Getting ready for MWC

It may seem early to be thinking about Mobile World Congress but it started some time ago with booking the best exhibition spaces, speaker submissions (which are now closed) and award entries (still open but closing on 23rd November).

MWC veterans will also know that it’s very important to book flights early to avoid the massive uplift in prices immediately prior, and to make sure you have your accommodation secured - it’s a busy event and the last thing you want is a long trip to and from suburban Barcelona.

Now is a also a good time to make sure you don’t miss any of the early media opportunities:

• Show daily – feature slots are available in each of the daily editions (these are now paid for opportunities) but places are limited and usually need to be booked by mid- November, with a copy deadline in early December.
• Journalists & analysts – if you want to ‘bend the ear’ of one of your key targets, it isn’t too early to be thinking about it. Many are already thinking about the companies they wish to meet and they will be putting dates and times in the diary before the end of the year.
• Mobile trade media – a significant number of publications have feature opportunities available and/or are publishing show guides and previews. The dates vary but copy deadlines for some close as early as November.

As always, to make the most of your investment in MWC, thorough preparation and experience is essential, and that’s where Babel can help. During MWC 2009 we arranged and staffed 160 media and analysts meetings, briefed all the major industry analysts, secured two speaking opportunities, managed to get two of our clients shortlisted for awards (with one winning!), implemented some attention grabbing creative activity and delivered a host of coverage.

If you would like to take advantage of Babel PR’s experience with MWC please contact me at ian@babelpr.com or on +44 (0)20 7434 5559. We’ll have a big team in Barcelona again in 2010 – the flights are booked, we’ve got our usual apartment and we’re ready to go.

Ian

Recruiting (again)

We're recruiting, again. Join the fastest growing PR agency in the telecoms, consumer and media sectors. Positions available for account executives, senior account executives, account managers and senior account managers. Clients include mobile TV, wireless services, consumer electronics and more. Only applicants with an eye for the business and consumer media apply. We offer competitive salary and benefits, and a great working environment. As well as the right background you need a passion and enthusiasm for our market sectors, the ability to write (brilliantly) and a sense of humour.

:-)

Babel wins two more clients

Babel has recently taken on two more clients in the television sector and both are part of consumer electronics giant Philips. The first is uWand, a new class of remote control, known as ‘remote touch’, that can interact with multiple electronic devices (e.g. PCs, TVs, set-top boxes, DVD players or games consoles). Users control the devices simply by pointing the uWand in the appropriate direction, clicking to make selections and moving the uWand to control specific functions.

The second is APRICO, a revolutionary video content recommendation and targeting technology for TV. It delivers precisely personalized content to viewers via TV, PC or mobile, based on their profile, viewing behavior and explicit inputs. The APRICO technology finds, recommends and targets the full range of content available - from linear broadcast material, to video on demand, Web video and user-appropriate advertising.

Babel goes mobile at Wimbledon

The Babel team trekked to Wimbledon recently - not to watch the tennis ourselves but to give those in the queue the chance to watch the action on TV enabled mobile phones. Telegent, one of Babel's clients in the mobile sector, produce single chip solutions that allow manufacturers to build handsets capable of receiving free to air television via the same signal we receive at home. It proved very popular as you can see from the video...

Radio controlled mayhem at MWC

It's always fun in PR (well, almost always), but sometimes it's just hilarious. Tasked with making sure femtocell manufacturer Airvana, attracted attention at Mobile World Congress, the Babel team conceived and contructed the world's first radio controlled femtocells and set them running in Barcelona. It worked! :)