Heriot-Watt Enterprise
Gone Fission
Imagine five people telling the same story at the same time to the same people. How do you make sure your client’s voice is the voice that is heard?
Find the strongest news line and don’t follow the crowd.
In fact we shared our news four days after everyone else.
350+
Global hits
The Strategy
When the UK Government announced an investment of £160 million into five quantum technology hubs, we knew it had major news potential. But the announcement included numerous universities. We also had a complex story to tell. Simplifying quantum technology is not an easy task but then we met Professor Gerald Buller…
He explained this research could lead to a near ‘unhackable internet – like a lock that changes every time you try and pick it’.
Boom. We had our newsline. Next, we had to manage our messaging around the wider UK Government announcement, ensuring their news had time to breathe.
We advised Heriot-Watt to hold their announcement back. This was a carefully researched strategy, which required careful monitoring of the news agenda alongside conversations with our close media contacts.
Confident and armed with targeted press releases, we hit the telephones. We pitched and secured numerous interviews with radio and TV including BBC Radio Scotland, Forth 1 and STV. We also targeted a tailored list of business, tech and specialist titles.
And we didn’t stop there. We bagged a broadcast package with Reuters complete with on-site interviews at Heriot-Watt University and a down-the-line interview with the government funder UKRI. This really drove home the impact of a quantum internet on our daily lives.
The Results
Over 350 media hits achieved, including 150 globally from the USA, Portugal, India, UAE and Australia. Locally, we landed a double page spread in The Scotsman and a full page in the P&J along with The Independent, the Metro and The Herald.
Broadcast included STV’s News at 6 programme, multiple radio bulletins across commercial stations and a full interview on BBC Radio Scotland’s flagship news programme. With strong coverage across business, tech and specialist titles, our announcement was also the lead story in both The Herald’s and Insider’s emailed newsletters on the day our embargo lifted.
“The media response was much greater than we could ever have imagined, with a huge range of outlets featuring our story. Having worked in academia for many decades this has been one of the best experiences I’ve had in terms of a press release – most have died a quiet death fairly quickly. I can only recommend Hot Tin Roof in the strongest possible terms.”
Professor Gerald Buller
Professor at Heriot-Watt University’s School of Engineering and Physical Sciences, and the Institute of Photonics and Quantum Sciences
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Selected coverage
Selected coverage