And just like that – 2020 is gone, long live 2021! At some point, it felt like the previous year was never going to end, yet here we are. Facing some “new year new me” vibes once again.
While hoping to fulfill our workation dreams this year and setting new publicity goals for 2021, we can't overlook success that made the last month of 2020 a lot merrier. Truesix ended the past year with a blast (and some gingerbread house making as well). Read our December publicity recap to find out more!
The future of food: 8 megatrends of the Nordic-Baltic region
Our job can be many things, but it's impossible to call it mundane. December of 2020 was an excellent example of that as we launched three entirely different publicity campaigns.
We kickstarted the month with a project quite out of Truesix's usual box – publicity for research, which identified eight megatrends affecting the future of food in the Nordic-Baltic region.
The future of food research (project by the Nordic Council of Ministers) took place in the light of climate change and the possibilities brought by the industry revolution 4.0. Its aim was drawing attention to likely future scenarios to overcome the food-system related hurdles before the issues become irreversible.
As a result, the research identified eight megatrends affecting the future of food in the Nordic-Baltic region. The trends covered various aspects such as food systems' redesign, changes in dietary preferences and consumption patterns, anxiety linked to climate change and overconsumption, and more.
Truesix was excited to deliver this project’s message to a broader audience and to see it appearing in some media outlets, such as:
- Food&Drink Business Europe
- KTVN
- WBOC, and more.
Even though the identified megatrends are future-oriented, one can already witness some of them in action in various industries. Every step towards sustainability, a greener diet, or the circular economy is a choice in favor of a healthier planet. Addressing the future challenges of food systems already today is crucial for resolving them in the future.
Explore summaries and visualizations of the eight megatrends in Nordic-Baltic food systems here, and kickstart your 2021 with awareness!
Small but mighty Baltic startup scene: report 2019/2020
For the 3rd year in a row, Startup Wise Guys and EIT Digital have launched the annual Baltic startup scene report. This time it's the largest to date and includes the first-ever Baltic startup scene survey. For the Truesix team, it's also the 3rd year of working to bring the report to life.
Truesix began to devote time and energy to the report's creation about five months ago. 450+ analyzed startups and 70 contributor inputs later, the project was launched to provide a high-quality, data-backed outlook on the Baltic startup scene.
This year's newcomer, for our team, was being involved not only in the report's creation itself but also in its launch and PR activities. It resulted in well-deserved media attention from 30+ different sources. Here are a few of them:
The insight into season 2019/2020 for the Baltic startup scene revealed a surprising rebound in startup and investor optimism and funding growth in H1 of 2020 despite the pandemic-induced economic decline.
Overall, Baltic startups have been less negatively affected by the ongoing pandemic than other startup ecosystem players assume, according to the conducted survey results. Among the variety of gathered insights, two data-backed observations were especially gratifying:
- Baltic funding per capita is 5x larger than that of other Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) countries
- The region's Unicorns per Million people ratio is the highest in the world with a score of 1 (6 unicorns on 6M inhabitants)
Small but mighty – that's the Baltic startup scene.
Access the full Baltic startup scene report of 2019/2020 here and dive into Baltic startup investments, explore startups to watch, glance into the startup scene's outlook ahead, and so much more.
Christmas caroling to make a very Covid Christmas merrier, and other honorable mentions
When I declared earlier that our December work was quite diverse, I bet you didn't expect a combo of food-system megatrends, Baltic startup scene report, and launch of a Christmas caroling site. And yet, in the best traditions of Latvian rasols* (*the essence of Latvian party), that's how we rolled through the last month of the year.
It was evident that the Christmas & New Year holiday season of 2020 won't be filled with gatherings and parties. So, kudos to the people who came up with ideas during the not-so-merry times, such as the recently launched caroling site, the Joy of Song.
The idea roots in a 50+ years old tradition of Christmas caroling in Baiba Rubesa’s family - the creator of the Joy of Song project. To her, Christmas is only real when celebrated by caroling.
To find a way of creating safe Christmas sing-alongs, Baiba decided to launch a Christmas caroling site – free downloadable lyrics, accompaniments to suit various tastes, and carols available in 6 languages.
Truesix participated in both the project's creation and publicity. Amid all the pandemic news, it was lovely to see the media covering this joyous topic. The Joy of Song launch news were spotted in:
Besides the three publicity campaign launches that we worked on during December, some of our other clients were also happy to receive media attention.
Time tracking software, DeskTime, appeared in 3 sources. The coffee experiment article was published on Lifehack.org (shoutout to Ieva 🎉) and Bueno Group. And another DeskTime's productivity experiment, dating back to 2014, was mentioned in an article on Wired.uk.
And last but absolutely not least, our client LMT was featured in an article on ZDnet (kudos to Julia on this one) about how drone technologies could ensure lockdown-proof supply chains. Read the article here.
A piece of a gingerbread house for dessert – or how Truesix celebrated Christmas remotely
I don't know if you could call our team the biggest Christmas enthusiasts, but Truesix does have a tradition to host a party for our clients & friends at the end of the year.
It's a great way to look back on accomplishments, celebrate them with those most important to us, and set new goals for the upcoming year. Not to mention the annual “kurlikts” gifts' swapping activity (you've got to participate in it at least once to understand the vibe).
This year, obviously, ended without such a party. However, thanks to Julia, who came up with a brilliant idea and made sure the team received party packages, Truesix celebrated Christmas with a remote gingerbread house making (accompanied by sipping mulled wine, of course).
Loads of fun, laughter, and “omg, how do I even do this” (that was me) resulted in 5 wonderful gingerbread houses. And let me tell you – I hadn't had so much fun in quite a while.
Well, it's a wrap and cut and mission completed for Truesix's 2020. We've made our new year's resolutions and are looking forward to seeing what 2021 has in store. May it be a good year for all of us. Ciao for now!
January 6, 2021
ByAiva Strelca
In