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Technology Communications

Welcome to our newest issue of Positioning Online.

Although the past three years have been gloomy for the technology industry, the bust, and its resultant slump in tech communications, is almost over. Current clients want additional programs, new clients are seeking agency help, and both technology corporations and agencies with tech practices are starting to hire communicators again. Companies in other countries also are looking to expand beyond their borders.

But the pace is far slower than it was during the boom’s heyday. The focus of tech communications has shifted from “gee whiz—cool!” to technology’s business and consumer benefits.  What does this mean for PR professionals in the technology sphere?  How can the communications function adapt to the changes? 

Read on to learn what the tech PR pros have to say on the topic.

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January 2005 Edition

TECH COMMUNICATIONS EVOLUTION

Although the past three years have been gloomy for the technology industry, the bust, and its resultant slump in tech communications, is almost over. Current clients want additional programs, new clients are seeking agency help, and both technology corporations and agencies with tech practices are starting to hire communicators again. Companies in other countries also are looking to expand beyond their borders. Even Red Herring has started to publish again with a broader tech industry focus.

But the pace is far slower than it was during the boom’s heyday. The focus of tech communications has shifted from “gee whiz—cool!” to technology’s business and consumer benefits. Though the so-called geek space is active – wireless, business enterprise and application software, semiconductors, consumer technology and software, telecom, videoconferencing, network management and security software are the hot spaces – it is being talked about differently.

Why? The stakes for tech companies are higher than ever. Business software and hardware costs are high – a piece of new business software can easily cost $1 million and up. Yes, the “gee-whiz” factor still exists – folks want the coolest ringtones or downloadable games – but gee-whiz isn’t a core value, for business or consumer, anymore.  Instead, it’s “what can this do (for me or us)?” and, especially for business users, “how big a bang is there for our buck?” Businesses want to know their return on investment: What kinds of definable, measurable productivity improvements can they expect for the technology they’re laying out so much money for, and where are the statistics to back it up. Consumers, meanwhile, want to know whether an upgrade to already existing technology will really make a positive difference in their lives. “People want to see how technology can solve the biggest, thorniest problems,” says Edward Barbini, vice president, media relations at IBM Corp., Armonk, N.Y.

And because of the hype during the boom, technology products and services today must pass through far more rigorous hoops to prove they’re worth writing about, let alone buying. The far smaller cadre of experienced industry reporters and editors, burned during the boom, are now, understandably, “show me the ROI” cynics. So the pressure is on tech communicators to be able to talk about the diversity and applicability of products and services in depth. And they have to be clear about the value they bring to the table. “We’re being forced to prove the value of technology,” says Tony Sapienza, principal partner and co-founder of Topaz Partners, Malden, Mass. “It has made our job a lot tougher,” agrees Mark Hampton, senior vice president and manager of the San Francisco office of Text 100 Public Relations.

Tech has even changed how people communicate. Wireless technology now enables e-mails and text messages to be sent or picked up from anywhere. Earnings calls, conferences and seminars are routinely broadcast over the Internet. Reporters use Instant Message software to conduct interviews. A communications person can go days without hearing a human voice – something Mark Fredrickson, vice president of corporate communications at EMC Corporation in Hopkinton, Mass., cautions his team not to let happen. Personal relationships with analysts and the press “keep us in tune with the marketplace,” he says. “Sometimes it’s better to say what you want to say over the phone and not leave a paper trail.”

Accessing information has changed as well. Busy reporters, analysts or PR pros can open their RSS readers (software that customizes news feeds) and check the latest news, blogs or press releases, or download headlines to their PDAs. Blogs and bulletin boards are yet other elements that communicators must know how to address. But as some of them pass rumor and publicity as well as fact, they also make a communicator’s job more difficult and sensitive. “The average person thinks a press release in Yahoo! News is real, legit news,” says Shelley Bird, chief communications officer of NCR Corporation, Dayton, Ohio. “That creates pressures for my team.”

And if all this weren’t enough, Sarbanes-Oxley has changed communications. “Everything (a company says) will be deeply scrutinized in a way it wasn’t before,” says Andrew Lark, until recently vice president, global communications and marketing for Sun Microsystems, Menlo Park, Calif. And it is forcing a lot of fiduciary training in corporate communications.

Over the last 10 years, the tech industry has been catching up in sophistication and maturity to other industries. “We have caught up to best practices and are now leading the charge in new and emerging practice areas,” says Anne McCarthy, senior vice president, global communications, at enterprise software maker SAP America, Inc. in Newtown Square, Penn. “There’s still name-calling and mudslinging, but less. Maybe communicators are having better luck counseling CEOs.”

TECH COMM – TIPS & TACTICS

Today, getting the message out about technology is the most complex and knowledge-intensive area in communications. Business users have one set of imperatives, consumers, another. Audiences for telecom, electronic design and semiconductor development are entirely different from those for enterprise software, ringtones, games or search engines.

Communicating about technology has become a far more strategic function for corporations, as executives seek to tie communications goals to business goals and integrate it with other marketing disciplines. NCR’s Bird, for example, wants to bring PR skills “to the whole product development process, so that when a product is being readied for its beta test and launch, we can help make it a stronger story, rather than scrambling and trying to spin it at the end.”

Tech companies also need good tactical implementation. But it’s now much harder to get a reporter’s or editor’s attention. Most are so busy they rarely do face-to-face meetings. And even if they do, “It takes three meetings and six months to get a reporter to write something,” says Sabrina Horn, president, CEO and chairman of New York and San Francisco-based Horn Group, an agency that specializes in technology clients.

Tech communications today has to reach not just the press, but “a whole ecosystem of influencers – professors, authors, analysts, media,” says Peter Harris, senior vice president of Ketchum’s corporate and tech practice. To Lark, the challenge is building communities and constituencies. “We have a huge amount to learn from the pharmaceutical industry – they have mastered the art of influencing the public through the doctor,” he says. “For us, the developer is our most important constituency – without them, you don’t get the CIO or IT manager.”

Influencers need to get a steady stream of news and information, and important announcements should be backed with phone calls. But issuing press releases for every new widget, possible widget or twiddle in a widget will no longer fly. As Jamie Parker, president, technology, Weber Shandwick, Cambridge, Mass., puts it: “PR does not stand for press release.”

Relating announcements to a reporter’s beat, or even building an information package for journalists, complete with a story line and sources, is one effective tactic. “Have your points and your analysts ready to use,” says Harris, adding, “You almost need to write the story for them.” Parker’s team does “cover-to-cover” strategies: “We’ll analyze whether there’s a relevant opportunity” in the different sections of the newspaper. But it can be hard to get them to assist with information that would help formulate and shape a story to be pitched. “You almost have to come up with a Chinese menu of options from which they can pick and choose,” Horn says.

SAP takes a two-tiered approach. Its product communications team talks to the technology trades and vertical publications, and the corporate media team talks to top tier global business media. Chris Sorek, senior vice president, public communications for SAP’s Walldorf, Germany headquarters, emphasizes that it is essential to have consistent, clear, one-voice messages.

Intel, which still maintains strong day-to-day communication with journalists, has been reaching out more to the mainstream consumer press over the past five or six years. The women’s magazine segment has been the hardest nut to crack, says Pam Pollace, Intel’s vice president of corporate communications in Santa Clara, Calif. “They don’t want to cover technology. It perplexes me, as their readers and their families want the information,” she says.

And if there’s a crisis, you or your client needs a structured, coordinated setup that will let you respond immediately – and it has to be ready before any crisis happens, says Dan Ginsburg, senior vice president & general manager of Environics Communications, Inc. in Stamford, Conn. But he acknowledges that making sure a response is smart, well thought out and vetted, can be a challenge.

“Senior PR people need a seat in the C-suite and with the legal team,” he says. Should an issue materialize, he recommends making sure vetted documents have been developed, and having a list of key contacts assembled. “If a product, for example, has a defect and you have two hours until the story comes out, you need to be able to determine, fast, if you want to put out a statement, and if so, to be able to get it cleared by legal in time.”

Ginsburg has even taken his clients through mock crisis drills to be sure all necessary elements are in place.

TECH COMMUNICATIONS HIRING

Does a PR person need to have a background in tech? Communications pros are split on this one, with mostly “yes” votes from the agency pros and “not necessarily” from the corporate pros.

Solid communications skills, including good writing and the ability to translate complex concepts for the media and for readers and/or users, are essential. Corporate communicators also want bigger company experience and international experience, and the more consumer-focused firms also want folks with a consumer brand background. They are also more willing to hire a communicator without a tech background. “I can teach tech, but it is a lot harder to teach good creative communications,” says Lark.

Agency pros, on the other hand, say prior tech communications experience is essential. Heidi Sinclair, chair of the global technology practice at Burson-Marsteller in Los Angeles, says communicating about tech “requires a level of expertise a generalist wouldn’t have.”

Given the industry’s complexity, however, the paramount skill for agency and corporate pros alike is the ability to translate tech concepts into understandable prose.

And, once on board, communicators need to get up to speed. Fast. Most tech companies have in-house “universities” for employees, with optional and required on-line and real-time courses and seminars about their company’s products and services. EMC even puts its communications people through the same training program as its sales staff. “We get good cooperation from senior executives and technical experts because our people are up to speed,” says EMC’s Fredrickson. “It's refreshing for a reporter or analyst to get someone on the phone who has a pretty good chance of answering their questions, rather than just a facilitator.”

THE BLOGOSPHERE

No doubt about it: Blogs are hot. Pick a sector, technology or other, and there’s probably a blog out there that covers it.

Even though some communications pros are not yet sure that trustworthy blogger voices have emerged, all pay attention to blogs, and all have their favorites. Some have even assigned a team member to keep up with the ones that have the most impact on the business.

Developers tend to look at more sophisticated blogs, such as Slashdot. Search engine pros can read John Battelle’s Searchblog.

Consumer toy folks, on the other hand, would be well advised to keep Gizmodo bookmarked.

Bacon’s Information plans to inaugurate its coverage of blogs this month to help determine their impact on corporate reputations.

Also, many of the major tech reporters for newspapers have blogs, which let readers find out what they really think about a given product. The Boston Globe’s tech reporter, Hiawatha Bray, maintains www.monitortan.com. Several executives mentioned San Jose Mercury News’ Dan Gillmor’s blog (not to be confused with Steve Gillmor’s Inforouter blog. Other reputable blogs include Infoworld’s “Strategic Developer” columnist Jon Udell’s site, and IT Garage by tech writer Doc Searls.

Another blog that makes for entertaining and informative reading is Scripting News, written by technology developer Dave Winer. It’s one of the longest-running blogs on the Internet.

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Amy Friedman is a contributing writer to Positioning Online.

© 2004 Heyman Associates, Inc.