Brand Awareness Archives

In this is blog – the first in our “Your Questions Answered” series – Senior Content Creator Hugh Cadman addresses an important point raised during Whiteoaks’ webinar on Global PR Growth Strategies for B2B Tech Brands.

He covers:

Why scale-ups should tell their story
The growth and investment benefits of telling it in the right way
Who can help them stand out in their market

It’s a tricky question – when exactly is the right time to invest in PR to propel your business into the stratosphere? As a start-up or scale-up, or when your company is officially declared a “growing business”?

Start-ups and the need for ignition

Most start-ups are busy with the task of establishing themselves, developing or finessing the product or service. They may worry they have no news to tell their audiences about and really should be focusing on generating investment or gaining customers.

But almost every start-up has an exciting idea at its core – and its founders are likely to have distinctive insights on the market, technology and the challenges they solve. All this could be the fuel for an effective Performance PR campaign, working to measurable outcomes to ensure scarce cash is not frittered away. Well-crafted articles, blogs or comments in the right publications can really ignite interest for a start-up in need of a profile in its market.

This is the most effective way to build the brand awareness needed for customer growth and to spur investor backing.

Scale-ups have a good story

For scale-ups it is a different story. With a fully-developed product or service, they always have important multi-faceted messages to communicate. Sometimes, amid all the pressures of expansion, they just haven’t got round to it. That can be a strategic error because competitors in a similar stage of maturity may already have launched PR initiatives. Established brands, on the other hand, will use PR to starve any challengers of oxygen.

Scale-ups seeking experienced investors may also find their lack of PR activity works against them. VC and private equity companies know that however brilliant your voice, singing in your own bathroom will not make you a star.

Timing is everything

Unsurprisingly, despite the best efforts of business schools, there is no calculus that can tell you if now is the exact point at which you should invest in PR.

As a B2B organisation, you need to take stock to see if you really have the product, solution, service and story to win an audience – and whether the timing is right. Are you ready to meet the demand or interest you may create? In most cases, the answer is surely yes.

The way Performance PR works for scale-ups

Almost all scale-ups need PR just to compete. With expert help from specialists in Performance PR, young companies can use their story to win more customers or fresh investment. Performance PR works just as well whether you’re seeking acquisition by one of the giants of any sector, or attempting to attract scarce talent needed to take the business into new areas.

Potential leadership frustrations

One fact that all leadership teams should take into consideration is that in the B2B tech sector, PR requires experience and a little time. This can be a step change for business founders or small leadership teams accustomed to explosive growth and rapid impact. While results can certainly show up quickly, long-term benefits from PR in the B2B tech sector need more than press releases drafted by LLMs like Copilot or ChatGPT.

Providing the fuel for PR requires collaborative work to determine the right messaging and most effective tactics to reach the right people. Some scale-ups find they have been working on assumptions – and it takes Performance PR specialists to identify the right audiences and how best to reach them.

The pain-free approach to B2B tech PR

This is where there is a huge advantage in using a Peformance PR agency. A specialist B2B tech agency working to Performance PR methodology will take the pain out of these processes. And it will measure results from a campaign. This is an approach that can pay dividends for young businesses in the B2B tech world, where informality, time-pressure and a certain amount of improvisation are part of everyday life.

The boards of young businesses should see Performance PR as a strategic investment that will help achieve growth and their critical objectives. So, if you ask yourself when it’s the right time to invest in Performance PR, the answer is usually NOW.

View the webinar that triggered this blog and get in touch to find out how we can support your business in achieving its growth ambitions.

In this blog, Hugh Cadman, Senior Content Writer, at Whiteoaks talks about the battle marketers sometimes have when they need to boost brand awareness and visibility but have trouble persuading their boardrooms to back them with investment in PR.

It covers:

Where Performance PR can make a convincing case for investment
Two real-life stories of building brand awareness
The cost of inaction

We see the same scenario play out time and again. Senior marketing decision-makers within technology firms know PR raises awareness, builds authority and strengthens campaigns – and they typically want to move forward with it.

Yet, momentum stalls when the conversation reaches the boardroom. The investment is delayed because senior leaders are preoccupied with the short-term hit, especially if there is no immediate return in terms of leads and revenue.

It is short-term thinking that misses key steps in the journey. In B2B tech you must build brand awareness and visibility before you can deliver conversion.

Convince the boardroom to press GO with Performance PR

If they are to achieve their goals, marketers need to convince the board that by failing to press the “GO” button on PR investment now, they are missing out on the long-term financial gains of raising their brand awareness and visibility today.

After all, brand visibility translates into benefits further down the line. For instance, having case studies and customer-win stories gives the sales team tangible proof of real business benefits. These are not only useful to convert prospects into customers, but are also vital when moving into new markets or territories.

To convince the C-suite of the value of PR, marketers need to be able to commit to actionable results.

That is where Performance PR can play a key role, ensuring that KPIs are agreed at the beginning of every campaign, setting targets to build brand visibility fast through expertly crafted content that is specifically tailored to the business’ target audiences. That way, boards have the reassurance of knowing their investment will deliver measurable value over time as visibility builds.

Two cases to prove the point

Take the case of AspenTech, for example, the global leader in asset management software delivering optimisation and digital transformation in industry.

Whiteoaks created and delivered a campaign that eventually influenced Emerson’s decision to acquire AspenTech in 2025.

The PR programme had accurately reflected AspenTech’s genuine expertise and changed as the business evolved from focusing on process simulation and optimisation to asset performance management and industrial AI.

AspenTech first engaged Whiteoaks to increase its presence in EMEA, targeting top decision-makers while further enhancing its reputation as the international frontrunner in industrial software. The Performance PR programme homed in on energy, industrial data-management, power-and-utilities, and metals-and-mining.

Over 17 years Whiteoaks built an in-depth understanding of AspenTech, its technologies, business units and their markets. The UK market was foremost but Whiteoaks also led an international campaign to ensure AspenTech benefited from consistency of planning, brand promotion, messaging and reporting.

The campaign combined thought-leadership, press releases, expert commentary and media briefings. In the UK alone it achieved almost 800 pieces of coverage that included The Daily Telegraph, The Times and The Guardian. The entire campaign delivered high performance over the best part of two decades.

Bridewell – cyber security in CNI

Another good example of the impact of Performance PR is Whiteoaks’ work with Bridewell – now a major cyber security company specialising in the protection of critical national infrastructure (CNI) in the UK and US. Whiteoaks worked with Bridewell from 2019, aiming to increase brand awareness among CNI organisations and to highlight its managed services.

The keystone of the campaign was an annual report into CNI cyber security which filled an important gap and provided authoritative insights.

The report, Cyber Security in Critical National Infrastructure, attracted the attention of important decision-makers in CNI protection and became the standard trends barometer. It was supported by high-quality thought-leadership in top-tier media, along with corporate profiling.

The outcome of this campaign was that Bridewell elevated its brand awareness as the UK’s leading CNI cyber security services provider.

Research among 600 cyber security leaders found it had climbed from ninth place in 2023 into the top five UK CNI cyber security providers for “unprompted consideration”. In other words, being at the forefront of minds in its target audience.

Work out the cost of doing nothing

Businesses may nevertheless feel that when budgets are tight and market conditions difficult, postponing investment in PR is the safer option. Inaction, however, usually costs brand visibility, which comes with steady erosion of relevance and credibility.

All the while, competitors shape the prevailing narrative and grow in profile.

This is the hidden cost of doing nothing – which mounts up quickly.

Whiteoaks’ Performance PR approach addresses many of the concerns businesses have about cost and outcome. This focuses PR activity on what matters most, aligning with business goals and proving value through metrics that go beyond impressions to become part of the growth engine.

If your business is struggling to plant its flag and your board would benefit from a more strategic approach, read our eBook about the Hidden Cost of Inaction and get in touch with our team to find out how Whiteoaks can help.

In this blog, Hannah Buckley, Head of Content and Service Development, explores:

The role of leadership visibility in building credibility for businesses
The growing influence and reach of personal LinkedIn profiles
How executive visibility programmes help extend the reach of B2B PR campaigns

“People buy from people” is something we hear a lot in B2B, and it definitely rings true. Today, people don’t just buy from companies, they buy from the people behind the brand. Whether it’s a prospect checking LinkedIn before a meeting, a journalist looking for an expert source or a potential hire deciding where to work, they want to see the people behind the brand.

All this makes it even more important that business leaders and executives are visible. For brands to cut through the noise and make an impression with decision-makers, they must ensure the human voices behind the business are seen, heard and trusted.

When senior figures are visible, they bring authority and authenticity that brand channels alone can’t replicate. They become trusted sources of industry insight, ambassadors for company culture and better able to forge stronger connections. This visibility is what turns awareness into trust and, ultimately, it’s that trust that will drive action.

Trust becomes a competitive advantage

In markets crowded with similar products, services and claims, trust is often the deciding factor. Decision-makers want reassurance that the people they’ll be working with are credible, informed and engaged. When leaders share their expertise and perspective publicly, whether on LinkedIn or in the media, they make that trust easier to build and it then becomes harder for competitors to undermine.

Opportunities start to find you

Media interviews, panel invitations, industry awards, even judging awards are all opportunities that don’t just happen by chance. They’re often the result of being visible and active in the right places. Journalists and event organisers look for experts who are already demonstrating thought leadership and authority in their field

Visibility strengthens your talent pipeline

Top talent wants to work for leaders they admire. When executives are known for their expertise and values, they naturally attract candidates who share those values. This not only helps to improve the quality of new hires, but also reinforces your company culture from the top down.

It amplifies the brand work you’re already doing

Brand PR, marketing campaigns and corporate messaging are vital in building visibility, but are even more effective when they’re supported by strong personal voices from within the business. Leadership visibility adds a human layer that helps brand messages resonate and inspire action.

Why Now?

The digital landscape is noisier than ever as AI-generated content continues to flood feeds, making it harder for generic corporate messages to stand out. Meanwhile, LinkedIn’s algorithms continue to give individual profiles more organic reach than company pages and as has long been the case, journalists look for credible individuals to quote rather than anonymous brand statements.

For B2B organisations, this has created a window of opportunity. Companies with visible, trusted leaders will set themselves apart in every possible way: awareness, influence and impact.

Taking the Next Step

Consistent, strategic leadership visibility doesn’t happen by accident. It requires a plan, the right positioning and content that’s authentic to the individual while aligned with the business.

That’s why we offer the Executive Visibility Programme – a structured, fully managed way to help leaders and executives strengthen their presence on LinkedIn, in the media and in the market, without adding to their already overloaded schedules.

If you’d like to understand how visible your leadership team is right now and where the opportunities lie for both them and your brand, get in touch.

Here, Whiteoaks’ Chief Client Officer John Broy discusses:

Why the month of August offers a chance for profitable introspection
What to do if your PR is losing its edge
Boosting PR performance with KPIs

In many industries, the few weeks after the schools break up are a quieter time, when due to holidays, the daily demands on a business are not as intense, providing an opportunity for introspection.

With less day-to-day activity, this is a chance to invest time in internal planning and the kind of strategic thinking that supports the long-term growth of your business.

In this blog we’ll consider how companies in the B2B tech sector can use the summer lull to revise their PR strategies for greater impact. It is certainly true that August provides the breathing space, because it is a time of lighter news cycles, smaller audiences and reduced activity among journalists.

Are there any signs your campaign is getting stale?

Any campaign can become stale because of outdated messaging and lack of media engagement. Content may be going over well-trodden ground that induces media fatigue and has lost relevance for audiences.

This is where there is a need for hard work – stepping outside your comfort zone to assess whether messaging reflects what makes the company unique and helps it stand out from the competition. Teams can help by coming together to brainstorm new story angles, look at existing themes, questioning how they have moved on and where you can be ahead of the curve – beating your competitors to the punch.

Take a fresh look at the media landscape

The review should also examine any changes in the media landscape that inevitably occur over the course of a PR campaign. Are the publications you target still read by the audiences you want to reach? Have publications shifted their focus to other areas? Are there any new journalists or publications that need to be added to your media list?

Taking the time to review your current media list is an extremely worthwhile task, after all if it’s coverage you’re aiming to achieve you need to ensure your contacts and understanding of what they’re looking for is kept continuously up to date.

It’s also a great opportunity to look at the type of content publications want – do you need to look at the imagery you have to support your outreach, or are key publications after video soundbites?

To maximise media relevance, it is important too, to review your PR calendar to ensure you attend or contribute to the right events, and are ready to respond to any significant announcements or trends in industry thinking that emerge.

Are the KPIs right?

To get the most success from PR, it should be aligned from the very outset with your business’ strategic goals. However, these can of course evolve over time. The summer is a good halfway point through the year to look at whether those business objectives set out at the start of a campaign still apply, for instance, are you still going after that particular target market or are you still focusing on a certain solution etc.? Getting the answers to those questions will help to ensure that your PR activity still matches up. And if those objectives have changed, then it’s only logical the approach to PR should follow suit.

This aligns to that fact that for PR to deliver it must be measurable, so you should never hesitate about revising KPIs to ensure Performance PR maintains maximum effectiveness.

For instance, if driving website traffic is becoming a priority, it might be time to shift focus to activity and measurement that reflects that, looking at a digital PR approach to combine SEO and PR best practices.

So those summer days when the living is theoretically easy present a great opportunity to run the rule over a PR strategy. The result should be more sharply-focused content, stronger media relationships and much greater impact in the second half of the business year.

If you want to audit your current PR activity and understand how Performance PR can work for you, please get in touch now to find out more.

Why your next PR strategy needs to account for AI-generated brand visibility

Ask ChatGPT, Gemini or Perplexity about a brand, and you’ll likely get a concise, confident answer, complete with summaries, comparisons and source references. But here’s a couple of questions more B2B tech businesses need to be asking:

Where is that information coming from?

How much control do I have over AI’s responses?

AI tools are now key players in how tech brands are discovered online. Brand visibility is no longer just about publishing great content on your website or being featured in well-known industry publications. Businesses also need to ensure their content is being picked up in an increasingly digital, algorithm-driven space.

In many cases, buyers engage with AI-surfaced brand summaries long before they reach your website or speak to a sales representative. If your PR strategy isn’t influencing how AI algorithms present your brand, it’s missing a growing part of the visibility equation.

What’s feeding AI and why it matters

Behind every AI-generated answer is a set of data points. For brand-related queries, most of those points come from PR-influenced sources: press releases, thought leadership articles in reputable media outlets, owned research reports, social media posts and structured content on company websites.

The things you say and where you say them determine how AI platforms represent your business. It matters more than ever that brands show up accurately, consistently and in the right context.

B2B buyers are increasingly using AI tools to shortcut research, validate vendors and compare solutions. AI-generated responses are often a buyer’s first impression of your brand.

So, if your business isn’t being mentioned, or worse – if it’s being misrepresented – you can lose visibility and control at a crucial stage of the decision-making process. And because AI pulls from existing online sources, these gaps can quickly worsen and become harder to fix.

What AI visibility looks like in practice

AI platforms weigh certain content types and sources more heavily than others. These include:

Media coverage: Trusted media outlets carry weight in how your brand is positioned. Trade media and vertical-specific publications are particularly influential in B2B tech because they signal authority and relevance to both human readers and algorithms.
Owned content: Well-written, clearly structured website content is more likely to be included in AI responses, especially when it’s tied to specific use cases, customer outcomes or sector-specific language. This kind of content helps AI models build an accurate, contextual picture of what your business does and who it’s for.
Social media: Commentary and engagement on platforms like Reddit, X or YouTube often inform how AI tools describe your brand. Sometimes more than formal messaging does. That means employee posts, user feedback and influencer mentions can all contribute to shaping AI-generated narratives.
Data structure: AI tools prioritise clean, consistent content. Website elements like metadata, tagging, SEO keywords and formatting help models correctly identify and categorise information. Even small technical and content changes can influence whether your brand is seen as a leading voice or left out altogether.

Why B2B tech brands can’t afford to ignore this

How your brand is summarised, compared and ranked by AI tools affects perception and buyer behaviour. Unlike B2C, B2B tech decisions are rarely made on impulse and are often high-stakes, high-value and high-consideration, involving multiple stakeholders.

Buyers have always relied on third-party validation and thought leadership content to inform their thinking. What’s changed is where that validation comes from, as it’s increasingly filtered through the lens of AI.

When a prospect uses a tool like ChatGPT to research suppliers, validate claims or compare features, they’re relying on whatever data the model can access and stitch together. That includes media coverage, website content, analyst commentary, social posts and industry conversations, all of which sit squarely within the remit of PR.

If your PR efforts aren’t feeding those inputs, or if the messaging across them is inconsistent, you’re not just missing visibility. You’re missing influence, accuracy and relevance at a point where they matter most. You’re also leaving your brand open to misinterpretation.

The value of investing in PR in the AI era

This is where the role of PR becomes more critical, not less. A strong content strategy ensures your brand is present in the sources AI models use to generate responses. But more than that, it helps shape how your brand is understood and interpreted by both people and machines.

An experienced PR agency can help B2B tech brands take control of how they appear in AI-generated content by securing authoritative media coverage in the right national and trade titles, reinforcing the credibility signals that AI tools prioritise.

By drawing on the expertise of skilled content writers, a PR agency can also create structured, searchable content that clearly communicates your key messages and use cases, making it easier for AI systems to interpret and surface the right information.

Just as importantly, a strong PR partner is there to ensure consistency across earned, owned and shared channels, helping brands avoid fragmented or conflicting narratives. And as AI tools evolve, PR specialists can monitor how a brand is being presented and adapt messaging strategies to maintain visibility and relevance over time.

As AI-generated research becomes a standard part of how decisions are made, PR becomes essential for brand visibility, differentiation and trust. If your PR strategy isn’t supporting how your brand appears across AI tools, get in touch with us. And learn how Visibility+, our digital PR service, can help you get seen where it matters most.