Distinction in defence

Jul 3, 2024

Distinction in Defence

BMT is a maritime-orientated high-end design house and technical consulting firm driven by a passion for solving complex, real-world problems.

Their ‘Highly Autonomous Warship Technologies’ (HAWT) offers a vision for the future of increasingly autonomous naval operations, underpinned by safe, secure and lean-crewed warships.

BMT Case Study

“DSEI was a significant event for BMT in launching our highly autonomous warship concept, providing a key platform for us to lay out our vision into how the complexities of transitioning to naval autonomy could be navigated. We know we have the ability to offer insightful counsel to address this complex challenge, and we know this is grounded in our efforts to work with navies and industry to get under the skin of these challenges to help resolve them. Our challenge was in communicating this to the market, and the results we achieved and continue to enjoy as a result of outreach around DSEI have proven to be invaluable in raising BMT’s profile in this space.

“The results of this campaign allowed BMT to not only reach our target audiences at and around the show, it has turned a four-day event into an ongoing campaign of proactive media interest that continues to this day, delivering value that far surpasses the original objectives of the launch campaign.

“Thanks to the brilliant efforts of the EC-PR team, the paper has gone from strength to strength with over six magazine headlines and four front cover articles.”

Jake Rigby

Research & Development Lead, BMT

The company has conducted extensive research in collaboration with navies, government and defence technology institutions to develop and capture a deeper level of understanding of the roadmap for the integration of AI and automation in naval operations.

Dangers and Desires

To fully harness their work, BMT wanted to launch its new HAWT to the defence market, and saw DSEI — one of the most important events in the defence industry calendar — as the ideal opportunity to do it.

The challenge of achieving this aim was not to be underestimated. DSEI is a very well-attended event, showcasing over 1,000 defence and security suppliers from 58 different countries. On top of that, while BMT had a strong pedigree in naval ship design, awareness of the company’s offering in the defence market was inconsistent.

Our media connections and stakeholder engagement experience, coupled with our deep knowledge of the defence and technology sectors, meant we were ideally placed to take on the challenge of positioning BMT as experts in naval autonomy.

Design

Our main objectives included releasing a new insight paper, and achieving media coverage in top-tier publications.

According to BMT’s brief, we centred our activity around the DSEI event. In targeting DSEI to launch the concept and insight paper, we faced a large, crowded, global event where the incumbent players largely dominate the news cycle.

Campaign goals

Increase BMT’s visibility within the defence sector
Amplify their presence at DSEI
Establish a dominant share of voice in the key areas of naval autonomy.

Our approach

Launch a media outreach programme to top-tier defence trade media outlets
Secure thought leadership articles
Exploit opportunities afforded by the release of the insight paper.

Deliverables

Press releases
Press interviews
Social media content
Journalist liaison

Sustainability

We engaged with journalists before, during and after DSEI to ensure BMT had a substantial share of voice in key media titles over a sustained period.

Article placements

100% of the articles placed were in tier-one target media. Coverage included four front cover articles.

Media coverage included:

We secured interviews for BMT with journalists before DSEI and at the event, achieving a strong and authoritative voice on naval autonomy even within a crowded news cycle.

Coverage from the launch of the insight paper was secured during the show and featured as one of Shephard Media’s top stories in its ‘show daily’ on the first day of the event.

Distinction

Through ongoing engagement with the media after DSEI, we have successfully sustained the media’s interest in BMT and the company’s insights into naval operations. BMT is now considered a recognised authority on the subject and its share of voice on naval autonomy continues to grow.

What started out as a launch opportunity for BMT to highlight its understanding of naval requirements, turned into a springboard for continued PR growth, which went way beyond the original challenge.

BMT’s key differentiator is their research and critical insight. They always knew this. Thanks to our strategic media and thought leadership campaign, now their target industry knows it too.

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Igniting interest in insurtech startup

Jul 3, 2024

Home · Case Study · Concirrus

Igniting Interest in Insurtech Startup

Concirrus is a UK insurtech which offers digital solutions for speciality fields of insurance — namely, marine and automotive.

Their product, Quest, is made for the marine market and allows insurers to calculate risk more accurately through the use of large sets of historical data, machine learning and artificial intelligence..

Concirrus Case Study

“Having EC-PR as our PR partner gives us a huge amount of confidence that our successes are being communicated and our industry voice is being heard over our competition.”

“We are now recognised as a market leader within the marine insurance market, and we have established a strong foothold in other sectors as a result. I am blown away by the response we received on the Blueprint – we never anticipated so much engagement from senior leaders and influencers who were keen to contribute their knowledge and insights.”

Andrew Yeoman

CEO, Concirrus

Dangers and Desires

With approximately 174 high-growth companies currently active in the UK, data suggests that insurtech is one of the fastest-growing startup sectors in the country.

Breaking ground in an industry that’s been around for centuries isn’t easy, but it’s what insurance fintech Concirrus had to do to achieve its ambitions of successfully launching a new insurtech platform into the marine insurance market.

Despite the threats posed, Concirrus were determined to release its new AI platform, Quest, and wanted to make sure the sector sat up and took notice.

It was time to bring in ec-pr.

Design

For this campaign to be successful, it had to capture the attention, hearts and minds of c-suite level stakeholders in the established marine community. While the product was highly advantageous for users, the challenge was persuading an inherently change-averse industry that there are more efficient, and profitable, ways of doing business.

Campaign delivery

Communication strategy
Whitepaper
Social media assets
Thought leadership articles
Article placement

Communication strategy

As this was Concirrus’ first foray into PR, it was important that we began by building a clear communication strategy. The strategy addressed questions, such as: who are our target personas; what are our main messages; what does success look like; and what is the end goal?

Establishing target personas was key, as it allowed Concirrus to acknowledge the pain points, fears and desires of target customers, and address them in their communications.

Whitepaper

Only once the strategy was finalised did we progress to the plan and execution. The vanguard for our approach was the creation and launch of a whitepaper. The paper delivered hard-hitting insights for the sector, propelling Concirrus into the position of a leader in the insurtech field and gaining credibility in a market where previously it had experienced limited traction.

The whitepaper tactic enabled Concirrus’ senior team to collaborate with key opinion formers and embark on a series of one-to-one media briefings, which further enhanced their profile within the industry.

The whitepaper was downloaded 200 times. Engagement came from senior-level players in the industry, including AEGIS London, IUMI, SMIT Salvage, Swiss Re, Whitespace, AIMU (American Institute of Marine Underwriters).

Social media assets

For Concirrus to maximise its exposure of the whitepaper, the power of social media was harnessed. A bank of assets was created, including social videos, images and infographics, allowing the company to exploit the reach of the platforms while remaining true to the brand.

Thought leadership articles

When it came to achieving media publicity, a bank of thought leadership ideas, closely aligned with the pain points and challenges of Concirrus’ target personas, was created. As PR experts, we ensured all these ideas were designed with the target trade media in mind.

We secured 168 pieces of coverage for Concirrus as part of our work, all in tier 1 target publications, which included the Daily Telegraph, Insurance Times, Insurance Post, Lloyd’s List and Tradewinds.

As well as pitched article ideas and bespoke editorials, we made monthly announcements on Concirrus’ behalf. These included new contracts, partnerships and funding, and all contributed to Concirrus’ enhanced reputation as a dynamic force within the industry.

A high-trust media focus

For senior influencers and decision-makers to trust Quest, we needed to secure positive external validation. This is why the campaign was designed to achieve only 10% owned media, in comparison to 90% earned media.

Over the course of the campaign, website traffic increased by 30%, illustrating the significant tangible results of this PR launch.

Distinction

In independent research, 51% of respondents cited industry coverage as the top source of brand awareness. No wonder then that Concirrus successfully elevated its brand position as the go-to expert as a result of the campaign.

Andrew Yeoman, CEO of Concirrus, and his leadership team now enjoy monthly interviews with tier one media. The PR launch propelled them into the position of go-to experts, and their opinion on market issues is highly regarded, with many target journalists now pro-actively turning to them for comment.

The media roll-out, together with the whitepaper, built Concirrus’ credibility in a market where previously awareness of them had been limited. Coverage metrics showed that Concirrus owned the dominant share of voice against their top 2 competitors — Concirrus 50%; Competitor A 33%; Competitor B 16%.

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