SuperTech West midlands

PRACTICE AREAS

Message development; press office activities and media relations; partner communications; thought leadership writing; event support; podcast and organic social media.

THE CLIENT

SuperTech is the UK’s only technology supercluster with a core mandate to advance all professional services through technology adoption and innovation. Through pioneering activities designed to drive cross-sector partnerships between Financial, Insurance, Property and Legal Industries and Academia, SuperTech facilitates and leads initiatives that propel innovation and investment both in-region and nationally.

In Spring 2024, SuperTech released the first, unified Research and Innovation Roadmap to foster substantial economic growth in Birmingham and the West Midlands over the next decade, while aligning with the national agenda for long-term prosperity in the UK. The Roadmap presents analysis and planned activities drawn from over 150 hours of consultation with industry, insights that were instrumental to the overall success of the launch campaign.

 

THE CHALLENGE

  • To launch the Roadmap, SuperTech needed a communications partner that is fully immersed in the wider UK fintech and innovation agenda; a partner with a deep appreciation of the roadmap’s significance for businesses, consumers and investors; and the ability to execute a strategic, multi-channel media and stakeholder communications campaign.
  • The launch campaign needed to detail the roadmap’s multi-year plan of actionable initiatives across FinTech, PropTech, LegalTech and InsurTech. 
  • The challenge was to ensure all press and partner communication served to advance the understanding of the economic, societal and environmental benefits of SuperTech’s joined-up programme of work, which suggests a potential impact of over 4,600 regional jobs and the addition of £1.5bn to the regional economy in 10 years.
  • The desired outcome was cross-sector engagement, to showcase an open borders approach highlighting the success and prominence of the region and its contribution to the UK national innovation agenda.

THE LAUNCH CAMPAIGN

  • The roadmap launch was conducted over a one-month period.
  • Following workshops to understand the core priorities, data and analysis from roadmap contributors, we worked to develop strong messaging that would educate and evidence impact.  The messaging framework acted as a blueprint for all content and sparked new ideas to demonstrate how SuperTech could fulfil its mission.
  • The media engagement campaign was delivered across FinTech, PropTech, LegalTech, InsurTech and UK national press. We provided full press office support to SuperTech and drafted and reviewed statements for contributors and associated national supporters. 
  • To further enhance impact, we worked with and presented media plans to contributors and partners to ensure buy-in and a coordinated outreach plan.
  • We produced a thought leadership article and podcast to position the roadmap deliverables. 
  • All content was further amplified via social media channels with compelling content and visuals.

THE IMPACT

  • The roadmap launch significantly enhanced the awareness, visibility and credibility of SuperTech and broadened the scope for industry and academia to collaborate.
  • The campaign successfully positioned SuperTech as the key driver for cross-sector engagement, joining up initiatives that will fully enable and serve businesses, consumers and investors in the West Midlands and beyond. 
  • The launch was covered by 19 publications and featured in newsletters and email alerts within target publications (FinTech, PropTech, LegalTech and InsurTech, wider technology publications and regional media) with an estimated reach of 900,000 readers.
  • We achieved over 6,000 impressions per LinkedIn post, generating an average engagement rate of 7.1% (vs expected industry engagement rates of 1- 3.5%, which is considered good).
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