Express your Tech: communicating your complex innovation

You’ve spent years on research and product development, and now it’s time to take your product or service to market. But how do you sum it up in a sentence that excites investors? How do you put yourself in your customer’s shoes and pinpoint how your offer solves their problems? How do you tailor your message for the different channels and platforms out there?

Innovate UK EDGE and Cambridge digital marketing agency Sookio (www.sookio.com) are joining forces to help you crack the communications challenge, offering strategies and practical tips to help you communicate the benefits of your innovation.

What will I learn?

Chris Ellis, Senior Innovation & Growth Specialist, will focus on ‘positioning’ which is at the heart of marketing. He will discuss the framework thinking needed to differentiate your brand and create a defendable competitive advantage – with clear, compelling and consistent messaging at the heart of your strategic planning and tactical brand communications.

Sookio’s content specialists have years of experience in working with clients in life sciences, tech and academia. They know how hard it can be to shift gear and write for marketing and commercial purposes. They’ll come to the session armed with practical tips to help you communicate effectively with this whole new audience.

The event will include a tech case study: Sookio’s lead copywriter Naomi Vowles will bring the issue to life, talking about her work with bioprocessing startup CellRev in communicating their brand.

Sookio Founder Sue Keogh will lead a workshop to explain the principles of writing for marketing, with interactive activities along the way.

Speaker biogs

Chris Ellis is a Senior Innovation & Growth Specialist and Scaleup Director with Innovate UK EDGE. Chris balances his time between supporting clients on the national Scaleup Programme, as a Scaleup Director since 2019, alongside regional activities in the East, as part of the EDGE coaching and mentoring team working out of St John’s. With a background in publishing, launching DesignWeek Magazine in 1986 for Centaur Communications in London, Chris moved into the creative industries with Directorships in regional brand and marketing agencies. He ran his own marketing consultancy in Cambridge for a decade and has held client-side roles in enterprise software, construction, FinTech and cold-chain technology innovation – investing in a start-up which subsequently AIM listed.

Naomi Vowles is Sookio’s resident wordsmith. Working with clients including Alzheimer’s Society, Cambridge Trust, NHS Trusts and Cambridge Pharma, she handles everything from website copy to blog posts to trend reports to scripts for animation. She holds a degree in Documentary Film & Television and a Master’s in Advertising and Marketing Communications.

Sue Keogh is a specialist in digital content and the founder of award-winning Cambridge digital marketing agency, Sookio. After a decade working in radio and digital media for the BBC, ITV, Yahoo and Aol she founded Sookio in 2008. A Sage Business Expert and regular speaker at Digital Leaders Week, along the way, she has trained hundreds of people in digital marketing including comms teams at the University of Cambridge, Government Digital Services and Sony.

Agenda

3:00pm Coffee/tea

3:30pm Welcome and introduction – David Gill, Managing Director, St John’s Innovation Centre

3:35pm Presentations

5:00pm Panel Q&A

5:30pm Refreshments and networking

6:30pm Event closes