News

Blockchain has become a buzzword over the past year, with more and more major companies discovering what it is and how they can use this new technology to their benefit. Our team has always encouraged clients to experiment with new and innovative technology, which is why we’re proud to announce the team are working with Heritage, a project created within A³, the Silicon Valley outpost of Airbus.

When the A³ team approached us with the Heritage project, a blockchain-enabled donation platform, we were more than excited! Our team members have investments in cryptocurrency like Ethereum and Bitcoin, as we sincerely believe blockchain has the potential to impact the world through decentralization, smart-contracts, security and transparency. Heritage is just the beginning of the ways blockchain can be used for social good.

The Heritage project is focused on assisting charities and nonprofits onboarding blockchain to allow for a more secure, efficient, and transparent donation process. Dynamo was brought on to support the Heritage team with media relations, event support, and partnership development. The account is being managed by Dynamo’s San Francisco team, which has experience leading projects related to robotics, wearables, AI and has a keen interest in blockchain technology.

Naresh Shah, COO of A³, commented: “We’re looking forward to working with Dynamo as A³ enters this new space. We rely on great partnerships and Dynamo’s expertise in emerging industries will be a great asset as we continue to push boundaries in the blockchain industry and tech industry overall.”

What excites us about Heritage is the potential it has to make an impact. Our team believes in the potential of blockchain technology, and we are eager to apply our expertise in guiding the project to success.

The team will also help support Heritage on collaborations with other projects within the blockchain space as they continue to develop the donation platform. We’re very excited about the great work the Heritage team is doing and look forward to continuing to support as they use this nascent technology for good!

Are we living in the Matrix? Elon Musk, pre-Twitter libel and SEC fines, pondered this question earlier this year. “The chance that we’re not living in a computer simulation is one in billions” he explained. So if we are living in a simulated reality, which company would have made it so? Step in Improbable and their SpatialOS technology – so convincing that Wired claimed: “If we’re living in a simulation, this company probably created it.”

There are few hotter companies in London or the UK, or in fact Europe. Make that The World. Indeed, Improbable recently won the Evening Standard’s ‘Tech Company of the Year’ for their work on simulation with SpatialOS, their cloud-based platform for game development. So we’re genuinely ‘thrilled’ (in a real way, not a press release hyperbole or simulation-based way) to announce Improbable as a client.

Dynamo is assisting Improbable on strategic communications and news announcements to promote their SpatialOS platform for game developers. Using SpatialOS, game designers are able to go beyond the design limitations of traditional server architectures to build the next generation of online games. Building new kinds of gaming experiences with massive worlds, limitless players and rich simulation game mechanics.

Daniel Griffiths, Head of Communications, Improbable, explains:

“Dynamo impressed us with their understanding of our vision for video games and our mission. We are looking forward to working with them as we communicate the value of SpatialOS as the natural choice for developers building the next generation of online multiplayer games.”

Paul Cockerton, co-CEO, Dynamo PR:

“We’re delighted to be working with Improbable, one of the most exciting British technology companies out there. Our experience in, and love for, gaming, platform OS and community management industries provides us with the perfect base to assist Improbable with the promotion of SpatialOS.”

The team will also help with events, having worked with the Improbable PR team to support events including GDC, E3 and GamesCom. It’s a very exciting win for Dynamo which brings in our team’s gaming and tech experience… whether this is real life or if we’re living in a PR simulation!

Over the last year we’ve seen an increase in Dynamo’s services by companies who have blockchain-based services or technology, so it a good fit to combine our consumer and tech knowhow, with our crowdfunding experience to offer ICO PR support. Our first publicly announced client is WIZZLE, the globally trusted blockchain service provider with the singular goal of making cryptocurrency accessible to anyone.

Partnering with Goadi, with whom we’ve worked on projects reaching as far back as 2011, we will be running earned and owned outreach; targeting press, influencers and paid media to amplify WIZZLE’s reach and support their initial AirDrop as well as pre-sale and main sale of the ICO. The team will also be supporting on social, managing ad spend and strategy across WIZZLE’s Telegram, Reddit and YouTube channels.

Mark Noorlander, CEO WIZZLE Global N.V., commented: “Dynamo and Goadi provide a perfect comms fit for us, combining an understanding of the crowdfunding and ICO sectors with experience in all of the marketing channels we need to use effectively to achieve our goals, ranging from paid media, community management, through to media and influencer relations. Fundamentally they get and understand our mission and goals, and are best placed to help us succeed and take cryptocurrency to the global stage.”

Paul Cockerton, co-CEO of Dynamo PR, added: “We are at the start of the blockchain era, and there’s no doubt that cryptocurrencies have sparked a gold rush, and yet even with all of the buzz, the concept is still very alien to many. WIZZLE’s mission to make this technology accessible and simple is a game changer. We are thrilled to be part of this revolution and support WIZZLE with their upcoming ICO.”

“Our experience supporting ICOs and Dynamo’s expertise in crowdfunding allows us to create an integrated strategy, ideal for supporting WIZZLE,” said Fiona Chow, Founder of Goadi Consulting. “Cryptocurrencies have a huge amount of potential, which, despite the hype of crypto, has been largely untapped. Together with WIZZLE we will breed understanding of the technology among consumers and enterprises, ultimately driving engagement in crypto and growth of WIZZLE.”

After over a year’s worth of planning, structuring, form-filling, preparation, site visits, meetings, and everything in between, Dynamo is ready to welcome its new little sister – and she has a sunny Californian accent.

With US native Heather and myself making the move from London, Dynamo will be opening its brand new offices at GSVlabs in the gorgeous Redwood City, California. This puts Dynamo in the heart of Silicon Valley; which seems fitting, given our clients, experience, and expertise with tech start-ups.

GSVlabs, our new home, is about 25 minutes south of San Francisco, and prides itself on being a campus of global innovation, hosting tech entrepreneurs, acceleration programs, and key industry events. We couldn’t really have asked for something more ideal!

The US expansion has been a long time coming for Dynamo. We’ve always adopted a Silicon Valley mentality here, with the company operating in a style more akin to Google than what you would see in a typical UK office, albeit with our own quirks. We pride ourselves on creativity, innovation, drive, charisma, and getting the best results, and we see the ‘Dynamo way’ of doing things as key to the success of this extension.

This move is of huge benefit to our clients too. We work with so many companies in the US, so to have a team on the ground here is a no-brainer. Also, we pride ourselves on the fact that Dynamo has become a centre of excellence for crowdfunding, which is an area dominated by innovative West-Coast start-ups. Now we get the added bonus of more face time!

Everyone in the office is excited about this. Heather is from the Bay Area, she’s been back and forth between Cali and London for months now getting this all set up. The fact that she gets to be settled, amongst journalists and companies she has befriended over the years must be a joyous feeling. I’m excited to be taking up a new challenge, and putting my PR skills to the test in a different environment – as well as getting to meet all the people I’ve been mostly on email and phone with for so long. The team is excited – they’ll have somewhere to visit, and it means extra support for clients in different time zones. It really is win-win all round.

The next few months promise to be exciting for Dynamo, so we’ll be sure to check in with y’all with a progress report.

(Although I did promise my mum I wouldn’t start saying “y’all”).

It’s always a pleasure to be back in Texas, particularly when there’s a tech event to attend, so we were thrilled to attend SXSW with our client Makeblock this year.

Austin has, for the last few years, been emerging as a solid favorite for start ups in the tech industry, and it isn’t difficult to see why. Low taxes and cost of living, a Silicon Valley culture, and a very open and friendly community make it a haven for tech lovers. (I’m personally a huge fan of Austin hospitality, and I’m already looking forward to my next fish taco fix!).

Having the huge draw of SXSW brings Austin to the forefront of the music, film, and tech industries during the month of March, with SXSW Interactive offering attendees the chance to see some of the most exciting innovations in robotics, design, IoT and more.

The first day of SXSW Interactive played host to the ‘Create’ exhibition, and of course featured a keynote by none other than Barack Obama, who called on leaders in tech to join him to “start coming up with new platforms, new ideas across disciplines, and across skill sets to solve some of the big problems we’re facing today.”

Interactive Experiences

One big takeaway from Interactive was the importance of, well… takeaways. Companies such as Sparkfun had a station where people could create and personalize their own scrolling LED lanyards, which were hugely popular. Our very own Makeblock offered people the chance to have their doodles and sketches burnt with a lasered onto wood blocks, and another stand had an entire booth with furniture that you could color in and draw all over. Needless to say, I spent a little too much time on that one during my breaks, and came back with a neckerchief covered in my garish scribbles.

PR relevance, not trendiness

This got me thinking – what experiences or takeaways should we be providing to people that delivers more than a simple USB or business card? Much like a lot of current VR campaigns, companies can often miss the mark by shoehorning a trend into what they deliver, as opposed to it being intrinsic to their brand. Basic stationery from an advanced technology company, a keychain from a robotics manufacturer, a tote bag from a mobile game – what is the relevance? These things are a nice to have, but the opportunity to excel is in giving people something they want, could find useful, and will remember your brand for.

We’re delighted to learn today that Dynamo UK has been picked as one of Europe’s top creative PR consultancies by the venerable Holmes Report. The judges state:

“Dynamo emerged last year to take third spot in the Holmes Report’s Global Creative Index ranking, thanks to an impressive awards haul for such clients as M3D and 3Doodler. Much of that is down to the agency’s sophisticated understanding of crowdfunding.”

We’re delighted to be recognised again for our creativity, something that’s been showing through yet again for our campaigns with clients such as Nvidia and Attraction Tix.

We’re looking forward to the awards ceremony on May 25th where we’ll find out whether we’ve picked up gold!

This was my first year attending CES, and as a PR who has previously helped clients plan for the show, I had heard all kinds of stories from people about the madness of CES. It definitely didn’t disappoint. CES 2016 was bigger than ever; more than 170,000 attendees (a stat provided by a very knowledgeable cabbie), a huge amount of automotive tech announcements, and a generous helping of virtual reality demos (including this).

Four Dynamos in total attended the show, and I was lucky enough to be front and centre on the booth of our client, Jide Technology, showing off Remix OS. For those who have never been or for those who are interested, here are a few tips/tricks/stories of how we survived and made a success of CES 2016.

Ellen, Senior Account Manager

Flat(ish) shoes, lip balm and Diet Coke – these are probably the most important things for me, in that order, whilst at CES. The show is spread out over several locations including the main convention centre and The Sands which is adjoined to The Venetian Hotel. You’ll be doing A LOT of walking over the three days of the show hence the flat(ish) shoes, and thanks to the air conditioning and desert air expect your skin to dry out so stock up on lip balm and moisturiser. The Diet Coke is because I don’t drink coffee and I need some caffeine after the long days and nights.

Other than that, I find it really useful to have plenty of time with the client, in this case NEEO, before the show kicks off so that they are comfortable with exactly what is going on, when and where. If your client doesn’t have a booth at CES but still wants to attend, I’d definitely recommend exhibiting at events like ShowStoppers or Pepcom within CES.

Finally, make sure you find the time to have fun and explore Vegas! CES can be intense so make the most of being in Las Vegas and check out the many hotels and shows.

Heather, Vice President of North America

Ellen’s definitely right about the chap stick, and as my Mom would say, make sure you drink lots of water. Again, this comes back to CES being held in the middle of the desert, and although you might have had a big night before, it’s likely dehydration that is causing the headache.

About that big night before… it’s probably best if you try not to book briefings in the morning and also encourage your client to keep important business meetings for the afternoon. The likelihood of someone not turning up is very high while at CES, both because of big sponsored parties and late nights working.

Paul, Co-Founder and Co-CEO

During the day at the show, forget about sending any emails. If you’re trying to get in touch with someone, use an app like WeChat or WhatsApp – chances are most people use either one of these. Towards the end of the show, expect many meetings to be at best tired, at worst people simply won’t turn up so do take into your planning no-shows.

Owen, Senior Account Executive

Preparation is always a key part of supporting a client who is attending CES and setting up journalist briefings in advance is one part of that. Though it’s not until you’ve waited in line for a taxi or shuttle bus for 30 minutes and ran to your next client meeting that you realise appointments quickly go out the window. Add this to the huge space that CES controls across Las Vegas and you’re left with a jumbled schedule. The key? Be flexible, and make sure your client can be too. If that fails, there’s always the excellent Monorail:

Oh and although phone signal is generally non-existent in the convention centres, bring a portable battery with you for those times when you are able to connect to free hotel Wi-Fi.

All in all, CES 2016 was a fantastic event to attend. It was a great opportunity to finally meet an international client whom I’d been working with for some time, to speak to a huge number of journalists, and to see some of the industry’s latest and greatest products.

It’s been an incredible and fun year at Dynamo PR.

Here’s a snapshot of what we’ve been up to over the last 12 months…

We hosted the world’s first micro-pig picnic this summer for Yelp

The #londonpignic has been filled with pigs education, pig games and piggybacks. It’s quite the Saturday night. pic.twitter.com/gDtChCqRmz

— YelpLondon! (@yelplondon) June 20, 2015

On the theme of animals, Bathrooms.com launched a nationwide search for a duckling bath tester:

We raised more than $20 million for 40 crowdfunding projects, including Neeo’s smart remote smashing $1.5m on Kickstarter earlier this year:

AttractionTix.co.uk answered the question for you CanIBringMySelfiestick.com:

We took to the red carpet to launch the Electric Jukebox at BAFTA with Alesha:

And to top it off, we climbed Everest with NVIDA showcasing their GeForce technology at an intimate virtual reality event:

Fancy being in our round up next year? Just drop us a line and who knows what could happen.