We are deep into awards season, a time for recognition and reflection. The recent Grammys encapsulated this spirit perfectly. Following Grammy Awards president Neil Portnow’s provocative comments in 2018 that women needed to “step up” to be considered for the most prestigious awards, this year saw Kacey Musgraves win Album of the Year and Dua Lipa named Best New Artist – with Cardi B and Lady Gaga also among the big winners.
Just as the female stars of today have “stepped up”, here at IBA, we know how to walk the walk to ever greater success – and we do the same for our clients.
Across the pond, our US-based payment processing client has recently undergone a change of leadership – welcoming its first female CEO. This has triggered a large amount of press activity and here at IBA we’ve been on-hand to promote the announcement in the news media, secure third-party coverage and deliver social media engagement to maximize the buzz. With multiple interviews across horizontal and vertical media in the bag, all the hard work paid off when the new chief was named as one of the Most Influential Women in Payments, 2019. Indeed, it seems Kacey Musgraves, Dua Lipa and Co. weren’t the only women to step up this year, Mr. Portnow.
Over in the UK, we have secured a key position at an industry diversity discussion hosted by a leading channel publication for the Managing Director of one of our IT clients – another female heading up a high-tech company. IBA has form here – our CEO was once the youngest female editor of an IT magazine.
Sticking with the winning theme, IBA has also recently struck up a relationship with a rugged wireless technology provider. The team have been working hard to launch a PR effort that ensures thought-leadership is being communicated effectively through bylined articles and blogs on the latest industry trends – and this is just the beginning! We’re delighted to have reached this agreement to kick-start 2019.
The glamour of the Grammys is a reminder that, as Drake aptly put, music artists are competing in an “opinion-based sport, not a factual-based sport”. At IBA, we consider PR agencies like ourselves to work in a results-driven, “fact-based” business – our success is underpinned by how much of our clients’ content we can get out into the media, and of course the quality of it.
And in other – awards-related – news, our innovative fintech start-up client has been shortlisted to join the Innovation Corner competition at the Merchant Payments Ecosystem conference. The glamour of customer wins and awards are always very well received – but placing quality content into the best, top-tier publications is equally satisfying.
Sam Harris is PR Executive at IBA International.
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