The WORDUP PR Story
Since 1994, WORDUP Public Relations has been supporting innovation topics from its base in Munich – from digital broadcasting and intellectual property to FinTech. A look back at three decades of projects, clients and mandates.
This page is a historical reference. It has not been updated since 2020.
With a clear focus on innovation and technology, Achim von Michel laid the foundations for WORDUP Public Relations in the mid-1990s, after studying communication science, computer science and psychology. Until 1998 he worked exclusively for the Bavarian Regulatory Authority for New Media (BLM), and from 1995 as appointed press officer for Bayerische Medien Technik GmbH, a subsidiary of Bayerischer Rundfunk and the BLM. From 1998 onwards, the consultant developed the PR agency for innovation into an internationally active full-service provider based in Munich.
The Digitalisation Challenge
In 1999, PR consultant Achim von Michel launched the annual European Digital Radio Conference, which he last chaired in 2003 with more than 200 participants from 18 countries at the City Hilton in Munich. Cooperation partners such as WorldDAB, DigiTAG, the British BBC and the Initiative Marketing Digital Radio (IMDR) placed the event at the centre of the international DAB and DVB-T community. With specialist publications and PR projects for, among others, the Technical Directorate of Bayerischer Rundfunk and Bayern Digital Radio GmbH, WORDUP has accompanied the digital broadcasting sector for more than two decades and played a defining role in the shift from “analogue” to “digital” – for example during the launch of DVB-T in Germany, or in the 5G TODAY research project, in which project partners Bayerischer Rundfunk, the Institut für Rundfunktechnik, Telefónica, Kathrein and Rohde & Schwarz trialled the use of the new FeMBMS standard to broadcast media content to 5G devices via High Power High Tower (HPHT) transmitters.
Innovation in information technology has been a core focus ever since. WORDUP Managing Director Achim von Michel brings sound IT expertise to every consulting mandate, drawing on his minor degree in computer science and many years of intensive work with internet technologies, SEO/SEM and social media. Companies such as Network Appliance (NetApp), the world’s leading manufacturer of storage solutions, and American Power Conversion (APC), as well as Smapper Technologies and INSYS Informationssysteme, relied on the agency’s outstanding copywriting skills for customer newsletters, mailings and corporate presentations.
Ray Sono AG, a Voith holding company, relied on the agency’s media relations for almost four years. The online marketing division of Schober AG Switzerland subsequently joined the portfolio. WORDUP also successfully advised the Salzburg-based company Cooperational Excellence, which launched an innovative, web-based cooperation network. US start-up SimpliVity (company value at the time: approx. 100 million dollars) approached WORDUP to establish the benefits of hyperconverged solutions among German mid-sized businesses.
As financial services and IT-based solutions continue to converge (FinTech), WORDUP’s digitalisation expertise is now applied consistently across other subject areas as well.
Industrial Projects & Aerospace
Following initial experience with engine manufacturer MTU, WORDUP won a major contract from the aviation industry in the early 2000s – accompanying press and public relations work for the rollout of the FairchildDornier 728 regional aircraft. Around 500 guests and journalists from all over the world attended the presentation of the last Dornier jet in Munich-Oberpfaffenhofen.
Deutsche Telekom AG and its subsidiary T-Systems Media Broadcast also drew on WORDUP’s specific subject expertise around the introduction of the digital broadcasting technologies DAB and DVB-T. Munich consultancy TWS Partners AG – Europe’s market leader in game theory and behavioural economics – relied on WORDUP’s expertise in communicating industrial auctions (e.g. 5G licence auctions) and global procurement negotiations in large corporations.
A few years ago, WORDUP resumed its work in the aviation sector, advising among others the long-established aerospace parts supplier Aircraft Philipp Group. Lithuanian air passenger rights specialist SKYCOP was also a client of the agency for two years, further consolidating its expertise in the aviation industry. As part of a wider mandate from parent company Avia Solutions Group (2018 group revenue approx. 420 million EUR), the Munich PR agency also advised its subsidiary KlasJet and the international airconvention conference in Vilnius.
Innovation & Intellectual Property
Since the early 2000s, a further set of topics has complemented the agency’s field of activity: innovation, copyright and intellectual property. On behalf of former President Dr. Ingo Kober, Achim von Michel built up the new communications department of the European Patent Office (EPO). WORDUP also planned and delivered the farewell ceremony for former EPO President Prof. Alain Pompidou, attended by 500 invited guests at the Allerheiligen Hofkirche. Regular internal communications projects made the agency a reliable service provider to the EPO for more than eight years.
WORDUP subsequently served as the European PR provider for MultiLing Corp., the international patent translation specialist headquartered in Provo, Utah. For more than eight years, WORDUP also handled all media relations for the collecting society VG WORT. Munich-based Patentpool Gruppe likewise relied on WORDUP’s expertise for around eight years. On four occasions, WORDUP supported the Deutsches Institut für Erfindungswesen with organisation and media relations for Germany’s oldest innovation award – the Rudolf Diesel Medal.
For more than six years, WORDUP has handled German-language media relations (DACH region) for the US company Anaqua, a provider of innovative IT solutions for patent management. This includes developing and delivering a high-profile event series on current questions of patent protection, staged ten times to date in Munich, Stuttgart and Paris, and several times virtually during the coronavirus pandemic.
These and other projects on behalf of GEMA, the German Patent and Trade Mark Office, the Federal Ministry of Justice and leading industry figures such as Wurzer & Kollegen have established the agency as a recognised PR expert in this field.
FinTech & Financial Services
Financial services and FinTech form another area of focus: the spectrum ranges from afb Application Services AG, a specialist in automated lending solutions, to Bankhaus August Lenz (Mediolanum Banking Group) and trading systems provider RavenPack, through to banking IT specialists such as C1 Fincon, Cadis and financing-focused capFlow AG.
Prior to its successful sale, WORDUP was responsible for media relations at yavalu, Germany’s largest provider of exchange-traded funds (ETFs). Targeted investments in mid-sized companies were the theme of investment company Lehel Invest Bayern (LIB). With the services of Lehel Trade Partners (LTP), WORDUP also covered the topic of purchase order financing.
For the Klako Group (today: Köhler Services), the PR agency brought specialist content from Asia into German-speaking markets. With the launch of the digital payment system Payconiq, WORDUP supported an ING Bank spin-off in a pioneering FinTech project, in which influencers and social media channels also played a central role.
Growth financier Blue Cap AG added a listed company to the portfolio. SHS Viveon AG, also listed, is among the agency’s most recent clients. The company has set itself the task of simplifying the management of financial and regulatory risk with a dedicated IT platform.
PR & Political Consulting for Mid-Sized Business
Active business communication in a globalised world calls for a high degree of connectedness within target groups and the media. As Bavarian press officer of the German Association for Small and Medium-Sized Businesses (BVMW), Achim von Michel has for more than 17 years been a public figure acting politically and journalistically on behalf of the largest association of its kind, which speaks for over one million voices. As its Officer for Political Affairs, he regularly gives interviews, including on the main news programmes of Bavarian television, and delivers talks and keynotes – for example at the internationally renowned German Council on Foreign Relations, in the Bavarian State Parliament and at the invitation of Munich’s Mayor at the city hall.
For automotive supplier Schlemmer Group, based in Poing near Munich and employing more than 3,000 people, WORDUP handled worldwide media relations for four years. Family-owned construction company Krieger+Schramm relied on WORDUP PR for its expansion into the Munich area, where it successfully carried out the DYNAHAUS research project – a pilot project realised together with the Technical University of Munich, BMW, the Fraunhofer Society and other partners, featuring a single-family home that generates more energy than the family living in it consumes. Supporting the long-established company Neschen Coating / Filmolux from Lower Saxony at the Global Print Expo FESPA in Munich is another highlight from the mid-market segment.
WORDUP has underpinned its broad knowledge in this field for 12 years with its independent online magazine mittelstandinbayern.de, which reports daily on political news and economic developments affecting mid-sized businesses.
Culture, Social Causes & Charity
WORDUP regularly makes its consulting services available to culturally and socially active organisations and institutions – predominantly at significantly reduced fees. Successful cultural projects include advising the Karl Böhm Foundation on supporting highly gifted musicians, local media support for musical highlights staged by concert promoter BB Promotion, and the founding and positioning of a summer theatre academy in Switzerland. Another highlight was the social integration project run by the Institute for Applied Cultural Education (IAKB) at the municipal Willy Brandt comprehensive school in Munich. In the field of social projects, WORDUP also looks back on collaborations with the Lauterbacher Mühle Foundation and the German branch of the international aid organisation Médecins du Monde.
Over several years, WORDUP also supported the Dr. Robert Pfleger Foundation with extensive press and public relations work around its medical award ceremony in Bamberg.
The social support network DEIN NACHBAR e.V. was likewise advised by the Munich public relations specialists around the time of its founding. Extensive media coverage, including in the Süddeutsche Zeitung, reflected the considerable social relevance of caring for family members.
Art, too, remains a relevant theme – a connection established very early on through the renowned exhibition of world-famous artists “23 artistes pour Médecins du Monde” (limited prints by Rauschenberg, Tàpies, Lichtenstein and many others). With Fu Wenjun, the Munich art fair ARTMUC recently welcomed its first internationally renowned Chinese artist, represented in the media by WORDUP.
Event Organisation & Promotion
Successfully planned and executed major events – including with the participation of former Federal Chancellor Gerhard Schröder (Intellectual Property Symposium at the Deutsches Museum) and Munich’s mayors Schmid and Reiter (the regular reception for mid-sized business at Munich City Hall) – have also made WORDUP a creative and reliable partner for events, press conferences, congresses and other high-profile occasions. Not least, this includes event planning and delivery as well as all media relations for the annual presentation of the Dieselmedaille, attended by more than 200 guests from politics, business, culture and the media in the Hall of Fame of the Deutsches Museum in Munich. The farewell ceremony for European Patent Office President Alain Pompidou at the Allerheiligen Hofkirche in Munich, with around 500 guests, marks the agency’s largest event to date.
The most recent example is an exclusive event series on patent management for the US company ANAQUA in Munich (Künstlerhaus), Stuttgart and Paris.
With the onset of the coronavirus pandemic, WORDUP consistently moved the ANAQUA conference and other events into the digital space – depending on the occasion and budget, either via established conferencing platforms such as Zoom, Webex or Teams, or using professional studios and streaming technology to deliver a high-resolution, transmission-secure webcast with multiple speakers for several hundred participants. On request, we also move press conferences and expert discussions into the digital space, using the analytics tools of modern conferencing systems to give our clients reliable insights into attendance.
In short: PR Xcellence since 1994.
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