This year PR firm Indigo Pearl turned 20. We caught up with Caroline Miller to talk about the company’s recent success, how PR has changed and why it’s important to do influencer relations right.
Tell us about your company.
Indigo Pearl is a PR agency that specialises in video games. We're now in our 20th year, based in London and have partners around the world. We work on huge blockbuster franchises such as Fortnite, Pokémon GO, Harry Potter: Wizards Unite and Overwatch; as well as with cool, cutting edge indie publishers like Devolver, Curve and Good Shepherd.
We also have an events division, which has grown significantly in recent years: we now represent EGX, Rezzed and MCM Comic-Con.
Our sister company, PXN, builds and maintains media and influencer websites for publishers such as Ubisoft, Sony PlayStation, Bethesda, Capcom, Namco Bandai, Sega, Square Enix, Warner Brothers, Nvidia and Amazon.
How has the last year been for you?
It's been great 2018 was a long year for us as we invested a lot of time, money and energy into reinventing our media websites and digital solutions, so in 2019 we've been able to reap the benefits of those efforts.
Our work is now starting to attract companies outside the games industry, and that's leading to some very interesting conversations.
What recent successes have you had?
Well, this year we won our fifth, consecutive, MCV Award for PR Agency of the Year. Also, we won the CIPR award - it is really rewarding to be recognised from inside - and beyond - the games industry.
On the client-side, we picked up some great new business including MCM Comic Con, Curve Digital, Focus Home Entertainment and Mediatonic. And we are just about to announce some other, very interesting partnerships.
What challenges are facing your sector in the market?
Influencer management continues to be a challenge for the media sector. It's a big opportunity, with a lot of moving parts, and many pitfalls.
That's why we've done our research: talking to large and small companies and built a very powerful online tool that helps PR and community managers to communicate more effectively with this burgeoning new sector.
Discovery remains tricky (with so many games and such a large, hungry media), so getting attention in a crowded marketplace calls for creative solutions.
What do you think are the most exciting trends in games right now?
We've been working on a voice-controlled game, and that's been an amazing experience. The sector is still pretty small but has real ramifications for how we interact with games. And (obviously) everyone is very interested to see streaming finally becoming a 'thing' (maybe) We are all excited to see what it will mean for the industry and for gamers. When the distribution changes, the marketing must adapt, or it will be left behind.
What are your aims for the coming year?
To keep up with the fastest-moving entertainment sector in the world. Also, to keep working on cool games with talented developers and publishers.
How did you come up with your company’s name?
It was the name of my favourite sled as a child.
Contact info:
+44 208 964 4545
+44 776 525 5002
