How to generate impact and visibility in a highly competitive environment

ITA (Italian Trade Agency) is the Italian agency for foreign trade, equivalent to the Spanish ICEX. As the organization responsible for supporting Italian companies on their path to internationalization and giving visibility to their entrepreneurial ecosystem, the agency explores new markets so as to be present at the most significant innovation events. 

In 2021, Italian startup investment marked a turning point by exceeding €1 billion for the first time, and boasting more than 14,000 innovative companies registered in the commercial register of which 540 were startups.  

ITA has approached Opinno as a global innovation consultant, to optimize their presence at the Mobile World Congress 2022 in Barcelona, the world's most influential mobile communication event. This edition was attended by close to 50,000 participants who represented more than 150 countries, 37 national flags, and more than 1,500 speakers. 

Among the participating Italian startups were companies such as: Domethics, EvenFi, Sensosan, Zerynth, EcoSteer, R&S Solutions or Youbiquo. 

"The collaboration with ITA has been a challenge for Opinno given that the project was only launched one month before the MWC" comments Anthony Delmotte, Project Manager at Opinno "The fact that the 2020 edition was cancelled and that in 2021 it was held half-heartedly, made us expect a massive turnout in 2022, with the resulting challenge of giving voice to the 20 selected startups competing with the ecosystems of more than 150 participating countries". 

How to achieve the greatest possible impact for these startups in a super competitive context and in record time, what objectives are considered a priority, and what has to be the strategy to achieve them? 

To achieve this visibility and capture the audience’s attention, we designed an innovative presence strategy based on 3 objectives: improving the visibility of the selected startups, piquing the attention of investors and attending companies, and strengthening ITA’s image in the congress by boosting its relations with the ecosystem. 

The differentiation strategy was based on creating quality content, relevant to the MWC audience, editorial monitoring, and designing truly unique PR activity. 

At Opinno we have extensive experience in creating meaningful, relevant content. For example, organizing an exclusive conference on "The 10 emerging technologies in 2022", hosted by the MIT Technology Review Magazine in Spanish, the publishing branch of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, stood out. 

The presence of experts, organized around 5 round tables, was also a point of special attention. Topics such as emerging technologies, the scalability of startups, or the risk of a cyber pandemic, among others, were covered during the event.  

As for the editorial follow-up, a series of interviews were conducted with representatives of ITA, the participating startups, and even with investors and companies that came to the stand for their own interest. 

Finally, and as a reinforcement of our strategy for differential impact through content, 2 articles were published in the MIT TR which were completed with an interview of high media coverage with Anna Ascani, Secretary of State of the Italian Ministry of Economy. 

Insofar as ITA considers that its expectations of visibility at MWC 2022 have been met, achieved in record time, and based on our own lessons learnt and the impact generated in a very competitive context, we at Opinno are looking forward to the next edition.