We delivered a media campaign that placed Europe’s new €5M photonics education and training network firmly in the global conversation about technology, skills and industrial competitiveness.
When the European Commission invested €5 million into a new pan-European education and training network for photonics, the challenge was to ensure that this investment in skills was heard far beyond the usual research bubble.
We were appointed to design and deliver a targeted international media campaign that could position PHORTIFY, a new photonics education and training network as what it really is: a strategic European response to the growing shortage of semiconductor and deep-tech skills.
Working closely with the project coordinator Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB) and partners across Europe, Matter PR translated a complex Horizon Europe programme into a story that editors, industry leaders and technology audiences could immediately understand: Europe is building a new talent pipeline for the industries that underpin its digital and industrial sovereignty.
Rather than relying on a single press release, we built a layered media strategy designed to reach three overlapping audiences:
- Photonics and optics specialists who shape the technical community.
- Semiconductor, electronics and advanced manufacturing media.
- Mainstream technology and business outlets read by investors, founders and policymakers.
This framed the project as a workforce-building initiative for Europe’s entire high-tech economy.
Within weeks of launch, PHORTIFY had appeared across 17 independent news outlets, ranging from specialist titles such as Photonics Spectra, Electro Optics and Optics.org to major technology and business platforms including MSN, Silicon Republic, Bits & Chips and Electronic Specifier.
These articles produced a total potential audience of 7,429,518 readers and an estimated engaged readership of 225,544 people who actively read the story.
In practical terms, we made PHORTIFY visible beyond universities and research labs, as far and wide as to start-ups, scale-ups, chip designers, system integrators, investors and policymakers across Europe.
Promoting Photonics
Photonics sits at the heart of semiconductors, AI hardware, quantum technologies, clean energy and advanced manufacturing. But Europe’s ability to compete in these fields depends on something far less glamorous: having enough skilled people to design, build and operate the technology.
With coverage across both deep-tech media and mainstream technology platforms, the campaign ensured PHORTIFY was seen as part of Europe’s industrial strategy.
The campaign has already created a strong platform for future storytelling about the programme’s growth, impact and role in Europe’s innovation ecosystem.
If you are looking for a specialist science communications and PR agency that covers all aspects of science, technology and engineering, please get in touch with us.
Email info@matterpr.com today.
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