Laika - communicating tomorrow
We are space explorers with an infinite appetite and curiosity for ideas. Together we form a strong crew united by one mission: to capture the best ideas and convert them into the stories that will shape our tomorrow.
We communicate the technologies, minds and ideas of tomorrow. We make the unknown comprehensible and explore new frontiers side by side with our crew, clients and partners.
We believe it’s curiosity that drives people and makes the world go round. That life is about exploring it together, and that those who stay open-minded and push for what’s next are leading the missions of tomorrow.
We handle corporate, product and crisis communications as well as brand strategies for you.
Our offer is holistically complemented by photography and media training as well as the services of a variety of creative freelancers and partners that join our space ship from time to time whenever the mission requires some extra boost.
We are proud to guide companies such as Chatterbug, LivingPackets, Qonto, OMRON Healthcare, orderbird, Procomcure Biotech, Soundcloud, Snapchat, Tink, Twitch and Urgrow on their comms missions.
Focus
Recommended Providers
Portfolio
Binance, Chatterbug, LivingPackets, London&Partners, OMRON Healthcare, orderbird, Qonto, Soundcloud, Snapchat, Tink, Twitch, Urgrow, weclapp
Business Insider, FAZ & Süddeutsche unlocked: Our start for LivingPackets
Kick-starting our work end of December 2019 we jumped right into the CES madness in January organising media interviews on the ground and after the event. Once the LivingPackets team returned home from Las Vegas we started working together on a long-term PR strategy including a mix of media tours and (podcast) interviews, thought leadership and news announcements such as a 5 million Euro milestone for LivingPackets crowdfunding campaign. Having been hit by the Covid-19 crisis in March we helped explain how e-ink displays like the one on THE BOX could help the future of contactless deliveries. By closely monitoring the DACH media landscape on topics such as sustainable shopping, logistics and investment we reached out to journalists covering these areas to build a long term relationship and to explain all sorts of questions before LivingPackets planned roll-out of THE BOX end of this year.
6 months into the collaboration we secured a total of 31 clippings prior to product roll-out. Among them are top tier media such as Business Insider, FAZ, Süddeutsche Zeitung, Deutschlandfunk and DIE WELT. A successful start for a desperately needed solution to help our environment.
“Working with Laika is one of the best experiences one can ask for: great ideas combined with thorough and fast execution and a strong sense for what tech companies need when it comes to PR."
SEBASTIAN RUMBERG, DIRECTOR OF COMMUNICATIONS
Hitting the roads with ONO, the Pedal Assisted Transporter for cleaner air and less traffic
When ONO approached us, the company behind this new kind of cargobike was looking on how to promote the soon to start pilot projects with logistic partners. ONO did not have to have to look far: The Berlin based startup found its PR partner in Laika where we have extensive experience with logistics and sustainability topics.
To successfully introduce the second generation of the ONO prototype together with its pilot projects with Hermes and Liefery, we initially chose three European key markets to communicate this new category of vehicle: Germany, France and UK. As a first step together, we organised ONO’s presence during Viva Technology 2019 in Paris where we setup media interviews, met the mayor of Paris, Anne Hidalgo along with several other stakeholders.
Back in Berlin, Laika organised a product photoshoot for ONO’s new prototypes together with our in-house photographer Julia Murray and external photographer Kristina Nabieva. ONO’s and Laika’s strong focus on high quality images demonstrated the great design of the ONO cargobike and later on assured that the media had a variety of visuals to pick from. Furthermore, the high quality of this photoshoot put ONO up to the standards of the German automotive industry, where they strategically wanted to establish themselves.
We then drafted a pan-European narrative for a press release distribution in DACH, France and the UK which triggered media interest and coverage in all three regions. Highlights of the coverage included a test ride by the best selling European newspaper BILD, whose editor took the ONO on a ride as well as Tagesspiegel who discussed the pro and cons of cargobikes in a mobility special.
“Working with Laika was a refreshing experience. They are professional and also fun to work with. They overachieved our expectations. I would highly recommend getting in touch with them for pleasant, efficient and simplified approach to PR.”
BERES SEELBACH, CO-FOUNDER & CEO ONO MOBILITY
Launching WisR: Filling the skills shortage with senior talent
To launch WisR within the German market we chose a relatively traditional PR approach by combining different story angles broken down on vertical industries (“Senior talent for hospitality” / “Senior talent for the travel industry”) with an abundance of investment news and a general explanation of the concept. After initially introducing the WisR idea to HR, career and business journalists through repetitive pitching, we shifted our focus to offering testimonials to national and tv media. Those real-life stories of senior talent being happy to be back at work and employers benefitting from their experience and skills proves to be an insightful, inspiring and emotional hero journey for mainstream media - by doing so we secured interest from SPIEGEL, WDR and ZDF.
In addition to content development and media relations, we also fuelled the WisR campaign with a strategic speaker and an award program supporting the young company and it’s founders team with applications for conferences and industry awards to further grow awareness and grow their reputation.
Media outlets such as SPIEGEL ONLINE, Süddeutsche Zeitung,FOCUS, Personalwirtschaft, Gründerszene, Springer Professional and Hotelier already covered the German WisR success story. Especially the positive piece on SPIEGEL ONLINE triggered a flood of senior applications for WisR.
"It has been a real pleasure working with the Laika ladies. They are very dedicated, react fast, are super well connected in Berlin, and have a great strategic mindset."
KLAUDIA BACHINGER, CO-FOUNDER & CEO WISR
Magic Leap on the road: Organizing events and media tours for nomtek
One of the perks of our job at Laika is that we get to play around with new technologies a lot. Helping frontier tech succeed and gain popularity is what drives us. Therefore the whole Laika team was thrilled when the developer studio Nomtek approached us to organize a media tour during their visit at TechCrunch Disrupt 2018.
Our goal: To introduce the Magic Leap’s mixed reality glasses to a wider audience, discuss the potential of this new technology and raise brand awareness for Nomtek as one of the few selected developer partners of Magic Leap.
In a last-minute approach, the Laika team and Nomtek decided to simply hi-jack the media audience being present at TechCrunch Disrupt. Instead of booking an expensive booth or waiting until next year to maybe secure a speaker slot, Laika simply organized media meetings on the go at the event as well as visits at the editorial offices of some Berlin-based publications. This way we were able to work effectively and efficiently within a small budget while being able to maximize the little time that the Nomtek had during their time in Berlin.
The campaign has been a major success: Nomtek met with BILD, Business Insider, Manager Magazin, golem and Androidpit. Within two weeks the media was buzzing!
And we didn’t stop there. In February 2019 we continued our collaboration with another exciting, but own event: A Magic Leap evening at our friends from The Family.
“Laika is a go-to place if you want your brand to be heard in a meaningful way. I love their passion and out-of-the-box approach. If you combine this - you end up with pure awesomeness :)”
PETER MEZYK, CEO & CO-FOUNDER NOMTEK
Keep calm and breathe. How we turned Atmotube into BILD’s tech highlight in 2018.
The goals for our collaboration were clear when Atmotube approached us in August 2018: they wanted to create attention for their Indiegogo launch and a visibility push for the Christmas sales. As time and budget were limited, both parties agreed to focus on two highly targeted campaigns aiming to introduce the new Atmotube Air Sensor generation in the German market.
To announce the launch of Atmotube’s Indiegogo campaign the Atmotube team traveled to Berlin to attend IFA - Germany’s biggest and most important consumer electronics trade fair. To leverage this opportunity Laika invited journalists and influencers to the Atmotube booth and organized interviews with the startup founders as well as test sessions with their new device. Simultaneously, the Laika team sampled media that did not have the time to attend IFA. After IFA both teams took a short break until it was time for the Christmas push. Via raffles and gift guide tips Laika secured the attention of Lead Digital and CHIP.
The result: 15 media articles within a few weeks, including top tier hits such as BILD, Lead Digital, Turn on and Berlin Valley. Especially the double BILD coverage lead to an immediate spike in Atmotube’s website traffic and sales numbers.
“Laika supported us both during IFA and the Christmas business and we saw a significant increase in website traffic, demand, and awareness based on the secured coverage. We enjoyed Laika's hands-on and professional approach to both projects and are looking forward to future collaborations.”
VERA KOZYR, CO-FOUNDER & CEO ATMOTUBE
Reviews
the project
LinkedIn & Magazine Marketing for IT Firm
"We appreciate being able to talk directly to the people who do the work."
the reviewer
the review
A Clutch analyst personally interviewed this client over the phone. Below is an edited transcript.
Introduce your business and what you do there.
I’m the head of investor relations at 3U HOLDING AG, an IT firm. We have operations in renewable energies, e-commerce, and cloud computing. The most promising and successful company in our ream is weclapp which is a European stock corporation.
They’re providing a cloud-based ERP platform with the ambition to become the ERP solution of choice for small and medium-sized businesses around the globe and expanding into the neighboring European countries right now.
What challenge were you trying to address with Laika Communications GmbH?
We do excellent online marketing in e-commerce and in the weclapp business. Still, it takes more than marketing to become the solution of choice. We needed help building our reputation, image, and branding and getting more coverage in social and traditional media.
What was the scope of their involvement?
Laika Communications GmbH provides LinkedIn and magazine marketing for us. The plan was to start with increasing the visibility of our CEO at weclapp on social media. They developed a LinkedIn strategy and started implementing that.
We were happy with our social media presence but we also wanted to be establish ourselves in financial magazines, business trade press, and maybe even radio and TV. This is what we’ve started this year.
Our first interviews were for some of the leading German economic magazines, including Manager Magazine, which is very prestigious, and Germany’s leading daily newspaper. They opened another drawer in the cupboard and we feel they have some potential in there. We’re very curious and looking forward to the next steps.
What is the team composition?
I work with their whole team.
How did you come to work with Laika Communications GmbH?
We came across Laika Communications GmbH about two years ago. One of my bosses, the CEO of weclapp, talked to other office peers and asked how they became so prominent over the past years. They said they were employing Laika Communications GmbH.
We put out an RFP with several agencies, including them. They actually declined which was a pity because we were very curious to learn more about them. However, they declined because they had a high demand for their services and couldn’t hire enough good people to be ready to take all contracts that were an offer.
We decided to go with another communications agency, but we ended that engagement early because they didn’t perform. By then, the founder and CEO of Laika Communications GmbH told us they had two new people on board and they were interested. We sat together and made a plan.
How much have you invested with them?
We invest about €4,000 per month (approximately $4,700 USD). At times it’s less and at times it’s more depending on the actual work.
What is the status of this engagement?
We started working together in February 2020 and it's ongoing.
What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement?
We’ve been more than happy with their performance. We increased our visibility by 10 fold. We see that the curve is becoming even steeper over the past weeks and we’re more than happy with that.
They have a good instinct for what works in social media, what topics we can use, and the setting which suits our strategy in terms of operations and suits the interest and appetites within the social media. Arriving at this match is what we think is a real competitive edge of Laika Communications GmbH. They have a feeling for us as a company and for the target audiences we want to address.
We have 2 or 3 tools we use to track the followers and activity of readers and users of social media. Additionally, we track the clippings on a regular basis and have a couple of indicators in terms of quality analysis and that’s done internally. They provide quantitative metrics.
How did Laika Communications GmbH perform from a project management standpoint?
Laika Communications GmbH is very fast. We come up with a topic and within the next 12 hours, we have their feedback for a post, a story, or a journalist they want to address.
The project is essentially a succession of individual short-term tasks. That necessitates very tight communication. Our teams have a bi-weekly telco where we review the entire scope of what we’re currently doing. In the day-to-day business, everything is done via Teams or email. It works really well.
What did you find most impressive about them?
They’re very determined and customer-oriented. The agency we hired prior had an account director who simply didn’t get the neck of what we were after. At those very large PR agencies, information is often passed from one person to another. We appreciate being able to talk directly to the people who do the work.
Are there any areas they could improve?
No, I have no reason to complain at all. They are even more acquainted with our company than was required. Things have moved very fast so we're keeping an eye out to make sure they don't slow down. We need to make sure they put as much focus on the traditional media as with social media.
Do you have any advice for potential customers?
Be clear about what you want. Use their expertise to arrive at a strategy that is suitable for your targets. It’s what you’d have to do with anyone. Make sure you are in good standing with the people working on your account.
the project
Public Relations for Logistics & Supply Company
"Laika has always been a step ahead of us and prepared everything in advance."
the reviewer
the review
The client submitted this review online.
Please describe your company and your position there.
I'm responsible for all national and international communications at LivingPackets, a European tech company that builds the future of transportation. We have been researching the future of deliveries over the last four years and invented THE BOX, a smart and zero-waste packaging that can be reused over and over again for deliveries.
For what projects/services did your company hire Laika Communications GmbH?
We hired Laika Communications because we needed a reliable, creative, and experienced PR agency that could help us to raise awareness for our vision to build a truly circular logistics system.
What were your goals for this project?
We wanted to raise awareness across a broad audience through media stories and company news.
How did you select Laika Communications GmbH?
I've known the founder, Michaela Krause, for many years already and have always been impressed with her work ethics, dedication, rigor, and creativity. So, it was a natural choice to ask her if she and her team at Laika would like to help us make LivingPackets a well-known brand in Germany.
Describe the scope of their work in detail.
Laika helped us as a full-service PR agency. We worked out the strategic angle of our campaign, story angles, and handled all inbound and outbound media inquiries which initially relied heavily on their extensive network.
What was the team composition?
Two senior communications people work on the account.
Can you share any outcomes from the project that demonstrate progress or success?
Since the start of our collaboration, we saw dozens of publications cover our vision and product at LivingPackets. We have seen a great number of incoming requests for partnerships and potential customers.
How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?
Laika has always been a step ahead of us and prepared everything in advance.
What did you find most impressive about this company?
I've always been a big fan of the work ethics and dedication at Laika, which is a wonderful foundation for a partnership that is based on trust.
Are there any areas for improvement?
No.
the project
PR Services for Mobility Innovation Company
"We were impressed with Laika's amazingly executed presentation and pitch deck."
the reviewer
the review
The client submitted this review online.
Please describe your company and your position there.
For the first 3.5 Years of its founding, I served as CMO for ONOMOTION GmbH, a leading mobility innovation company, proving a new category of electric vehicles to solve the emblematic and infamous last mile of delivery.
For what projects/services did your company hire Laika Communications GmbH?
Laika helped us standardize and professionalize our company from a PR perspective, making it much more appealing for journalists to connect with us, provide high quality and high exposure press releases.
They secured top national (German) and Pan European press coverage. Additionally, they helped us rebuild our press sections on our website, early work on our crisis management as well as introductions to prominent industry journalists.
What were your goals for this project?
Our goals were to better understand and optimize our Public relations channels, to secure a much broader audience for potential and future investors and clients.
How did you select Laika Communications GmbH?
We were impressed with Laika's amazingly executed presentation and pitch deck. They were able to illustrate the power of their network in other markets and better align our positioning and expectations.
Describe the scope of their work in detail.
We worked close together to align the founding team's goals in terms of timely publication and growth for a product that was barely coming to market. Laika geared us and equipped us with the tools to scale properly and always have novel ideas to get noticed or published for great value.
What was the team composition?
We had Michaela as a lead, and talented and diverse international ressources for other markets.
Can you share any outcomes from the project that demonstrate progress or success?
During the campaigns we ran together, we increased our website visits by 300%, each... one of these helped our linkedin community grow by 10% in one months and our leads more than double during and after the campaigns.
How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?
Pretty effortless. regular meetings scheduled in advanced, available on the phone and even in person when it mattered most.
What did you find most impressive about this company?
They way they can almost immediately let you know where you stand in your industry, where you can go and most importantly, how to take you there. Their campaign ideas are even sometimes what you would expect from a top creative agency- not a PR one.
Are there any areas for improvement?
Some additional support we lacked at the time, such as content marketing would have also been nice!
The client received coverage in several prestigious magazines and has seen increase visibility. Laika Communications GmbH establishes an effective workflow through consistent communication. The team is driven, hard-working, and customer-oriented.