ABB (Power & Water)

Smart cities, clever PR

Smart city technology is changing the world. It is bringing digital and data together to transform urban life as we know it. Managing issues like health, traffic and crime is being revolutionised in cities across the globe by smart tech.

So too is the supply of power and water, thanks to our client ABB.

The US $34bn multi-national asked Admiral to launch its game-changing global Collaborative Operations Centre in Genoa.

It enables power generation and water companies to harness ‘big data’ and digital technology to improve efficiency.

Its launch put utilities firmly at the heart of the smart cities agenda.

Our mission

The client asked us to create global media interest.We believed such a project had to be seen to be fully comprehended.

Strategy

Working closely with the internal team, Admiral organised an international press trip to Genoa, targeting top trade journalists from around Europe to attend.

A two day trip was arranged that included a carefully choreographed day at ABB, with a range of tours, presentations and a motivational speaker followed by 1-2-1 interviews with key executives. Key partners were invited to participate such as Microsoft and we also issued a first order customer story to coincide with the event. This meant that journalists could validate their trip by posting two or three stories rather than just one.

The same night we took journalists on a private tour of a Picasso exhibition followed by  dinner at a typically local quality restaurant.

Results:

• 35 publications from 10 countries attended – many posted two or three different stories each;
• 2 million ‘opportunities to see’ in the press for our client;
• 16 one-to-one media briefings took place; and
• 77 per cent of journalists that attended were senior (editors).