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1989 was a ground-breaking year for technology. Intel released the 486 series of microprocessor, paving the way for the next generation of more powerful PCs, while Microsoft launched its Office suite, David Levy was the first master chess player to be defeated by a computer (the ancestor of what we now know as machine learning), and Nintendo unveiled the iconic GameBoy.

But perhaps most significantly, 1989 was the year that Sir Tim Berners-Lee drafted a proposal that would launch the world wide web on society.

Berners-Lee has marked the 29th anniversary of his invention by attacking the dominance of a few big tech companies. He warned that while the internet was once made up of a wide selection of blogs and websites, it is now “compressed under the powerful weight of a few dominant platforms”. This, he said, has led to repercussions including fake accounts stoking social tensions. And one could argue that it’s also led to a less democratic, accessible and fair web.

While companies such as Twitter and Facebook are making efforts to fix these issues, Berners-Lee has suggested that a legal or regulatory framework may be required.

The growth of the internet over the past 29 years has certainly revolutionised the way that we communicate and has had a significant impact on the role of journalists and, in turn, the PR industry.

While the topic of ‘fake news’ — deliberate misinformation intended to mislead an audience — has only been prevalent in the news agenda for a handful of years, it has existed for many decades and impacted both professions. It is the growth of internet use globally, the rise of social media and the dominance of alt-right movements that have combined to increased its influence.

A recent study from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) found that fake news travels faster than legitimate reports. The study found that false news stories are 70% more likely to be retweeted than true stories are. It also takes true stories about six times as long to reach 1,500 people as it does for false stories to reach the same number of people.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, the MIT study found that the spread of false stories was more pronounced for political news — targeting voters — than for news in the other categories.

Anyone working in B2B PR could be forgiven for thinking that fake news is not an issue. Think again — fake news is just as likely to have an influence in the B2B world as it does with consumers. So how can PR practitioners help clients fight back against when fake news strikes? Here are just three suggestions:

  1. Prepare: ensure your client or company has well developed, verified and responsive social media channels. And ensure you have planned out responses to confidently address and dampen down any inaccurate questions or stories
  2. Listen: understand who your influencers are and keep track of what they are saying. Ensure your monitoring tools are fit for purpose
  3. React: be ready to respond quickly when fake news begins to spread. Make sure you know which stakeholders to communicate to and be prepared to engage with media covering the story

While it is positive that campaigners such as Berners-Lee are calling for regulation to clamp down on false allegations, in the meantime, those working in PR have a key role to play to ensure that clients keep track of malicious stories. Failure to do so risks undoing all the good work that professionals working in-house and in agencies do.

05 March 2018 – InterSystems, a global leader in information technology platforms, has appointed The Whiteoaks Consultancy, a leading UK-based technology PR agency, to support the UK launch of its new InterSystems IRIS Data Platform™. The focus of the campaign will be to raise awareness of InterSystems, InterSystems IRIS, its key spokespeople and problem-solving technology outside of healthcare.

Whiteoaks was appointed following a competitive pitch process, due to its proven knowledge of the big data, data analysis and cloud markets, as well as its experience and proven track record of PR, content and digital work in the financial services sector, a key vertical for InterSystems.

Whiteoaks will develop and execute a media relations campaign, emphasising InterSystems’ role as an industry thought leader. This will maximise InterSystems’ legacy expertise and reputation for exemplary customer and partner support and service, demonstrating how it has built on this to break new ground in financial technology with InterSystems IRIS.

James Kelliher, Whiteoaks CEO, added: “The team at Whiteoaks is very much looking forward to supporting InterSystems at such an exciting time for the company, extending their reach into the financial industry and strengthening their distribution channel.

“Our transparent way of working and commitment to achieving and exceeding targets continues to set us apart from other PR firms, and we feel sure that this approach will help InterSystems to significantly increased awareness for its new data platform and the company as a whole.”

PR is not an island. Bear with me on this analogy, please.

Any technology company’s relationship with their PR agency is destined to fail if they are treated as an external supplier, seen by internal stakeholders as an expense they must grudgingly commit to, and that offers little return other than vanity.

In many cases, this is true.

At Whiteoaks, it is exactly the kind of scenario we seek to avoid.

Businesses nowadays must keep all the bases covered; media relations, social media, bloggers, vloggers, industry influencers. The routes to decision makers and budget holders have never been more complex.

So, if they employ a PR agency to handle media outreach — and keep them at arm’s length — this relationship will end up on a sour note for both parties.

An integrated approach is the way forward — and Whiteoaks’ service offering has evolved over our 25 years in the tech PR game to ensure we deliver tangible results for our clients.

Take Omnico, a leading provider of cloud-based technology powering point of sale and customer engagement solutions, as an example.

A key recommendation when we started working with them was to establish their own intellectual property through a research campaign known as the Retail Gap Barometer. We gathered the data, analysed trends and could easily just have sent out a press release, garnered some strong media hits and given ourselves a big pat on the back. Job done.

Except it wasn’t.

We also used the statistics from the research to feed a range of content across traditional media relations, social media and traditional marketing content such as whitepapers, electronic direct mail (eDMs).

Suddenly, metrics moved beyond simple media coverage (where it is far harder to track those all-important sales leads), to informing and shaping entire marketing strategies.

Omnico is just one of our many examples of this approach, combining media relations, digital, social and marketing channels, all driven by the PR agency — with strong content at its heart.

Other agencies may be stuck on an island, with only a volleyball named Wilson for company (for those unfamiliar with the film Castaway, I’m linking back to my introduction here), but Whiteoaks’ goal is to be very much part of the mainland.

 

 

Who are you? And what’s your job at Whiteoaks?

Hi, I’m Courtney Heron. I wish my name had some deep meaning, but really my mum just liked the ‘90s TV show, Beverley Hills 90210 and named me after one of the characters. I am a Junior Account Executive here at Whiteoaks.

 

What does your daily to-do list look like?

It changes every day and that’s the beauty of the job. I never go in on a Monday morning knowing exactly what I’ll be doing. However, there are some things that are consistent and my day-to-day tasks include coverage tracking, liaising with our international agency partners to co-ordinate multi-national client work and updating reports.

 

What made you want to get into PR?

I studied journalism at university because I loved writing stories and working with people. Public relations seemed like a natural career choice for me because you work hand-in-hand with the media and it requires you to work with a variety of people who want to engage with their audiences.

 

Who is your favourite brand and why?

My favourite brand is Apple because it is the only one that has managed to instil any loyalty in me. I have had an iPhone since I was 14 and it is the only phone interface I know how to use. Give me an Android device and I’m suddenly an 85-year-old woman who does not know how to send a simple text. I also have an iPod and a MacBook so the integration between devices is something I love about Apple. Apple has me hooked in for life!

 

What’s your top tip for someone who wants to get into the PR industry?

I worked for a few tech start-ups while studying, so before working with Whiteoaks I was able to see what it’s like on the other side, so to speak. I think the best tip I could give someone would be to gain some any relevant work experience. It doesn’t even need to be in the PR industry, just something to show you have some experience outside of your education.

 

How do you unwind after a day in the office?

I like watching travel vlogs. I find them relaxing and I love travelling too. I used to live in Spain and LA, so watching the vlogs helps remind me of my adventures and feed my passion for more travel.

 

What’s your favourite anthem suggestion for Friday’s Whiteoaks Power Hour?

It changes all the time, but I’ll go with an underrated 80s classic, Heaven Is a Place on Earth by Belinda Carlisle — it’s my secret karaoke go-to!

 

If you could be any character in any film, what would you be?

Elle Woods from Legally Blonde would be a good choice. Smart and fashion forward.

 

What’s your ideal getaway location?

I’ve always wanted to go to Hawaii and see if it’s really worth all the hype.

 

What’s your go-to party trick?

I’m currently learning Korean so my party trick would be that I can spell people’s names in Korean. Mine is 코트니

 

And finally, cheesy chips?

Sure, but can I get the cheese on the side?

There are many ingredients that make up a successful PR campaign, but at the very core of any activity lies the media. In order to truly maximise coverage and guarantee quality, your PR consultant will need to be well versed in media relations.

Many conventional PR agencies operate using a generalist model, where everyone tends to get involved in a bit of everything. While this undoubtedly works for many, at @WhiteoaksPR we are deliberately different. We function in specialist teams, meaning that we all have our own areas of expertise — one of these being media relations.

A media relations specialist at Whiteoaks dedicates the majority of their time to proposing stories, networking, and researching the media, so that when it comes to securing top quality opportunities we know how to walk the walk. By being able to dedicate our time solely to the media and building relationships with key journalists, media relations specialists at Whiteoaks know what will work and for who.

Establishing strong, professional relationships with your core media is mutually beneficial. Not only are we able to harness the feedback from these journalists to shape our content and strategy going forward, journalists build up trust in the consultants that they work closely with and can rely on them for a regular source of content that will be of interest to their readers. This often results in in-bound enquiries and requests — a true testament to the importance of strong media relations.

Not only do different journalists require different things, but different tactics require different strategies. For example, the media approach taken when responding to breaking news will vary greatly from the approach taken when discussing thought leadership article placements. A true media relations specialist has honed this skill, and knows exactly how to alter their language, style and even channel to secure the best results. Like riding a bike, this becomes second nature. But it does require passion, enthusiasm and a dedication for the role that we believe flourishes best when given in a media role fulltime.

Every Whiteoaks employee understands each aspect of PR, but it’s our specialisms that make us great consultants. Our clients are assured that the content we write has been written by a specialist content creator, their social media is being managed by a digital expert, and their media is being handled by a media relations guru.

I know what you’re thinking and you’re too kind, really, but no…it’s not me that’s turning 25 this year. It’s our company, Whiteoaks.

As with most milestones, this one has me reflecting. After 25 years in business, I know that most technology companies still value and need experienced agencies with specialist communications professionals to help them grow their businesses, tell their brand story and demonstrate ROI from PR — to provide a fresh perspective and enable them to achieve synergy between their sales and marketing efforts. The need for effective communications support is even more vital considering today’s complex media landscape, the extensive amount of content available, and the exceptionally fast pace of the technological changes we’re all living through.

If a company creates excellent, relevant and insightful content that helps their audiences learn, develop their own knowledge and perform better in their roles, then, the people will keep coming back for more. And in B2B, content with measurable results is both possible and essential.

We kicked off the year with a campaign under the banner of our new content brand — Whiteoaks Insights — where we put into practice the strategy and approach we recommend for our clients. If you missed the key insights from the PR and digital marketing mix, here’s a short montage video focusing on three common priorities for every brand we work for: strategy, content and media relations. In the middle of the campaign, our Twitter chat focused on how PR can support sales. Whiteoaks’ Digital Account Lead, Dan Bailey, captured the honest discussion, questions and answers from the Twitter chat here, if you’d like to catch up.

This was just the beginning for us… On the basis that we practice what we recommend — to write, produce or create content that will be of interest to readers, rather than talk about the company first — I’m adding news about us at the end of this blog. 2018 is already shaping up to be a very exciting year and as we gear up for our 25th anniversary we’re taking the opportunity to make two significant changes at the end of March. Firstly, we’re evolving our brand from The Whiteoaks Consultancy to Whiteoaks International, to better reflect the international nature of our business. Secondly, we’re moving onto the next phase of our own growth, by relocating our talented team from Farnham, Surrey, to a new, well-positioned, and we believe, inspirational office in Hook, Hampshire. I couldn’t be more excited to steer our business, and our clients, through the year ahead…

Catch our new brand look on our website and social media platforms in a few weeks’ time, and if you like, follow us on Twitter, as we’ll start to reveal snippets and photos about our new home in Hook soon.

“Robots will take half of jobs”, “Poorest to fare worst in age of automation”, “We’d better plan now, before it’s too late”.

The above are just three headlines recently published in mainstream media – there were many more to choose from – when I researched and started to write this blog focusing on robotics.

Robotic process automation (RPA) is certainly a hot topic. Recently the independent think tank ‘The Centre for Cities’ estimated that by 2030 nine areas in the UK could lose more than a quarter of jobs to automation and artificial intelligence (AI), with roles in shops, administration and warehouses most at risk.

Much of the media coverage of such studies focuses on the potential negative impact of robotics, with calls for changes to the education system to make sure young people have the skills they need for the future workplace.

While the government has recognised the need for further skills development, it is also investing in robotics research. In 2017, as part of the government’s digital strategy, it pledged £17.3m of funding for research carried out by British universities.

Political support for RPA development is great news for the UK tech sector. Many of our clients at Whiteoaks are harnessing the power of robotics to help their customers streamline processes, reduce costs, enhance customer service and allow their people to focus on the aspects of their job that only humans can do.

These benefits are starting to be seen in organisations across multiple sectors, including finance, insurance, legal and local government:

 

Finance: Since the 2008 financial crisis, measures have been introduced to separate the risk-taking aspect of financial markets from the ordinary provision of financial services, as well as strengthen banking regulation. 

Financial institutions now have teams dedicated to complying with a raft of regulations, much of which involves analysing large amounts of data from various business lines and systems. The growth of RPA is already having a huge impact on this process, helping to reduce costs and ensure accurate reporting. The development of intelligent RPA may be able to further replicate human decision-making and further disrupt banking compliance.

 Insurance: Insurance has always been held back by its disparate legacy systems, databases and data formats, along with the vast cost involved in installing entirely new back-office systems

Now RPA is bridging these gaps, with many insurance businesses deploying robots in claims and applications processing, achieving substantial increases in productivity and accuracy, while reducing costs substantially. More innovative businesses are moving towards the automation of decision-making in front-office functions such as underwriting.

 Legal: Record-keeping and documentation is the foundation of the legal industry, and much of it remains paper-based. Staff spend much of their time organising and searching for documents, meaning RPA has the potential to make a significant contribution.

 Robots could be used to process scanned stacks of paperwork and digitise client information. Using character recognition technology, they can automate the transfer of data between the scanned files to a new system. They can even be used to locate missing information within files, work which would usually take many man hours.

 Local government: In recent years councils have been under increasing pressure to do more with less. The challenge is set to continue – the Local Government Association (LGA) recently said that local authorities face a funding gap of £5.8bn over the next two years.

 RPA has the power to reduce the amount of time people spend on repetitive tasks, such as tax calculation and revenue collection, allowing them to focus on providing quality services. Take the example of a council contact centre; when a call is received, a robot can instantly find information and retrieve cases about the individual while the member of staff continues the conversation.

 

As the above shows, the rise of the robots is set to have multiple benefits for organisations. Roles across various sectors will be impacted in the drive for greater productivity.

For those working in tech PR, our challenge is to ensure we are well positioned to face questions and educate against assumptions concerning the negative impact of RPA, allowing clients to clearly demonstrate how automation can help organisations thrive.

How can PR support sales? It’s a topic that often comes up for discussion for marketers looking to allocate their marketing budget to external resources. Here at Whiteoaks, we’re firm believers in our ability to demonstrate ROI for our clients, and we fully understand that the relationship between marketing and sales needs to be productive, to ensure everyone is aligned and working toward the same business goals.

We asked several marketing pros what their thoughts were around the power of PR and how it reaches beyond the marketing department and into supporting sales efforts. The discussion, in a Twitter chat, revealed some interesting food for thought.

Content That Resonates

Having your sales and marketing departments aligned is crucial for ensuring ROI. Sales teams are going to benefit from sharing content that helps to educate customers and prospects, and it also helps to build trust and establish your company as an expert in its industry.

PR that generates leads

You’ve heard it before and you’ll hear it again, content is still king and it’s what will help your sales team to generate those important business leads. The key is to get an understanding of what content resonates well with your target audiences. This will help to create that initial dialogue which can lead to a sale. Hint – it often won’t be ‘about you’.

Marketing and Sales Working Together

If a business wants to realise and measure the value coming out of its PR efforts then the sales and marketing teams need to support each other. By taking an integrated approach, the needs of your business are being put first because the departments are focusing on the same business objectives by approaching the same target audiences with consistent messaging.

The Social Opportunity

The concept of social selling has been concreted throughout some organisations, yet others are still playing catch-up when it comes to ensuring their sales teams are active online. It’s something that businesses need to consider if they’re planning on establishing and retaining relationships with prospects and customers.

https://twitter.com/holly_uc/status/959421206385643520

Thank you to everyone who joined us for our #WOinsights chat. There were plenty of great discussions taking place around how PR is key for sales teams. If you’re looking for more from our Whiteoaks Insights series then be sure to read Lisa Hancox’s blog discussing the real questions marketers should be asking at the start of each year.

 

 

Who are you? And what’s your job at Whiteoaks?

I’m Emily Fishburn, also known as ‘Fishbowl’ – a nickname gifted to me by some of my pun-loving team for my love of a cocktail or two at the weekend. I’m Junior Account Executive in Team Taurus.

 

What does your daily to-do list look like?

 It always has to start with a cup of coffee while checking my emails and the latest tech news stories. I then move on to setting out the team’s writing schedules, client calls, general correspondence, reporting and whatever else the day has in store!

 

What made you want to get into PR?

 As a business student at the University of Surrey I found I enjoyed the marketing module the most and decided this was an industry I’d like to work in. I explored this option further by gaining some hands-on experience at a marketing agency and I loved the fast-paced exciting world of PR. Fast forward one year and two months and here I am on a development plan to become an Account Executive – still loving working in the industry and the opportunities it has to offer!

 

What is your favourite brand and why?

 It’s tough to choose just one out of the many outstanding brands around but I’d have to say Disney. It’s hard to find anyone that doesn’t absolutely love it as it’s arguably one of the world’s most powerful brands with it’s fun and magical personality.

 

What’s your top tip for someone who wants to get into the PR industry?

 Get as much experience in the industry as you can through work experience and placements, and make time each day to keep up to date with the latest news stories. Networking is also vital — talking to people already in the industry is an excellent source of valuable tips and advice in the beginning!

 

How do you unwind after a day in the office?

 By taking my miniature poodle, Lola, on a relaxing country walk. Followed by binging on episodes of Home and Away or the latest crime series on TV.

 

What’s your favourite anthem suggestion for Friday’s Whiteoaks Power Hour?

 We have quite a varied taste in the team but a classic garage anthem by Craig David usually goes down well in Team Taurus – that or Sean D Paul.

 

If you could be any character in any film, what would you be

 Going back to my earlier Disney theme, I think I’d have to go for the eponymous Moana, the adventurous chief’s daughter that sails the Polynesian sea on a quest with her pet chicken, Hei Hei.

 

What’s your ideal getaway location?

 I have always wanted to visit Santorini to enjoy the beautiful beaches and see its unique buildings and landscapes.

 

What’s your go-to party trick?

 Lola and I are pretty good at dancing around the kitchen together, although I think she would probably show me up if we performed a routine at a party.

 

And finally, cheesy chips?

 Of course, with ketchup please!

As Whiteoaks Account Director Holly explained in her recent blog, 2017 saw significant developments in the technology industry, but what does 2018 have in store? We have cut through the noise and hype to deliver you the top six trends that we expect to dominate and shape the world of technology in the year ahead.

Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning

Unless you have been living under a rock, you will be aware that artificial intelligence (AI) is becoming an increasingly prevalent part of our everyday lives. Your ‘discover weekly’ playlist on Spotify and the predictive text on your phone are everyday, early, examples of AI that we take for granted. AI is set to become increasingly reliable in 2018 and as a result will become more widely adopted, enhancing verticals including retail, healthcare, financial services, fintech — and even PR — as Senior Account Director Simon Coughlin discussed recently.

AI also opens the door for machine learning, which is the concept of a computer being able to learn from itself and the world around it without the need for human programming. We expect machine learning to be an increasingly important topic in 2018, as individuals and businesses seek out ways that enable them to handle complex or extensive processes and data in a better, more productive and efficient way. Machine learning gained traction towards the end of 2017 and we fully anticipate the trend to continue this year, as it becomes especially dominant in industries such as retail and financial services, where customised customer experience and automation are key differentiators in business success and profitability.

Voice

Voice control technology will have a big say in 2018 (pun intended!). From a consumer point of view, we have already seen the launch of smart speakers, such as the Amazon Echo and Google’s Home Mini, which allow users to ask questions and perform daily tasks using their voice. Setting aside concerns from some around security with these specific devices for a moment, voice will become a significant weapon in the marketer’s armoury as the data being captured by these devices allows companies to get to know the individual and make purchase suggestions based on their requirements and habits. After all, isn’t this just part of the rise of the Internet of Things (IoT)? We can also expect the influence of voice to expand into the B2B world, as it will be a significant piece in the automatization jigsaw, working alongside AI and machine learning to boost the efficiency of business processes – especially in businesses in the manufacturing, financial services and healthcare IT areas.

Blockchain

The impact of blockchain technology shows no sign of slowing up in 2018. When most people think of blockchain they think of bitcoin, litecoin and other cryptocurrencies, which work on blockchain technology. While still a relatively new concept, blockchain offers transactional capabilities that are already starting to dominate new and existing industries, and also made its way into Forrester’s Top 10 technology trends to watch: 2018 to 2020. Blockchain essentially acts as an enormous Google spreadsheet in the cloud, allowing individuals in the network to make changes (transactions) which are then verified by the other individuals in the network without the need for a governing body. Could B2B transactions be carried out using cryptocurrencies in the near future? Based on the recent attention and financial investment that it is receiving, we would not be surprised. Industry experts foresee that the capabilities of blockchain technology should and will be leveraged beyond crypto-currencies, creating efficient financial solutions. Justin Paul, founder of digital currency Injii, believes that limiting blockchain to bitcoin would be a mistake that does not harness the technology’s full potential.

One thing is for sure, the impact of blockchain will be a very interesting subject to keep an eye on this year.

Edge computing

The term ‘edge computing’ may be a new one to most people, and it certainly was for me. Edge computing is effectively a more efficient alternative to cloud computing. It allows companies to analyse data in near real-time since the processing takes place at the edge of the network, so it’s much closer to the user and data sources, and therefore significantly reduces travel time while decreasing the amount of data being sent to cloud servers. As a result, edge computing is unlikely to replace cloud computing, however, we expect it to work in tandem to become part of the more sophisticated corporate IT architecture ecosystems, and could also improve products and systems in the IoT space.

Cyber security

News headlines in 2017 were dominated by stories of data breaches and cyber-security hacks, such as the WannaCry incident which affected the UK NHS in May last year. Many experts, including McAfee in its recent threats predictions report, anticipate that cyber-attacks will continue to be an issue as attackers will leverage the power and capabilities of AI and machine learning to exploit vulnerabilities in software and processes. As a result, it is essential that businesses combine machine learning with human intellect to avoid the drastic impact that such cyber-attacks can have.

All in all, 2018 promises to be an exciting year for the technology industry and we are very much looking forward to sharing that journey with our clients, existing and those we are yet to meet.