Competitions winners communication toolkit summer 2015

Competition winners' communications toolkit 1

Competition winners' communications toolkit

Introduction

Congratulations! Your project has reached the stage where it has been awarded funding from Innovate UK.

Innovate UK is all about helping innovative ideas to flourish, and effective business communications is a vital part of any enterprise’s path to growth. That is why we encourage you wholeheartedly to take a proactive approach to communications.

To help out, we’ve put together this Competition Winners’ Communications Toolkit. It’s intended to help you no matter how big or small the project is. The toolkit covers:

1. Announcement checklist

2. Your story – in-‐house PR

3. Social media

4. Appendices

a. Storytelling

b. PR agencies

c. Innovate UK descriptors

d. Disclaimer

Even if you are a communications expert, we hope that you will find parts of the toolkit useful. We would greatly appreciate your feedback so that we can continuously improve the support we offer, share best practice and success stories.


Announcement checklist

So you are ready to make your announcement. What do you need to do next?

i. Let us know, get in touch

Firstly, let us know what you plan to do. Drop us a line to pressofficeinnovateuk.gov.uk or call us on 07766 901150. If we are doing our own communication activity relevant to your project we will let you know. By being co-‐ordinated we can best amplify all our communication, so let’s keep in touch.

ii. Approval?

We are not here to vet or to approve your announcement; we are to help if you need it. We positively encourage you to publicise your project and wish you every success. Many of the companies we fund find that they get stronger traction in the media or can appear more credible to potential customers, partners or other investors if they can demonstrate their support from Innovate UK. So let Innovate UK be part of the story you tell too. This toolkit shows you how you can do this.

iii. Government ministerial support

Sometimes government ministers may want to make an announcement in which your project features. If this happens we will let you know and to make sure your announcement is co-‐ordinated with government to get maximum impact. If you are the lead partner of a consortium, please ensure that all of the partners in your project are aware of this approach to media activity.

iv. How to describe the support from Innovate UK?

When you mention Innovate UK in your announcement please spell it out in full. We like to be described as the ‘UK’s innovation agency’. We encourage you to use our


logo – please use the right one in the attached pack.

It is vital that the funding figures are accurate and where funding is split between Innovate UK and businesses within a project (for example, as part of our collaborative R&D programmes), please use the wording such as -‐ “co-‐funded by the UK’s innovation agency, Innovate UK”.

If your project is being undertaken by a consortium, make this clear too. Get approval from the lead partner of the consortium or, if you are the lead partner, ensure that the other partners are happy.

Funding from Innovate UK comes in various forms, so we have prepared descriptions of each of them for you use – they can be found in Appendix 2.


Your story – in-‐house PR In-‐house PR can be much more cost-‐effective. You do not have to spend the time educating an external agency all about your project and by doing your own PR, you have an even greater stake in its success. Even in a communication world transformed by social media the role of crafting an effective press release is the foundation of effective public relations.

You have to put yourself in the place of a journalist. As this guide http://www.theguardian.com/small-‐business-‐network/2014/jul/14/how-‐to-‐write-‐press-‐release suggests ask yourself these questions:

1. Is there anything 'new' in my story?

2. Is there anything unusual or unexpected about it?

3. Would this be of interest to anyone outside my business?

4. Will anyone actually care?

Then you must carefully structure your press release. Start with the most important information. The introduction should address the who, what, why, when and how of your project. Leave the least important information at the end of the release. This is known as the inverted pyramid structure.

The part of the press release you should spend the most amount of your time getting right is your quote. Journalists like to put a name and a face to a story, so the language you use in the quote is crucial, as this often is the only thing they will use. Do not waste opportunities by using phrases such as “We are delighted...”, or “I am pleased…', because as question 4 (above) asks: Will anyone actually care?

Use your quote to state the tangible benefits of your project, such as: How it saves money, how it is good for the environment, how it creates new jobs. Essentially, anything that is positive and new.

Do not neglect the power of images. You are much more likely to secure great coverage if you have compelling visuals. Business pages are full of pictures of


middle-‐aged white men in suits, so try to find something that will stand out. If your project is at a conceptual stage investing in computer generated imagery or other concept artwork may well be cost-‐effective.

Finally, do not forget the basics. Make sure your press release is dated. State clearly whether there is any embargo. Ensure there are full contact details, phone, email, Twitter etc.

Now you need to get your press release to its audience. Firstly make sure that the news section on your website is clearly sign-‐posted. To drive people to your news there are various things you can do. We will address social media later in this guide, but an email distribution list is still an effective channel. Identifying your audience may take a lot of Googling or picking the brains of people you trust with the right knowledge.

If you have the budget you may wish to invest in using a media database. There are many on the market and you will need to investigate which is going to meet your needs cost-‐effectively.

A quick search brings up many competing products:

https://www.google.co.uk/webhp?sourceid=chrome-‐instant&ion=1&espv=2&ie=UTF-‐8#q=uk%20media%20database


Social media

The way that individuals and organisations communicate has been transformed by social media in a fantastically short space of time.

Not all social media channels are the same. A 140-‐character tweet is very different to a posting on LinkedIn. Not all social media channels may be right for every company, it is best to prioritise. Before choosing which social media channels you may wish to engage with – and bear in mind engaging often means starting a dialogue, not just broadcasting – ask yourself these questions:

1. Who is your audience?

2. What is your message?

3. What tone of voice is right?

When you are ready to go, don’t forget to say hi to Innovate UK by using @innovate_uk in your tweets. We’ll say hi back so you know your tweet is working.

Then read some of these useful links:


http://www.theguardian.com/small-‐business-‐network/2015/apr/01/social-‐media-‐strategy-‐stinks-‐twitter

https://www.hashtags.org/business/management/10-‐tips-‐and-‐tricks-‐to-‐maximize-‐twitter-‐use/

http://www.lifehack.org/articles/communication/the-‐newbie-‐guide-‐to-‐blogging.html

http://www.prnewswire.com/blog/facebook-‐for-‐public-‐relations-‐1904.html

http://mashable.com/2011/05/05/pr-‐pro-‐facebook-‐guide/

http://prinyourpajamas.com/how-‐to-‐use-‐linkedin-‐for-‐pr/

http://www.cision.com/us/2014/09/vine-‐for-‐pr-‐powerful-‐messaging-‐in-‐6-‐seconds/

http://mashable.com/2011/04/21/pr-‐pro-‐youtube-‐guide/


Appendices

a) Storytelling

Advertising is saying you're good. PR is getting someone else to say you're good. -‐Jean-‐Louis Gassée

The power of storytelling is hard-‐wired into humans. So a starting point before embarking on any business communication is to have a compelling story to tell. This often called a narrative.

Put simply, people often react more powerfully and positively to emotion rather than reason and storytelling can trigger emotions in a way a spreadsheet never can.

Also storytelling is memorable. To get your message across and retained in the brain use a narrative. Think about the journey your company has gone on. Think about compelling anecdotes that a paint a picture. Humanise the story as much as you can. Think less about cold, hard data; think more about how your product or service can surprise and delight.

There is an interesting article about storytelling in marketing here:

http://www.fastcompany.com/3031419/hit-‐the-‐ground-‐running/why-‐our-‐brains-‐crave-‐storytelling-‐in-‐marketing

An even shorter format of storytelling is known as the elevator pitch. This is a pithy summation in less than half a minute of what your project is all about. There are some useful guides to elevator pitches available online here:

http://www.mindtools.com/pages/article/elevator-‐pitch.htm

http://www.businessknowhow.com/money/elevator.htm

http://www.entrepreneur.com/article/228070


Appendices

b) PR agencies

One way of potentially maximising publicity for your project is to engage a PR agency. They have expertise in getting companies’ messages through to the media. That expertise comes from experience with dealing with many clients and having frequent contact with journalists, leading to a thorough understanding of the media and its myriad outlets.

The most important factor in any PR agency's success with you, the client, is a great relationship based on trust and a thorough understanding of your business. It can be a big – and potentially expensive – step to employ a PR agency, so ask for recommendations from people you trust and look for testimonials.

A good starting point for you is the trade association for public relations agencies in the UK, the PRCA. Each year it publishes this guide to choosing an agency: http://www.prca.org.uk/directory2015


Appendices

c) Innovate UK descriptors

Standard Innovate UK description: Innovate UK is the UK’s innovation agency. It works with people, companies and partner organisations to find and drive the science and technology innovations that will grow the UK economy For further information visit www.innovateuk.gov.uk Programme-‐specific descriptions: Catapults: Catapult centres are being established and overseen by Innovate UK as a new addition to its range of programmes to stimulate innovation. They are places where the best of the UK’s innovative businesses and researchers work together to bring new products and services more quickly to commercialisation. Focusing on areas with great market potential, Catapults will open up global opportunities for the UK and generate economic growth for the future. For more information, please visit www.catapult.org.uk Smart: Managed by Innovate UK, the Smart scheme offers funding to small and medium-‐sized enterprises (SMEs) to engage in R&D projects in the strategically important areas of science, engineering and technology, from which successful new products, processes and services could emerge. https://www.gov.uk/innovation-‐apply-‐for-‐a-‐funding-‐award#find-‐an-‐innovation-‐funding-‐programme SBRI: The SBRI programme uses the power of government procurement to drive innovation. It provides opportunities for innovative companies to engage with the public sector and gain contracts to solve specific problems. Competitions for new technologies and ideas are run on specific topics and aim to engage a broad range of organisations. SBRI enables the public sector to engage with industry during the early stages of development, supporting projects through the stages of feasibility and prototyping. https://www.gov.uk/innovation-‐apply-‐for-‐a-‐funding-‐award#find-‐an-‐innovation-‐funding-‐programme


Launchpad: Launchpads provide funding for business innovation that aims to support the development and strengthening of clusters of high-‐tech companies in specific theme areas and geographical locations. They provide base funding through dedicated Innovate UK competitions for approved research and development projects and act as a catalyst to help the companies behind the projects to attract more investment. https://www.gov.uk/innovation-‐apply-‐for-‐a-‐funding-‐award#find-‐an-‐innovation-‐funding-‐programme Knowledge Transfer Partnerships (KTPs): KTP or Knowledge Transfer Partnerships http://ktp.innovateuk.org is Europe's leading programme helping businesses to improve their competitiveness by enabling companies to work with higher education or research and technology organisations to obtain knowledge, technology or skills which they consider to be of strategic competitive importance. The UK-‐ wide programme is overseen by Innovate UK https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/innovate-‐uk the UK’s innovation agency, and supported by 16 other public sector funding organisations. Missions: Innovate UK supports key events known as entrepreneur ‘missions' run in partnership with UK Trade and Investment. Missions involve the pick of innovative and often early-‐stage UK companies in Innovate UK priority areas or themes including digital, healthcare or clean technology travelling to countries strong in innovation and enterprise, such as the US, China and Brazil. While there the companies have the opportunity to make new connections and meet potential investors, suppliers and customers and grow their business internationally. https://www.gov.uk/innovation-‐get-‐support-‐and-‐advice


Appendices

d) Disclaimer

Innovate UK does not endorse any of the products, services or companies mentioned in this guide. It mentions sources of information that you may or may not choose to investigate. Innovate UK does take any legal responsibility for any course of action competition winners may choose to take

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Competitions winners communication toolkit summer 2015