The Budget’s best tech PR story – Can Britannia rule the Big Data wave?

Lauren By Lauren

Big DataOne of the most interesting announcements from last week’s budget was the foundation of the Alan Turing Institute.  

Many of our clients have a Big Data story, whether it is security clients that can talk about how Big Data analysis can bolster security or analytics clients that can talk about sales and marketing activities.  We also work with Elsevier, the scientific publisher which means we also focus on worldwide game changers at the top end of Big Data initiatives such as drug development.    

So what impact will the foundation of the Turing Institute have in terms of media discussion and technology PR activities?  For a start, it is likely to turn a hot topic into a burning issue and will hopefully shine a light on cutting edge big data projects in the UK.   

The negative is that, if they are not on-board already, every technology vendor will jump on this particular buzzword bandwagon.  Therefore it is important to think carefully about how to get heard above the noise.  Rather than putting out stories, it is better to get involved in the discussion, make predictions for the future and showcase innovative use cases (real or imaginary). 

Our top tips for doing this effectively are:

  1. Be timely – the media (particularly social) is often compared to a cocktail party.  Nobody is interested in opinion on a topic that has already been discussed at length.  Pay close attention to breaking news and react as quickly as possible (we try to be first to respond with a comment on behalf of clients)
  2. Know your company’s area of expertise and spend time crafting a personal vision – It is not necessary to initiate a discussion, that can be left to the Turing Institute or industry analysts.   However, it is important  to contribute an interesting perspective to ensure what you say is amplified
  3. Cover all bases –hot topics are debated on social media, traditional media and within the analyst community – becoming an opinion leader means engaging with all of these channels.  Bring topical debate to owned communication channels through blogs and social media to ensure that customers and prospects find your content more compelling

Big Data has always been a competitive topic, and will probably become more so.  The good news is that the media expands to fit the level of interest so there will be more blogs, more forums, more media stories and more analyst reports devoted to the topic. So find something interesting to say and get involved.    

_(Image via Wikimedia Commons)_