The 'next big thing' in telecoms

When Airvana commenced its relationship with Babel at the end of 2007, it was doing so having never had a UK PR agency and as such was starting from a base of limited recognition amongst European press and analysts. A leading player in the femtocell space – the telecoms industry's 'next big thing' – Airvana needed to gain mind share against its better known rivals (at least as far as European press and analysts were concerned).

To achieve this it engaged Babel to…

Catching the competition

Babelgum is a privately owned company launching a global TV service delivered via 'peer to peer' streaming technology across the Internet. Although the technology had been under development for two years Babelgum was beaten to the market by Joost, an extremely well resourced company launched by Niklas Zennstrøm and Janus Friis, the people behind Skype.

At this stage of development, content was key for both companies and in order for Babelgum to be taken seriously by potential content partners, it needed to be seen as a…

Clarity from complexity

Spirent, a UK plc focussed on test and measurement in the telecommunications sector, came to Babel seeking to clarify its public positioning in a highly complex market. It had been concentrating on promoting solutions to customer requirements with a bewildering array of individual products but the company had difficulty establishing higher level relationships in which target customers would recognise Spirent as a key partner.

Using the analogy of Harry Beck's schematic simplification of the London tube map, Babel PR helped the company to clarify its messages…

Video everywhere

Babel was approached by Nativ, a specialist in video content distribution, at the beginning of 2008 to increase the profile of the company and launch its Mio Workflow managed service.

The overall PR strategy was to drive sales of Mio at a time when content owners and advertisers are being forced to look beyond the linear broadcast model because of new platforms and video-enabled devices entering the video market. Prior to appointing Babel, Nativ had worked on high profile projects such as the BBC iPlayer, but from…

Cashing in with Google Checkout

Leading new media agency big:interactive linked up with Babel PR in April 2007. At the time Google Checkout was being launched globally and big:interactive wanted to capitalise on its position as one of Google's trusted system integrators.

Babel devised a PR programme that would take advantage of this relationship with Google and position the company as an expert in all matters relating to new media, ecommerce and payment gateways. To achieve this, Babel worked with online bartering website, Speedy Camel – one of big:group's…

Placed at the centre of digital TV

The Digital TV Group (DTG) is the industry association for digital television in the UK. Babel was tasked with raising the organisation's profile during a crucial period in the development of digital television services.

Babel implemented a comprehensive programme of activity that focussed on positioning the DTG as the obvious 'port of call' for all things digital TV. Key relationships with leading media and analysts were initiated and developed to encourage a base of support for the DTG's aims and aspirations.

That…

Gaining 'Traction'

Australian digital communications company MassMedia Studios came to Babel with a brief to raise its profile amongst potential customers in the European market and to generate sales of its 'Traction', digital content management platform.

Babel used MassMedia Studios experience working with Cadbury, a major international brand, to open the door to the major marketing and digital media titles, both print and online. A formal announcement of the tie in with Cadbury was used to secure dedicated editorial coverage which was supplemented with MassMedia Studios' inclusion in a…

Award winning hosting

In a market increasingly perceived as 'commoditised' it's important to stand out from the crowd. Ultraspeed, one of the leading UK managed hosting providers sought to do just that when it joined forces with Babel PR. Babel recognised that in order for Ultraspeed to gain traction against its larger and better known competitors it needed to communicate candidly on all issues affecting the managed hosting market and data centres issues generally as well as highlighting the unique features of its offering.

To this end, Babel designed…

The only route for mobile backhaul

Cambridge Broadband Networks, the point-to-multipoint cellular backhaul specialists appointed Babel PR near the end of 2007 to lead its campaign around Mobile World Congress (MWC) in Barcelona the following February.

Babel was tasked with positioning point to multipoint mobile backhaul as a key technology that meets industry demands to cope with increasing data and voice traffic. The aim was also to gain interest from the European market in Cambridge Broadband Networks' innovative product VectaStar and to position it as pivotal in handling mobile…

Optimising the mobile Web

Three years ago nobody used their mobile phone to surf the internet. But the introduction of Apple's iPhone changed things and being able to find your way using a GPS map or check the weather on your mobile, suddenly became cool. But users still are not experiencing the best the mobile internet can offer. InfoGin began working with Babel in 2009 to create awareness among operators and media companies that viewing web content on a mobile doesn't have to mean a compromise in viewing experience.

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Mobile chat

Geodesic worked with Babel PR in 2007 to launch its mobile instant messaging service, Mundu IM into the UK market. The objectives of the campaign were twofold: (1) to generate downloads of the Mundu IM client to mobile handsets and, (2) to create awareness among mobile handset manufacturers of the benefits of embedding the service into mobile phones offered to consumers.

Babel designed two streams of parallel activity which included media briefings with trade and technical media and a reviews programme for the service to ensure mainstream…

The step to ultimate connectivity

Babel kick-started the European PR campaign for Indian value added service provider IMImobile n November 2007.

IMImobile was already well established in the emerging markets, providing a range of innovative services and content to mobile subscribers via its DaVinci service delivery platform. However IMImobile wanted to penetrate the European market in order to expose themselves to content providers and brands, many of which are headquartered in Europe. Babel used its industry expertise to focus the campaign on a number of 'hot' topics that were…

Mobile TV to the masses

Telegent Systems is a leading mobile TV specialist, focusing on designing and producing TV receivers for mobile devices. In October 2007 Babel PR was approached by Telegent to improve its visibility within the European market in particular to create more awareness of Telegent's mobile TV solutions.

Despite Telegent offering solutions supporting existing broadcast standards (including PAL, SECAM, DVB-H) much of the market was unaware that this was technically possible and so Babel focussed on educating the key opinion formers on the potential for exploiting…

An industry issue made public

At the end of 2006 the UK's media and telecoms regulator announced proposals to auction the radio spectrum that will be made available as a result of the current switch from analogue to digital television transmission. That situation immediately placed under threat the possibility of the public service broadcasters delivering high definition TV on the Freeview platform and the plans of manufacturers and retailers.

The HDforAll group was formed by the public service broadcasters, retailers and manufacturers to raise the issue amongst the public.…

IPTV security and beyond

Verimatrix, specialist in software based content security for the pay-TV industries, began working with Babel in early 2008. The television services sector is fast-growing environment and highly competitive and so Babel advised on a strategy of thought leadership to establish Verimatrix the company uniquely qualified to comment on key industry issues.

Underpinned by key messages 'branded' as Verimatrix, this issues based approach was designed to differentiate Verimatrix from its competitors, positioning the company as a market leader. Babel's approach consisted of a media and analyst…

No longer all at sea

Navitas provides mobile telephony solutions in remote locations, primarily on ships. Babel PR was retained by Navitas to raise awareness of the value of on-board mobile networks.

Babel commissioned research in which the ability for crew to contact friends and family while on-board was identified as a major positive benefit and likely to significantly influence both the initial choice of position and the decision to remain with an existing employer. The survey results were used as the basis of an event proposal to Seatrade…

From nothing to market leadership

TVonics is a UK company launched in 2004 specialising in design and manufacture in the digital television sector. The company approached Babel towards the end of 2006 when it launched its first retail products. Whilst the company's products are innovative and highly specified, brand awareness was non-existent and it was competing against leading brands like Sony, Panasonic and LG.

The traditional approach to a consumer electronics launch would have been to focus attention on product reviews, but Babel advised the company that this work…