High Road Communications Inc., founded in 1996, was Canada's first public relations firm dedicated solely to technology. Today, High Road is the largest digital lifestyle and technology PR agency in Canada. With a team of more than 80 professionals and offices in Toronto, Vancouver, Ottawa, Montreal and San Francisco, High Road shapes communications strategies for some of the best and brightest technology and digital lifestyle companies in the industry.
Here, president and co-founder Mia Wedgbury speaks about some of the PR challenges and opportunities facing tech companies in the Greater Toronto Area and talks about how this metropolis should position itself as a global high-tech hub.
Why did High Road become involved with high-tech PR in first place?
In 1996, we saw a huge opportunity for high-tech PR. The high-tech sector was taking off and agencies at that time were not equipped to deal with it. Many high-tech companies in Canada were focused on the U.S. market, with 80 per cent or more of their customers south of the border, and we developed U.S. expertise. I had been working in the tech sector for six years before starting High Road and I recruited specialized people who understood telecom, IT and wireless. We had to hit the ground running so we could keep pace with the growth of the technology sector.
When the dot-com bubble burst, did you have that sinking feeling in the pit of your stomach?
As the bubble burst, we had to rethink our business strategy. But we stayed in the tech sector.
We have always wanted to be seen as specialists. By shifting our focus within the tech sector, we have been able to maintain that image.
We focused on technology growth areas, such as interactive entertainment and gaming. We won the Microsoft Xbox account and other Microsoft consumer business lines and we grew in those areas.
Today, High Road does PR for Montreal gaming companies and the Montreal International Game Summit. We also saw huge growth in other consumer areas and did work with Universal Studios. We specialize in taking technology to the consumer market
in a creative way, and that
has worked for us.
The tech sector has rebounded, but it's different. From a marketing and PR perspective, how would you compare the dot-com boom to now?
Today, it's digital lifestyle, with technology being so much a part of your life. During the boom, it was all about very cool technology. There was not a lot of critical critiquing of technology. The marketplace is more skeptical, as it should be, wanting to make sure any announcements are substantiated. There is less around whiz-bang and more around "Will this solve my business issues?" or "Is this what consumers want?"
Many technology companies have crummy websites; you don't know who is running the show and you can't find media releases or company news. Why is that?
If you are not putting up the right information, you are not seeing the power of what PR can do.
The first place reporters go is to your website and you need a strong website if you want the media, and potential customers, to pay attention. We will hold back PR campaigns until companies have solid websites in place.
How should Toronto tech companies market themselves to the world?
First, they should stop being afraid of mentioning that they are Canadian and located in Toronto. They think being in Toronto, as opposed to Silicon Valley, isn't good. But look at Waterloo and Ottawa - the tech companies in those cities have a much greater sense of pride. Why do Waterloo entrepreneurs talk about innovation and their city with great pride?
We have to be prouder about Toronto and talk it up more. But in some ways, this reluctance reflects Toronto's image of itself. The Toronto Technology Week [May 28-June 1] is a great opportunity to talk about Toronto.
On the broader level, how should Toronto, and the GTA, be marketing itself as a vital technology centre?
Toronto needs to develop a brand - to strategically decide where we are going to put a stake in the ground - and go out and do some marketing. Digital media is a great area. We have Liberty Village and other cluster areas that we need to publicize.
Look at Montreal and what that city has done around gaming - it's phenomenal. Montreal focuses on one thing that differentiates itself from other cities. Now you have all these gaming companies that are evolving there. The Montreal International Game Summit attracts top-tier people in the industry and puts the city on the global gaming map.
If you were running a marketing campaign to promote Toronto and the GTA as a technology hotbed, what would it look
like?
We need to showcase innovation and talent more, perhaps have high-tech celebrities and personalities promote what they've done here, kind of like the way Mike Myers always talks about Canada or Scarborough when he is interviewed. We need to promote individuals and individual companies. Waterloo has RIM but many other tech companies have flocked to Waterloo.
What do we have in Toronto and the GTA that people don't know about but should be proud of? Showcase that and promote it big time.
As far as the GTA is concerned, we have to think about Toronto as part of an integrated centre. People don't talk about San Francisco. They talk about Silicon Valley. And Ottawa is Silicon Valley North. Microsoft and Canon have downtown offices and offices in Mississauga.
We have to think bigger than Toronto. We need to come together, get all the associations here behind the same agenda, and position the city on the global stage.
The GTA has what is required to stand out as a tech centre - local technology companies, solid infrastructure and an educated work force. I don't think Toronto has defined what its focus is yet. Hopefully, that will come out at the Technology Week conference and we'll be able to move in the right direction. Then we need to evangelize.
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