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 exciting and engaging conference format that hosts more than 2,400 leading companies and visionaries from within the tech sector.

The event’s scale and influence within the mobile industry is unquestioned, and so it provides a seismic profile-boosting opportunity for companies to engage with press and influencers beforehand. But, how can brands set themselves up for success? What are some of the pitfalls and pointers when dealing with the media in the weeks and months that lead up to such a high-profile event?

Babel is hosting a breakfast panel discussion aimed at driving best-practice communications when engaging with press and influencers prior to and at MWC Barcelona 2020.

Joining the MWC narrative with timely and positive media interactions

Our panel of experts, key journalists and influencers will discuss what the media is looking to report on in the weeks leading up to the event. They will offer valuable insights about how brands can cut through some of the noise and articulate coherent messages that can put them on the radar of key journalists, prospects and influencers at the show.

We caught up with two of our panelists in advance of the event to gain some advice on how brands can maximise their communications potential in advance of, and during the show.

Ewan Spence, Senior Contributor, Forbes

Journalists covering any major event are going to get a lot of emails. Most email filters are pretty accurate so it’s unlikely that an email is going to be automatically directed into the spam folder. Which means, yes, the journalist you have sent an email to has seen your email and has decided if he or she will reply to it.

When someone phones up to ask if we have seen an email, the chances of changing the action we’ve already taken are minimal, especially if you are the eleventy-first PR company to do so before our second coffee of the day. If we need to follow up, we’ll follow up with you.

Let’s assume that you are pitching to a journalist. Have you done any background reading or are aware of our work? You should be able to find our most recent articles and understand what our beat is with the publications we work with. If your product isn’t part of that beat, then it doesn’t matter how sexy, innovative, or ground-breaking it is, we’re not going to cover it. You are pitching an individual writer, it’s going to be obvious if you haven’t done your homework.

Katie Finn, Associate Director, Babel

Look at ways you can proactively drive the news agenda ahead of the show itself. With over 3,500 press and analysts attending MWC each year, competition for attention is fierce; and this challenge is only compounded by the fact that a growing number of brands are sponsoring journalists to attend, giving many a very limited window for pure play editorial briefings.

Creating news or a strong thought leadership platform well in advance of the event not only helps to boost visibility of your company in the run up to the show; it can also help secure at-show briefings by showing media the kinds of insights your company can offer. Creating fresh, data-driven stories can be particularly impactful and can be instrumental in carving out a leadership position long before anyone sets foot in the Fira.

Check out our blog tomorrow to read the thoughts of our other panellists…

If you’d like to attend the event and find out how you can maximise the impact of your communications for MWC Barcelona 2020, then please register via Eventbrite or speak to one of the Babel team, we’re happy to help.