Our expertise

01 PR for

Information technology Telecommunications Consumer electronics

02 Communication services for

Providers of hardware Providers of software IT infrastructure

03 Industrial companies in the high-tech sector

Riba:BusinessTalk (RBT):PublicRelations is specialised in public relations work aimed at information technology and telecommunication companies as well as consumer electronics.

Our PR consultants share many years of experience dealing with technical and ITC-related topics especially with regard to operative business-to-business activities. They combine profound technical expertise and in-depth knowledge of the industry with a high strategic and editorial competence.

Markets mean communication and trust is the base for any leading opinion. Therefore, corporate communications is not restricted to operative and strategic marketing. It also includes reliable public relations that create trust in a company’s products and services.

RBT:PublicRelations positions your company as both a trustworthy partner and opinion leader in its market communications. By providing factual information combined with specialist know-how and our close cooperation with various media contacts, we make sure that your company is continuously involved in the process of shaping public opinion.

To do so, we address the relevant target media using all available public relation tools and our own RBT:Pressroom.

RBT:PublicRelations is defined by professionalism, a strong sense of responsibility and loyalty. The general principles of corporate communications can be found in all areas of our work. Our well thought-out communication concepts, detailed media planning and high degree of creativity in both textual and visual representation will ultimately optimize your company’s visibility.

RBT:PublicRelations stands for profound and intelligent communication – in all areas of public relations.

RBT:PR & Communications

Communication concepts

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The foundation of all forms of PR work for technology companies is a viable communication concept which outlines both the goals of the planned PR work and the central core messages.

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What’s more, target groups must be identified, communication measures established and the corresponding PR tools and target media defined together with the PR agency.

In-depth, strategic PR consulting is always the starting point of the conceptual work of RBT:PublicRelations. It serves to establish the communicative focus of the company, includes a precise review of previous communication measures and provides market-related and technology-related recommendations. The consulting process results in the formulation of the central PR messages and the fundamental topic planning.
On the basis of the strategic PR consulting, RBT:PublicRelations develops a package of measures together with its clients; these are precisely tailored to the PR work of the company. The tools required for the company-specific and technical PR work are selected with the target groups of the communication in mind and the group to be addressed by the various media and editorial offices is profiled. The actual implementation of the measures, the goal significance of the topic planning as well as the viability of the overall concept are regularly subject to review within the framework of the strategic PR consulting process.
Our specialism is technical PR for information technology, telecommunications and consumer electronics as well as communication services for the providers of hardware and software, IT infrastructure and industrial companies in the high-tech sector.

RBT:PR & Communications

PR tools

 

1/Press releases

Regular press releases are absolutely obligatory in the competition for editorial awareness and long-term media presence. Whether about new products and services or about company developments – press releases which enhance the flow of information and get people talking about a company are never a bad thing.

And it is not even a problem if every press release is not published: press releases and product announcements make a decisive contribution to embedding a company and its services into the awareness of editors.
When planning press releases, it should not be forgotten that not everything merits a press release: trivial things or things that are read all too often will be dismissed by editorial offices and can even have an adverse effect on the image of the company in the worst-case scenario. The press agency thus always designs the content of press releases to ensure that they differentiate a company from its competitors. They should position the company as the leading provider, underline its innovative strengths and highlight the special features of its products and services.
However, the ideal press release is not only effective in terms of content; it also takes into account that the time of editors is extremely limited. The title and subtitle should make clear what the press release is about. And since editorial offices often have to shorten texts due to a lack of space, remember to put the important stuff not at the end, but rather right at the beginning. Only then will you have the best chance of gaining attention and getting the press release published.

2/Specialist articles

If press releases form the obligatory part, then sophisticated and journalistic specialist articles with technological and professional profundity are the pièce de résistance of content creation. Practically no other PR tool is better suited to cultivating a good company image.

Companies become opinion leaders in the market with good technical PR on an equal footing with editorial offices and journalists – they trigger debates, address current technological questions and underline their innovative strengths at the same time.
Specialist articles are very much in demand by editorial offices; they are thus a particularly effective technical PR tool to consolidate contacts with the specialised press. In order to be considered for publication, an article must contain top-quality content and be presented in such a manner that motivates people to read it. Promotional slogans are out of place; neutral expertise which provides readers with great value is what is required here. After all, it is the expertise of the company which gains the trust of customers and shows the company to be a competent contact partner.
For corporate communications, this means that content creation must not only be about competing in the market, but also that it must meet the requirements of the respective sectors as precisely as possible, using technical language where applicable. In order to achieve this, it is important to develop close cooperation between the PR agency and the project manager or specialist engineer of the customer – but also to establish trustworthy relationships with the specialised press and technical editorial offices.

3/Reference reports (case studies)

Reference reports provide companies with the opportunity to reinforce the practicality of its products and range of services by means of particular case studies. Whilst the majority of promotional statements produced by marketing departments are difficult to corroborate, case studies from a professional PR agency provide demonstrable facts.

They are thus particularly well suited as PR tools: reference reports are credible, are of high beneficial value to the reader and thus create transparency and build trust. If they also document cooperation with renowned B2B partners, they can even have an incredibly positive effect on the image of the company.
Thanks to their high degree of practical relevance, selected reference reports are also particularly popular with editorial offices. They make abstract concepts and complex interrelationships much easier to understand. By clearly excluding any forms of advertising and including critical details and problems, they also meet the criteria of serious reporting.
To ensure that the reader gains a memorable impression of the services provided by a company, a case study must make absolutely clear how a product came into the equation as a solution to a problem. Both the original problem and the reasons behind the decision to use the product must be easy to follow. The case study is then rounded off with a presentation of the project progression as well as different quotations from partners and customers involved in the process where this is possible.

4/Interviews

It is right at the top of the readers’ popularity rankings: the strategic interview. Print and online media thus like to make use of this format.

Conducting an interview opens up excellent opportunities for companies. If you would like to paint your employees and products, your strategies and working methods or even the special features of your technical solutions in a favourable light, then you are always well advised to present your company in an interesting dialogue.
However, the interview is by far the most demanding text form for the editor. Of course, it must be informative, but it must also be entertaining to retain the attention of the reader – it must even tackle complex issues in a fun and personal manner. It is difficult to create such a text. Both detailed preparation of the discussion and skilled manipulation of the spoken word are essential when it comes to conducting an interview. What’s more, the interview partner may submit change requests before the text may be approved. Due to a shortage of personnel, the interview process pushes editorial offices to their limits time and again.
Competent PR agencies understand the importance of considering the needs of both parties. Their approach? So-called “cold interviews”, for which the content and course of discussion are determined in advance and authorised by both interview partners. Both companies and editorial offices have come to appreciate this solution: on the one hand, there is no need for time-consuming correction cycles; on the other hand, a ‘designed’ interview often gets to the crux of the matter at hand. This is advantageous for both parties – as well as for the reader.

5/Editorial tours & press conferences

One of the best ways to position a company as particularly trustworthy and interesting in the framework of media relations is personal contact with journalists and editorial offices.

This contact can be established most easily by means of editorial tours and press conferences: innovative products and technologies as well as current information on the development of the company can be presented in direct conversation and specific questions can be addressed in individual discussions or a general Q&A session.
Which of the two communication tools is more suited to establishing a dialogue with the press depends on the target media und thematic focus of the messages. If the information is of more general interest and thus particularly relevant for the daily press and financial press, then the press conference is the right forum – think here along the lines of financial statement press conferences or crisis PR. Background discussions are the exception to the rule here; these discussions should be conducted either as part of a non-public round table or in the course of an editorial tour.
An editorial tour is also recommended for information about products and services which are typically of interest to the specialised press and the sectoral media. On the one hand, this saves local editorial offices – which often suffer from a shortage of personnel and finances – from making the cost- and time-intensive trip to a press conference; on the other hand, technical details in particular can often be much better explained on a smaller scale.

6/Corporate publishing

Corporate messages do not always have to be communicated via the established media: the creation of a customer or employee magazine can also be an efficient tool of communication.

Corporate publishing is the buzzword here, and the possibilities are virtually endless: traditional customer and employee magazines, newsletters and team blogs or even in-house online video channels – all of these are perfectly good ways of communicating important messages to customers and employees.
Corporate publishing is generally highly valuable for cultivating the image of a company. Whereas you are always bound by the regulations of the target media to some extent when it comes to traditional public relations work, corporate publications offer the possibility to realise your own ideas. The most important success factor here is a professional design: it increases the credibility of the messages and at the same time emphasises the creative potential of the company. Both diverse and entertaining texts and modern and attractive visual imagery are also essential here.
However, a customer magazine is not only highly demanding with regards to professionalism in text and imagery – the sender and recipient of the messages must also be reflected in the concept of the medium: the magazine or the blog should reach its target group, but it must also fit into the image of the company. This is where the expertise of experienced PR agencies is required: they integrate the expectations of target groups and the corporate image into a top-quality, journalistic publication concept.

7/White Paper & Trend Papers

White papers and trend papers are also extremely effective and more and more frequently used measures of a PR agency. They communicate information about current technical developments and always have the problem-specific benefit for the reader in mind.

They provide the company with the opportunity to present itself with top-quality content in keeping with the times and in particular to emphasise its problem-solving expertise.
White papers and trend papers are similar to specialist articles in that they avoid promotional wording and instead prefer objectivity and neutrality. However, they are different from specialist articles in their scope and method of publication: trend papers are generally not published in an editorial environment, but predominantly offered as a free download on in-house websites. In general, they are also considerably more extensive than specialist articles. This means that they provide much more space for a detailed presentation and critical examination of new technical solutions, something which further increases the credibility of the communicated information in a sustainable manner.
An increasingly important aspect of white papers and trend papers is lead generation as part of a content marketing campaign: in this case, the forwarding of contact details is stated as the only requirement for a free download. If the interested party agrees, contact with a potential customer who is demonstrably interested in the problem solution is established.

8/PR for Start-Up Companies

Every start-up must be known. And every start-up thus needs PR. Public relations and social media relations are of paramount importance – especially for young companies if they want to draw attention to their not-yet-known products and services.

Practically no other tool is able to attract the attention of relevant target groups to the company and its range of services so quickly and efficiently.

It is important here that an agency understands the world of start-ups, its business plans and strategies. It is also essential that an agency analyses the target groups and business model of a start-up in order to come up with an appropriate communication strategy. Only in such a manner are targeted communications – which also support the cash flow – possible from the point of view of founders and investors.

9/The Riba:BusinessTalk start-up package

Get to know us and take advantage of the expertise of an agency which has been on the market for ten years; of an agency, whose employees have become extremely familiar with the world of start-ups, young and dynamic founders, founder networks, incubators and accelerators during this time – not least because some of them worked for start-ups themselves.

We have devised a special PR start-up package in order to help you to take your first steps into the world of public relations and social media communication:

Since good PR requires good content – “Content is King”, after all – we develop a PR guide and research relevant topics together with you. In the second stage, we determine the media, social media platforms and contact partners who are particularly relevant for your company. We also brief you on how to properly deal with the press before things start to get serious and the first appointments with the press are in the diary. And as an external press office, we of course support you with the operational implementation of all communication and marketing measures. All of this in one programme which perfectly meets your budget constraints. Get in touch with us and find out more information about our start-up package – with no obligation!

10/Online-PR

Sold as a panacea by some, treated with contempt by others – online PR still divides the communication industry. As with so many things in life, the truth lies somewhere in between:

you must neither underestimate nor overvalue the tool. PR work does not have to be reinvented – even under the terms of Web 2.0. To not use the new possibilities would nonetheless be negligent – and not just because of the manageable costs.
In the B2B and B2C sectors, online PR represents the only channel of communication which reaches a target group without scatter losses. The World Wide Web is a pull medium: the user conducts a targeted search for information or interaction possibilities and consciously browses the corresponding pages. This is the case both for online editions of print media and for online magazines and blogs or websites and social media profiles of companies. Of course, this constellation can also be used for push effects through the determination of “Likes” and “Followers”, through newsletters or even through search engine optimisation.
However, using the range of online PR tools is something which needs to be learnt, because there are even more pitfalls here than with classic forms of communication. It is not only insufficiently prepared or implausible information which can lead to irritation on the part of the target group; an undesirable flow of information or the refusal of ‘real’ interaction can also be extremely annoying. Once the proverbial ‘shit storm’ breaks out, the situation will very quickly get out of hand. If you want to use online PR, you must thus take particular care when selecting your tools. Remember: trust is much easier to squander than to earn – especially in the online world.

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RBT:PR & Communications

Target media

Daily and financial press

newspaperThe general press is essentially aimed at a very wide readership. The work of their editorial offices is consequently geared towards reaching as big a reader base as possible.

For PR work, this means that only information of general or economic interest has a serious chance of publication. There is practically no room for the consolidation of technical or commercial details in the daily and financial press and this kind of depth of detail belongs rather in the specialised media.

In cases where corporate communication is aimed at the daily and financial press, it is also important to remember that these media never simply accept unfiltered information. It is much more common for the editorial offices of both media groups to carry out their own research and to extensively edit articles that they have received. It is thus to be expected that the coverage may be both critical and questioning.

Against this backdrop, it is vitally important for PR agencies to be considered as reputable partners by the editorial offices of the general press. The corporate communication for which they are responsible must consequently have the highest level of credibility. Experienced PR agencies thus attach great importance to a strictly truth-oriented information policy, which is completely open to self-criticism. It is only on this condition that the company and its business activity will be perceived as trustworthy by the general public.

Specialised media

RBT:PR & Communications

magazine

Unlike daily newspapers and the financial press – which both address a more general public –, technical PR is primarily aimed at a clearly defined target group of readers interested in that particular subject. Depending on the orientation of the medium, the focus of the coverage in the specialised press is very much on whole economic sectors, individual professional groups or even narrowly defined production areas.

In the context of corporate communication, specialised media are not only aimed at natural addressees of product and technical PR; they also present general company information such as personnel announcements. Press releases and specialist articles as well as strategic interviews generally have the most joy in the specialised press. However, the requirements for this are always a clear thematic style appropriate for the target medium and top-quality journalistic articles.

For PR agencies which would like to get texts published in the individual specialised media, it is not only the thematic and qualitative aspects that count; the establishment of reliable and stable contacts in the various editorial offices is also essential. Such contacts not only facilitate the accommodation of articles: if a PR agency is known for its top-quality textual work and it has good networks with editorial offices, it can also expect to be regularly approached by the editorial offices for specialist articles or interviews.

Sectoral media

Media which are devoted to the current developments of a clearly defined economic sector – whether this be the IT trade, mechanical engineering or the packaging industry – are referred to as sectoral media.

There is at least one specialised medium for each sector; however, the majority of sectors will be the subject of several media. Vertical media are invariably B2B media; their addressees are thus exclusively sector representatives. The spectrum of topics ranges from the current economic situation, through diverse technological innovations, to latest company news.

Sectoral media are the first ports of call for the PR work of companies whose activities are focussed on specific business segments. What’s more, these media provide an excellent opportunity to reach respective target groups without great scatter losses – especially where small and medium-sized companies are concerned. The decision-making level is the same as the executive management level in companies of this size. However, generally speaking, such companies take little note of highly specialised trade journals; it is only the sectoral media which they address.

Many sectoral titles have small, but extremely hard-working editorial offices, which view themselves as providers of genuine information and which act extremely carefully when choosing articles. Getting technical PR texts accommodated in sectoral titles is accordingly not easy. It is thus essential for a successful PR agency to establish cooperative relationships with the editorial offices and to take the fundamental interests of the sector as well as editorial topic plans into consideration from the very outset when planning articles.

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Online media

In addition to print, radio and TV, another essential channel of communication has come into being with the triumphal march of the World Wide Web:

online media. On the one hand, these include online offerings of established magazines; on the other hand, in-house online portals and blogs as well as special video channels – the majority of which remain greatly popular – have also come into being. And then, of course, there is also the high-profile group of social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter and Xing.

Communicating information via online media often requires much less effort than via traditional media – however, it may also be less resonant to a certain extent. Numerous online media can be used via special PR portals without the need for the editorial intermediate step, but these do not generally draw a great deal of attention. It is also possible to post information on social media; however, this contains many potential pitfalls.

The placement of information in the online editions of print and digital media, on the other hand, takes a lot of effort on the part of the PR agency. Ultimately, the PR agency must meet the same demands as in the traditional print media if they are to achieve a successful corporate communication: an appropriate thematic style, top-quality journalistic articles and, last but not least, stable contacts. If an article does not make it into the print edition, it may often be flexibly placed in the online edition and thus generate the desired response.