

A view from the Fira: Mobile World Congress Barcelona 2021

As the dust settles at the Fira Gran Via in Barcelona, following what should be described as a brave and necessary attempt at a return to normal, I wanted to reflect on my first experience of what is usually the largest telecoms event on the planet. ...

Data-driven May – coverage highlights

May was awash with client activity. Whether it was virtual events or industry research, Babel seized several fantastic opportunities to position our clients as leading voices within their industries. As always, it’s hard to pick favourites, but aft...

Spotlight Q&A with Nicole Perlroth, cybersecurity reporter at The New York Times

Back in March, we held a live-streamed panel event focussing on how the pandemic has impacted the business cybersecurity threat landscape. On the panel was Nicole Perlroth, cybersecurity reporter at The New York Times. You can watch the event in f...

Why 2021 is a crucial year for the growth prospects of greentech firms

“I am told by scientists that 50% of the reductions we have to make to get to net zero are going to come from technologies that we don’t yet have. That’s just a reality.” The words of John Kerry, US climate envoy, ahead of a recent visit t...

The pros and cons of open source for ecommerce

In 2003, the SARS outbreak saw a surge in people afraid to go outside and so start to shop online. Skip forward to the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020 and we saw the stockpiling of essential items, as well as many shops being forced to close their doors an...

All action in April: coverage highlights

The theme of our March coverage really showed how we can maximise on calendar events like International Women’s Day and Budget announcements. April had fewer of those opportunities and so it’s a pleasure to showcase some of the other tactics we u...

Africa banks on cryptocurrency

Cryptocurrency markets are booming once again. Ethereum has hit its all-time high and Dogecoin is riding Elon Musk’s coattails to the moon. But with so much talk about cryptocurrency prices, NFTs and get rich quick stories, it is worth anal...

Three myths about media briefings

Media briefings are one of the most important ways to get your message out. They provide the forum to go beyond what’s written in a press release, explain your views on bigger industry topics, and demonstrate why you’re a thought leader. It’...

Impartiality in 2021: How the news is fighting hard to rebuild trust in media

Originally written by Ashwinder Bedi in the aftermath of ‘Stop the Steal’ US Capitol Riots… It's been four years since the historic day the truth was most famously contested. Kellyanne Conway, senior counsel to the newly inaugurated Donald T...

Babel welcomes new consultants: Q&A with Henry and Rob

The Babel team has some new faces! New starters Robert Shrimpton (consultant) and Henry Young (consultant), introduce themselves and share a little bit about what brings them to Babel. Hi guys! Tell us a bit about yourselves Rob: I love working wit...

Consumer data sharing: more opportunity than threat

This month, our client Acquia asked us to commission research into the controversial issue of third-party consumer data sharing, to understand the impact of likely changes this will have on marketing in the future. As consumers, we recognise that ...

Three tips for an effective in-person Mobile World Congress 2021 strategy

Still planning on attending MWC? Here are three tips for how you can effectively plan and prepare for the show, despite all the uncertainty… When Nokia, Ericsson, Oracle and Facebook all announced within about a fortnight of each other that the...

Making your voice heard in the aftermath of a cyber attack

If you work in b2b tech PR you are likely to recognise the scenario. Another big brand has hit the headlines, becoming the latest company to be hacked. Sensitive customer data has fallen into criminal hands, and a hungry media has questions: how d...

Making the most of March – Coverage Highlights

International Women’s Day, Easter, the Budget, the start of lockdown easing (again), March had it all. As well as some really brilliant coverage for our clients. Highlights were once again hard to pick, but here are my top five for March. Enjoy! ...

Spotlight Q&A with Joe O’Halloran, Networking Editor, Computer Weekly and Editor-in-Chief, Rapid TV News

As part of our regular Spotlight interview series we recently spoke to Joe O’Halloran, Networking Editor at Computer Weekly and Editor-in-Chief of Rapid TV News. The relationship between PR and the media and how tech companies should – and sho...

Collaboration, communication, and consideration: How to navigate the world of hybrid work

In the weeks following the unveiling of the UK government’s roadmap out of lockdown, businesses throughout the country have been contemplating what a return to the office will look like. While the pandemic has fuelled much uncertainty, we can say w...

How to make it in sustainability communications

An ever-increasing awareness of the fragility of our planet, and in parallel today’s media fuelling the need for transparency, has created an expectation on all businesses in regard to sustainability. This means, no matter the sector, organisations...

A year of covid-19: the impact on cybersecurity

Earlier this month, Babel hosted a live-streamed event which looked at how cybersecurity has been impacted by COVID-19. Today, we’re launching a whitepaper which delves into some of the key points in a bit more detail. Hosted by Babel’s Simon ...

Feisty February – Coverage Highlights

I usually try to keep our highlights to just five articles but this month it was tricky, so I’ve allowed myself an extra one. What I love most about this selection of coverage is the range of tactics at play and the tenacity of the team in securing...

Communication and coverage: #BabelTalks to Retail Week about media engagement

Babel recently hosted a live-streamed discussion with Retail Week editor, Luke Tugby. In the space of just 60 minutes, we covered everything from the impact of COVID-19 on ecommerce and the high street (including brands that had benefitted) to game-c...

Green tech, the race against climate change

If there is one topic (besides the ongoing pandemic) that everyone is talking about, it’s climate change. After 2020 having been a year of catastrophic fires, record breaking heatwaves, and the strongest cyclones ever recorded, people are beginning...

Retail media buy-in: how brands can sell their story and convert conversation to coverage – industry insight from Retail Week

At the end of 2020, Babel held a webinar examining how retailers can maximise share of voice, and how comms and marketing teams can make the most of what is traditionally the busiest time of the year. A lot has changed since then. We might only be a ...

Secrets to running a successful remote-working PR agency: top tips from the Babel team

This week, the UK got a plan (of sorts) to help lead us out of lockdown. Some of us might be filtering back to offices soon, but most businesses will continue to operate with remote workforces, in a hybrid at-home/in-office set-up. And many will do s...

How tech will transform the high street post lockdown

March 11 2020 – the day that the World Health Organization declared the outbreak of COVID-19 a pandemic. The global restrictions on movement over the following 12 months have meant that, unsurprisingly, one of the most severely impacted sectors has...

Cyber trends to watch in 2021

Looking back at 2020 it’s difficult to see past the elephant in the room. For the majority of the last calendar year, the COVID-19 pandemic has defined our everyday lives, the way we work, socialise and stay active. It also shaped the cybersecurity...

Top PR media pitching tips: Part II

Last week, I considered some top tips for engaging with key media. Now, for part II, I’ll report back on conversations I’ve had with journalists themselves, during which I uncovered their do’s/don’ts when it comes to communication. Melanie...

#BabelTalks series: A year of COVID-19 – the impact on cybersecurity and media engagement

A lot can happen in a year. On 11th March one year ago, the World Health Organization briefed the world’s media and declared COVID-19 a pandemic. In the 12 months since, we’ve seen various reports citing increases in cybersecurity incidents. From...

Beating the January Blues – Coverage Highlights

It may have been a tougher January than usual for the world, but the team at Babel has been delivering some cracking work in spite of that. Here are just a few of the highlights from a brilliant month of coverage across our campaigns. Thinking cre...

Top PR media pitching tips

Pitching story ideas, product announcements and press releases to trade and national journalists is one of the most fundamental aspects of a job in PR. However, with fewer journalists, changing news cycles and vast amounts of media outlets, PRs ne...

What do telco media want? Babel spoke to TelecomTV’s Ray Le Maistre to find out…

At Babel, we work closely with clients across the technology and telecoms sector. But we also work very closely with our friends and allies in the media. This week, we thought we’d unite the two and offer interested parties a unique insight into wh...

What’s up with WhatsApp: the messaging app meltdown

In recent years a growing number of people have been turning their backs on Facebook. Whether due to an alleged lack of action on hate speech or over privacy concerns, over the past 12 months the exodus from Facebook’s core platform seems to have g...

Question marks over MWC Barcelona drive the requirement for a flexible marketing strategy this year

There are two big questions hanging over the heads of telecoms executives as they plan their roadmaps for 2021: ‘Will Mobile World Congress (MWC) Barcelona 2021 will definitely go ahead in June this year?’ ‘If MWC does happen, what it wil...

2021 tech industry predictions: part II

What will be going on in the world of tech this year? A number of the Babel team shared their technology industry 2021 predictions last week, with the rest of the gang revealing their techie forecasts in part II of the series, below. Imogen, Consu...

2021 tech industry predictions

What’s 2021 got in store for the technology industry? Can we expect to see flying taxis swooping through our skies and robots roaming our streets? Or will it be another year of Zooming from work meetings to social engagements, tapping away at foldi...

Jumping on the news: Babel highlights from 2020

I still get a buzz from coverage; I think that’s pretty important at any level in this job. And with its fast pace and instant impact, issues jump responses are a smart way to get coverage for our clients. Of course, we aren’t the only agency ...

2020 according to Google

This week, Google launched its Year in Search 2020. The campaign focused on the idea that ‘the most human trait is to want to know why’. In perhaps the most uncertain year in living memory, during which we’ve faced global pandemics, natural dis...

All I want for Christmas, is sustainable agritech

It is highly presumptive of me to assume that I can imagine what all farmers would want for Christmas. So, I have put this blog together with a certain theme in mind – one that is very close to the hearts of lots of people this year: sustainability...

Babel Insights: Keith Dyer, Editor, The Mobile Network

Babel's Dan Parris, recently caught up with Keith to discuss the media landscape and how it has changed this year, as well as what trends he anticipates seeing for the telco sector in 2021. 1. What makes for a good PR/journalist relationship in ...

Cybersecurity in 2020: tales and trends in the new normal

One thing we often hear from our cybersecurity clients is how rapidly the threat landscape is evolving. Adversaries are relentless in their pursuit of new innovative ways to infiltrate and inflict damage on their targets. I wrote in June that investm...

Whitepaper launch: Navigating the nightmare before Christmas: How retailers can maximise share of voice and mind

Black Friday has been and gone, non-essential retailers have thrown open their doors (for a limited time only?), and the Christmas countdown has begun. And yet – both Debenhams and the Arcadia group announced pretty grim news this week, Amazon is s...

Sabbaticals – Building a great place to work

Sabbaticals have become part and parcel of workplace culture at Babel. A chance to recharge batteries, kick start creativity and reward loyalty. As part of Babel’s benefits package, the company offers a number of policies designed to encourage a he...

Babel Insights: Analyst Q&A with Teresa Cottam, Chief Analyst, Omnisperience

Here at Babel we really cherish the relationships we build, not only with our clients and service providers, and the media, but also analysts – key influencers in the world of business. Omnisperience is one such analyst house, providing expert a...

How to set up and promote the perfect virtual event or webinar

In recent months, we have hosted several successful virtual events and we want to share some of the insight that we have learned. There are, of course, alternative ways of hosting these events, but we’ve found this method has been very successful a...

Trust, tech, and transformation: key takeaways from Babel’s Retail webinar

In the face of the COVID-19 crisis, it goes without saying that retailers are facing an unprecedented challenge. And for many, this challenge has proved insurmountable - tragically one in eight of the shops forced to close due to the pandemic has fai...

Why tech will be the key to a cracking Christmas for retailers

The rollercoaster ride of 2020 has no doubt been the most hair raising for retailers. The initial COVID-19 enforced UK lockdown, lasting three and a half months, had a devastating impact on many retailers. More than one in eight shops – over 5,5...

5G PR – Full steam ahead or full of hot air?

So here we are. Apple has jumped onboard the 5G hype train. Often the conductors of the mobile landscape, Apple had waited behind its rivals before finally launching the iPhone 12 and 12 Pro with 5G capabilities last month. Now, numerous analysts and...

Ciena selects Babel to spearhead its US trade media and business press programmes

Leading global networking systems, services and software provider, Ciena, has selected Babel to drive its US trade and international business press programmes, becoming the company’s largest retained PR agency. Last year, Babel won a competitive...

How retail tech comms professionals can help avoid a nightmare before Christmas

You only have to walk down any high street to realise the full impact of the pandemic on the retail sector. Shuttered shops, reduced opening hours and fewer people treading the pavements illustrate how the COVID-19 lockdowns have dramatically changed...

Top PR trends: covid communications

I’ll skip all the ‘new normal’, ‘seismic changes’, ‘plunge new depths’ chatter. We know 2020 has transformed the way most industries operate, and PR is no different. Clear, accurate, timely communication – between government and the p...

Why tech marketers should plan for 2021 with confidence

As soon as we started to appreciate the huge global significance of COVID-19, it was clear that the world of work would never be the same again. Now, six months since the start of the UK lockdown, news of redundancies seem to be an almost daily oc...

How have live sports and sports broadcast had to adjust to covid-19; what’s the future of sports broadcast?

Part 2 - Future of sports broadcasting “Football is nothing without fans” Those are the words of Sir Matt Busby, the legendary Scot who led Manchester United to European glory in 1968, and who is without a doubt one of the greatest managers ...

Agriculture 4.0 – why the digitalisation of farming is a smart choice

Farming is one of the oldest professions, with prehistoric records indicating it could date back as far as 23,000BC. And, like many other industries today, farming is experiencing the fourth industrial revolution: agriculture 4.0. But what can new, c...

#BabelTalks fintech: Watch the webinar now

On 2nd September, Babel hosted a panel of industry experts and media to discuss the state of trust in the fintech market, and the steps organisations can take to effectively manage reputation and build trust. There is enormous enthusiasm for the f...

#BabelTalks webinar: Fintech – A Question of Trust?

With just one week to go until Babel's next virtual panel event, we have been diving into the fintech industry to gain a greater understanding of the trust gap between the sector and its consumers. The fintech industry has grown at an exponential ...

How have live sports and sports broadcast had to adjust to covid-19; what’s the future of sports broadcast?

In the early months of lockdown, the same episode of Four in a Bed was repeated so often across Channel 4’s family of channels that I could recite it word-perfect. So, I’m sure you can imagine my relief when live sport began to return to our scre...

Will Coronavirus disrupt silly season in 2020?

Will Coronavirus disrupt silly season in 2020? For all the talk of the ‘new normal’ in 2020, one area that seems to have been overlooked is the media’s so-called ‘silly season’. So far this year, much of the news agenda has been dedicated...

Pandemic PR: How sport has proven the power of authenticity

In a ‘normal’ world, professional sport is polarising enough. Stars are regularly antagonised in tabloids, and an executive-level scandal never seems to be too far away either. PR is therefore a hugely important tool for the industry, as an abili...

What it’s like to be on a micro-placement in the Virtual World

I had my routine all planned out. I’d wake up at half six (much to the despair of my university-influenced body clock), get dressed, eat a bowl of unbranded breakfast cereal and aim to get to Eastcote station by about quarter past seven. An hour or...

The tale of the angry Aussie minister – what not to do in a media interview

It’s 1993 in Darwin, Australia. ABC television reporter Jeremy Thompson turns up at the offices of Territory Transport and Works Minister Max Ortmann. An appointment has been made between Thompson and Ortmann to record an interview for ABC’s 7.30...

Digital Dick Turpins and Kardashian-style malware – a whistle stop tour of common security terms

I was recently asked to give the Babel team a training session on all things cybersecurity, given the majority of my clients fall into this sector. It was a ‘scratch the surface’ session; an ABC tour through the twists and turns of the cyber land...

Managing reputation through a crisis: the legal route

Issues and crisis management can be an incredibly rewarding pursuit. There is a lot riding on the outcome of your work and the counsel you provide. It often gets the adrenaline pumping in ways other parts of communications practice does not. This ...

Why it’s time to scrap FUD as the default narrative in cybersecurity

Fear, uncertainty and doubt. For some, the idea of using FUD (as it’s affectionately known) as a communications tactic to capture attention may send shivers down the spine. Unfortunately, some security vendors are still selling FUD by the bucket lo...

Lockdown Learnings: What the pandemic has taught us about work, life, and everything in between

The pandemic has had an unprecedented impact on our personal and professional lives, and will do for a long time to come. Over the last few months, we’ve adapted to working from home, learned to fill spare time with new hobbies, and adjusted long h...

Why investment in security is now more important than ever

Since the Prime Minister announced that the UK would be entering lockdown on 23rd March, businesses across the country have been scrambling to come to terms with the new reality. For some, it has been about getting to grips with a decline in revenue,...

Virtual events are here to stay: key takeaways from Babel’s panel featuring the BBC, PA Media and All Day DevOps

As a result of the pandemic there has been a significant increase in the number of virtual events – and specifically virtual conferences, press conferences, and virtual roundtables. But these virtual events present different challenges and differen...

How to host a virtual event: advice from a PA journalist

Mobile World Congress was the first major tech sector event to be cancelled due to COVID-19 back in February. At the time, many businesses wondered how they’d manage to go ahead with product launches, gain media coverage, network with new and exist...

Women in leadership: a six-point plan for professional development in PR

Seventy-eight per cent of CEOs in the top 30 PR agencies are men, despite the fact that women represent two thirds of the global PR industry. What's holding women back from landing the top jobs? Or, looking at it from a different perspective: why are...

Leadership in PR: a day in the life of an MD

This week, Babel Consultant Jessie sat down (virtually) with Jenny Mowat, to find out more about leadership in PR, and the day to day life of an MD. What does a typical day look like for you? Before lockdown, my day started early with a quick gym s...

Babel’s virtual event: beyond the webinar

For businesses, events are a crucial means of engaging with customers and prospects – and the media. In the UK, the events industry is worth around £42.3 billion, with around 1.3 million business events held across more than 10,000 venues, hosting...

Media relations during lockdown: thoughts and tips

I know we are only in May, but when it comes to reflecting on 2020, I think it is safe to say that it will have been unlike any year that has come before. Most industries have been forced to undergo dramatic changes in recent months, and the PR indus...

Planning your communications strategy for H2

Many businesses are now in the position of planning for the second half of what has been one of the most unpredictable and disruptive years in memory. However, some businesses will also find that they have a bit more bandwidth than they would during ...

Kindness matters at Babel

The COVID-19 pandemic has impacted everything it has touched. The economy, our communities, our mental health. It has also highlighted the need for kindness, which is especially important now. From the difference small acts of kindness like helping o...

FIVE TIPS FOR BETTER SLEEP

During these crazy times, it’s hard to truly switch off. Whether it’s from work, the ongoings in your household or the constant news updates – it can be hard to find some head space. Or even just some time in which conversation doesn’t revolv...

INSTA VS. REALITY – HOW TO GATHER REAL SEARCH INSIGHTS ABOUT YOUR TARGET AUDIENCE

Having been inspired by Declan’s blog on Tiger King meets SEO Queen, I thought I would take the plunge in to the world of search-led insights. I’ve always been fascinated with social listening tools and gathering killer insights for planning, and...

‘STAY ALERT’ TO THE IMPORTANCE OF WORDS AND MESSAGING

“Words are, of course, the most powerful drug used by mankind”. These words are taken from a speech given by the English journalist and novelist Rudyard Kipling in 1923. Events of the past week illustrate that, despite this quote being almost ...

SETTING THE TONE: HOW TO NAVIGATE A CRISIS AND BE SPOT-ON AND ON-BRAND WITH YOUR MESSAGING

The world is a confusing place at the best of times, before you throw in a global pandemic. People are scared. They want clarity. They want to be spoken to like a human. Even if you can’t, in all honesty, tell them everything’s going to be alrigh...

Why you need a PR tool stack

There are few barriers to entry in public relations. Technically, there’s nothing to stop anyone with a phone and email account practising PR. While that is the case, most professional communicators have some sort of training – whether academic, ...

Joe Exotic is Netflix’s Tiger King, but Carole Baskin is the SEO Queen

Before we start, have you seen Tiger King on Netflix? If you have, great. HOW insane is that series!? If you haven’t, then I’m willing to sacrifice our dwell time (more on that later) to tell you to go and watch it immediately. Come back when y...

COVID-19: Reaction from the tech community

Are we in challenging times or are they strange times? Or maybe these are unprecedented and uncertain times? I think it safe to say that none of these adjectives quite do justice to the current situation society faces. As demoralising and unfathomab...

In times of crisis, the media matters more than ever

As the scale of the COVID-19 crisis dawned on the UK and it was announced that schools would close, the government pledged that those working in ‘critical sectors’ would be prioritised for education provision. The vast majority of professions on ...

What PR can learn from politics during a crisis

If we think of well-known crises and the key communications activity that took place within them, we often think of politics and political leaders. As we continue to experience the worst global crisis in modern times with the Coronavirus pandemic, it...

Ensuring your media relations programme adapts to the challenge

Coronavirus has created challenges for every industry, and PR certainly isn’t exempt. Due to changes and unpredictability in the news agenda, in recent weeks we, as PR professionals, have had to adapt our practices to ensure that we continue to gen...

How to build your brand and host virtual events in a locked down world

2020 was set to be a stellar year for sports fans – the Olympic Games and football’s European Championships were a recipe for a sizzling summer. Following the cancellation of both events, along with stalwarts like Wimbledon and the Grand Nationa...

Why relationships and empathy are now more important than ever in PR

I am writing this, and you may well be reading this, from the comfort of your own home. I would much rather be spending my working day in our central London office, enjoying the company of my colleagues, brainstorming ideas for a pitch, welcoming cl...

PR with Purpose in the face of a Crisis

Did you know there’s a Global pandemic? Before you switch off from “yet another” Covid-19 blog, I would really value your feedback. In the face of the global crisis, businesses are doing their best to respond and keep the economy turning as be...

The five things I’d tell a younger me about being a woman working in PR

Before I took my first steps into a career in PR - a few years ago now - the image that sprung to mind was Edina and Patsy from Ab Fab. In fact, one of my first bosses actually had a picture of herself looking like Edina on her desk. Ask anyone thei...

Widen appoints Babel to support strategic expansion to UK market

London, UK – 4th March 2020 – US-headquartered marketing technology company Widen has appointed Babel as its UK agency of record, tasked with supporting the company’s strategic expansion into Europe by establishing a foothold in the UK market....

MWC Barcelona didn’t happen; what happened instead?

On February 12th 2020, roughly one week before most of the press and technology industry were set to leave for Barcelona, the GSMA announced that they were cancelling MWC 2020 tr over continued concerns around the spread of COVID-19 (aka Coronavi...

Influence in absence – why MWC’s cancellation will force a rethink of the trade show format

So MWC20 Barcelona is no more, and the telecoms industry has been left scrambling to mitigate the fallout from the cancellation of its preeminent trade show. Some companies have decided to go ahead and host events in Barcelona, while others have tu...

A day in the life of a digital marketer in the world of PR

As the newest recruit to be welcomed to the Babel family, supporting the agency’s marketing efforts as a marketing consultant and with digital work for clients, I would like to introduce myself. Below is a short explanation of my role here at Babel...

PR analytics: data, creativity, and insights

What do dog food and the UK government have in common? Both rely heavily on analytics for effective PR! I wrote recently about measurement in PR. You might have guessed it’s a real focus for me. Fortunately, it’s a huge focus for Babel as an ag...

Why video didn’t kill the radio star

As it’s World Radio Day, we wanted to take this opportunity to celebrate everything about the medium that connects audiences and communities around the world. No other medium has the power to reach an audience so directly through a mass medium chan...

MWC is over, but your PR and communications campaign must go on

Covid-19 has brought Mobile World Congress (MWC) to its knees. The GSMA, exhibitors and the wider industry, could never have foreseen the turn of events that has resulted in the cancellation of the world’s biggest mobile technology tradeshow. Comp...

The truth about trust

In recent times, every new year seems to have begun with the declaration that our trust in institutions is changing, and for the most part we hear it has been on the decline. But in 2020, fresh questions have been asked about the research driving tho...

The Super Bowl ads: What makes creative ideas resonate

Only in America, where the relationship between sport and commercialism is unlike anything seen in the rest of the world, is so much focus given to one night’s adverts – the Super Bowl. With a 30-second slot during the game costing a reported $5....

Vodafone Spain Selects Amdocs’ Unified Digital Engagement Capabilities as part of its Digital-first Strategy

Amdocs’ offering, including NICE inContact CXone, provides Vodafone with a comprehensive view of its customers across a wide range of Vodafone and social digital touch-points for smart, automated journey management LOUIS – February 4, 202...

Vodafone Spain Selects Amdocs’ Unified Digital Engagement Capabilities as part of its Digital-first Strategy

Amdocs’ offering, including NICE inContact CXone, provides Vodafone with a comprehensive view of its customers across a wide range of Vodafone and social digital touch-points for smart, automated journey management LOUIS – February 4, 2020 ...

Amdocs Partners with Orange Spain to Transform Time-to-Market and Customer Relationships Across its Multiple Brands

Orange Spain chooses amdocsONE for faster innovation and agile operations LOUIS – February 4, 2020 - Amdocs (NASDAQ: DOX), a leading provider of software and services to communications and media companies, today announced that Orange Spain ...

Over one third of UK consumers plan to buy a 5G smartphone this year

3rd Feb 2020 Research from Amdocs reveals that 5G marketing is working, but consumers still lack knowledge of the broader services it could enable Research from Amdocs has today revealed that 35 per cent of UK consumers plan on buying a 5G smartp...

Measuring the impact of PR campaigns

I had a new business meeting last week with a start-up whose main focus wasn’t on our relationships, nor on how we work, but instead was on how we measure the impact of these things. Of course, measurement comes up all the time in PR, but this was ...

Microimpuls deploys Irdeto Trusted Home to protect Connected Households

MOSCOW, Russia – (28 January, 2020) – Irdeto, the recognized leader in digital platform and cybersecurity, today announced that its Trusted Home solution will be deployed by Microimpuls, an established Russian IPTV and OTT technology provider,...

Robust, reliable, relevant: harnessing data to power the news agenda: Pt II

Yesterday, we hosted the latest in our Babel Talks event series, and reported on just some of the insights shared by our expert panel. In part II we highlight further approaches and key takeways from the event, and examine how brands can best use dat...

Robust, reliable, relevant: harnessing data to power the news agenda

Eight out of ten business leaders would trust a claim from the media if it was supported by data. This is an entirely fabricated statistic, but it illustrates the impact facts and figures can have on the level of trust we place in what we see, read o...

Finding order in chaos: how PRs can navigate the UK’s noisy news agenda

Chaos theory teaches us that it is possible to find order in chaos, and predict the unpredictable. In the face of Brexit uncertainty and political turbulence, communications teams have had to become masters of chaos theory. We’ve had to keep pace w...

How to PR your CSR: a three-step strategy for communicating and promoting CSR credentials

Over the next couple of weeks, conversations among global elites will be dominated by Davos, with the World Economic Forum’s annual meeting in the Swiss Alps taking place from the 21st- 24th of January. Over the course of the event, som...

Creating data for the media

Come and join us at Babel's panel discussion on 21st January, at the Amba Hotel Charing Cross, London. On Tuesday 21st January, Babel is hosting a breakfast panel discussion and workshop exploring how businesses can present organic and third party d...

My PR New Years’ Resolutions for 2020

As 2020 begins, it’s only natural that we should reflect on the year (and the decade,) we’re leaving behind. Whether it’s home life, work life, or anything in between, it’s useful to think about what successes and failures we’ve experience...

CONMEBOL Selects Irdeto for Online Piracy Detection & Brand Protection Services

Irdeto’s proactive services will help protect CONMEBOL brand and content from piracy and cybercrime CES, LAS VEGAS – 7 January 2020 – CONMEBOL, the governing body of football in South America, has selected Irdeto to provide services that will ...

Dear Santa, all we want for Christmas at Babel…is tech!

Last Christmas, not only did I give you my heart, but I also provided you with a list of all the weird and wonderful tech the Babel team is wishing for this Christmas. This year, in my role as Chief Elf, I’ve once again asked my colleagues to share...

PR predictions for 2020

Making predictions in the world of public relations and communications is always a dangerous thing, but now that 2020 has arrived, here’s a list of five that I feel reasonably comfortable with (with the notable exception of No.5). Artificial in...

A year in the life of PR: Transformation, digital, purpose and press

As 2019 draws to a close and the Babel team wrap up their to-do lists in anticipation of a well-earned break, Babel MD Jenny Mowat makes some observations about the PR industry as a whole, and discusses how these have been reflected in Babel’s own ...

Media planning ahead of MWC Barcelona 2020: creating a PR runway that works

With 2019 soon drawing to a close and one of the most significant events in the telecoms calendar fast approaching – we sat down with Paul Campbell for a Q&A on the best media strategy and tactics to create a ‘PR runway’ into the event – ...

Where to start with data-led storytelling

The media and public at large have an increasing appetite for facts and figures, which add colour and credence to any sort of content. As such, influencers are always after more numbers – but this data must be robust, stand up to scrutiny and be pr...

PR lessons from fast-moving politics: key trends and tactics in play

With election campaigns almost at a close and social media having been a key battleground, we take a helicopter view of some of the tactics political parties have been using – and observe how the speed and complexity of communications is so importa...

CGI models, ghosts and gorging on data – dissecting PR measurement with the PRCA

You might be a little confused by the headline, scratching your head and wondering what the hell CGI models and ghosts have to do with measuring PR campaigns. All in good time, dear reader. All will be revealed. On the 3rd December, I was lucky enou...

Q&A with Babel’s newest recruits (double trouble?)

The Babel team is growing, and we’ve recently hired two new consultants onto our graduate scheme – Teddy and Jessie. To find out more about what led them to Babel and how they’re finding their experience so far, they sat down together for a Q&a...

“MWC is not the destination, it’s a stopping point on your journey”

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]Forbes, RCR Wireless, Comms Business and IDC share their thoughts on the telecoms trade show during Babel’s MWC panel event. It’s that time of year again. MWC Barcelona is one of the most significant weeks...

News hijacking: our approach to executing this key PR tactic

Issues jumping, or ‘news hijacking’ as it’s sometimes referred to, is an age-old PR tactic that helps clients’ stories and messages cut through the noise by providing immediate insights on breaking news. When well executed, it can be a key dr...

Part 2: How do you grab the media’s attention at MWC? Find out from the influencers that matter

Come and join us at Babel’s panel discussion on November 28th, at the h Club in Covent Garden On Thursday, Babel is hosting a breakfast panel discussion aimed at driving best-practice communications when engaging with press and influencers prior ...

2019 Election Debates: Why the messaging and delivery of our potential leaders missed the mark in the persuasive stakes

As the two main party leaders went head-to-head this week, trading blows in the first TV debate of this year’s general election campaign, it’s clear that neither leader managed to gain any significant advantage or emerge as the obvious winner. W...

Part 1: How do you grab the media’s attention at MWC? Find out from the influencers that matter

Come and join us at Babel’s panel discussion on November 28th, at the H Club in Covent Garden Mobile World Congress (MWC) is the largest mobile event globally, bringing the most recent innovations and technologies together under one roof in an ex...

What to consider when rolling out global communications campaigns

With Brexit (potentially – possibly, maybe, never – who knows) round the corner, or for businesses looking for wider marketing opportunities, the need to expand out of domestic markets is an attractive prospect. As the world continues to shrink, ...

Campaigning gaffes and blunders: lessons from times past

The prime minister met with the Queen at Buckingham Palace last week, marking the official beginning of a five-week campaign period that will take the electorate to the polls on 12th December to decide the fate of the nation. While the outcome remain...

MWC Barcelona 2020: Stay ahead of the pack

Meet the mobile influencers at Babel event in November Winter is coming! Now, while that phrase may signify bad omens for Game of Thrones fans, for technology communicators it’s simply a sign that the silly season is upon us and preparations for...

House of PR Horrors – when brands take a terrible turn

It’s Halloween, and it wouldn’t be Halloween without a blog filled with putrefying puns and comical content. So, true to tradition, please enter Babel’s House of PR Horrors, if you dare. Gather round with your hot cup of curiosity, as we explor...

Educating the next-generation of PR superstars

What do Cluedo, Marks & Spencer and the first commercial railway have in common? They were all gifted to us by Leeds. And on Wednesday 23rd October, Babel decided to give a little gift back to the vibrant West Yorkshire city, as a small team of r...

Party conference season: a golden opportunity to reposition brands

As this year’s political party conference season draws to a close, it is a good time to reflect on how each of the major parties were able to capitalise on the rather unique opportunity to reposition themselves in these turbulent times, and what bu...

Broadcast #TechFest and the connectivity conundrum

If you’re reading this blog, you probably already know that Babel is a specialist tech and telco agency. Topics like 5G, low-latency and network slicing are as familiar to us as seeing Bradley Walsh on the Chase – we see it every day (or at least...

Social media: the beans on toast of PR

Before technology allowed everyone, consumers and brands alike, to broadcast their reactions to every major and small event possible, the management of brand reputation seemed a slower, more controlled affair. PR departments first emerged around 130 ...

The making of a thoroughly modern PR professional

What skills do you need to be attractive to PR employers in today’s competitive environment? Like all agencies, at Babel, we compete for talent. But as I sift through CVs, I sometimes find that the skills most highly prized by PR agencies or inhou...

IFS appoints Babel to set the communications agenda for the UK and Ireland

London, UK – 2nd October 2019 – IFS, one of the fastest growing companies in the enterprise resource planning software sector, has appointed Babel as its UK agency of record. Tasked with setting the communications agenda for the UK and Ireland,...

Uber, brand perception, and a challenging legacy for tech businesses

What do you think of when you think of Uber? Innovator? Disruptor? Killer? Whatever your views of the notorious transportation firm, its impact on business and society are undeniable. But in the wake of high-profile scandals and crises, public opinio...

The tech-for-good takeover: How ethical companies are cutting through the noise to help those in need

Over the last decade or so, the motivations behind many tech developments have been changing. Entrepreneurs and start-ups are creating technology with the aim of making a positive difference. A study by Tech Nation showed that the UK is the global c...

Does every year need to be the year of the relationship?

Last week we were lucky enough to be invited as a guest of one our clients to the annual Evening with TechMarketView, which this year centred on why 2019 is the year of the relationship. As renowned technology industry analysts, it was no surprise th...

The creativity in PR conundrum

What makes a PR campaign ‘creative’? How can you encourage creativity among your team? And what must creative content deliver for clients? The answers to these questions are just as abstract as the definition of creativity itself. We’re aware ...

Eyes are the prize at IBC2019

Friday nights in the Bradshaw household followed a very familiar pattern when I was growing up. We’d come together after a long week of work or school, order an Indian (lamb tikka dopiaza for me if you were wondering), and settle down to watch the ...

Stemming the cyber flow

It’s no secret that as a society we are increasingly reliant on technology to survive. Whether it is critical communications, healthcare technology, or even automation in factories – technology underpins it all. Whilst this is incredibly benefi...

The agritech transition: from nice-to-have to necessity

It’s August; the sun’s out and for farmers up and down the country, it is the busy harvesting period. I’m a farmer’s daughter. Both sides of my family have farmed for generations, and despite living and working in London, I like to keep my ea...

2019: a year of experiential stunts

Stranger Things and New Coke This partnership came about because Coca-Cola released its infamous New Coke during 1985 when Stranger Things season three is set. New Coke was widely panned by consumers at the time but is unique to that year and so is a...

Building a dream PR team to top the league

We’re into August now, which means I’m allowed to talk about football at work again. Sorry everyone else, it’s happening, so just get on board with it…. The Premier League season is dawning once again and offices up and down the land will be...

Top five marks of great PR company culture

As Babel’s newest recruit, I’ve very recently been through the arduous process that is job hunting. Despite its tiresome nature, it’s been extremely eye-opening, giving me the chance to really scrutinise different PR agencies, their approaches ...

Designing collaborative stories to boost media coverage

The collaborative story This is a practice by which we find a common thread between two or more of our clients, and then pitch a joint briefing to a journalist to offer a rounded view on a topic. Designing collaborative stories can be a great way of ...

Chasing causality: How to measure PR realistically

In physics, ‘causality' is the relationship between cause and effect. An effect on an event has to have happened due to a cause in its past. On paper the logic of this is simple, and the idea of cause and effect is something we learn from a young a...

Tips for creating your brand messaging

American business executive Meg Whitman once said: “When people use your brand name as a verb, that is remarkable.” It obviously helps having a short, snappy and distinctive name (Google, Uber, Instagram – I’m looking specifically at you), bu...

Books on a beach

Top 5 summer reads for PR and marketing professionals

Well, the summer is upon us (for now) and for many of those in work it means a bit of a summer break. I’ve had mine, soaking up sun, sherry, and cheese in Jerez de la Frontera, and it was delightfully accompanied by a John le Carré novel: A Perfec...

Closed sign

Why the PR show must go on despite the summer shutdown!

The never-ending Brexit debacle; the plight of Theresa May and the battle to succeed her as Prime Minister; the fractious diplomatic situation developing with Iran; “the wacky ambassador from the UK”; and BoJo in Number 10, are some of the storie...

Babel expands senior management team with new appointments

Appointments of Jenny Mowat as UK Managing Director, Matt Humphries as International Director and Joanna Timmermann as Head of Creative, Content and Integration London, UK – 25 July 2019 – Today, Babel, an integrated communications agency for...

Social media icons

Three steps for creating social media campaigns with impact

Before the internet became a one-stop-shop for information, the number of touchpoints a brand had with its target audience was limited. Today, with the internet at our fingertips, brands must do much more to appease, attract and retain consumers. As...

The right way to take your PR global

With H1 now behind us, many brands are refining plans for the second half of the year. For those with expansion on their mind, this can mean taking their brand communications international. But to do this well, you need to select the right partner. ...

Behaving like Children: Unleashing Creativity

I recently conducted a training workshop around ‘generating creativity’ for a group of people who tend to be more in the ‘logically thinking, planning space’. The aim was to impart some hints and tips on how such individuals can be more...

Have you nailed your H2 comms strategy?

It is hard to believe that we’re already over halfway through 2019 and the longest day of the year has come and gone. Fortunately, we’re finally seeing some sunshine and for many of us lucky enough, this coincides with a summer holiday. Subseque...

London Tech Week

That’s a LTWrap! A (slightly political) rundown of LTW 2019

Once again, another London Tech Week concludes in what was a particularly gloomy-weathered five days. Aside from our brilliantly attended PR Start-up Clinic this Tuesday, a number of very interesting speeches and events also took place throughout the...

How to harness the media to grow your start-up: Insights from Babel’s London Tech Week panel

It’s no secret that the media landscape is changing. Editorial teams are shrinking, and journalists have ever-more demanding job roles, having to source and create their own digital content for online and social. For a start-up business, that mean...

Infosecurity Europe

Avoiding the Whac-a-Mole security response

This year’s Infosecurity Europe was awash with all and sundry from the security sector. Away from the bright lights of the conference floor, the speaker programme covered some fascinating areas. From embracing security by design, to the skills shor...

You don’t have to be in London to be a successful tech start-up

London start-up: “If you aren’t based in London – do you even start-up bro?” Every other start-up: “Well, actually…” Sound familiar? Thought so. It’s a bit of a problem that the start-up community seems to have, no matter the countr...

Loupedeck

Big ambitions, small budget: PR strategy for start-up success

As a specialist technology PR agency (that works with companies big and small, and at all stages of growth), we understand how difficult it can be for start-ups wanting to get their message out there, build their brand, or win financial backing. At t...

Jo Timmermann, Babel

Industry Thoughts: An interview with Jo Timmermann, Babel’s Director

On the 11th June, Babel will be hosting its own London Tech Week event: Harnessing the power of the media to grow your start-up. As the second in our Industry Thoughts series, I sat down with our Director, Jo Timmermann, to discuss her experience of...

Building a brand with PR

“Today brands are built with publicity and maintained with advertising. The cart is now driving the horse.” I really like this quote. It’s from ‘The 22 Immutable Laws of Branding’ by Al and Laura Ries, in case you’re interested in readin...

Don’t be revolutionary, be evolutionary

When creating a start-up, it can be difficult not to get sucked in by the associated language and buzzwords. You’re ‘making a change’, ‘doing things differently’, ‘revolutionising a concept’. The problem is: everyone else is too. Unless...

Industry Thoughts: An interview with Natalie Bannerman, Capacity Magazine’s Reporter

Here at Babel we really cherish the relationships we build, not only with our clients and service providers, but also the media we engage with on a daily and weekly basis. The first in our Industry Thoughts series, we’ve teamed up with journalist ...

UC Expo

What will the office of tomorrow look like?

As I was writing the title for this blog, I realised that rather scarily, the ‘office of tomorrow’ – a futuristic one with interactive screens and capabilities similar to Tom Cruise’s workplace in The Minority Report – was actually not that...

Babel talks security and crisis comms at the Churchill War Rooms

Former British Prime Minister Winston Churchill once said: “Success is not final; failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts. If you’re going through hell, keep going. Never, never, never give up.” Of course, Church...

Hacktivism on the rise: how politicised cyber-attacks are undermining democracy

This month news surfaced that key UK infrastructure - including the Post Office and banks - had been subject to an attack by Iranian hackers. And while the story undoubtedly grabbed headlines, the attack was far from a one-off. Instead, it was the l...

What makes a good PR strategy?

The best PR campaigns just work. They have a clear mission, a relatable message and an audible voice. They effectively engage the target audience. They excite, anger, or even inspire. Yet, while these campaigns can look as effortless as breathing, i...

Robot AI in PR

How will AI evolve the PR industry?

Artificial Intelligence – or AI as it’s commonly known – is a popular buzzword in most industries. But recent headlines have cast negative shadows over the technology when it comes to the world of work: Automation to hit most jobs, Replaced by ...

Globes

PR without borders: an international approach

In today’s connected society, there are a number of reasons why a company or brand may need an international approach when it comes to their public relations strategy. They may be looking to expand business into a new region which has previously li...

High street

From bricks-and-mortar to online: Why experiential retail is key

Are we heading towards a retail apocalypse? It certainly seems like it with retail failures continuing at pace including L K Bennett, Toys 'R' Us, Poundland and HMV. However, I believe retail isn’t dying; it’s evolving. We have seen significant g...

Las Vegas road sign at night

The art, science and business of content at NAB 2019

Next week, the world’s media and broadcast community will swap editing suites, TV studios, master control, and green rooms for – the desert. On 6th April, NAB will open in Nevada’s scorching Sin City for another year, welcoming attendees from a...

Union Jack and EU flags

Brexit – what does it mean for technology, business, and public relations?

The question of what Brexit means for us all is still - 900-odd days after it was voted on - yet to be answered. What we can see is research that suggests the economy will tank, and some companies moving their European HQs from London to elsewhere in...

TV screen showing Netflix

Lifting the lid on Netflix

The rise of Netflix has shaken up TV schedules, given Hollywood cause for concern and led to reports of the first case of Netflix addiction in India Currently boasting 139 million worldwide paid subscribers, Netflix is one of the dominant leaders wit...

Banks in financial district

What will 2019 have in store for fintech post Brexit?

With all of the uncertainty around Brexit (and the future of business, innovation and growth in the UK), many could be forgiven for thinking there has been a downturn in new investment opportunities until political stability is restored. However, it ...

Rugby team

PR learnings: Creating a winning team

It’s not often in the world of tech PR that our working worlds collide with our outside interests. But this month, for my colleagues Dan, Ed and I, we were very privileged to attend one of the PRCA’s regular industry events, hosted by ex-Saracens...

Open books

Reading and learning – not just for children and not just for World Book Day

Last Thursday marked World Book Day. Now in its 22nd year, the UNESCO-recognised initiative is a celebration of literature and reading, acknowledged in over 100 countries worldwide. Dressing up and getting a book token at school weren’t needed to e...

Mobile World Congress, Fira

MWC PR and the massive marketing opportunity

As we return to ‘normality’, after an extremely busy and successful MWC, I’ve been reflecting on the new technologies I saw, some exciting some not, as I walked round the halls. From a marketing standpoint, did one company really ‘win’ Mobi...

Security cameras mounted on wall

Security and diversity – buzzwords with substance

Amidst the buzz and commotion that MWC brings for telecoms and service providers, there’s another equally large beast that stirs at a similar time every year. For the security industry, the US-based edition of the RSA Conference is one of the most ...

telecoms cyber security

MWC19 Barcelona: A safety-first approach to 5G

MWC is over for another year, and those of the Babel team who were out in Barcelona (me included!) have now returned to our London office. We celebrated another successful year at the show, representing numerous clients and supporting with an even gr...

Galaxy Fold, Mobile World Congress 2019

MWC19 Barcelona: smartphones return to the fold

We’ve all heard about Apple’s declining smartphone sales, and a plateauing of handset sales in general. Most people now have one, and a pretty good one at that, so the extra bells and whistles (and costs) aren’t commanding consumers’ attentio...

Katie Finn, Babel

Quickfire MWC questions – Katie, and making a success of MWC

In the run-up to what is arguably one of the biggest tech trade shows on earth, MWC, we’ve set Alan Partridge (Ben Cole) on our telecoms sector wizards. With razor-sharp wit and panache, he is finding out what they think about the show, and what th...

Declan Bradshaw, Babel

Quickfire MWC questions – Declan and the Biggest Trade Show…in the world!

In the run up to the biggest telecoms trade show in the world, MWC, we let roving reporter (and Alan Partridge aspirant) Ben sit down with our telecoms sector wizards. He’s gauged their thoughts on the show and discovered their top tips for a healt...

Mobile World Congress

MWC – A Guide to the Halls of Horror

It’s now less than three weeks until the madness that is Mobile World Congress starts again. As usual, the Babel team will be there in force again this year representing a wide range of clients scattered across all the halls. We’ve got to know th...

Old fashioned television and radios

Regulating a diverse communications sector, and diversity in the communications sector: Ofcom outlines 2019 roadmap

Last year, I reported on Ofcom’s Annual Plan Stakeholder Event in London, and Chief Executive Sharon White’s admission of the “pretty grim” diversity situation in the broadcast industry. I returned to the 2019 edition of the event, to find ou...

Megaphone

Vocal training at MWC – something to shout about!

In less than a month the telecoms world will descend on Fira de Barcelona for Mobile World Congress. The industry’s largest tradeshow will play host to around 100,000 attendees, in what is expected to be the biggest event in the show’s history. ...

Video digital content

Value of video redux

2018 saw an ever-increasing roster of companies (technology brands or otherwise) utilise video in their inbound content marketing, or as part of their media relations campaigns. Last year I wrote a Babel blog on ‘The value of video’, and with vi...

always time for PR strategy

MWC19 Barcelona: There’s always time for a communications programme

For many companies in the telecoms and technology sectors, Mobile World Congress is the focal point for marketing and sales efforts in Q1. The event, which is now only five weeks away, offers a global platform for demonstrating innovation, showcasing...

2019 new years resolutions

A time for some New Year’s PResolutions

It’s that time of the year, when people make New Year’s Resolutions to better themselves. We are now well into 2019 after what was widely considered to be a tumultuous 2018. Personally, I had a wonderfully wine-filled year, and as such will cont...

Las Vegas, home of CES

CES Trends: what to expect at this year’s show

Kicking off today, annual tech bonanza CES is one of the most anticipated events of the year. With more than 4,400 exhibiting companies and nearly 200,000 attendees from all over the globe, the show is the world’s largest gathering for consumer ele...

The future of public relations

The future of public relations: 10 PR trends for 2019

From artificial intelligence (AI) and influencer marketing to ethics and diversity: 2019 is set to be another year of disruption for the communications industry. As we head into the new year, what trends can we expect to dominate the PR sector? Here ...

Babel appointed UK comms agency for Dashlane

Dashlane, one of the world’s most trusted digital security companies, has appointed Babel as its UK agency of record, tasked with building local market awareness for the fast-growing company. Established in 2011, Dashlane is changing the way peopl...

The role of PR in space exploration

Following a seven-month journey, NASA’s Mars InSight probe this week reached its destination and landed safely on the surface of the red planet, providing another example of innovation in space technology advancing at an astounding rate. Last ye...

Winning friends and influencing people at MWC Barcelona

The BBC, Reuters, Capacity and Ovum share their thoughts at Babel’s panel event MWC Barcelona has become a key fixture in the telecoms industry, drawing over 100,000 attendees each year. Having supported clients at the show since its inception, B...

Winning friends and influencing people at MWC Barcelona

Busy shopping centre

How to approach Black Friday from a tech PR perspective

The US-born shopping bonanza first made its way to the UK in 2010 via Amazon. It wasn’t until 2013 that Black Friday started to make waves on our high streets, when Walmart-owned Asda played host to what were essentially shopper riots, caused by th...

Business woman jumping

Diversity and development: What I learnt from Management Today’s Influential Women in Business Conference

In 1918, the Representation of the People Act was passed, which finally allowed some women in Britain the right to vote. It was a ground-breaking and triumphant moment. Yet a century on, women are still underrepresented, underpaid and undervalued. Ta...

Bride and groom on steps

Sky marries Netflix; is this a turning point for the future of TV?

NAB, IBC and MIPCOM may be over for another year, however there’s still a lot going on in the TV and over-the-top (OTT) space. At Babel, we see industry trends unfold first hand, working with a number of video, content delivery and adtech companies...

good news is coming, sign on lamp post

The press release is dead, long live the press release!

For the past few years, PR professionals have been proclaiming that the press release is ‘dead.’ Yet despite this mantra, thousands of releases are distributed every day. So is death knell really sounding? And, more importantly, are press release...

Once upon a time, text on paper

Debunking common PR myths

I’m sure many PR professionals will agree; public relations is one of the most misunderstood of industries. When I ask friends and family if they know what I do, I’m usually met with: “You try to convince the public that we should buy things we...

Barcelona city skyline

Influencers unite to discuss MWC19 Barcelona

[vc_row][vc_column width="2/3"][vc_column_text]Most people associate this time of year with autumn leaves and darker nights. However, for mobile sector specialists like myself, this time of year marks the acceleration of the annual Mobile World Congr...

Bitcoins and dollar bills

What’s going on with cryptocurrency?

Having previously led some successful fintech PR campaigns for a number of clients, here at Babel we aim to keep abreast of news and trends in the sector. One of these we can’t help but notice is the surge of popularity around cryptocurrency. Bitc...

Mindmap chalked on a blackboard

4 Reasons Why You Should Work in Tech PR

If you asked me where I’d be five years ago, the likelihood is I wouldn’t have said I’d be working in technology PR. Some people have the perception that tech, especially B2B, is dry and stagnant. However, they couldn’t be more wrong. We work...

Submarine graffiti

How not to Tweet: the curious PR crisis of Elon Musk and the cave diver

The summer of 2018 will be remembered for many reasons in the UK. Most people will recall the heat and the heady, emotional days of England’s World Cup campaign. But, simultaneously to the international tournament, a much younger football team on t...

Crowd at pop concert

BTS: K-Pop’s lesson on perfecting PR campaigns

Multiple Guinness World Records. A number of world firsts. One of Time Magazine’s ‘25 Most Influential People on the Planet’ for two consecutive years. A record for the highest number of online views for a music video in 24 hours. The most Twee...

Padlocks on gate

Tackling the cyber security problem

You hear it on the news almost daily: a well-known company has been breached, often on a catastrophic scale. Cyber security has become one of the most urgent issues facing modern businesses, with attacks increasing, impacting all kinds of organisati...

Ian Hood, CEO and co-founder, Babel PR

60 Seconds with Babel PR’s Ian Hood

Last week, Babel's CEO and co-founder, Ian, spoke to Cision Gorkana about his years of experience in the PR industry, the rise of alternative media, and the importance of creating a great story. What made you found Babel PR? Sheer arrogance. No, se...

Woman reading fake news newspaper

FAKEBOOK: HOW VIDEO MANIPULATION TECH COULD REVIVE FAKE NEWS

“YOU ARE FAKE NEWS!” “Zero credibility, it’s all fake news.” “The news is fake because so much of the news is fake”. Sound familiar? These are the words of the infamous US President, Donald Trump. But, although he might be laughable,...

In an age of revolution in digital communications, how would you define ‘Public Relations’?

We're pleased to announce that Babel's Sophie has been shortlisted for the PRCA's Reginald Watts Prize for Insight. The competition challenged young PR professionals to write a thought-provoking essay in response to a specific question about the PR ...

No internet? What can you do?

Did you know that a staggering 44 billion gigabytes of internet traffic was created in 2016? However, if you think that’s a lot then you’d best sit down! Because by 2025, global internet traffic flow is expected to grow more than ten-fold to 463...

A degree of public relations: choosing your University course

It is September and the start of a new academic year. For those who finished their A-levels, there were some fairly sizeable decisions to make. University? Gap year? Career path? And if university is the answer, then which degree? Education, educatio...

PR agencies schmoozing

Schmoozing in PR, and why it is good for PR professionals

When I told people that I was going into PR, aside from their complete and utter lack of knowledge as to what PR is and what exactly PR agencies do (which even now remains a debate within the industry itself), they all said one thing: “well, you ar...

The Big Map of Mobile

Which countries are the powerhouses of the mobile industry? Those of of who have been working in the industry will all have our ideas but we decied to test our own assumptions by analysing the companies that exhibited at Mobile World Congress (MWC) e...

Crisis comms, emergency button

BA, Amex and a lesson in crisis comms

Listening to LBC last Saturday, I heard host Maajid Nawaz discussing the week’s biggest tech story: BA’s data breach. But unlike other outlets, which focused on the scale of the crisis and BA’s reaction, Nawaz honed in on the response by his cr...

art exhibition

The impact of mass media on art

Because sometimes the weekends are about more than just going to the pub and watching sport (who knew?), I recently visited the Tate Modern and the exhibition, Media Networks. It showcases artists’ responses to the evolution of mass media and techn...

The value of video

Hi, I'm Troy McClure. You may remember me from such Babel blogs as ‘Krusty the Clown’s greatest PR missteps’… Okay, so that’s not a real Babel blog, but chances are if you’ve ever seen The Simpsons, then you probably started reading tha...

Can humans use technology to avoid death

Can mankind live forever?

“Clearly, it is possible, through technology, to make death optional”. These are the words of Martine Rothblatt, founder of biotech firm United Therapeutics. This opinion is echoed throughout Silicon Valley and high-tech hubs across the globe, wi...

How high fashion is using high tech to deliver new customer experiences

Fashion has always been a hotbed for innovation, and has traditionally harnessed the latest in tech and industry developments to better business outcomes. The mills of the industrial revolution transformed production and manufacturing, whilst the int...

Amsterdam canal houses

IBC 2018: what can we expect from this year’s show?

Amsterdam may be famous for its beautiful canals, charming architecture and so-called coffee shops. However next month, the city will once again become home to one of the world’s leading media, entertainment and technology conferences. IBC attracts...

Warning

Regulate social media, or risk endangering users

In my opinion, social media can be just as harmful as alcohol, drugs or crossing the road without looking both ways. Don’t agree with me? Let’s look at the facts. A 43-year-old father recently live streamed his own suicide on a chatroom called P...

Keeping the Modern Festival Goer Connected

Last year I wrote a blog around mobile connectivity at Glastonbury and described it as being ‘pretty good’, but how easy is it to stay connected at other events? As we race through summer 2018 I am back with another hot take on how well my phone ...

How can charities use tech to help those in need?

The bad and the ugly side of tech seems to hit the news most days, so it’s rare that we see the good that tech is doing. As a regular volunteer, I have a particularly close connection with the Rugby Foodbank, part of the Trussell Trust Foodbank ne...

Social media campaigns

Social media – achieving success

In my last blog I discussed relationships with media influencers, but what about social influencers? At Babel, we are seeing more businesses include social media support within RFPs, as well as current clients requesting additional support with this ...

Mobile world congress in LA

Mobile World Congress Americas: who’s got the cutting edge?

In June 2016, CTIA partnered with the GSMA with the objective of bringing more diversity to the US’s largest telecoms trade show. And so, ‘GSMA Mobile World Congress Americas’ – otherwise known as MWC Americas – debuted in September last ye...

Hacker, cyber security

Why we need events like Black Hat more than ever

Security is coming to Sin City this week, as the 21st annual Black Hat conference kicks off on Saturday 4th August. Record numbers of security professionals, researchers, leaders in public and private sectors, and hackers are expected to descend on L...

Agritech: growing innovation

Writing about technological advances in the agriculture industry and precision farming is a guilty – and not-so-secret – pleasure of mine. Coming from farming heritage, I am always very excited to see how technology can be harnessed to boost effi...

It's important for cycling to stay ahead of broadcast technology.

Allez allez allez! Why the Tour needs to really aller in a new direction

Another year, another Tour. Sadly this year’s is mired in controversy once again, with Team Sky exonerating Chris Froome from his alleged salbutamol shenanigans and the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) changing the rules regarding the technology...

Space satellite

Space and Brexit take centre stage at Farnborough International Air Show

Even before this year’s Farnborough International Airshow (FIA) had started, it was clear that space would dominate the agenda. The day before the event, the government announced its intention to open a UK spaceport on Scotland’s north coast, whi...

Closed shop

Death of the high street? How retail PR and social strategy can increase visitors

In the UK, it may seem like we’re spoilt when it comes to shopping. Many towns still have beautiful cobbled streets with boutique shops, there are out-of-town superstores serving our every need, and outlets open late to enable us to shop long after...

Tennis player

Serving up a team of tech PR champions – part 2

In part one of our Wimbledon blog, in honour of the most prestigious tennis tournament in the world, we looked at our male Babelites and compared them to some of the best players on the ATP tour. In this second and final part, we take a look at the ...

Are PR internships just a tea job?

PR Internships: tea job or real work experience?

Babel founder, Narelle, recently answered some of the most common questions from those looking to start a career in PR, and offered her top tips for graduates. Having graduated from University last month myself, it certainly resonated with my present...

If the Babel tech PR team were Wimbledon champions

Serving up a team of tech PR champions – part 1

Grass season klaxon! Wimbledon, the oldest and perhaps most prestigious tennis tournament in the world, is upon us. As Babel’s official tennis fanatic (you probably won’t meet anyone more fanatical – and annoyingly so), I await the four Grand S...

Babel PR team

Looking for a career in PR? Q&A with Babel founder

Exam season is well underway for students up and down the country. Many will already have a graduate job lined up and, after throwing up their mortarboard in celebration of their time at University, will quickly enter the world of work. However, ther...

Workplace collaboration, Polycom

Collaborate, integrate, communicate

Over the course of the past decade, technology has transformed the workplace. The cloud and smartphones have empowered flexible working and mobilised workforces, re-inventing the concept of ‘the office’, and transforming the ways in which we comm...

Connected 5G world

5G World 2018: News, speculation and (some) answers

5G to enable remote robotic surgery! UK telcos spend big in 5G spectrum auction! Europe lagging behind in 5G! Pre-2020 to deliver ‘5G lite’ only! China leading 5G charge! If there’s one common thread uniting coverage and opinion on the next-ge...

Amazonian Sport: Internet giant steps into the arena of football streaming

Amazon has finally taken the long-anticipated step into the world of live football streaming in the UK and bought the rights to show 20 Premier League matches from 2019 for three years. This is a move that will no doubt worry Sky and BT a great deal....

pollution

Can technology save the world?

Green tech, eco-friendly, sustainability. These are concepts that most of us are familiar with, and were amongst those highlighted by the UN’s World Environment Day this week. The event was also a reminder that many of the environmental problems we...

Phone on holiday

RIP silent roamers – welcome RLAH!

Have you been on holiday in Europe in the past year? If so, did you remember to keep your data roaming on? Since 15 June 2017, mobile subscribers in EU countries have been able to ‘Roam Like at Home’ thanks to new EU rules covering data services...

Table football

The World Cup of Babel: Meet the team(s)

The Premier League and Champions League are now behind us and another rousing summer of football is right around the corner. I’ll be honest, I’m pretty excited about the World Cup. Even if the prospect of watching England trudge to a 0-0 draw aga...

Working remotely

Working from home – the best decision you’re yet to make

Let’s go back a couple of years to when I was young(er), perhaps a touch naïve, and eager to prove my worth. I had just moved back to London after a few years away at uni, and knew that a daily commute would be an unescapable part of starting a c...

Let’s make every week a Mental Health Awareness week

I’m putting pen to virtual paper this week, to again discuss a topic that is close to my heart: mental health. This week is Mental Health Awareness Week, with the focus this year being on stress. Stress. A word that we all use quite liberally; a f...

Making the most of your ad-tech story

You only have to look at the coverage of the recent Facebook scandal with Cambridge Analytica to realise that the ad-tech industry and the issues surrounding it are very much in the public domain. The way advertisers are using data is full of controv...

Media relations, and the importance of being a journalist’s best friend: PT II

Weeks into joining the team at Babel, I wrote a blog on the importance and evolution of media relations. In part II, I share media relations tips and common pitfalls for the PR professional… Why do I love this part of PR? Put simpl...

Telecoms

Telecoms event season is under way – are you ready?

The telecoms event season is upon us again. More telecoms you say? It’s barely been 11 weeks since Mobile World Congress! Yet May and June will see a number of key telecoms events such as International Telecoms Week, Digital Transformation World an...

Birds

Media relations, and the importance of being a journalist’s best friend: PT I

Welcome to my first Babel blog! Having recently joined the London team, I wanted to focus on a topic which I personally feel is one of the most important within our industry: media relations. Why is media relations important? I firmly believe that...

Effective B2B media monitoring (minus the cost)

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]Almost everyone working in PR and communications with B2B companies struggles with media monitoring. When I have conversations with clients about this, they typically complain about one of the following: The time...

filing cabinet GDPR

GDPR – one month to go

This week marked a major point in everyone’s data regulation diaries: one month to GDPR compliance. There was a time when we had to spell out this acronym, but by now, understanding of this privacy law is far more widespread and reaches beyond Euro...

instagram

Instagram: the new shop window?

It’s a Sunday evening and I’m browsing through Instagram. My feed is full of friends’ weekend adventures, holidays, engagements, the latest recipe from Joe Wicks, and a spattering of interior design photography. Scrolling through the social sit...

Broadcast

TV technology, slot machines and Elvis? It must be NAB….

Babel has worked with companies in the broadcast, video and media space for many years, and as part of this has delivered countless NAB campaigns. Our expertise in this sector means we can help our clients rise above the noise of the LVCC floor and m...

USA Today, Tomorrow and into the Future

Babel may be headquartered in central London, but we are an agency with an international reach, and have invested heavily in one particular territory, possibly the most important in terms of technology and innovation: the US. We have an established ...

Cyborg robot

Half man/half machine

Cyborgs are a reality; living, breathing and walking among us. Think I’m joking? Just ask Elon Musk, who believes that in order to stay relevant (and avoid becoming “house cats” to AI) humans must enhance their capabilities through a “merger ...

Hollywood sign

Hollywood tech: Futuristic gadgets making movies memorable

I love a bit of futuristic tech in a film, from the hoverboard in Back to the Future to the lightsabres in Star Wars; it’s the iconic gadgets that make these movies so memorable. As a specialist technology PR agency – and a rather cultured bunch ...

Media training matters

Media interviews have the potential to be hugely influential. Done right, they can cause your business’ sales to skyrocket, improve brand perception and mitigate crises. But handled badly and your company’s reputation can take a serious nosedive....

Help, the robots are coming (to help)!

Science fiction films tend to paint a pretty bleak picture of how the introduction of robots will result in apocalyptic scenarios, with robots taking over. Whilst it’s hard to speculate what robots could do in decades to come, for the foreseeable f...

Babel selected for Effective Space lift-off

PR campaign designed to expose the in-orbit services provider to investment community and potential satellite operator customers Effective Space Solutions Limited (Effective Space), the UK-headquartered company specialising in last-mile logistics ...

Facebook and Cambridge Analytica – it’s time to make choices

First appeared in PRWeek: https://l.babelpr.com/ocvnd The revelations surrounding Cambridge Analytica and Facebook revealed by The Observer and Channel 4 are shocking but it was expected by many of us who work in the world of technology. Whatever t...

Words have power

The power of persuasion in public relations

In both our professional and personal lives, being able to influence others to buy into our ideas is invaluable. Despite what some outside the industry may think, persuading and influencing in PR is not about bending the truth, insincere flattery or...

starry sky

Moving to outer space: are we ready for lift off?

This year, Babel has entered space in a big way. I am of course speaking metaphorically (not ‘meteorphorically’!). Conversations about space have dominated the office recently during our very successful PR campaign with an in-orbit servicing clie...

Three top tips for starting a career in PR

Getting your first job after leaving university will always be a proud moment which should be celebrated. Once the dust has settled, however, there is naturally a lot of uncertainty about how to succeed in your new role! You thought the worry would ...

Wine

A trip into the depths of the Babel cellars

I like wine. One of the main reasons why is because, not unlike the world around us, wine is varied and diverse. The same can be said for the team here at Babel. A wide range of backgrounds, strengths, expertise and points of view all add up to a str...

VR at MWC

Thoughts of a Fira first-year: MWC isn’t just a telecoms event

I returned home from Mobile World Congress in Barcelona last week to be greeted by the freezing Beast from the East. As I tried to stay warm, I also took the time to reflect on my first MWC after experiencing the show first-hand from the Fira floor. ...

smart city

Mobile World Congress day III: Barcelona showcases a smart world

The title of ‘smartest city’ is hotly contended and much disputed. Digitalisation, energy-efficiency, cost-savings, connected infrastructure, as well as better public transport, services, and quality of life for residents: the smart city model pr...

Vive Jamination VR experience, MWC

Mobile World Congress day II: An immersive experience

Visiting another country is all about immersing yourself in the culture and customs, and Mobile World Congress this year had a similarly immersive theme. It’s no longer enough to simply use technology and devices. Instead, manufacturers, brands an...

Smart car, MWC

Mobile World Congress day one: Samsung’s camera, a smartphone-powered smart car and 5G experiences

Babel’s in Barcelona! The first day of meetings, briefings, demos and – brand new for 2018 – adverse weather conditions, is done and dusted. So now’s the opportune moment to review the news and views from exhibitors and attendees. One of the...

The Geography of MWC

Hot on the heels of my analysis of the market sectors being represented at Mobile World Congress this year I thought it might be interesting to look at the geographic spread of exhibitor companies. They are shown on the map with the size of the red d...

Mobile World Congress: Getting the most out of media briefings

The Mobile World Congress countdown has reduced from weeks to days. Exhibitors may be busy finalising arrangements for the show, but we’d still recommend finding time to prepare for a hugely valuable part of any trade show: media briefings. Honing...

Cellphone

Top of the Pops at MWC – What a Difference a Year Makes

Here at Babel, we’ve been deeply involved in the mobile sector ever since the company was founded, so it won’t come as any surprise that we have a big team at Mobile World Congress every year. This year is no exception - we’ll be looking after ...

Sports track

AR can take the baton of fan engagement…and run with it!

Augmented Reality, or AR, is mobile tech’s cool kid. It’s a technology that once seemed to only exist in superhero or sci-fi movies, but now is so widely used that everyone and their dog (filter) is familiar with how it works. Brands have been t...

Broadcast 2018: new viewing vs traditional TV

We learnt recently that for the first time, children in the UK are more likely to watch content on mobiles, tablets and laptops, than on traditional television screens. Parents and grandparents may lament this shift from TV as a communal activity to...

newspaper

Do we need to call time on the Fourth Estate? Exactly what do we want from the media and journalists?

Freedom of the press is a cornerstone of British society. As long ago as 1787, Edmund Burke (an MP and a brilliant political theorist) told Parliament that ‘a Fourth Estate’ is crucial. He was talking about the absolute independence of the media ...

mobile phone users

Trade show scoops: Expect the unexpected

Mobile operators are renowned for being slow moving, but they’re large organisations and by virtue of being a large organisation they tread carefully and don’t take earth shattering decisions lightly. So, don’t expect the carriers to be leading...

Mirror

Black Mirror – is this the harrowing reflection of our future?

As we waved goodbye to 2017, Netflix served up a riveting late-Christmas present in the form of the eagerly anticipated fourth season of Black Mirror. For those who are unfamiliar with the show, Black Mirror is a semi-futuristic depiction of a univer...

Diversity, equal pay, and mobile coverage in the UK: Ofcom outlines future plans

The diversity situation in the broadcast industry is “pretty grim”, admitted Ofcom’s Chief Executive, Sharon White, during the regulator’s Annual Plan event in London this week. The session is open to the public and offers an opportunity for ...

Viva Las CES: 2018 Show preview

Around this time last year I wrote a blog looking back at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas. This year, to take my mind off the first week back at work in cold, stormy London, I’m looking ahead to the rumoured happenings in the scorc...

Part II: All I want for Christmas…is tech!

Following the success of last week’s blog, we’ve collated a few more of Babel’s tech must-haves for Part II of our tech wish list. Santa, if you can hear us: Dan: “This Christmas I’d like a Google Home speaker, for two reasons: one, I am l...

Mobile World Congress Barcelona

MWC: A call to action pt II

Only 18 days until Christmas (woohoo!) and for many of us this means just two weeks left of work. But come January 3rd we’ll be staring down the barrel of MWC 2018. Hopefully you will have read and acted upon my recent post on the MWC planning tips...

All I want for Christmas…is tech!

‘Tis the season to make wish lists. But, depending on the industry in which you work, you may feel pretty over Christmas before it’s even begun. In the PR industry, Christmas hits in July, with journalists keen to get the scoop on seasonal produc...

BBC Click Live: A veritable feast of fresh tech

Did you know that it’s possible to 3D print a tasty, hold-in-your-hand, fully edible raspberry? No? I didn’t either, until yesterday. Fellow Babelite Sophie managed to bag tickets to BBC Click Live, the BBC’s flagship technology programme. The ...

Mobile World Congress 2017

Mobile World Congress: The Babel Years

Babel has been sending an MWC contingent to Barcelona for more than a decade. However, if like me, you just missed out on Cannes, you’ve probably heard ‘things’ haven’t been the same since the GSMA relocated its flagship event to Catalonia. I...

When disaster strikes

Google was recently given the green light to deploy a network of high-altitude helium balloons to restore cellular and internet coverage to hurricane ravaged Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands. With 90% of the region having been without connectivi...

Mobile World Congress

Mobile World Congress: A call to action

A collective “Is it that time of year already!?” resonated around the Babel office earlier this week, as the GSMA’s MWC registration email landed in our inboxes. Yet preparation for the annual Mobile World Congress has already begun in earnest ...

Combining art and science in creative communications

We now live in a society dominated by data. We exist for many companies and public organisations as statistics, which are used to shape services and improve engagement with us. The rise of fake news and our diminishing trust in the media have made ma...

Technology: What is it good for?

When science and tech oracles Elon Musk and Stephen Hawking are warning of the dangers of technology, we know things can’t be good. Lethal autonomous weaponry, cyber bullying, fake news, data theft, porn-addict kids, as well as the estimation that ...

Is there too much advertising in sports?

I feel conflicted. I’m a huge sports fan, but recent experiences of watching sporting events both on TV and in the flesh have left me a bit cold. When did sporting events become such spectacles that, on the surface, appear to be more about the adve...

Improving patient care with healthtech

With the ability to save lives, improve quality of life outcomes and better the overall patient experience, the healthtech industry holds huge potential to the shape of the world as we know it. A vast sector spanning medtech, bio tech, wearables and ...

Don’t write off written content

There was a time when the pen was mightier than the sword. The impact of the written word on society, politics, and the arts has been transformative, devastating and controversial. In the mid-fifteenth century, Gutenberg’s printing press democrati...

(Issues) Jump and Shout, and Make Your Comments Stand Out

Constantly keeping a finger on the pulse with the latest stories and trends, and finding ways to engage with media discussions are key components of any PR campaign. At Babel, we’ve previously written about how “issues jumping” – referring to...

To Uber or not to Uber?

The news of Uber losing its London license last week came as a shock to many, a sizeable number of whom will mourn the loss of their low-cost, always-just-around-the-corner ride. Since then we’ve seen celebration by black cab drivers, a petition to...

What makes a smart city?

What makes a smart city? What makes a successful smart home device? The answer from last week’s Smartsummit conference is clear – unless humans catch up, collaborate & share, this could be a new technology revolution on a slow cook speed. Th...

Faster food: hospitality to go mobile

I’m a foodie. I love the joy food brings and its ability to turn any frown upside down. I love going out to restaurants and trying new cuisines. However, could my life be made easier and could I have a more ‘personal’ relationship with those fo...

Lighting up the runway: an introduction to fashtech

I have to be honest. When I first heard the phrase ‘fashtech’, my mind immediately went to wearables – namely Apple’s watch. And so, with little to no background in haute couture fashion, this week I attended day three of London’s Fashion T...

GDPR, DPA, DPB, UKBIS – acronyms everywhere!

In the world of tech, perhaps the most influential piece of legislation is coming into effect: ‘Regulation on the protection of natural persons with regard to the processing of personal data and on the free movement of such data, and repealing Dire...

How the broadcast industry will capitalise on the Netflix/Disney rift

We’re signed up to three streaming services in my house. Netflix was there first, then we jumped on the Amazon Prime Video and Now TV bandwagons. Chances are, if we’re looking for a film or TV show to watch, it’s available to stream on one of t...

Has tech gone too far?

I am a fan of technology; after all, I work in the tech PR industry and I am constantly surrounded by gadget this and software that. I’m constantly trying to convince my grandparents of the latest tech updates and I watch – completely mesmerised ...

Watch out, broadcasters: Facebook enters the fray

“Watching video on Facebook has the incredible power to connect people, spark conversation, and foster community”, according to the tech company’s director of video product, Daniel Danker. Danker’s evangelising formed part of the official int...

2017: The Year of Lazy Tech

We live in an age where technology is pushing boundaries quicker than humans previously thought possible. From the dawn of fingerprint boarding passes, to banks trialing retina scanning for security; we are increasingly moving towards a world that sc...

Quis Reputare Managiet ipsos Reputare Manages?

Forgive the awful adaptation of Latin taken from the darkest recesses of secondary school, but the above reigns quite true. The phrase coined by Juvenal in his Satires “Quis custodiet ipsos custodes?”, or “who will guard the guards?” has a ...

Hacking for good: the rise of ethical hackers

Yesterday marked the start of the 25th DEF CON conference – one of the largest hacker conventions, held annually in Las Vegas. Over the next three days, hackers and cybersecurity experts from around the globe will converge on the infamous Sin City ...

Pokémon Go turns one – what’s next for augmented reality?

This time a year ago, millions of people had turned into walking, phone-watching zombies. Night of the Living Dead it was not – instead Pokémon Go was at the peak of its popularity, with approximately 380 million active users worldwide. ‘Gotta c...

Holidays and technology: Should we switch off when we clock off?

We’re nearing the end of July, which also means we’re nearing the start of peak holiday season. Cue the predictable slew of stories aimed at the beleaguered office worker, giving direction on how to switch off from technology and work whilst away...

The Frightful Five

A little while ago now, I read an article in The New York Times describing one man’s epiphany about his enslavement to the ‘Frightful Five’ – the five biggest tech companies in the world. However, due to the nature of tech giant worship, the ...

Is Wimbledon serving up enough tech?

This time last year, I wrote a wonderfully cheesy blog, chock-a-block with suitably cringe worthy tennis puns. The blog looked at how the Wimbledon 2016 Championships were turning to technology to innovate and bring tennis to the masses. Within that...

MWC Shanghai: A world away from Barcelona?

I joined Babel at the end of 2016, meaning February marked my first experience of Mobile World Congress in Barcelona. With the APAC event taking place last week, I couldn’t help but ponder the differences between MWC Barcelona and its Shanghai equi...

The Rise of the Story

Issy Mansell has joined us this week for some work experience. A keen user of social media, Issy took a small jump into the pool that is the "Story", and has examined its rise, fall, and rise again on multiple platforms. It all started with Snapchat...

All hail our robotic overlords?

What’s your plan for when Skynet becomes a reality? I reckon it’ll happen one day. It could be a result of spending my formative years watching The Terminator films on loop. Or perhaps it’s due to the cumulative, and potentially irrational, fe...

Glastocomms: How well connected is Worthy Farm?

Glastonbury has yet again been and gone, seemingly in the blink of an eye. Around 175,000 people descended on Worthy Farm from Wednesday 21st July this year for what many consider to be the greatest show on earth. Such a large crowd of people in any ...

Smart farming: harnessing agritech

We’re going through a transitional period in British farming, which is largely going unnoticed by those outside the industry. Trends in diet and lifestyle – the rise of veganism, lactose intolerance, and not to mention supermarket milk prices –...

An interview with Babel CEO Ian Hood: PR, motorcycles, and lunch

When I left University, the world of full-time work was a daunting place. Desk jobs in offices are so often billed as soulless, monotonous and mundane. I was worried all of the life would be sucked out of me in a small cubicle somewhere in central Lo...

Cyber security and the weakest (human) link

On Wednesday afternoon I found myself halfway up The Shard in the Shangri-La hotel, with a couple of guys, hacking a retail site and discussing ways of exploiting SMEs and their employees to access their IT systems. No, I’ve not had a career chang...

Cheers to cheaper roaming!

To use the infamous words of mobile operator Orange, the future’s bright. Today (15th June 2017) is a significant landmark for the mobile world. The European Commission has come up trumps for mobile users by imposing a minimum two year ban on roam...

Fake news and future of media and PR

I recently attended the PRCA’s Future of the Media Landscape event in Westminster. The morning session featured experts from the PR and press industries who discussed the current state of the media industry, the impact of fake news and how the land...

Communication and collaboration in the Fens

A region home to thousands of technology companies, with a multi-billion-pound annual turnover and residents ranging from the start-up powering Amazon’s Alexa, to giants like Apple. Silicon Valley? Nope, Silicon Fen. Cambridge has long been recog...

Manifestos, tech, and who you should vote for on Thursday

General Election fever has returned to the Babel office. In true British form, few have openly divulged who they’re voting for. However, from various indirect conversations I’ve had, not all minds are yet made up. So I have taken it upon myself...

Becoming a trusted adviser on cyber security

The evolution of the technology has no doubt had a profound and positive impact on our daily lives, but in tandem, it has (and continues to) increase the threat vector, as entry points for cyber criminals have grown exponentially. This has in turn en...

So, the MP3 is dead?

That’s what patent administrators for MP3 announced on the 15th May. The last remaining patent that the Fraunhofer Institute had for the MP3 has now expired and as a result the format will become obsolete. MP3 has finally gone the way of the casset...

Let them eat broadband!

Remember the hassle of surfing the web in the ‘90s? Broadband has come on leaps and bounds since the days of dial-up access, which meant yelling at your kids to get off the phone so you could check your emails. We have burst through generations of...

Will we need a kill switch?

They don’t get distracted by social media or the urge to write spontaneous poetry, but seriously, AI in the PR workplace? Here’s a few stanzas of my thoughts on replacing humans with robots: I am imagining the future, but what exactly w...

A new form of PoliTechs – data and analytics

Well, it’s begun. Election fever has gripped everyone, and we will be lucky to hear anything else of substance in the next few weeks until 8th June. Then we will hear about it some more until the next one. But it isn’t just us; I met my Kiwi rel...

I spy some fake news

Since the US Presidential election in November 2016, we have seen the number of ‘fake news’ stories spread like wildfire, fuelled by the speed and ease of the internet. However, what we also noticed was that the fake news stories around the rece...

Can VR transform the treatment of mental health?

Virtual reality (VR) has certainly been the tech du jour in the gaming industry over the past year. Oculus Rift, HTC Vive, Samsung Gear, the list of headsets goes on. 2016 saw the technology truly take off as a torrent of devices and content exploded...

Where have all the tech girls gone?

On Tuesday morning, I had the pleasure of attending Westminster eForum’s ‘Women in the tech sector’ keynote seminar. Hosted at Glaziers Hall in London Bridge, a very packed room listened to a number of high-profile speakers discuss the lack of ...

We need to talk about Twitter

Unless you’ve been living under a rock for the past 11 years, you might be aware of this social media platform called Twitter. It’s only got about 319 million active users (as of 2016) and is estimated to be worth billions of dollars. Of course ...

It was Alexa, in the Library, with the FitBit

I jest, but the above is topical. Recently, after an inevitable legal back and forth, a defendant in a murder case in Arkansas gave Amazon permission to hand over his Echo’s recordings to prosecutors. Equally, detectives have recently used FitBit ...

Droning On

Drones are an ever present part of the news today. Recently it has felt like the majority of articles being written have portrayed these airborne robots as negative tools. When they’re not narrowly missing collisions with aeroplanes, drones (so we�...

Informing and Empowering the Customer

The last five to ten years has seen a lot of change and upheaval in the UK telecoms sector. Change has been welcome on the most part, we have access to fixed and mobile broadband, and we can access TV and other media via our internet connection, whil...

Should we fear Artificial Intelligence?

Over the last few years, I’ve had the sinking feeling that I’ve walked into one of the sci-fi films I obsessed over as a child. Stay with me. As with most of our technological worries from the last decade, wariness around Artificial Intelligence...

Will the great retail nation retain its crown?

This week’s Internet Retailing Expo 2017 promised to unveil ‘the future of the retail nation.’ Industry activity last year suggests that the UK has in fact surpassed this title, and should instead be named a great retail nation. According to IM...

Those pesky journalists

A couple of weeks ago I penned a blog entry that was critical of both Google and major brands with regard to the shit storm surrounding ad placement on YouTube. Those brands had discovered their ads were being placed alongside extremist content and a...

Nintendo: The importance of innovation

Nintendo is a company revered by its fans in a way that mirrors some people’s devotion to a religion. Ok, maybe not quite to that extent, but it’s a type of dedication that can define someone. It’s the type of dedication that, to so...

A watch? Smart? Not quite yet.

I’ll start this by disclosing a key fact about myself, that has probably influenced the below: I am a snob. Along with my penchant for wine, I also have an interest in watches. Not smartwatches, but old-school mechanical and quartz watches. I saw ...

How to broadcast your message in the crowded VoD industry

The past decade has seen a seismic shift across the broadcast industry. Content-hungry viewers have moved from traditional linear TV viewing to accessing more personalised OTT options. They are also now benefitting from the vast libraries of content ...

I don’t buy it…

…and apparently neither do Marks & Spencer, Vodafone, Sky, HSBC, Lloyds, Royal Bank of Scotland, McDonald’s, L’Oréal, Audi, Sainsbury’s, Argos, the BBC and the British Government. Google’s seemingly laissez-faire approach to its operat...

London gets Smart to the IoT

How can businesses harness the internet of things to generate revenue? That’s the question this week’s Smart IoT London show promised to explore. You may not have been able to attend the show itself, but there’s no way of avoiding the internet ...

It’s time we start talking about mental health

In late February, PR Week published a report with some pretty alarming results. According to the 18-page document, produced by CIPR president elect Sarah Hall and Ketchum’s Stephen Waddington, mental illness is either ignored or treated as a perfor...

Let’s talk chatbots

Once upon a time, messaging apps such as Facebook Messenger, WhatsApp, Slack and Viber did exactly what they said on the tin: provide a platform for the exchange of messages between users. However, recent advancements in artificial intelligence and...

The business of broadcast

Broadcast took centre stage at Mobile World Congress 2017, during which arguably the most high profile keynote speaker was neither a telecoms veteran nor a mobile magnate, but Netflix CEO Reed Hastings. As with other sectors, the broadcast industry h...

MWC: That’s a wrap

It was a gloriously sunny morning on the final day of Mobile World Congress 2017. Whilst many will be glad to return home after a busy week at the Fira, I’m sure we’ll all miss the blue skies and buzzing atmosphere of Barcelona. Everyone has the...

From Barcelona to Arizona: Content at MWC

Mobile video traffic is forecast to grow by around 50% annually through to 2022, when it will account for nearly three quarters of all mobile data traffic. It was of little surprise then that MWC 2017 welcomed Netflix CEO Reed Hastings, who gave a ke...

MWC: The guided tour

We’re at the midpoint of Mobile World Congress, and as there’s so much to see and such little time left, I decided to turn technology tourist and take part in an ‘Emerging Technology’ guided tour at the show. The first stop for our group was...

MWC 2017 is Open for Business

Mobile World Congress 2017 has arrived and we're already processing the news and trends from day one. So, what’s new? Interestingly, despite the focus and speculation on the next big thing(s) in mobile technology, this year there has also been pal...

Public relations: An Unexpected Journey

Public relations is like nothing I’ve ever been involved with before. Since joining Babel a month ago, I’ve had very few moments where I haven’t been learning something new. While hectic at times, my experience thus far has been exhilarating �...

My First Month In PR

It’s hard to know exactly where to start when writing about my first month in PR. “You’ve only been there a month. How much can you even have to talk about?”, I hear you cry. Well, a fair amount it would seem. My position as a Junior Acc...

Mobile World Congress: The survival guide

By this time next month, most in the industry will be returning from Barcelona, plasters on feet, business cards in pockets, and well deserving of a weekend. In the meantime though, we have the next three weeks to strategise, budget for and get excit...

From post-truth communications to VR – PR in 2017

Evolution in such a fast-moving industry can take time, but calls for the rapid evolution of communications were loud and clear at the PRCA’s “2017: The Year of...” event last Friday morning. I’m often a little dubious about the value of spen...

Opening the IoT bottleneck: stuck at standards

What do chargers in the EU, cigarette packets in the UK, cucumbers in Asia, and bidets in Japan all have in common? Hint: it’s the one thing causing a major bottleneck in IoT. Yep, whilst the vast and powerful Internet of Things lacks any regulati...

Wearables to tackle sports injuries

Imagine driving a car into a brick wall at 40mph. According to research, this is the force that an average rugby player experiences when colliding with an opponent head on. The long term effects of repeated blows to the head are a major concern in c...

Tackling the bottleneck in IoT

The future is here. In theory. The digitalisation of almost every aspect of our lives means that an IoT future, where all people, devices and services are connected, is inevitable. Promises of smart living, money saving, energy efficiency – and le...

Making a show at CES

Show’s over, folks. CES wrapped this week, and as millions of pounds worth of technology and intelligence were packed up and flown out of the Nevada desert, those following the show were left to reflect on the dazzling highlights from Vegas. The ...

Whatever your resolutions and predictions, security must still be paramount

Ok, it’s a pretty obvious statement, but now is the time of year when every publication (and PR agency blog for that matter) is filled with pieces looking at predictions and resolutions for the New Year. You may be planning to learn to code, get he...

Immersive experiences: PR’s New Year’s resolution

January is traditionally a period of reflection and resolution. So, what can we learn from PR strategies in the past, to improve reach, engagement and quality of campaigns going forward? Publicity stunts have played a role in PR for almost a century...

24-hour news and the rise of infosmog

There was a time when a PR could call an editor in the morning, before afternoon deadlines hit. Yet in today’s 24-hour news environment every minute is a deadline. This brings its own distinct challenges for the PR. There is no longer the buffer wh...

2016: A year in PR

2016 was the year in which our digital interactions, our screen watching and our social media following reached new heights. The past 12 months have seen eyeballs glued to smartphones, TVs and tablets as global audiences tracked events like the Rio O...

Moving to the dark side, pt II

Moving from journalism to PR revealed new insights into content creation for both sectors. Yet the career change also exposed elements of the relationship between the two industries which challenged my assumptions. As a journalist, there was...

Moving to the dark side, pt I

In joining Babel at the end of September I made the move from journalism to PR, a route well-trodden by an increasing number of hacks looking for fewer deadlines and better career prospects. Which of the two is the ‘dark side’ is of course depend...

Snap-Happy Christmas Everyone!

Christmas is officially on its way: the John Lewis ad has launched. The UK retailer has firmly established its Christmas ad as a key milestone in the build up to the festive season. But aside from the multi-million pound adverts that are now adornin...

A deeper look into the fintech industry

New fintech investment figures out last week have cast a shadow over the fintech market – particularly in the UK – with funding down since the Brexit vote, and investors pulling funding from 30 start-ups in the sector since the end of June. Whi...

Behind the numbers at MWC

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]Running exhibitions is always about the numbers and every year we hear those numbers from the GSMA as they relate to Mobile World Congress. MWC 2016 was a record year as the figures outlined below attest: 101,000...

Are machines the new pollsters?

Donald Trump’s win earlier this month was not only a defeat for Hillary Clinton, but a blow to the reputation of many polling organisations which projected Clinton’s lead right up until election day. While most of the media on both sides of the A...

Why PR can’t operate in a vacuum

Zuckerberg is currently being put through the wringer. In the wake of a shock US election result, Facebook has been implicated as heavily influencing matters by allowing fake news. It’s understandably a major concern. The claim raises all sorts of ...

Equal pay day, equal practices every day

The current gender wage gap was marked yesterday by Equal Pay Day, the point in the calendar at which a woman’s salary is hypothetically frozen until the end of the year. There exists an 18.1% pay differential (or 13.9% for those in full-time role...

Will modern technology Trump the traditional media tour?

The result of the US election has come as a devastating blow to many this week. Yet what is equally shocking is how both candidates were still standing after a gruelling, 19-month campaign trail. During this time, Trump and Clinton moved up and down ...

Was October the hottest month for M&A?

The 1st October marked the hottest day in the UK for over a century, with temperatures reaching 30°C in some areas. The past four weeks have also seen possibly the hottest month this year in terms of M&A activity in the tech sector. Businesses ...

MWC: The Time is Now

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]Roisin Murphy has likely never heard of Mobile World Congress, but if she had, I’m sure she’d agree that her hit with Moloko, The Time is Now, would provide an apt soundtrack for our current position in the indu...

The unmasking of Elena Ferrante

The unmasking of Elena Ferrante’s identity earlier this month has led to outrage from fans and writers around the world. Why do we need to know who she is to enjoy her novels? Why can we not respect her anonymity? This reminded me of my university ...

Creativity is…

Creativity is just one of the many pillars of what we do as PR professionals. It comes in many forms, and sometimes needs taming. However, as with everything, there are always lessons to be learnt – some are new, some are to be reinforced; but all ...

An Apple a Day at MWC 2017

STORY UPDATE 1 (10.00 20th October) - Since writing this story we have received communication directly from Apple's PR office to deny they have an "official presence at the show" and since then the listing on the MWC site has mysteriously disappeared...

Cashing in on the fintech opportunity

After the crash of the markets in 2008, regulation has dictated the progress and direction of the financial services sector. Regulators have kept a close eye on banks, enforcing stress tests and compliance so that customers aren’t left short change...

Movin’ On Up

For those of you that might not follow our social channels or news streams closely, on Wednesday it was announced that I was promoted to the position of Managing Director at Babel. This comes after eight years of service at the agency. Upon reflectio...

Technology, we have a (gender) problem

In today’s digital world, technology is making an impact in virtually every industry and sector. With trends such as AI, 3D printing and robotics gaining traction in our everyday lives, it’s becoming clear that more and more jobs will require STE...

IP Expo attacks the issue of IT security

Another week, another trade show to explore. This time, on behalf of Babel, I ventured east to London’s Docklands to visit IP Expo Europe 2016. Encompassing six strands – cloud, cyber security, networks and infrastructure, data analytics, devops ...

Standing out in the media of things

Creating relevance in your IoT story We've just published our latest research that provides communications insight for companies seeking to make a name for themselves in the Internet of Things sector. The first couple of paragraphs are past...

Brexit makes an entrance at this year’s TFM & eCommerce Expo

A total of 16,000 marketing, ecommerce, customer service and customer management professionals are expected to have passed through London’s Olympia over the past two days to attend the revamped Technology for Marketing (TFM) 2016, with this number ...

Speaking the language of International PR

If you’re a frequent Tweeter or a budding linguist, you might already know that today is the European Day of Languages. An initiative of the Council of Europe, it has been celebrated on the 26th September every year since 2001. In honour of the day...

Off to IBC

It’s that time of year again when the great and good (as well as a whole host of hangers on) in the world of content creation, management and delivery head to Amsterdam to experience the joys of IBC. I love the event but there are certain things I�...

Going for gold: how marketers jump on the bandwagon of popular sporting events

The growing popularity of sporting events in recent years has been a lucrative advertising foothold for big budget brands looking to spend money promoting themselves to a well-primed audience. Even more so, successful advertising campaigns are often ...

How to successfully run a media tour: a checklist

I love a challenge, which is probably a good thing since PR is one of those industries that always keeps you on your toes. By their very nature, PR professionals are characteristically organised, switched on and ready to tackle anything head on. And ...

Google must work hard to ensure its Duo doesn’t lack harmony

Google this week finally announced the future has arrived with the launch of Google Duo – a video calling feature for everyone. Despite the fact Apple launched Facetime in 2010, Skype is now 12 years old, boardroom conference calls have been frust...

Babel expands horizons with Cambridge office opening

If you’re keeping up to date with your PR industry news, you might have read that yesterday Babel officially announced the opening of its second UK office. While we’re headquartered in London, we’ve invested in a new site in Cambridge that will...

5G – an open opportunity that can still be defined

In early 2013, when I had just started working in telecoms PR, LTE was the hottest topic in the sector. With speeds twice as fast 3G, it transformed the way people used their phones, enabling rapid web-browsing, gaming, video streaming and work on-th...

A Peek (achu) into the new Pokémon Go Craze

You might be wondering why people are walking around with their heads in their phones (well more than usual) and squealing with glee that ‘a Jigglypuff is nearby!’ every once in a while. Well, it’s all because of new Augmented Reality app, Pok�...

Wimbledon 2016 serves up tech innovation to gain fan engagement advantage

As Babel’s resident tennis fanatic and an amateur player, Grand Slam tournaments are as exciting to me as Christmas. So when Wimbledon 2016 kicked off on the 27th June, I was not only looking forward to seeing which players would be competing for t...

Preparing for Mobile World Congress (MWC) – what does Google Trends tell us?

Every January from about the second week, after we've all recovered from the Christmas and New Year festivities, the team at Babel receive a certain type of call from companies attending Mobile World Congress (MWC). More often than not we also get th...

London Tech Week sports a new fashion-conscious focus

Last week, the third annual London Technology Week showcased the capital’s vibrant digital expertise. The week-long event, boasting over 400 exhibitions, was attended by 43,000 people – a record high. As anticipated, some of the world’s biggest...

FutureComms16 – what is in store for the PR industry

To celebrate the achievements and diversity of the PR industry, I recently joined around 200 of my industry peers for FutureComms16, hosted at the prestigious BAFTA venue, to discuss communications issues close to our career-hearts. With ten key ses...

Issues jumping – when time really is of the essence

At Babel we’re always keeping our eyes peeled for news items that are relevant for clients. Whether it’s scouring the morning papers or keeping an eye on Twitter for breaking news, we’re always on the lookout for stories that we can, on behalf ...

How not to ‘do an Ashley’….( or Five Things Sports Direct’s Mike Ashley Said That Made The Comms Team Squirm Today)

1) Do not be flippant when discussing things that matter (even if they don’t matter to you). Things that matter to others may include – but are not limited to – death and illness in the workplace, a culture of bullying in the workplace, and ind...

All Eyes on the Video(-on-Demand)

15 years ago, the cable TV and DVD markets were booming, and if you’d told the average teenager that they’d be consuming a large proportion of video content through the Internet in 2016, they’d probably have responded with a raised eyebrow. But...

A Reality-check on how to organise a successful product launch

As a PR, I always have a strong feeling of apprehension directly before a press conference, praying that journalists will turn up and the room will be filled. You’ve spent weeks on the phones touting the launch of the century, but there could alway...

Stunts: a PR Story

Carlsberg were recently in the spotlight for a stunt which had everyone laughing. Puns, chocolate, and beer all in one place. The stunt is an integral part of PR and it has come a long way, no doubt about it. It could be giving out products at Waterl...

A CeBIT of IoT

CeBIT needs no introduction in the technology world; it is undeniably one of the most renowned international industry expos held annually in Hannover, Germany. Historically part of the Hannover Messe, the world’s largest industrial fair, CeBIT h...

The FBI finds attempt to push Apple on security fruitless

On February 9th the FBI reached an impasse. It was unable to unlock an iPhone belonging to one of the shooters of the San Bernardino terrorist attack. FBI director James Comey criticised phone encryption, and specifically Apple, claiming it was obstr...

Artificial Intelligence – friend or foe?

Just a decade ago, Artificial Intelligence (AI) sounded like something out of a Hollywood sci-fi blockbuster. Now as Mark Zuckerberg and many more including Google, Microsoft and Elon Musk announce plans to build AI systems that will surpass human in...

How San Francisco Dominated Mainstream Culture in 2015

Babel expanded its footprint in 2015 by growing its presence in the technology capital of the world: San Francisco. As one of the additions to the expanding office – and a proud SF resident – I couldn’t help but take a step back at the ...

Hack to the future

The National Crime Agency recently announced the average age of hackers dropped from 24 to 17 last year and 2015 was a truly bumper year for teen cybercrime. The days of graffiti, staying out and underage drinking being the worst a 14 year old can th...

IoT: from buzzword to real-life

I recently attended TechWeekEurope’s breakfast meeting on the Internet of Things. Aside from the delightful champagne and bacon sarnies, the meeting too had a lot of food for thought. Quocirca’s Clive Longbottom gave the audience the full low-dow...

You are always on my mind

It’s ironic that something that allows us to communicate with unbelievable ease has made us all acceptably antisocial. It was while walking to work this morning it really did dawn on me. Smartphones are completely nuts. Every second person a look...

Celebrating women in business: Inspirational Women 2015

Of all days to pick, National Men’s Day 2015 (19 November) was the obvious choice for the Inspiring Women 2015 conference hosted by Management Today. Seven hours of female inspiration hurtling towards a room of 300 delegates like Diana, Goddess of...

Reputation management: Why brands need to walk the walk, not just TalkTalk

They say good things come in threes. Unfortunately, the same can be said for crises, if recent times are anything to go by. Crises are by no means new – look at the 2013 Tesco horsemeat scandal that became the biggest food fraud story of the 21st c...

Tackling technology: The 2015 Rugby World Cup

As we run into the fourth week of the 2015 Rugby World Cup, with England this year hosting the tournament between mid-September and the end of October, once again the pressure is on for officials to bring the game, fair-and-square, to the millions of...

Alright, stop. Collaborate and listen

Why working with other PR agencies doesn’t have to degenerate into ‘Mine’s bigger than yours’ I’ve shaken my thing to Ice Ice Baby any number of times in the past (mostly at university), but I’ve never taken the time to really appreciate...

May the Salesforce be with you

Last week San Francisco was transformed into an episode of "Empire" meets "Silicon Valley" thanks to a sea of Salesforce blue conference badges that ushered in the glitz and glamour of music superstardom, with all the tech drama of a multi-billion do...

From PDAs to Payments: The changing face of MWC

It’s that time of year again when planning for the annual pilgrimage to Barcelona for MWC begins. The showcase for the mobile industry has undergone a number of changes over the years. Since its inception the show has moved from Cannes to Barcelona...

The Prick with the Stick

Now the kids are back at school the summer is officially over. I’ve just returned from my annual summer break, a relaxing beach holiday abroad. However, despite enjoying sunny weather and local cuisine, to my horror I discovered that a certain acce...

Europe’s Refugee Crisis: Smart Phone, Smart Idea

‘Food, water, and a mobile charger’ Europe is currently experiencing the biggest influx of refugees in its history of absorbing the victims of chaos in the Middle East and Africa. Despite the protests of Europe’s intolerant few, the mass migra...

The ‘No Sh*t Sherlock’ Barcelona Principles 2.0

I’m probably going to upset a number of my colleagues in the industry but that never bothered me before so I’m going to say it anyway. Why the bloody hell are so many seemingly intelligent people spending so much time fannying around with the gra...

Why defeminising women does not equate to gender equality

Last week, it was announced that shoe designer Sophia Webster is launching a ‘Barbie by Sophia Webster’ collection of shoes for adults and children in Selfridges stores worldwide. The first I heard of this was of course on Twitter (where else?) ...

Getting serious about online security

Apple’s iCloud service suffered a high-profile hack back in August last year, pushing online privacy and data security to the forefront of people’s minds. Since then we’ve seen lots of big names hit the headlines, including cheating website Ash...

A press release in August? Isn’t everyone on holiday?

It’s silly season – the time of year which frustrates journalists desperately trying to fill their pages with news in the absence of both government policy and news from CEOs who are more likely to be found sunning themselves in the Bahamas rathe...

“EU Roam home”

If like me you are a loud and proud Silent Roamer refusing to connect to anything other than good old free Wi-Fi whilst abroad, you probably enjoy any excuse to go ‘off-grid’ when you turn off your data roaming. The new EU roaming regulations ...

Dealing with buffering in the BBC’s revenue streams

The BBC is an institution about as British as you can get and is renowned around the world for programmes like Strictly Come Dancing, EastEnders, Dr Who, Planet Earth, BBC World News, University Challenge and Blackadder, to name a few. Yet, in the ...

Women, VCs and Unicorns, Oh My

Over the 4th of July holiday weekend, Farhad Manjoo of The New York Times posted an interesting story on Aileen Lee, founder of Cowboy Ventures and little known creator of the massively popular Silicon Valley term, “unicorn.” This, as you will li...

A phone don’t come for free

Over the years, mobile operators have flirted with the term ‘free’. It didn’t feel free in the heady days of my teenage years, when pay as you go was king. Nokia 3310: £80. Top up: about £10/week. Then SIM only deals started cropping up: Unli...

Standing is the new sitting don’t you know

Modern working habits are changing. Flexible and home working are becoming more prevalent (something we encourage at Babel) and laws around paternity leave have recently altered - these are just are few of the issues that are helping to keep modern w...

Apple Music: cash in the bank?

Music streaming is big business these days (unless you’re a recording artist apparently), and it's Spotify that's assumed market leader status. It's made most of the headlines in recent years but not always for positive reasons. Then in January, J...

#MissingType: Here’s how to take the lifeblood out of any webpage and raise NHS awareness

The NHS hit the headlines today as it launched its #MissingType campaign. No, it’s not a spate of wide spread vandalism that means hundreds of signs across the country are missing the letters O, A and B. The move is to raise awareness that there is...

Google I/O: The announcements that will change the tech ecosystem (yet again)

The Google empire has been redefining industries since first blazing onto the Silicon Valley scene in late 1998. In May 2008 the company hosted its first software developer-focused conference, Google I/O (standing for input/output and “Innovation...

The robots are coming (according to our sources)

Like most children of the 80s, I’ve had a love hate relationship with the idea of robots and “connected things”. Sure, the robotic cleaner and tea maid clunking around on Tomorrow’s World looked appealing, but then we also had the Terminator ...

The Bay Area Tech Boom: 3 companies to watch

There are countless articles about the tech boom in the Bay Area. From the rising cost of living to the inflated salaries for entry-level engineers, most of the focus is on the negative outcomes. Being a native San Franciscan it’s painful to watch ...

A touch of gloating

[Gloat mode on] Here at Babel we probably don't sing our own praises enough and that's probably because we see our job as singing the praises of our clients. This time I'm going to make an exception. I've just returned from The Drum's Independent A...

The Quantified Self: FOMO or vehicle for real change?

The Quantified Self. According to Wikipedia, the official definition is “a movement to incorporate technology into data acquisition on aspects of a person’s daily life in terms of inputs (e.g. food consumed), states (e.g. mood, blood oxygen level...

Google, you doth protesteth too much!

I’ve just returned from TV Connect where Babel was representing its broadcast and media clients once again. Like all of these events it’s a strange mixture of doing new business, meeting customers, briefing journalists and analysts, catching up w...

The Next Innovation in Tech PR Must Be Human-Focused

At last week’s Vator Splash startup conference in Oakland, California, one of the most interesting panels I attended was a session called “When Will Tech Look Like America?” Moderated by Fast Company’s Evie Nagy, the panel featured an impress...

Babel PR Appoints U.S. Head

UK headquartered Babel PR, one of the fastest growing agencies in the tech sector, has appointed Caroline Kawashima as Executive Vice President & U.S. Head for its recently established San Francisco operations. Kawashima joins from Golin where sh...

YouTube reaches double digits

Today, YouTube celebrates the tenth anniversary of when its first video was uploaded and who could possibly imagine a world without it? Before it became part of everyday life, I can’t even think where we went to watch (at the touch of a few clicks)...

Has NAB changed its broadcast signal?

It’s a big week for those in broadcast. This year’s NAB kicked off on Monday morning, the doors of the Las Vegas Convention Center thrown open to more than 100,000 visitors who have descended on Sin City for the four-day exhibition. Some familiar...

Gadgets and Gizmos

Last week the weird and the wonderful of the technology world descended on Birmingham for The Gadget Show Live, showcasing everything from a synthetic pancreas to heated butter knives. I am a sucker for gadgets. My house is full of things that at th...

Hacking into CeBIT

Following shortly behind the technology-focussed Mobile World Congress (MWC) in Barcelona, and broadcast-focussed CABSAT in Dubai, both earlier this month, CeBIT – the world’s largest and most International computer trade fair – has come and go...

Content at CABSAT

CABSAT. To some, this may sound like a quirky new taxi app mimicking Uber. But many others will recognise it as the biggest event in the Middle East, Africa and South Asia region for the Broadcast Industry. Conveniently situated a stone’s throw awa...

Have handset manufacturers hung up on MWC?

From the sheer number of people complaining of aching feet and rubbing their eyes all week, it can only be calm after the blister-inducing storm that is MWC. Walking around the Fira Gran Via and even looking at the news once the debris has settled, ...

Taking wing from MWC and TFM&A

Gongs galore, we're wrung out from show season. Last week saw Technology for Marketing & Advertising (TFM&A) and broadcast's Broadcast Video Expo (BVE) and this week Barcelona hosted the mobile industry chart-topper Mobile World Congress (MW...

MWC – Take Your Partners

It’s now just a few short days before the mobile industry’s big hoedown in Barcelona. This time next week, as the GSMA applies rosin to the bow and fiddles its tune, the Fira Gran Via will open its doors for Mobile World Congress 2015. The assemb...

The politics of technology

Politicians get roasted for lots of things. They are sitting targets, often oblivious to their shortcomings, like Dappy or Robbie Savage. But in the last decade, they’ve picked up that technology is pretty handy to the people, and these people use ...

Super Bowl XLIX – A mixed reaction from the world

The Super Bowl wouldn’t be the Super Bowl without the adverts. I can’t say I have a great knowledge of American football, or just football for the Americans reading this, but the Super Bowl still manages to get me excited every year due to the ad...

When to change your PR agency

Some companies get itchy feet and change their PR agency every year and at the other extreme are those aiming to present a gold watch for long service. A good proportion in the former category are either very careless in their research and selection ...

UK telecoms is changing – but for the better or worse?

January 2015 has been a turbulent month for the UK telecoms market as consolidation between some of the UK’s major operators looks likely to give the industry an overhaul. Last week Hutchison Whampoa, operator of the Three network, announced plans ...

What the hell were they thinking?

Two stories appeared this week that have me questioning if a sort of corporate madness is sweeping North America. Yesterday we had BlackBerry CEO John Chen urging regulators to force app developers to port their applications to the BlackBerry platfo...

CES 2015: On the cusp of the IoT

We need cooperation, not competition, to get this year’s show stopper off the ground. Samsung CEO BK Yoon recently stole headlines at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) when announcing Samsung’s vision of the future, the Internet of Things (Io...

Are we perpetuating a ‘name and shame’ culture?

As the old adage goes, s**t happens. Sometimes when we buy items and services in-store or online, things go wrong. Gadgets can break, manufacturing faults – although few and far between – still happen. And despite living in a digital world, human...

Kickstart your PR

It would be naïve of me to infer that someone reading the blog of a technology PR agency won’t have heard of Kickstarter, so – taking it as read that you all know exactly what I’m talking about – I’ll cut to the chase. At the time of writ...

Babel PR’s graduate scheme is open – apply now!

Applications are now open for this year’s Babel PR graduate scheme. To hack it in PR you’ll need many strings to your bow, it is fast-paced and requires you to have a wide skill set. If you are on the verge of an application to Babel and would li...

MWC – Hold the Front Page

What the MWC influencers had to say Babel PR hosted its Mobile World Congress preview event in central London last week. You might think it’s a bit too soon to be thinking about MWC but the message that came out of the evening was clear - if compa...

Last chance to meet the MWC Influencers, plus exclusive preview: Juniper Research 2015 mobile trends

We’re excited to announce that our 'Meet the MWC influencers' MWC 2015 preview event will also feature an exclusive first look at Juniper Research’s annual industry forecast, revealing the top 10 mobile trends for 2015. I’ve had a sneak previ...

Just over one week to go: Meet the MWC influencers

Mobile World Congress (MWC) is the industry’s annual showcase, but how do you make the most of it? With up to 2,000 companies all clamouring for attention, it can be difficult to cut through the noise, particularly if you don’t happen to be a tie...

Meet the MWC influencers

Mobile World Congress is the industry’s flagship event, so how do you make a splash at one of the world busiest trade shows, stand out from a crowd of over 1,900 companies and deliver your message to the right audience? What do the top tier media a...

Crisis communications – what to do when things go wrong

Babel PR is often called upon to advise a range of companies that are experiencing a crisis of some sort. Over the years we’ve dealt with many – from errant CEOs saying or doing something they really shouldn’t have, to problems with a key produ...

ad:tech reaches New York

The annual ad:tech conferences have been in full force the past few months around the world. Hot off the heels from ad:tech London, this week the conference is moving back across the Atlantic for ad:tech New York. So, what did we see recently in the ...

In defence of Twitter

One of the things I have learnt over the past three months is that Twitter is one of the most essential and versatile tools in the PR arsenal. However, Twitter users receive an increasingly bad press. Whether it’s complaints that Twitter is full of...

My iPhone is aBrick

It took me some time to be tempted across to the Apple stable and succumb to the joys of iPhone ownership. I always appreciated the way the company kept the end user in mind with some of the most iconic industrial design this side of Philippe Stark�...

Dreamforce 2014: A Focus on Philanthropy

You might recently remember that the Babel team talked to reporters in the US and UK to find out what they thought the key trends might be at Dreamforce 2014. From security and privacy to analytics and data, much of what was predicted is still to be ...

Taking a trip back to university…

Last week, two members of the Babel team had the opportunity to return to university. But this time, our trip to UCL just around the corner, wasn’t to study or write a dreaded dissertation. Instead, we were there to take part in the School of Manag...

A VoLTE-face

At the LTE Voice Summit in London this week operators and solution providers alike were putting their heads together, trying to work together to understand how to monetise and deploy VoLTE. While everyone came at the problem from their own perspectiv...

Health 2.0 and the future of health technology

In San Francisco and Silicon Valley, health technology has been increasing in popularity in recent years. From the latest tracking gadgets to improving the efficiency of hospitals, technology innovators are hard at work everyday to advance the use of...

An interconnected world needs a connected outlook

If working in public relations teaches you anything, it’s that uncompromised channels of communication are vital to achieving success in any sector. The Internet of Things (IoT) is about connectivity; connecting machines within networks, connectin...

Part-time working in PR: how to juggle children and a career

Three years ago when I was thinking about returning to work after having my son, I spoke to various recruiters and people in the industry about my desire to work part-time so I could enjoy the best of both worlds – spending quality time with my lit...

Bums on seats @ Mobile World Congress

Here at Babel PR we always get ready for Mobile World Congress as early as possible. We've been preparing speaker submissions, award entries, drafting messaging, designing event based activity etc., basically, getting all the 'ducks in a row'. It's w...

Putting your finger on it

Sometimes, this PR business is alright you know. You may have seen in the news recently that Barclays is going to be launching a new finger vein scanning technology for its corporate banking clients, or at least I hope you did! What you probably did...

Smart Farming – how technology is transforming the agricultural industry

A new era of farming is upon us and the summer of 2014 will go down in history as one of the quickest harvests on record. Of course, the weather helps; the early sunshine and hot spells undoubtedly played a huge part in ripening the crops in anticip...

Proactivity…the next move of cloud providers?

In the wake of the iCloud hack Apple stated that they did not experience a security breach, but rather the leak was the result of a ‘targeted attack on particular accounts.’ As Apple attempts to wash its hands of fault, we could ask are they trul...

IBC-dian summer

The glorious weather we experienced throughout the months of June and July has seemingly departed for another year. And while some are holding out for an Indian summer, the blustery wind and falling leaves can only mean one thing for anyone in broadc...

Nevermind the robot butlers, here’s the SDDC

When the world’s technology elite descend on the Moscone Center in San Francisco for VMworld next week, there will no doubt be great, deeply technical excitement about a number of industry developments. However, these guys aren’t too concerned if...

Music streaming, it’s become official

I’m a massive music fan. I won’t divulge my full music tastes as I don’t want to get laughed out of the Babel office, but I’m always reading up on the latest news and what is happening in the industry. So, it seems only right that I discuss t...

iBeacon – The start of hyper-local personalised marketing?

Targeting visitors based on their online browsing habits is second nature to internet marketers today, with almost all sites using 'cookies' to personalise ads based on your interests, behaviour and the websites you visit. This is the reason why dyna...

Broadband shortcomings cause frustration for UK SMEs

Located in a built-up commercial area in central London, Babel is privy to excellent network connectivity; a fibre broadband connection provides our office with super-fast Wi-Fi and ethernet speeds, which is also supplemented by solid 3G and 4G cell...

Let the online shopping e-commence

With the World Cup coming to a close, and with Wimble-done, it is time for the annual summer sales to light up the lives of shopaholics throughout the UK. However, there is a new type of bargain-hunter stalking through the reduced section of stores ...

The dawn of a cashless society

I am reliably informed by Rob Weatherhead in his Digital content hub blog on the Guardian, that our attention spans are getting shorter. The irony of said blog being 1,300ish words long was not lost on me. A recent media training course run by Steve...

It’s A Holme Run – Two Years Running

It’s been a good week at Babel HQ and one that hints at a slight bit of Déjà vu. For the second year running, we’ve been included in The Holmes Report, World PR Report as demonstrating strong growth and an eye for innovation. We’re also the o...

Moore innovation needed

The world of semiconductors is almost a paradox. Take its role in the mobile industry, for example; while smartphones are getting progressively bigger – even Apple is rumoured to be taking a bite out of the ‘phablet’ market with its much antic...

Napoleon was right – well, almost…

“The English are a nation of shopkeepers,” is one of Napoleon Bonaparte’s best known quotes, and while not entirely true, figures showing there to be nearly 5 million SMEs in the UK would certainly seem to suggest that while not shopkeepers, t...

IFSEC 2014 – What to expect?

Infosec is long gone and IFSEC is once more upon us. Returning this year to its home town of London, the show promises to display a broad range of security solutions from the 650 exhibitors. Early reports tell us to expect a continuation on the them...

Cutting through the Big Data Hype

It’s showtime! London Technology Week kicks off next week, complete with Boris Johnson waxing lyrical over London as “the digital capital of Europe”. The Cloud World Forum and Big Data World Congress at Olympia, and the Internet World, Interop...

Cisco Live and the problem with the Internet of Everything

As inevitable as Liverpool throwing away a three-goal lead or Facebook buying out anyone standing in its path, the Internet of Things was always going to be shortened to IoT in the acronym-heavy tech industry we work in. Yet for so long the idea of ...

Exciting times ahead for mobile voice

When it comes to the core mobile services available to consumers, it is messaging that has been stealing the limelight of recent years. Driven by a number of exciting over-the-top (OTT) players, such as WhatsApp, BBM and Skype, there has been a lot ...

Babel’s guide for landing a job in PR

As you can imagine, we were inundated with application forms for our graduate scheme this year, so we just wanted to say thank you to all those who took the time and effort to apply. As someone who graduated only two years ago, I know too well how st...

Cycling with Strava – why you should worry about your privacy

About a month ago, I signed up to do the Prudential RideLondon-Surrey 100 on 10th August; a 100 mile cycle ride that starts off in the Olympic Park, winds its way through the beautiful Surrey countryside, before finishing up on The Mall. I’ve left...

The importance of throwing digital skills into the mix

It’s nothing new that digital and social media are an increasingly important and integral part of the marketing and communications mix. As these disciplines are still relatively new though, some marcoms and media professionals are still not comple...

How 4G islands of connectivity can be bridged by Wi-Fi

Following the news that EE is launching a new affordable 4G tariff and handset, it’s expected that more people than ever before will make the transition to LTE. However, operators are still in the process of building out their 4G networks. This me...

Time to get rich for the operators

The GSMA has a long, proud history of identifying need in the mobile community, constantly setting the bar highly with initiatives to benefit the industry and also creating the monster that is MWC. But as a sceptical ex-journo I have always been sus...

Babel’s Graduate Open Day

Calling all successful graduate scheme applicants who will be attending our open day on either Friday 28th March or Friday 4th April, here is what to expect… We’d like you to arrive at Babel Towers (that’s Bolsover House, 5-6 Clipstone Street,...

The Big Data Bandwagon

How many angels can you fit on a pinhead? Count the number of Big Data players on that bandwagon and Bob’s your uncle. Yes indeed, there are now allegedly 1,700 global big data players. 1,700. Really. Our bet is a fair amount of gatecrashers ...

Looking for PR support? Then look no further…

Did you pick up this month’s edition of European Communications? If you did, then you probably saw their pull-out guide to choosing a PR agency (it’s available online too!). You might even have spotted a familiar name. Go ahead, take another loo...

MWC – A time for networking

Mobile World Congress is ‘the event’ in the telecoms industry that’s on everyone’s calendar. Companies from all over the world spend large sums exhibiting at the show, all in the hope of winning new customers and appearing favourably in the ...

Babel PR’s guide to Mobile World Congress

Mobile World Congress is little more than a week away and it’s an event that industry veterans love and hate in equal measure. It’s the big occasion, a chance to show your stuff, make some contacts, do some deals, catch up with old friends and p...

Babel PR’s graduate scheme is open – apply now!

The closing date of Babel’s graduate scheme is almost upon us, and I wanted to take this opportunity to let you know what the process is like from the perspective of someone who’s already been through it. I applied for the Babel Grad Scheme back...

The Super Bowl – A lesson in Stadium Wi-Fi

As some of you may be aware, the Super Bowl took place this month - the world’s largest sporting event. Yet, in the UK and in most of Europe, the event goes by without drawing-in huge numbers of viewers, perhaps due to its inconvenient starting ti...

The Internet of Things: Looking beyond a buzzword to find real meaning

A lot of people reading this will groan and roll their eyes at yet another blog about one of IT’s favourite buzz words of the minute, but the “Internet of Things” (the first and last time I put it in quotation marks, promise!) is poised to mak...

Vodafone deals with the devil to compete with BT

Earlier this week it was revealed that Vodafone and BskyB are holding "high-level talks" to discuss a way to challenge BT’s dominance in the UK broadband market. This could lead to Vodafone offering Sky’s film and sports content to its customers...

Reflections on CES 2014

As another new year rolls in, it can only mean one thing. Yes, the consumer technology world descending on Las Vegas once again for the ultimate industry showcase: CES 2014. Having been a staple in the technology industry since 1967, the show attrac...

To 2014 and beyond! Babel PR’s industry predictions for the next twelve months

Christmas has come and gone and the New Year is in full swing. Here at Babel we’ve been casting our predictions for the world of technology in 2014. How many of these do you agree with? Check out the Babel team page to put a face to the name! Tel...