High Tech PR Is Facing a Sea Change

The IFA fair in Berlin— one of the world's oldest consumer electronics shows — moved into new territory last month by making room for washers, dryers, stoves and other household appliances, alongside the more customary flat-screen TVs, digital video cameras and state-of-the-art mobile phones.

There are a number of good, sensible reasons for this change in the short-term, but the longer-term implications for high tech public relations practitioners are profound.

Today, many retailers (the IFA’s target audience) sell both types of products and many major electronic manufacturers (which underwrite the IFA) make both kinds of devices. What’s more intriguing — and this is what may make a difference ultimately in the practice of high tech PR — hybrids of the two kinds of devices are already in the works (e.g., refrigerators, with built-in LCD televisions, that send you your shopping list by email).

In high tech PR, we’re just beginning to wrap our minds around the concept of mobile marketing to cell phones. What about a future that promises DTF (direct to fridge) marketing?

How Do You Count Your Cash?

Now, more than ever, we need to “think global and act local.” Despite the fact that the internet has made the world a smaller place, it hasn’t eradicated many of the more subtle cultural differences that separate us. For just one example, check out “How People Count Cash,” a nifty little video that shows how people all around the world have their own, unique ways of counting currency.

These subtle cultural differences can be critical if you’re doing business in an unfamiliar market. It’s one of the reasons why our firm has long cultivated a network of partner agencies, regionally, nationally and worldwide: IPREX , one of the world’s largest global public relations networks, and the Northeast Partnership, which consists of seven PR firms in New England (Connecticut, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Vermont, Maine), New York and New Jersey.

It’s part of our commitment to “The Power of Specialized Thinking.” Not only have we organized our practice areas — health care + pharmaceutical, technology + business services, financial + professional services, investor relations, branding + visual communications and online fluency — to reflect our belief that depth of expertise always yields the best outcomes, but also because we’re convinced that geographic and cultural specialization are more productive and often more cost efficient for our clients.