REPRINTED FROM PR Week UK
Published on May 27 2005

While current figures point to a stable environment, the tech PR industry is always evolving. Stephanie Siegle looks at how agencies are changing with the times.

When tech specialists such as Firefly Communications and Spark Communications fail to appear in the PRWeek Top 50 Tech Consultancies, and when August.One Communications' traditionally strong tech billings slide by 16 per cent, you would be forgiven for thinking the sector is spiralling away from the bright outlook many predicted.

Thankfully, this is not the case. More than half of this year's entries reported a rise in fee income, and 80 per cent of the top ten agencies registered positive growth.

The top two, Lewis Communications and Write Image, recorded tech fee income growth of 13 per cent. In the second half of the table, Hoffman Europe and Spreckley Partners show a tech fee income rise of more than 50 per cent. Agencies, such as Noiseworks, that have not entered the tables for a couple of years, have reappeared, while many tech specialists do not feature as they were busy with pitches around the entry deadline.

A significant number didn't enter because of Sarbanes-Oxley.

But what has happened is that tech agencies are adapting to the challenges they face. August.One's drop, for example, is down to the consultancy's decision to move its Microsoft business and merge it with sister agency Inferno. Meanwhile, Tony Martin, joint MD at mid-table-positioned Portfolio Group, which recorded a 16 per cent tech fee income drop, says a weak US dollar meant it was hit hard by its American clients.

'We've been the victim of mergers and acquisitions,' adds Martin. 'Where clients have made acquisitions, they tend to stay with the larger agency; sometimes that's been us, sometimes it hasn't.'

Major consolidations in 2004 included Oracle and Peoplesoft, and it hasn't stopped there, says Firefly MD Mark Mellor. 'There is still lots of consolidation in the software applications market. This has affected and will continue to affect tech PR business,' he adds.

Furthermore, campaign methodology is also changing. When Firefly won the Casio account in 2004, it set about positioning the product more as a lifestyle brand, targeting the women's press, tabloids and lads' mags.

'It is about focusing on how a product can fit into a lifestyle rather than just explaining how the product works technically,' adds Mellor.

Fleishman-Hillard tech division director, UK and Europe, Annalise Coady agrees. Tech clients are looking for public affairs support and interactive elements to a campaign in addition to traditional media relations, so much so that F-H opened an interactive practice this year.

It is this widening that Weber Shandwick's Tech division has also seen, according to MD Michelle McGlocklin. Sarbanes-Oxley prevents it being listed, but it last year posted a 19 per cent rise in fee income with new wins from Toshiba, Electronic Arts and Plantronics. 'A move into consumer PR has fuelled this rise,' she says. 'Even companies with "heavy-tech" products - such as hard-disk drives - are moving into consumer storage-type stories.'

Corporate know-how is an area ninth-placed Text 100 International is becoming increasingly familiar with. While achieving a modest three per cent rise in tech fee income in 2004, re-evaluating its services will be crucial, as it looks to boost fee income.

'Our focus is still on the tech sector, but there's more emphasis on working with the senior executives and introducing elements such as branding awareness workshops,' says UK and Ireland MD Nick Giles. He joined Text in 2004 from Manning Selvage & Lee, where he was head of UK corporate and B2B practice. 'My appointment won't be the last senior one,' he adds.

While challenges remain, the figures and the consensus among agencies point to a stable environment. Security, voice-over-IP, e-learning and compliance are areas of huge opportunity. But the critical element for the tech sector will be how it handles the market and from where it recruits the people it needs.

TOP 50 TECH CONSULTANCIES 2005

With the exception of a few high-profile absentees and fallers, this year's Top 50 tech table displays a stability of growth in an ever-changing industry

TOP 50 1-20 Rank Company	Technology PR fee (pounds)		Change income %
	04	03
1 Lewis Communications	6,260,305	5,534,339	13.1
2 Write Image	4,186,758	3,680,775	13.8
3 Citigate*1	3,095,194	2,957,258	5
4 Bite Communications*	2,994,319	3,054,924	-2
5 Nelson Bostock Communications*	2,907,161	2,364,193	23
6 Brands2Life	2,117,860	1,946,965	9
7 Hotwire*	2,097,109	1,603,624	31
8 Axicom*	2,011,326	1,994,836	0.8
9 Text 100 International*	1,963,689	1,896,042	3.6
10 August.One Communications*	1,962,707	2,347,774	-16.4
Rank Company	Technology PR fee (pounds)		Staff	% of Fee Income	Location
1 Lewis Communications	6,260,305		131	100	London
2 Write Image	5,509,182		126	76	London
3 Citigate*1	20,634,621		225	15	London
4 Bite Communications*	4,191,202		61	71.4	London
5 Nelson Bostock Communications*	4,102,489		53	70.9	London
6 Brands2Life	2,267,357		35	93.41	London
7 Hotwire*	2,097,109		31	100	London
8 Axicom*	2,011,326		20	100	London
9 Text 100 International*	1,963,689		41	100	London
10 August.One Communications*	3,925,415		49	50	London
All figures relate to year ended December 2004. Fee income equals PR fees plus mark-up. *Denotes PRCA member. 1 Includes Citigate Dewe Rogerson, Citigate Communications, Citigate Smarts, Citigate Northern Ireland, Citigate Financial Intelligence. 2 Six Degrees, formerly listed as Roger Staton Associates, merged with Marbles in May 2004. *Denotes PRCA member.

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