When the leading employee engagement platform, Culture Amp, approached Alexander PR in 2019, they had a strong presence in their home market of Australia. But in the UK and Europe, the company was looking to establish market presence from a low base.
A true testament to what a long-term, integrated PR partnership looks like, today, Culture Amp consistently achieves its number one share of voice targets across the UK, Germany, Austria, Switzerland (DACH), and the Netherlands. As well as being regularly quoted in the HR trade press, the company has been featured in the BBC, Financial Times, The Times UK, Haufe and Springer Professional with journalists consistently approaching Culture Amp for their expert commentary and data insight.
Highlights
Consistent number one share of voice across target press in UK, DACH & Benelux since 2019;
Expanded from a UK-only brief to a fully integrated pan-European programme;
Coverage in key publications including the BBC, Financial Times, The Times UK, Business Reporter, Management Today, HR Magazine, People Management, Haufe and Springer Professional
A comprehensive spokesperson media training programme across EMEA; and
Ongoing research-led activity that has resonated with HR audiences year-on-year.
Building a presence from the ground up
When Alexander PR started working with Culture Amp in 2019, the brief was to get the company just as well-known in the UK as in its home market of Australia. As any PR and communications expert will know, you first need to give people a reason to pay attention.
Alexander PR built Culture Amp’s awareness strategy around conversations pertinent to HR leaders. What were they worried about? What did they need someone to say out loud?
Throughout the pandemic, this meant shining a light on the weight HR teams were carrying: the furlough chaos, vaccine mandates, the mental load for HR practitioners of being the person everyone in the organisation turns to. In fact, research looking at the stress HR professionals face has been an enduring theme throughout a number of years, with comparative data appealing to both editors and audiences alike.
More recently, the conversation has evolved to include the impact AI is having on organisations, including the role HR teams have in helping their people navigate this new AI-enabled world of work.
Same story, different markets
Within a year of generating key outcomes in the UK, the remit expanded to include Germany, Austria, Switzerland, and the Netherlands, presenting new and varied challenges and opportunities.
While the UK media relies heavily on fast comments and strong spokespeople, German media favours longer, more considered opinion pieces, and Dutch media responds well to product press releases (something UK publications would rarely pick up).
Getting the pitch or approach wrong in any region means the story disappears. Getting it right converts to key results and builds a consistent brand presence across EMEA.
While many companies in this position might seek out a different agency to manage each region, the partnership between Culture Amp and Alexander PR deepened, running one integrated unit across all EMEA regions to deploy a consistent narrative and positioning play, while subtly adapting the content, pitch and tone for each market’s distinct media requirements.
Partnering closely with one embedded agency across the EMEA region offered another key benefit: it built trust and alignment with senior leaders and key spokespeople across the business.
When a journalist comment opportunity arises, you’ve got one shot to land the comment that will result in press coverage. Alexander PR provided Culture Amp’s key regional spokespeople with regular media training, ensuring the team could respond to requests in a timely manner and with commentary and insights that would land well in the local market – and then be adapted, scaled and localised for different media.
When the media starts coming to you
Through consistent engagement, regular outreach and investment in building key relationships, over time, the pipeline of inbound media opportunities for Culture Amp began building in EMEA.
It took consistent work, strong spokespeople who could turn around sharp commentary quickly, and a string of campaigns that genuinely resonated with the audience. At the end of the day, when you show up for the media with credible comments and unique proprietary data, time after time, journalists know that what you are saying is worth paying attention to.
As a result, Culture Amp has appeared in the BBC, Financial Times, The Times UK, Business Reporter, Management Today as well as being a constant presence in HR titles including HR Magazine, Personnel Today and People Management, among others.
A partnership that keeps delivering
What started as a single-market brief is now an integrated pan-European program – covering thought leadership, media relations, research campaigns, and spokesperson training across four markets.
“The relationship between Alexander PR and Culture Amp has grown because the results kept coming: a consistent pipeline of coverage helping us meet share of voice targets, a media community that acknowledges Culture Amp as a default authority on the key issues in HR, and a brand that went from relatively unknown in Europe to genuinely hard to ignore,” says Sarah Gundlach, Director Corporate Communications, Culture Amp.
“In addition to the consistency of results and outcomes delivered, Alexander PR functions as a true extension of the Culture Amp team, providing valued counsel, localised knowledge and deep relationships which have been essential in scaling our brand’s visibility, impact and growth throughout EMEA.”