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 who employ this as a tactic for our clients. However, what makes our approach so successful is the close partnerships we’ve built with our clients (meaning we can pin down commentary quickly), and the trusted relationships we’ve created with key journalists (meaning we can get their attention when time is of the essence).

Over the course of 2020, we’ve achieved an impressive amount of coverage for our clients across national and broadcast (including Sky News and CNBC) as well as the business critical tier one trade and vertical media. A large proportion of this is for proactive activities, including launches and reports. But I wanted to reflect on last year and celebrate my top four pieces of coverage which resulted from the Babel team jumping on the breaking news agenda.

• Founder and CTO of Acquia, Dries Buytaert, has strong opinions on big tech. As the anti-trust hearings got underway, Babel stepped up with some concise commentary and secured a host of business level coverage, including this piece in the Evening Standard.

• Focusing in on issues response for client Orange CyberDefense resulted in an increase of 246% in tier one media. There have been many opportunities for comment, but for the story on the Marriot International data breach I particularly like this piece in The Guardian.

• There were so many opportunities in the cyber security space this year, I couldn’t highlight just one piece of coverage. Stuart Reed, UK Director at Orange CyberDefense also spoke on BBC World News about the hack suffered by Twitter.

• I’ve got this far without mentioning Covid but I’m afraid it has to make an appearance. Team members working for digital marketplace, Mirakl, were quick to hop on the story concerning delays in PPE equipment. They secured some excellent coverage in The Times which resulted in a direct, immediate business outcome for the client. https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/coronavirus-care-homes-face-weeks-of-delay-for-vital-protective-kit-gjhrng2lr

Great work from all the teams involved. We’re already looking forward to securing more stellar coverage for our clients next year. If you would like to hear more about any of the above, or what we can deliver for you, please do get in touch.