2021 presented many opportunities for C8 and was another highly successful year, despite challenges presented by the pandemic. With a number of successful research projects, exciting launches, in-person events and social media campaigns, as well as new client wins, the team were busier than ever gaining fantastic results across the board.
Read on for a recap of some of the team’s highlights of the year.
Paula Elliott, Managing Director
A real C8 highlight in 2021 was the launch of the 2021 VMware Global Security Insights Report which C8 handled from start to finish, from ideation to execution and launch. This was the fourth consecutive year that we have undertaken this campaign, so it was great to be able to benchmark this study against previous years and to be able to track the trends. To date it has been the most downloaded material out of all the demand generation activities undertaken by the VMware Security Business Unit. This was a multi-faceted campaign which involved C8 commissioning over 16 different country research campaigns, collating all the results and consequently drafting not only the global report but each of the individual country reports. Additionally, we developed an array of digital assets, infographics, storyboards, presentations and more. At the time of launch we secured heavyweight tier 1 national, business and technology press across multiple territories and it was great to see the hard work of an intensive six-month research programme finally come to successful fruition.
Jim Pople, PR Director
There were a few highlights for me in 2021; one of these was how well we all coped in navigating another year of lockdowns and disruption. The whole team really flourished and delivered some outstanding results for our clients. Another 2021 highlight was in the new clients I had the opportunity to work with, including Eseye and Noname Security, which came on-board in January and December 2021, respectively. However, the biggest personal highlight for me in 2021 was being part of a team that achieved some fantastic, top-tier national coverage for the second annual third-party risk research campaign with BlueVoyant, particularly the UK branch of the research, for which we secured interviews with The Telegraph and Sky News (despite isolation forcing me to take a back-seat)! Here’s to a great 2022!
Helen Hopper, Associate Copywriting Manager
After the restrictions of 2020 and early 2021, my C8 highlights last year were undoubtedly the two quarterly business meetings we were able to hold at the Record Stores in London. With the team having worked remotely for the larger part of the year, it was wonderful to meet in person and step back from the immediate demands of our roles to reconnect with each other – and meet new colleagues who joined during the pandemic.
We always get a lot done during these sessions, whether it is pulling together a mock-pitch in just 20 minutes to impress some hilariously hard-to-please potential clients, or hearing from one of our clients’ top journalist targets about the way they like to work with PRs. There’s always good food and something fun to do in the afternoon, too, such as team darts, treasure hunts and a few drinks to follow. It’s a great way to build the team and especially important given recent experiences.
Kiri O’Leary, PR Manager
In early December 2021, we organised an in-person roundtable and lunch at The Marylebone Hotel in London to launch BlueVoyant’s UK Global Insights Report. Hosted by BlueVoyant’s Chairman Robert Hannigan, former GCHQ Director, and James Tamblin, President of BlueVoyant UK, journalists engaged in discussions around the findings of the company’s annual research into third-party cyber risks facing UK businesses.
We had an impressive roster of press attend, including a number of tier 1 national journalists, such as Gordon Corera (BBC) and Matthew Field (The Telegraph), as well as a Zoom briefing with Alex Martin (Sky News). The launch resulted in print and online coverage in The Telegraph, as well as top trade publications such as Infosecurity Magazine.
This was the first non-virtual, *physical* event that I’d organised and attended for a client in 2021 – something which would have been the norm pre-2020. I’m very glad the roundtable was able to take place at the end of last year, and hope that 2022 allows for more face-to-face press events and launches.
Jess Kelliher, PR Executive
A highlight of 2021 for me, was attending my first in-person event in over two years. The Security Event was an exhibition based in Birmingham where my client Panasonic i-Pro was launching its latest partnership announcement. After two years of Covid, it made me realise the seemingly small things are what I missed the most. Getting a train up to Birmingham with an overpriced coffee, speaking to people without the use of Zoom and walking around an exhibition centre with slightly achy feet, full of other people with all the same thing on everyone’s minds: ‘I’m just happy to be out of the office’.
The event was also a big highlight for me, as I got to meet Panasonic team members who I would speak to every day, but due to them being located across Europe I had never met in person. Not to mention the organisation of five excellent briefings (who all turned up on time!), which would be my first ever experience of hosting in-person briefings. All briefings went exceedingly well, approaching the Panasonic i-PRO spokesperson with different ideas and perspectives, to keep the conversation interesting and new.
Ameesha Patel, PR Executive
My personal highlight of 2021 was supporting in the writing and publishing of LinkedIn content for the launch of Panasonic Connect Europe in October. The new organisation brought together Panasonic’s high-quality B2B product portfolio – ranging from manufacturing machines and software to ruggedised mobile computing solutions, and its broadcast and media entertainment portfolio – alongside systems integration, application software development skills and much more to create a new technology solutions leader. Supporting the social side for Panasonic has been an immense pleasure; it is undeniable that communicating over social has never been easier and connects like-minded people within communities all over the world. In my time managing their social media, I’ve seen over a 3,000-follower increase, a rise in engagement by 30% and I got a team-wide shoutout from the internal corporate comms team which was a great confidence boost, to know I’ve done a good job to keep the momentum going for 2022!
Megan Mackintosh, PR Executive
My career highlight of 2021 was working towards COP26. With a new client that works in sustainable mobility management, it was an exciting opportunity to build connections in the energy and green-tech sectors and to immerse myself in such a globally important moment. Watching in real time, it was a reminder in how events like this can drive discussions in the media, and can bring underdiscussed topics to the forefront of our minds. Although we couldn’t physically attend, I learned so much about securing briefings and event promotion and gained a real flavour of what PR will be like when real-world events and conferences can safely resume. The two-week period provided such an insight for me professionally, and it was exciting as a spectator to see urgently needed conversations around climate change play out so close to home.
Polly Pye, Junior PR Executive
My main C8 highlight of 2021 was being involved with the launch of BlueVoyant’s UK 3PR Report in December, which found that 97% of UK organisations suffered a supply chain cybersecurity breach over the last year. Outreaching to journalists to attend the press launch in-person was definitely a challenge, but the event was a success, and we gained some fantastic pieces of coverage in The Telegraph, IT Pro Portal and Infosecurity Magazine, amongst others!
For more information about how C8 Consulting can help to create compelling campaigns and kick-start conversations for your business, or to understand more about the social and digital activities that we are undertaking for our clients please feel free to contact us.