Our News & Views - Communications Strategy
Understanding your business challenge is our starting point in figuring out your communications strategy. Once a framework is agreed we will work with you to develop corporate, product and issues messaging. From there, we’ll create, a content strategy and integrated campaigns to support your commercial objectives.
14 Sep 2023
Continental Shift: Navigating the Industrial B2B media landscapes of China and Europe
In the dynamic world of B2B industrial sectors, effective media relations and journalist interactions play a pivotal role in shaping brand perception and industry influence. When it comes to engaging with the media, China, and Europe present some similarities but also distinct cultural, communication, and strategic differences.
10 Aug 2023
Behind the scenes - 5 steps to a professional podcast
With the right preparation, a manufacturing sector podcast can be a great addition to your content strategy. Around 464 million people globally listen to podcasts, with 40 million of these tuning in between 2022 to 2023 alone, so there’s a good chance that the audience you want to reach is ready to be engaged!
1 Aug 2023
Reporting Excellence: Combining Analytics and Insights to Empower Clients in Meeting Their KPIs
In today's digital age, marketers have access to an overwhelming amount of data and tools that can provide valuable insights into their communications and marketing efforts for clients. However, amidst this abundance of information, it's crucial not to lose sight of the importance of quantitative insights in our reporting.
13 Jul 2023
Messaging: have you nailed yours?
Don’t assume that because you are operating in a deep industrial technology sector, marketing messaging doesn’t apply to you. The power of storytelling to convince and connect with audiences should not be underestimated, and carefully constructed messaging is the backbone of any successful B2B marketing programme.
Messaging: have you nailed yours?
13 Jul 2023
30 Jun 2023
Unlocking the value of AI requires honoring human connections
Earlier this month, my EMG-colleague Adriana Arezza and I had the opportunity to deliver a keynote presentation at our client OQ’s Leadership Workshop. The main topic of the event was customer centricity and our presentation focused on the role of the media in telling customer centric stories.
9 Jun 2023
Effective spokesperson training: Navigating message delivery for B2B industrial players
Modern media training has evolved to meet the demands of today's digital landscape. With the rapid growth of social media and online platforms, PR professionals must adapt their strategies to effectively communicate and manage their clients' reputations, including the training of spokespersons.
19 May 2023
Pitch Perfect: Giving journalists the stories they really want
EMG’s PR professionals reveal some of our trade secrets for building strong media relationships that result in top tier coverage for clients.
10 May 2023
Social engineering: get smart, get savvy, get strategic
Many businesses we come across in the industrial manufacturing sector find it difficult to strike the right balance between the different kinds of content that result in a unique social profile that reflects an authoritative brand, engages audiences sufficiently to create loyal followings and still be a strong sales tool as well.
24 Apr 2023
Conversations on the tradeshow floor are changing and so should our approaches to communicating them
Sustainability, environmental pressures, and digitalization are drastically changing the sales and business conversations our clients are having with their customers and suppliers on the tradeshow floor. Good communicators who want to go the distance must pivot to meet the challenges and opportunities of building brands in this environment.
8 Dec 2021
Four important steps in sustainable marketing programs
Sustainability is now a core attribute of our clients. Some companies embrace sustainability and make it part of their DNA. Other companies are still developing their sustainability programs and subsequently positioning.
21 Oct 2021
If in doubt, don’t leave it out.
There are few examples of B2B online marketing content that aren’t enhanced by using a Call to Action (CTA). In fact, I can’t think of any. Static website pages, landing pages, email campaigns, social media posts whether organic or sponsored, blogs, white papers, e-books, PPC display ads…all of these will perform better with a CTA.
If in doubt, don’t leave it out.
21 Oct 2021
5 Oct 2021
The Facebook, WhatsApp and Instagram outage: A wake-up call for social media specialists
The Facebook, WhatsApp and Instagram outage that occurred on 4 October was in many ways an eye-opening experience.
22 Sep 2021
When communicating on sustainability, actions shouldn’t speak louder than words; the two should be aligned
Today everyone is talking about sustainability – especially within the industrial markets where many of our clients are struggling to come up with a message that is unique and conveys what they are trying to do. This is because there is a whole spectrum of sustainability out there, ranging from the very weak to the very strong.
8 Sep 2021
How to create virtual events people are excited to attend
We’ve all been there, we’ve all experienced it before, we might even be guilty of doing it to others. Death by PowerPoint. A dull presentation can turn a virtual event into a big flop. It’s all too easy for people to leave or do something else entirely while leaving your event on mute. So how do you keep an audience that could be 1000 of kms away, interested and focused on your event and not the TV or that Facebook post?
18 May 2021
The dos and don’ts of an effective sustainability strategy
Sustainability has become a major buzzword over these past few years, but what does is actually mean? How do you build a convincing sustainability narrative and what are the most common mistakes companies make when developing their sustainability message? Expert sustainability consultant Malcom Forsyth shares his insights on how to build a convincing sustainability story, and how to back that up with evidence.
12 May 2021
Content is king, but only when credible
The phrase ‘honesty is the best policy’ is not a new one, yet arguably it has never been more relevant.
Content is king, but only when credible
12 May 2021
30 Mar 2021
The Suez ordeal: Why clear communication is critical
The recent events in Egypt have highlighted the need for early, honest and detailed communications between stakeholders up and down the entire supply chain – and for some, the crisis can be turned into an opportunity. Our crisis management expert Gerard van der Zanden explains why clear communication is critical.
21 Dec 2020
Transforming your PR efforts into lead generation campaigns
The conversations we have with our clients today are full of different ideas and angles. A big need has emerged into understanding how we can truly and effectively reach audiences and talk to them digitally to generate leads – especially in B2B industries. This is where communications, marketing and PR can help the sales team. The question is how do you transition from the traditional PR way of doing things into what works today, and all the way down the sales funnel?
16 Dec 2020
The Five Things We Learnt in 2020
This year has been a crazy time to be in B2B communications. In fact, it’s just been a crazy time all in all. As we all did our Christmas shopping this time last year, nothing could have prepared us for what 2020 had in store.
The Five Things We Learnt in 2020
16 Dec 2020
19 Nov 2020
China outlook: Digital transformation on the rise both in manufacturing and communications
The global pandemic might still be lingering as a dark cloud over the manufacturing sector, but with the 22nd China International Industry Fair (CIIF), themed “Intelligence & Interconnection - Empowering New Industrial Development”, held as scheduled this past September, the industrial economy received an extra boost.
21 Oct 2020
How the trade media landscape is evolving, with a growing role for social media
B2B may have not been the first to the social media game, but there are few doubters nowadays of the role for platforms such as LinkedIn and Twitter when it comes to an integrated communications strategy.
26 Mar 2020
Navigate and communicate through changing times
These are unprecedented times. The coronavirus pandemic has left many of us feeling fearful, apprehensive, and alarmed. We’ve seen much of Europe and North America grind to a halt. This is something that most of us have never experienced in our lifetimes, or even could imagine.
Navigate and communicate through changing times
26 Mar 2020
17 Feb 2020
Why changing times present a B2B communications opportunity
Real communications skills are needed to give industrial innovation the credit it deserves. It’s all about technical knowledge, speed, and excellent storytelling. Rikke Wivel offers her insights on how to communicate around the companies driving change.
29 Jan 2020
Staying one move ahead in crisis communications
An effective crisis communications strategy is more important than ever, as complexity levels increase and required response timelines decrease.
Staying one move ahead in crisis communications
29 Jan 2020
12 Dec 2019
The blog cocktail: layering information one blog at a time
You’ve done a press release, sent it out to everyone who would be interested and shared it on LinkedIn. Your job of getting the message out is now done and it’s time to relax. Right? Wrong!
5 Dec 2019
How to stand out and thrive in a downturn
What’s the best approach to communicating in uncertain economic times? EMG considers a few platforms to help industrial technology innovators stand out.
How to stand out and thrive in a downturn
5 Dec 2019
28 Nov 2019
Create winning content for C-suite high flyers
Winning big in industrial technology communications means reaching the upper echelons with clear and actionable insights. Try to summarize the fundamental positioning of your news in three to four keywords. It’s not easy is it? But it is important.
Create winning content for C-suite high flyers
28 Nov 2019
1 Oct 2019
When it comes to content marketing it’s the thought that counts
The changing face of marketing in the internet age has forced a rethink at both B2B and B2C marketing communications teams. There is a growing role for content marketing that educates rather than proactively sells a brand. In order to truly take advantage, you need to claim a thought leadership position within your field of industrial technology.
25 Sep 2019
Using AI to add life to your next marketing communications campaign
Automated help chats, voice-activated devices and augmented reality are just some of the platforms where artificial intelligence (AI) can be applied in industrial technology marketing communications.
5 Aug 2019
Why a customer and content centric focus will help you win
For most of us, it has been a long time since we were in school learning our 3 Rs of reading, writing and arithmetic. But in a successful B2B marketing strategy, the Cs are just as important as the Rs. To succeed and be truly noticed in today’s dynamic marketplace you need to be able to create, connect and communicate strongly. But there are many other angles to consider when building your next successful campaign.
1 Aug 2019
Remaining relevant in a circular economy
The plastics segment is being challenged to change the dialog around waste and provide true solutions. At the recent EMG Pre K Press Event, there was a strong consensus that the focus on virgin materials should become ever smaller and the role for a mono material strategy, which allows for simpler recycling was also noted
Remaining relevant in a circular economy
1 Aug 2019
22 May 2019
EMG's 4th Customer Summit focuses on Account Based Marketing
Understanding your customers is at the heart of an Account Based Marketing (ABM) strategy and is especially applicable in a B2B business environment where customers require (and sometimes even demand) your understanding of their business, and provide them with tailored solutions.
16 May 2019
Quick SEO and keyword tips for B2B marketers
If done correctly, SEO is an organic way of having your B2B website or blog rise to the top of search engines without having to pay for it to be there. But before you can make your content SEO ready, you need to ask a few questions.
Quick SEO and keyword tips for B2B marketers
16 May 2019
24 Apr 2019
Transition from PR to Marcom
Today, communicating to the audience is not solely about sending out a targeted press release – although that still is an element of a campaign. Instead, PR has become “Marcom”, which includes understanding the business strategy, developing the message, creating the right content to communicate the message and dispersing the message.
Transition from PR to Marcom
24 Apr 2019
24 Apr 2019
Keeping agile and innovative in marcom
Being agile in marketing communications is about taking calculated risks to keep innovative, and sometimes the risks aren’t always what you expect from a communications agency. Sometimes risks include implementing an idea that you know will effectively reach the audience.
Keeping agile and innovative in marcom
24 Apr 2019
24 Apr 2019
Challenging the status quo
While we know that press releases and trade interviews are here to stay, we also know how buyers gather information to make their buying decisions has evolved, and it extends beyond traditional media outlets. Social media, video, webinars, podcasts and even a simple google search can influence their decision.
Challenging the status quo
24 Apr 2019
2 Apr 2019
Engaging now with tomorrow's decision makers can help companies develop solutions for 21st century challenges
The problems that designers, business owners, and engineers face today are at a whole new level of scale compared to the challenges we’ve faced in the past few decades. In a largely globalised world, where changes in economic and natural resources can be felt halfway around the globe, our challenges are becoming more intertwined with the systems that connect us all.
19 Feb 2019
Are you ready for Account Based Marketing?
Account Based Marketing (ABM) is growing with 76% of B2B companies in UK and Europe looking to increase their efforts in ABM in the next year, but while ABM might be right for your organization, it might not be right for all of your customers.
Are you ready for Account Based Marketing?
19 Feb 2019
29 Jan 2019
Mindfulness in Marketing Communications
More video, more social media, more integration, more influencer marketing are some of the big B2B marketing and communications trends for 2019. If you are like us, you’ve already come across numerous blogs all telling you the same thing: you’ve got to do more, more, more!
Mindfulness in Marketing Communications
29 Jan 2019
9 Jan 2019
4 steps to develop a strong B2B digital communication strategy
Faced with today’s ever-evolving digital B2B marketplace, where 94% of buyers research online when checking out service providers, it can be tricky to identify your optimum targets – especially when you don’t want to just reach them, but convert them. The question many of you are asking is how do I become the proactive solutions provider necessary to increase my numbers?
9 Nov 2018
Do they really want to know this?
Creating communications content that will strike a chord with your audience is the obvious approach to marketing. But it only truly works if you look at things from “the outside-in” rather than “inside-out”.
Do they really want to know this?
9 Nov 2018
30 Aug 2018
Social Selling: Not just Millennials Mingling Online
During your last workday, how many times did you sneak a peek at your LinkedIn page, your Twitter feed or your Facebook timeline? Probably a little more often than you would like to admit. Staying in touch with friends is a basic human craving social media can temporarily satisfy. We all want to be social, stay in touch with our friends. But what if you could use this to also stay in touch with your customers?
9 Jul 2018
Communicator Summit 2018
They came from all over Europe. 14 communication professionals joined the EMG team at the end of June for EMG's 3rd annual Communicator Summit. This year's theme was “The Connected Customer”.
Communicator Summit 2018
9 Jul 2018
7 Jun 2018
Executive Communications: Learning from Elon Musk’s Media Moment
When Elon Musk decided to take issue with reporters and their media coverage last month, we felt a collective wince across the PR industry and pangs of sympathy for his communications team. Some of our team felt his tirade might be part of a broader strategy to promote Musk’s conceptual ‘Pravda’ platform to rate media credibility.
23 May 2018
Keep Calm!
You might have noticed the ‘Keep Calm and Communicate On’ logo that has appeared on our email signatures? If you click through you’ll find some great thinking from across the team that reflects on our latest customer survey.
Keep Calm!
23 May 2018
27 Mar 2018
Keep calm and communicate on
As part of our annual voice of the customer survey, we spoke to 40 marketing and communications professionals. Digital transformation and disruption were front of everyone’s mind. Every respondent mentioned the increasingly faster pace of marketing and a lack of time.
Keep calm and communicate on
27 Mar 2018
23 Mar 2018
Vanity or Valid: Are you measuring what matters?
It comes as no surprise that communications directors told us they are constantly being challenged to demonstrate the value of communications.
Vanity or Valid: Are you measuring what matters?
23 Mar 2018
21 Mar 2018
Millenials and Social selling
If you're reading this article on the train, in the office or even at home... stop! Now look up, and see if you can spot a Millennial? They are everywhere. There might be one in your family, one on your team, two might have even written this article!
Millenials and Social selling
21 Mar 2018
19 Mar 2018
Committing to CommsTech
The chances are that if you’re a marketing director and reading this story, you’re taking a quick break from a CRM implementation meeting! Almost half of the people we spoke with during our customer survey mentioned their company was striving for closer alignment of marketing and sales to drive more value and rolling out either a CRM or an ERP system.
Committing to CommsTech
19 Mar 2018
15 Mar 2018
Has content become too vanilla?
Content came up, unprompted, in every single interview of our survey. While some customers already have established strategies in place, others are just dipping their toes for the first time. It seems though that content marketing has finally reached a tipping point with industrial technology communicators. That's great, but a word of caution – beware of vanilla-ization.
Has content become too vanilla?
15 Mar 2018
13 Mar 2018
Think like an air traffic controller
No one has any time, anymore. Sometimes even getting the reactive, day-to-day stuff done can be a challenge, leaving less time to focus on the proactive and creative work we all entered this profession to do.
Think like an air traffic controller
13 Mar 2018
6 Mar 2018
Light & Building Show: is your communications as smart as your product?
In a few weeks our 'Automation & Control' team will be descending on Frankfurt. We work many shows throughout the year, but when it comes around, one highlight is always Light & Building - for the sheer amount of innovation, fresh thinking and design that comes to market.
8 Feb 2018
Trade Associations & industry analysts: the “celebrities” of B2B Influencer Relations
Influencer Marketing is taking off. The concept of using influencers to seed the right message is relatively easy to grasp in consumer industries such as fashion and beauty. Here we’re regularly confronted with influencers either directly or indirectly helping to enhance a reputation.
8 Jan 2018
EMG forms strategic alliance with digital agency Digiti to extend service portfolio
We’re kicking off this year with some exciting news of a new strategic alliance with full-service digital agency, Digiti.
7 Nov 2017
Mapping twists and turns in the digital customer journey
Customer journey mapping in a dispersed, digital landscape is now an ongoing process, not an annual event. The days of mapping customer journeys once a year (or every two years at a push) resulting in a final presentation are numbered.
31 Oct 2017
Are you Agile or on Autopilot?
Digital continues to put us under pressure to make decisions in real-time. If anything the pace is likely to accelerate. But we marketers are resilient, adaptable and ready to change at short notice, right? Agile marketing is one emerging approach to our fast moving world, but is there still a place for the annual planning cycle?
Are you Agile or on Autopilot?
31 Oct 2017
24 Oct 2017
Does it count?
When evaluating results of your work, stepping away from ‘success theatre’ and starting to count what really counts and measuring for learning instead can be scary. But in the end the only way to demonstrate the value of PR is to bring back these learnings to the organisation – good news or bad news.
Does it count?
24 Oct 2017
10 Oct 2017
Guardian Automotive: shop and showcase in one
Launching an online ordering facility for customers is one thing, building a corporate website is, often, quite something else. The conundrum is that on the one hand you want to make it easy for customers to order online – on the other you want to reach out and talk about your latest development, interact with your communities and invite them to share their stories. The answer is straightforward: combine the shop. and www. website into one digital presence.
Guardian Automotive: shop and showcase in one
10 Oct 2017
22 Aug 2017
Public Relations in the Arab World: Why it matters and how it should be done
Just two decades ago, PR (public relations) was still a nascent practice in the Middle East and was used primarily to boost events management and product promotions. A lot of advertising agencies offered PR services for free for their client upkeep. In-house PR departments were largely unheard of even in international businesses, with marketing executives taking on most of the PR chores.
20 Jun 2017
EMG Communicator Summit 2017: Embrace change and think like an air traffic controller
Two weeks ago a dozen senior marketers and communicators from across our client portfolio and guest speakers gathered at our office for EMG’s ‘Communicator Summit’. The two main areas for debate were digital marketing and the changing role of the industrial communicator.
12 Jun 2017
Managing transition through timely and consistent M&A communications
Merger and acquisition (M&A) activity creates a challenging period for all parties concerned. In addition to the confidential, multifaceted, behind-the-scenes processes for each organisation, it’s important to communicate with all stakeholders involved using clear, consistent content. A well-considered and well-timed approach can help to moderate the uncertainty that comes with change.
24 Apr 2017
Spring Cleaning: Issues & Crisis Planning
It’s one of those things on every communications director’s to-do list… review the crisis and issues preparedness plan.
Spring Cleaning: Issues & Crisis Planning
24 Apr 2017
16 Mar 2017
‘Made in Sheffield’: Best Practices in Reputation Management
My hometown Sheffield is on a roll at the moment with Boeing and McLaren recently announcing multi-million investment deals that will benefit the city.