Category: News

In this blog, Maddy Birtles, Senior Account Director at Whiteoaks, considers:

• Why PR is essential to sustaining success after an M&A deal
• The dangers faced by merged or acquired businesses without consistent comms
• The M&A advantages of preparation and experience in B2B tech PR

When a business completes an acquisition, it’s easy to assume the story ends with the announcement – but that’s a mistake. PR momentum after an acquisition is just as critical as before. An acquisition marks the start of an important new chapter, and it’s a crucial moment to ramp up communications, not slow them down.

In the B2B tech sector, acquisitions are an important way to access innovation, develop new partnerships and scale rapidly. But once the deal is announced, the market immediately begins asking questions – and this creates a window of opportunity to shape the narrative.

The post-acquisition moment is when a business lays out its vision and increases visibility for its people, products and services. It is the time to explain what the acquisition means for customers, investors and employees.

In the critical period after the announcement, companies should actively step forward with consistent thought leadership and profiling to solidify its leadership position and clearly communicate the identity of the expanded organisation. It’s not enough to be part of the conversation, a business must lead it, emphasising how the expanded company now has something new and even more effective to offer.

Doing nothing leaves a gap that competitors are quick to fill. Their narratives, unchallenged, will amplify and ultimately dominate share of voice. A cloud of uncertainty can then quickly gather around the newly-acquired or merged business.

Everyone wants accurate information

Right after an acquisition, of course, PR activity must reassure customers and buyers about product roadmaps, support-continuity, pricing and contract terms. When communication is limited or unclear, concern can quickly turn into frustration, particularly if stakeholders are unsure whom to contact to manage their account or address urgent issues.

Whether they’re a customer, employee or investor, everyone wants clarity about the timelines for handovers, service alterations or restructuring of organisational departments and territories. Something as routine as a change in invoicing can start the rumour mill going about bigger changes coming down the line.

If there are changes – anything from product rebranding to headcount reductions – the failure to communicate properly with the wider market could impact confidence. It is vital that investors do not perceive a lack of strategy, or that unanswered concerns leave partners asking themselves if they should scale back their relationship.

Internally, employees concerned about what the acquisition means for them could easily become demotivated and start looking for new jobs. As much as anyone, they need to know the vision.

Competitors will sense an opportunity

When a company goes quiet after an acquisition, competitors rarely do the same. A communications vacuum gives them space to reinforce their own position and leadership while you are absent from the conversation. They can reassure the market, emphasise their stability and present themselves as the safer choice while customers and partners are still trying to understand what the acquisition means.

In that environment, it becomes much easier for competitors to shape the narrative around your business. They may imply that support is uncertain, that price increases are likely, or that products are heading for the sunset. Even vague suggestions can be enough to create doubt in the minds of customers who are already unsure about the future.

Sales teams for the merged business may suddenly find they are constantly having to debunk rumours and re-establish credibility. A reputation for reliability and excellence built up over years can be impacted quickly.

The advantages of a trusted comms partner in M&A

If, however, an acquisition is supported from the outset by continuing communications from a B2B tech PR partner, all these pitfalls are avoided. Preparation and experience are everything. Senior leaders from the acquirer can rely on a Performance PR specialist to draft a coherent communications strategy that covers every aspect and possible consequence of their transaction. It will be in full alignment with the leadership’s long-term aims.

Experience of M&A activity makes it easier to integrate brand narratives and craft messaging that reassures customers, partners and investors.

An integrated campaign ensures the new business explains its strategy coherently across all channels including a programme of well-timed news releases in the right publications, social media to dispel gossip and briefings with the right journalists.

Communications will also address the information requirements of employees and partners – whether through tailored email campaigns or FAQ documents to help maintain morale and strengthen commercial relationships at a time of uncertainty.

A sustained, longer-term programme of articles, blogs and interviews in targeted publications, forums and broadcast media then builds on these foundations and leaves no room for doubt about the company’s progress and its leaders’ plans.

The continuing alignment of comms and business strategies after acquisition

This coherent communications strategy will ensure the new business is fully visible, well-understood and generates confidence in suppliers, customers and partners. Competitors will be far less likely to think they are being offered a big open-goal to aim at.

The key message is that the acquisition story doesn’t end with the deal – that’s when it really begins. Performance PR is what ensures the market understands the value, vision and purpose behind it, and is ready for exciting new developments in products, services and people.

If you are involved in an acquisition, or have just completed one, and need help with your PR strategy, get in touch with our experts to discuss your requirements.

In this blog, Zachary Harford, Whiteoaks’ Associate Director, discusses:

• Why analyst relations are important for all B2B tech businesses, including start-ups and scale-ups
• Why analyst relations need to be part of an integrated campaign
• How Performance PR drives maximum value from analyst interactions

In the B2B tech world, analysts play a key role shaping market perceptions of solutions and services by offering objective expertise in reports, summaries, predictions and paid-for consultancy.

They explain technology and outline benefits and pitfalls by cutting away all the hype. For any solution or service-vendor, they are an important route into the minds of potential customers and investors, establishing credibility.

Why analysts matter

Favourable reviews from respected analysts have obvious advantages, providing significant objective credibility. Conversely if your product is not in an analyst company’s solution category but your competitor’s solution is there – you’re losing out.

Analyst firms are not just about awarding review stars, however. Their influence extends beyond IT to important people in the boardroom who make purchasing decisions. Their reports carry significant weight with tech investors, banks and trade or sector-specific media organisations.

But if you are a start-up or scale-up in B2B tech, how do get on the radar of the respected analyst companies? With little or no track-record, it can be daunting. It’s why Performance PR campaigns offer analyst relations (AR) as one of their many elements.

Analysts offer their own insights

Any firm wondering about the value of AR should remember that relations with analysts are multi-faceted. Yes, you can get your message across in a briefing, if it is well-prepared and presented. But analysts offer their own overview. They have a unique level of insight into markets and technology trends that few other people have. That extends to knowing what different tiers of buyer are looking for, and where glitches and drawbacks are showing up in different products.

Influencing the B2B tech influencers

And analysts themselves are not above being influenced. A good briefing can persuade an analyst to view the market in a certain way and revise categorisations.

These are all reasons why analyst relations (AR) programmes are important. Yet to be effective they need to be part of a fully-integrated Performance PR campaign. If it was just a matter of ringing up for a chat, there would be no need for AR from a PR agency. The reality, however, is that analysts are busy and many people want to bend their ears.

Avoiding the pitfalls

Knowing who to contact, how and when, counts for a lot. Analysts value their contact with B2B tech PR specialists because gives them faster access to the information they need and the people they want to meet.

They may have longer attention spans than journalists and are more interested in the detail – but it must be the right detail. The presentation must be well-crafted and pitched at the right level to stimulate an exchange between people who are already well-informed.

There are many other pitfalls to avoid, which is why it is important to engage a B2B tech PR company with real AR experience

Guidance on AR for younger B2B tech businesses

A start-up or scale-up needs guidance from a PR company that has its own credibility among analysts. This will ensure both sides extract maximum value from a briefing. A B2B tech PR specialist will guide preparation and ensure that analyst relations fit in with the overall aims of a fully integrated campaign, delivering wider impact over time through follow-ups and continuing engagement.

Keeping the relationship alive for longer term tech credibility

AR is not an instant hit. Uncoordinated briefings here and there will not deliver real, sustained PR impact unless they are integrated into a Performance PR campaign. AR is about a longer-term set of relationships that will help shape perceptions over an extended period, building profile and credibility with real market impact.

As many well-established B2B tech businesses know, AR can pay real dividends in a way that is totally transparent, providing a major boost to any company’s credibility. It you want to explore how your business can build relationships with analysts, speak to Whiteoaks now.

In this blog, Hugh Cadman, Interim Head of Content, explores:

• Why senior leadership insight carries weight in PR
• Why consistency matters more than one-off thought leadership
• How Performance PR partners make it achievable without adding to leaders’ workloads

In B2B tech PR, visible, credible senior leaders can have a powerful impact on how a brand is perceived. Most leaders recognise that and are actively looking for ways to raise their profile. The challenge is time.

With so many competing demands, it becomes difficult to prioritise the activities that genuinely build credibility and visibility, so marketing and PR inevitably slip down the list. This results in thought leadership that is sporadic and never quite builds momentum.

That’s why, when PR and marketing teams do secure time with senior leaders, it needs to count. Those conversations should generate insights that can be turned into much more than a single by-lined article. After all, a single article rarely shifts perception on its own.

Instead, it takes a steady output of content that consistently reinforces the same themes to help leaders not only become visible but also be seen as recognised and respected industry voices.

Why consistent leadership presence matters

Content from senior leaders carries authority that no corporate channel can replicate. Leaders sit at the intersection of strategy, customer reality, commercial pressure, regulation and operational constraint. They can connect those dots in a way that feels credible because it comes from the experience of decision-making rather than abstract commentary.

Consistency matters because B2B tech buyers rarely make decisions in a single moment. They encounter a company in fragments over time: a quote in the trade press, a LinkedIn post, a panel appearance, a customer conversation, a partner recommendation. When leadership shows up regularly with a recognisable point of view, those fragments start to join up. The market learns what the organisation believes, what it prioritises and how it responds when conditions change.

A steady leadership presence helps a brand stand out in a crowded category. When many companies say similar things about similar trends, leaders who are remembered are those with a distinctive point of view that appears consistently. That familiarity reduces perceived risk, which is often the deciding factor in complex B2B purchasing decisions.

It needs to be more than one-off articles

When leadership insight is confined to internal discussions, the organisation loses an opportunity to shape how it is understood in the market. Insight confined into a one-off article leaves a lot of value on the table.

The real distinction is between isolated pieces of content about a business leader and an established leadership presence. Isolated pieces of coverage work when there is a specific trigger such as a new product, a major announcement or a conference speaking opportunity. They are relevant to the event or hot topic target audiences are talking about, but they rarely build a lasting impression on their own.

A consistent leadership presence is different. It develops clear themes that have lasting impact and that audiences remember. In Performance PR, leadership insight is viewed as a strategic asset rather than something only accessible when a deadline is looming.

That distinction matters because it changes what content is expected to do. A one-off contribution can support a moment. A leadership presence shapes how the market understands a business between moments, when buyers are forming opinions, comparing alternatives and deciding which organisations feel credible.

Efficient use of senior leadership time to develop content

But to achieve the point where senior leaders provide the fuel for a stream of memorable content does not require a huge amount of time. The right Performance PR partners will establish regular touchpoints, matching the rhythm of the business year while working to ensure the themes and the messaging are spot-on. All without adding to a leader’s workload.

This is a more realistic route to building visible, credible leadership presence. It acknowledges that senior people will always be busy but refuses to accept that the consequence must result in sporadic thought leadership in the media and on social media.

A strategic PR partner uses time with leaders to refresh and elaborate themes. Regular conversations surface new examples, refine arguments and respond to what is happening in the industry rather than reinventing the same story each time.

Teasing out the distinctive perspectives

Thinking of leadership insight as a strategic asset changes the conversation. A Performance PR partner will not ask:  “Can you write something on this topic?” but say: “What are the perspectives only you can offer, and how do we bring those to the audiences that matter?” The focus shifts from generating copy to developing a point of view and a tone of voice.

Done well, this proactive approach creates clarity across the organisation. Leadership themes are anchored in business priorities and audience concerns, so different senior voices reinforce the same narrative rather than competing with it.

With clear KPIs and editorial standards, Performance PR keeps that leadership presence aligned to strategic goals, while ensuring every touchpoint strengthens both the individual’s credibility and the brand’s reputation.

Integrated PR for maximum impact

Senior leadership content should be part of an integrated PR campaign building a wider brand narrative. A media article, participation in a conference panel, a LinkedIn post, and a sales presentation are not separate activities. They are different expressions of the same underlying proposition and supporting key messages, adapted to the context.

Buyers do not experience media, social, events, and sales conversations separately. They build an impression from everything they see and hear, often through second-hand interpretation. Integrated PR ensures those touchpoints reinforce the same underlying proposition, so the leadership voice feels coherent wherever it appears.

None of this is about publishing for the sake of it. It is about being disciplined in how leadership thinking is captured and presented, so that the brand’s external voice feels coherent and confident.

Measuring what leadership presence changes

Leadership visibility is only valuable if it changes something. Performance PR treats leadership content as a long-term reputational asset, but it is managed with the same discipline you would apply to any commercial activity. That means measuring progress against outcomes, not simply counting outputs.

The aim is to understand whether leadership themes are landing in the places that shape credibility, whether the brand is being referenced with greater authority, and whether marketing and sales are gaining stronger material for higher-quality conversations.

When measurement is built in from the start, leadership content becomes less of a recurring drain on senior time and more of consistent way to stay visible and build credibility.

Achieving leadership impact

When leadership insight is treated as a strategic asset, curated through a clear set of themes, and consistently expressed across PR and marketing activity, it becomes more than occasional commentary. It helps shape how the market understands your business, what it associates you with and how much confidence it places in your expertise over time.

If you would like support turning senior leadership insight into a consistent, measurable PR programme, aligned to the themes that matter most to your audiences, get in touch.

In this blog, Zachary Harford, Associate Director, Whiteoaks, explores:

• Why media training has an expiry date
• What audiences now expect from B2B spokespeople
• How to retrain executives to be confident, credible and inspirational across every channel

If your senior leaders last took part in media training before the pandemic, they were probably taught to do three sensible things: deliver a clear key message, stay in control when questions get tricky and keep interviews tight. Those principles are still sound. We teach them too, because message discipline and risk awareness protect accuracy and reputation.

The issue is the definition of success. If the only goal is to “get through it” with no surprises, leaders can come across as guarded or generic, even when they have something genuinely useful to say.

A new context for communication

The landscape leaders operate in has changed. Podcasts, livestreams and LinkedIn videos encourage longer, less scripted exchanges. Viewers expect leaders to think on their feet and speak naturally. Every clip can be shared, replayed and fact-checked in seconds, which means confidence now comes from how well someone handles follow-up questions, not just how neatly they deliver a headline message.

Trust is also a tougher starting point than many leaders expect. Ipsos’ Veracity Index shows only 31% of UK adults generally trust business leaders to tell the truth.

Given this level of wariness, heavily polished answers can sound like you are managing perception rather than sharing expertise.

From message delivery to real conversation

Classic media coaching often prioritised risk reduction. Repeating proof points, bridging away from uncomfortable lines of questioning and keeping answers short are valuable skills when you need to stay accurate and avoid getting dragged off topic

The missed opportunity comes when those techniques flatten the interview. For B2B tech brands, buyers are dealing with AI governance, cyber resilience and regulation. They expect senior spokespeople to offer in-depth insight and a point of view, not just safe phrasing. Employees and recruits notice it too, particularly when a leader sounds direct and thoughtful internally but formal and cautious externally.

This is where authenticity and rapport matter. Rapport comes from showing you have heard the question, recognising what is driving it and responding plainly before you return to your message. That approach still keeps you on track, yet it feels human, and it makes space for the expertise audiences are hoping to hear.

What modern media training needs to do

Media coaching now has to start with your wider B2B tech PR strategy. At Whiteoaks, we begin by clarifying what you want leaders to be known for, which audiences matter most and how interviews, podcasts and social content support Performance PR outcomes such as awareness, credibility and pipeline.

The emphasis then shifts from memorising lines to mastering conversations. Leaders still need clear messages, but they also need room to explain decisions and show how they are responding to genuine concerns.

It also helps to connect media coaching with executive visibility, because the same leaders doing interviews are usually posting on LinkedIn, appearing on panels and speaking in internal town halls. Training should help them adapt their delivery to different formats while keeping a consistent voice across earned media and owned channels.

If you want a sense of how we approach that, you can see how the Executive Visibility Programme is structured.

Where to start

The first step is a simple audit. When were your leaders last trained? Which formats are they most exposed to? And where are you seeing missed opportunities? For example, interviews that feel safe yet forgettable or podcast episodes that never quite reach the interesting insight?

From there you can build a refreshed programme that blends classic interview discipline with coaching on modern formats and social dynamics. Short, regular refresh sessions and integrated planning across PR, digital and social teams, with media performance linked to the same KPIs you use for wider campaigns, all help keep leaders sharp.

If you would like to modernise how your spokespeople perform across media, podcasts and social, take a look at our Executive Visibility Programme and integrated B2B tech PR services, or get in touch to talk about tailored media and social training that fits your leadership team.