PR case study: An award winning campaign for Freespace

Freespace is a workplace technology solution that anonymously captures office space usage to reveal a detailed picture of office occupancy.

The data gathered from Freespace sensors helps organisations understand how their spaces are being used, enabling them to make their workplaces fit for purpose.

We supported Freespace with PR and communications. Our brief was to:

Position Freespace as an expert solution provider in workplace technology.
Highlight the capabilities of Freespace technology and the impact in has on workplace decision making.
Build a profile in key national and business media as an expert in workplace data and occupancy analysis.
Be a leading voice in the conversation around “return to work” following the pandemic.

This PR case study details the strategy, implementation and results of the campaign.

Project planning

We built a collaborative relationship with Freespace’s data and marketing teams via regular calls to ensure we had access to the latest data. These check-ins would increase in frequency depending on Covid-19 restrictions. For instance, warnings of a new variant would likely see office occupancy reduce. Or when restrictions were lifted, occupancy might increase.

Magenta worked with the Freespace team to understand trends in relation to changing government guidance around work and highlight to Freespace exactly where the newsworthy stories were.

We had to be nimble and remain alert to the ever-changing Covid-19 news agenda. We understood what reporters needed in terms of data and commentary to help tell their stories.

Strategic media relations

We had a thorough understanding of the data that journalists needed to help tell their story thanks to our long-standing relationships with key press. We recommended to Freespace that it provided both UK and London specific data to add another layer to the office occupancy story. We also requested New York specific data to add further comparative depth to our pitches. This was of particular interest to tier one titles with an international reach.

Our daily analysis of the Freespace data identified the trend that office occupancy on Mondays and Fridays were low, whereas Tue-Thur were significantly busier. We built a story around the idea that ‘Thursday is the new Friday’ and created bulletins for key media, using the data to evidence that hypothesis.

We targeted broadcast production teams at the likes of Sky News and BBC World Service to discuss these trends. We also updated City A.M. and the Evening Standard regularly with specific London data. These targets were carefully considered as they speak directly to Freespace’s target customers of large City-based corporate organisations.

We also looked to place regular opinion pieces in key trade and vertical sector titles, such as Property Week, HRO Today, Financial Digest, and Workplace Insight discussing how the Freespace data could support business leaders in making crucial workplace decisions, particularly when it came to how their real estate was being used.

Proactive PR

We initiated and managed data-sharing relationships with three tier one business media targets, with international reach and unmatchable reputations.

We started by developing a productive relationship between Freespace and Bloomberg. Freespace provided bespoke and tailored data, allowing Bloomberg to create data visualisations that looked and felt proprietary. This added value to their reporting, positioning Freespace as a trusted provider of key office occupancy data.

We developed a solid relationship with an economics reporter at the Financial Times to discuss international data to help tell the story of office occupancy in the UK and abroad. This reputation building exercise proved fruitful, with the reporter regularly approaching Magenta for the latest Freespace data. Similarly, several briefings were set-up with The Economist to discuss UK and international office occupancy trends and the impact on commercial real estate.

It was important to have these media relationships in place so we could instantly react to changing circumstances with relevant and newsworthy data and analysis.

As the work from home directive eased, we held weekly calls with a business correspondent at The Evening Standard and a consumer affairs correspondent at The Times. This allowed us to discuss increasing office occupancy trends as the UK and London returned to work.

Results and impact

Between January 2021 and February 2022, Magenta secured a consistent and regular flow of coverage across tier one print, online and broadcast media outlets. This included:

x 7 articles in Bloomberg featuring Freespace data, graphs, and supporting quotes
x 2 in The Economist
x 1 in Wired UK
x 2 in the Daily Telegraph
x 2 in the Daily Mail
x 2 in the MailOnline
x 3 in The Times
x 2 in The Times (online)
x 1 in This is Money
x 4 in City A.M
x 10 in the Evening Standard

Freespace CEO Raj Krishnamurthy was interviewed live on Sky News’ Ian King Show in late 2021. This fulfilled one of Freespace’s key objectives. He discussed how the new Covid variant was impacting office occupancy levels in the UK and London and featured a Freespace branded graph on screen. Prior to the interview, Magenta worked closely with the Sky News producers and briefed Raj on company key messages.

January 2022’s coverage alone amounted to a readership of over 1.7bn.

The results of this campaign saw Freespace become a trusted expert in workplace and office occupancy data. The accompanying analysis of the data also saw the company become of the leading voices on the UK’s return to work.