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 work that has to be done to make sure there are no (unpleasant) surprises at the event itself for any one of a large number of clients we are supporting in the mobile sector.

One of the things we are often asked is when should media outreach start. If you look at the chart below, which is based on a search in one of our analysis tools of the term “mobile world congress”, you might think that it all has to happen during a narrow window of time. Nothing could be further from the truth.

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The chart is by no means an accurate analysis of all the relevant news coverage, but it’s a decent proxy of relative volume over time. There are no real surprises in terms of when the bulk of coverage appears but it’s worth asking yourself if it matters when your coverage appears. Your answer ought to be yes and it’s the pre-show coverage that can make the biggest difference to how successful the conference and exhibition really is. MWC inevitably requires significant investment – the aim is to make the most of that investment and getting customers, potential customers and partners to your stand is a big priority.

You shouldn’t ignore the media opportunities with the show daily or any of the many titles publishing during the event but if you want bums on seats it’s probably a good idea to be turning up the volume pre-show. Equally, don’t ignore the post show opportunities – it’s a great time to pick up on interesting themes, major event news and to craft a story that may be more likely to be read away from the ‘noise’.

So, in summary, start early to generate attention pre-show, take advantage of opportunities during the event (but be aware that unless you are a big brand, it’s easy to get lost) and finally, don’t forget to follow up to secure post show opportunities.

When that’s all done you can start preparations for the next time…