For a number of years, The PHA Group worked with multi-millionaire drinks and property tycoon, Howard Raymond. So, when Raymond decided to invest in Epicuro to tackle the freshwater storage, we agreed to help this honourable cause with our PR services.
Read on to find out how our team of experts supported Epicuro to help them secure investments.
The brief:
With the freshwater shortage currently registering as the world’s number one humanitarian crisis, Howard donated £600,000 worth of seed investment to a London-based tech and innovation hub called Epicuro. A collective of engineers and scientists, Epicuro have spent years researching and developing a device that can separate salt from oceanic water. With the Environment Agency recently warning that even the UK could face a water shortage in 25 years’ time, a solution is desperately needed. This is where Epicuro’s device can make all the difference. The Epicuro Desalinator is a battery-less technology that can yield 40 litres of clean water a day using a free power source that’s abundant in the developing world: the sun. Our goal was to help Epicuro find investors willing to see the potential of the Epicuro Desalinator.
Our strategy
To use Epicuro’s never seen before technology we needed to hijack the news agenda by showing journalists what the company does and why people should invest in it. We created a clear and concise video highlighting the Epicuro Desalinator assets and how it works.
Our method
With World Water Day 2019 on 22nd March as the calendar hook, the PHA team first cultivated a relationship with an esteemed videographer and seasoned BBC alumna from Violet Productions. To optimise media interest and create content for their website, we introduced the client to the videographer, and, over a period of weeks, helped to story-board and plot all the creatives – which resulted in a polished explanation video, press pack interviews with the inventors and b-roll footage as well. Once the videography had been satisfactorily refined, edited and approved, we then packaged a media kit and commenced our outreach with the mainstream media.
The results
Our efforts resulted in first-class national and regional coverage. We secured hits on BBC News and The Daily Express amongst many others. But the most high-impact and credible hit we secured was undoubtedly in The Guardian newspaper.
The Guardian’s reporting on the environment is second to none, it’s the only national newspaper to have its own separate environment pod and tapping into its core readership was always top of our wish-list. From the very beginning, coverage in The Guardian was what the client ultimately hoped for and we were delighted to secure a fantastic show on Guardian.com with the headline: “Is there a beautiful, briny solution to the world’s clean water crisis?” Esteemed science and environment reporter, Fiona Harvey, conducted the interview, which offered co-inventor David Binns the perfect platform to spotlight his world-first technology and promote “early-stage innovation company Epicuro”.
This example shows the importance of creating videos and press packs to help journalists and readers better understand what a complicated project can be about. It also shows that researching important dates related to the business is crucial if you want to get journalists talking about your product or brand. Journalists will be more willing to write about a subject if there’s a solid news peg, as they will have it in their agenda and will plan to discuss the subject ahead.
Are you seeking investment for your sustainable business? Do you also need the help of experienced professionals with strong personal relationships, who can help you reach out to the right audience? We offer all of this and more. Contact us today to find out more.