Competing with Silicon Valley- A Case for High Tech Public Relations -Anna Martinelli

These days, “Silicon Valley” is essentially a metonym for the high tech industry. Silicon Valley plays home to Facebook and Google, receives an annual outpouring of talent and ideas from Stanford University, and accounts for 1/3 of US venture capital investment. How can any region ever hope to compete with this behemoth of brilliant minds, tenacious drive, and constant innovation? It definitely won’t be easy and I’m not sure whether it will even be possible. But high tech public relations must certainly play a central role in any effort to rival Silicon Valley’s ownership of the high technology sector. High tech public relations services delivered to individual startups in offer any region an opportunity to distinguish itself as a high technology hub. This article will outline the possible components of a high tech public relations campaign that aims to draw attention to a single startup. In a situation like this, a high tech public relations campaign would likely start with branding. Silicon Valley’s dominion within the high tech world is reinforced by the collective image of its startups. Silicon Valley startups are full of young, quirky, easy-going nerds. “Coolness” flows from techies to their products in a way that consumers really notice. A startup’s high tech public relations campaign must cultivate this kind of image, for youth and trendiness are inseparable from high tech success. High tech public relations professionals must analyze a startup’s potential audiences and figure out how to reach them. In most cases, this audience is predominantly made up of young people. Thus, a great way to promote a new high tech product is executing phased launches at universities. High tech public relations professionals can figure out which schools to target and develop messages that will best reach the student body. Members of that student body can be used as spokespeople to continue promoting the product at their university and even extend to outside markets. Social media is an obvious component to a high tech public relations campaign. Any new technology product must be extremely visible on social media channels and high tech public relations professionals can work to develop dynamic communities around those platforms. Promotion on Facebook or Twitter can help build a new product’s reputation and cause information to spread like wildfire. A social media presence also encourages feedback from target audiences, which can be very useful to high tech public relations specialists. Who knows- A collection of high tech public relations campaigns like this might actually give rise to a new Silicon Valley. By imitating what Silicon Valley does well and working to develop products that are superior, even startups with the smallest beginnings have a shot at emerging as a high tech industry leaders.