Drew B's take on tech PR

Battenhall is two - looking back and what lies ahead

Two years ago, I walked into an empty office alone on the top floor of a newly-rented space in Shoreditch and opened up shop. Battenhall was born, and it turns two tomorrow. 

Day one at Battenhall, March 8th 2013

These last two years have literally shot by, but the last six months in particular have humbled me as we've seen recognition from our industry for our achievements beyond what I could have hoped for back then when Battenhall was just me in an empty office in East London. 

Since September we have been named Agency of the Future by the PRCA, Best Small Agency in the UK by the Social Media Awards, Finalist for Best New Agency by PR Week, then this week we won our favourite award so far, Best Social Media Agency (not small, or new, just best) at the PR Moment Awards. To be named the top agency in the UK while we are so young and still so new to the market has totally blown me away.

I'm so incredibly proud of my team and thankful to our clients and supporters for getting to this point so quickly in our company history.

Our recent award wins

Founding mission two years on

I launched Battenhall with the founding mission to change how brand communications agencies work. Having spent most of my career investing a lot of personal time in side projects, testing and learning with emerging social media technologies, then applying all of this in PR and marketing consultancy, I had seen how it could create a new way of working which better suited the increasingly social media centric world we live in.

Working in this way I saw was delivering the best work, attracting the best clients and the most talented colleagues. This is why I knew I had to launch an agency where a new way or working was built into the core, and where all team members have a depth of social media and digital expertise. 

To accompany a way of working, I felt that we would also need to create systems and processes too. So we give all team members a large technology budget, flexi working location and hours, unlimited holidays, and tons of other perks that enable us to all do our jobs at another level. You can read our full manifesto here. 

The PRCA's Agency of the Future documentary on Battenhall and how we work

Two years on and the founding mission has shown that this new way of working not only works, but is thriving. We don't talk too much openly about our clients, but they are a who's who of brand names and blue chips. And our way of working has been noticed by places such as the FT, Forbes and the PRCA. 

Where it all started and what comes next

Battenhall was named after a place, in Worcestershire, and it's where I grew up. Both my parents spent their entire lives working with machinery, and my father would often bring parts home for me to make things out of. I think that's where I got my fascination with all things tech. My mother left her native Spain to find work in England in the 1960's and ultimately settled upon Battenhall. Perhaps that's the entrepreneurial spirit that she passed to me too. And I'd like to think I have taken on their work ethic too - setting up a new business certainly isn't easy, but nothing like the kind of work my parents were used to. 

Our social data insights as used in a recent Guardian feature article

Our mission is to create the next great agency, and I'd say we're getting there fast. Now the hard work is starting to pay off, and Battenhall has a future to plan. This involves new disciplines, new markets and a constant flow of innovations in how we work. We're building up new divisions in ad planning and buying, creative, design & build, and data insights. We're hiring at all levels, so get in touch if you're interested.

Here's to the next two years and many more - thank you to all who are supporting us along the way.

Keynoting SAScon: the future of PR

Quaking in by boots just a little as I'm heading up to Manchester this evening for my first conference keynote talk. I'm opening up SAScon (Search, Analytics & Social Conference). It looks to be a pretty interesting event, as the convergence of disciplines and skills is exactly what the future of PR is about. And social is obviously my focus.

Other speakers I'm really looking forward to catching up with include Dom Burch, head of social at ASDA, Robin Wilson of McCann Erickson, Andy Barr of 10Yetis, Rob Brown of Rule 5 and Phil Mackechnie of Moneysupermarket. And of course all the people that I haven't yet met or connected with online - apparently the day is sold out. 

If you aren't there, follow on the hashtag #SAScon. If you are there, let me know on Twitter and we should meet up! 

Help Battenhall find a new London HQ

The paint on the walls is barely dry, but already it is time for me to find Battenhall a new London HQ. We launched Battenhall in March 2013 and our team has grown from 1 to 10 people, we have clients including FTSE 100s, cult FMCG brands and hot startups. We're putting on big events and creating our own research all that. We're expanding so fast, it's only a matter of time before we need a new office altogether. 

We've been looking already under our own steam, but finding an office for a young and growing company in London is HARD. Space is usually not as flexible as we need to be, and we're a client servicing business, so our home needs to look more impressive than average. Also the race for space in London is tough. Twice already an office we really liked got snapped up before we could so much as check the particulars. Like this one, below. 

So here is what we are after. If you think you can help us, please get in touch with me by email or Twitter (@drewb): 

• Space for 10 people with room to grow (so maybe more than 10 if the space is not flexible)
• Location: Shoreditch, Tech City, Clerkenwell or surrounding areas
• Budget: flexible
• We'll consider private, shared or serviced office set-ups
• Must-haves: presentable, good internet, somewhere to plug in coffee machine(s)

That's about it. I hope you can help us in our search for Battenhall HQ 2.0. 

Digital disruption and a tale of two WPPs

This week WPP announced head-turning financial results. With Sir Martin Sorrell firmly on the digital path, he stated that no media sector is safe from digital disruption and he has his eyes on 45% of the group's income coming from digitial in the near future. The results he announced this week were that profits are up 19% at WPP. 

Digital disruption is what makes me tick. It has the PR industry trembling at the knees, because when it comes to real digital engagement, you cant just spend money in a different place and call it digital, like you can in advertising. This disruption is bringing in a need for new structures, new skills and new philosophies in PR businesses and in in-house teams. It's what drove me to set up Battenhall, change how I think an agency should look (see here), and hopefully do a great deal of disruption first hand. 

But let's go back to the WPP results and read a little deeper into their digital disruption manifesto. It looks as if even they have not cracked it in the PR world. This Holmes Report article titled: "What's eating WPP's PR firms" shows that the PR results for WPP were disappointing with revenues and profits going down. This quote from Arun Sudhaman from The Holmes Report piece I think is spot on: 

"...if one thing is clear, it is that PR firms, big or small, must innovate if they are to capitalise on the opportunities presented by the changing marketing landscape. And while that may not require them to become independent, it does suggest that they would benefit from acting more independently."

So where does that leave the PR industry and digital disrpution? If you ask me, still very few are getting it right, but even the biggest boys on the block are aiming in the right direction. 

Two months in at Battenhall

It is two months since I launched Battenhall. This blog has been quieter than normal of late, as all my blogging action has been over on the Battenhall blog. So I thought it would be worthwhile writing down an update on how it has all gone so far. 

• We have been busy and been fortunate enough to be asked to do some very exciting work, and that is awesome beyond belief
• The team is now 8 people, and we're still hiring at all levels
• We have 14 clients, including Sanctuary Group, minicabit, Shoreditch Works, Jimmy's Iced Coffee, E-Tale and Talking Heads (we can't talk about all of them just yet)
• We have moved office once already, up from the 6th to the top floor in our Bonhill Street offices in London's Tech City
• We have published two of our regular reports already - Battenhall Monthly is free to subscribe to here
• We are ahead of budget (phew!) by 90.1%
• We have bought most of Shoreditch's supply of good coffee

Thanks as ever for all of your support, and you can keep up to date on things happening at Battenhall over on out blog. 

Battenhall's new clients, social media training and other news

Two weeks into life at Battenhall and we're busy little bees already. We're close to being able to announce a bunch of new client wins, and the first is already out in the open. Back in the very early days of this blog, 10 years go in fact, I worked with the awesome Lis Anderson at integrated agency BCLO. She's now one of the people behind Talking Heads, and I'm excited to say that Battenhall has been appointed to run a range of social media training courses for Talking Heads, starting in April this year. You can read all about them over on Talking Heads' website. 

Battenhall has also been busy on a few other fronts. Last week was the launch of the 2013 PR Week Powerbook, and Battenhall made it in. And in the last week the judging panel of the UK Social Media Communications Awards was announced, with me making it in as a judge which is something to really look forward to later in the year. We've also been putting together its first Battenhall monthly social media report, which you can subscribe to over on Battenhall.net at the bottom of the homepage.

Exciting times all round, thanks as ever for your support.  

Recap of launch day at Battenhall

Battenhall

Today was my last day working at Hotwire and 33 Digital. This friday I am launching a new agency called Battenhall. Exciting times. 

My eight years here at Hotwire and 33 Digital have been epic. I have had the good fortune of being able to set up a social media agency and work in an integrated way on global, traditional, digital and social media briefs. And most recently as UK CEO, do a lot of business management. It will be very sad to leave these fond memories behind. But I am excited about what lies ahead. 

Battenhall will be a communications agency for the social media economy. I feel strongly that the agency model and how organisations try to manage the media and their own brands is ripe for disruption. So I am going to be building an agency that is set up to thrive in this new era - an era that is here to stay. A business that will, I hope, be the next great agency.

Thank you for your support so far. I hope it will continue for the next chapter.