November 2004 Industry Watch

Industry Watch: High Tech Public Relations Agency
November 2004

Q&A with Brian Solis , Founder and President, FutureWorks Inc.

Q: You founded FutureWorks Inc. six years ago. What prompted you to start up your own PR firm?
A: That time - 1999 - was an interesting one for public relations. I'd say it was its heyday. I was a director at The Benjamin Group at the time, a prestigious Silicon Valley firm. I worked with some important, well-established companies. Mostly, these companies required customer service type PR. Then I began working with some startups, which allowed me to be really creative and aggressive. I found I wanted to provide services to startups because while they needed the enthusiasm and aggressiveness, they couldn't afford The Benjamin Group's fees.

So I started out as a consultant for the startups in my garage! Soon, what started as a consulting business with just me turned into an agency. I hired some people, and I put desks and a conference table in the garage. That's where we all worked. It was a humble beginning, but there was an atmosphere of excitement, and we developed a reputation for enthusiasm and aggressiveness for startup companies. I still work with six people who were there in the garage at the beginning.

Q: What does a typical workweek look like for you?
A: There's a lot of administration that needs to happen. I just opened an office in Southern California, and I'm bringing the same excitement and enthusiasm to this new office as I did with the first. I'm involved with each client. I ask what are the creative things we can do for each of them. I still write press releases. I'm involved both in the nitty-gritty and in the corporate chair. I do some of everything. It keeps me grounded in the real work.

Q: In general, what are some of the best practices being used today by PR practitioners in the high tech sector?
A: I hear complaints that many public relations practitioners aren't taking time to read publications or to check out and understand their clients' industries. Best practices means really taking time to understand your client's industry and to read the publications for that industry.

Q: What are some of the unique challenges you face when working for high tech clients?
A:The competitive landscape is a big challenge. First, there's direct competition. For instance, in digital cameras, the direct competition would be other digital cameras. The indirect competition would be disposable cameras. With the indirect competition, you have to look at the demographics of the people who buy disposable cameras and figure out how you can reach them. Consumers have so many choices - they might shop for a digital camera but buy a video cam instead. You also need to know where your customers - say Soccer Moms - will look for information about cameras before they buy one. You have to understand how all the facts work together.

Another challenge is sorting out whether what a client tells you are benefits actually are. This goes back to best practices, doing your homework, and really understanding the client's industry. The more you understand best practices, the more you develop good practice in a specific industry.

Q: What would you describe as the high point of your career? How about the low point?
A: The low point was when the recession hit and I had to lay people off. Most of those people had been with me from the beginning. We were like family. It was a very hard time.

A high point was when I became director of The Benjamin Group. It was a big company in Silicon Valley. My getting that job made things official for me - that I knew what I was doing. And of course starting FutureWorks. Starting the office in Southern California is a sign that we are doing well enough that we can expand, and that's definitely a high point.

Q: What is the current state and future of tech PR? How has the high tech PR industry been affected by the last few roller coaster years?
A: Companies are starting to let go of their PR budgets a little. They may not be jumping into the pool yet, but their feet are on the steps. We're seeing a stronger PR industry now because during the boom a lot of non-professional people got involved in PR and now they no longer are. The recession took care of them.

The new philosophy is more for less. In technology - we've turned it into a product and a solution for the greater good of society. We've had to present it as safe to implement. Let's face it, technology is not going away, but becoming even more present in the day-to-day. As an example, there are people who build their own networks at home - okay, I've done it at home for my kids' computers. That is much more prevalent in day-to-day life. It's also a great sign for high tech PR.

Q: What changes do you predict for the PR industry over the next few years? What aspect of the PR industry do you think will be fastest growing in 2005/2006?
A: The dotcom economy brought about major changes. Tech PR will eventually not be called tech PR - tech won't be segregated the way it is now. Marketers are and will continue to become savvy about technology and high tech products. PR people will need to prove their value this way as high tech becomes more and more main stream. These days you see information and stories in Newsweek about computer technology that you used to see only in consumer publications such as PC World.

Things are more diversified. The fastest growing market is at the consumer level - consumers have gadgets that go with them. Their watches are high tech. They can access email on the run. At the enterprise level - the small and middle size business markets - there's an explosion in business solutions.

Q: What skills or characteristics are most critical for a new PR hire at your company?
A: We try to earn our clients' business everyday. So first and foremost, a new PR hire really needs to understand a particular tech field we work in, such as enterprise storage or digital cameras. And they need to be enthusiastic about that field. We're all tech geeks here. They should also be confident enough to do media and have a solid command of writing - not just AP style.

Lastly, it's important to realize that what has kept us in the PR industry going - ultimately those of us who have worked hard at our craft - has raised the profile of what's needed in PR.

Brian Solis

founded FutureWorks Inc. in February 1999 with the goal of bridging the communications gap between rapidly evolving technology and real world benefits for users. He started his marketing career 14 years ago at a small advertising/PR firm in Ventura, California. Prior to founding FutureWorks, Brian was a Director at The Benjamin Group, a Top Ten National Technology PR agency. Solis has helped start-ups, well-known consumer product companies, pre-IPO and public companies and some of the top enterprise technology companies in the world. FutureWorks Inc. can be found at http://www.future-works.com.