Founded in 1995 as a spin off from global technology public relations powerhouse Text 100, which needed a conflict agency to handle the Apple Computer business, Bite has evolved over the years into a global player, and in recent years been focused on moving up the value chain, transforming into a multi-channel communications consultancy with a media neutral approach and particular emphasis on digital and social media and positioning itself as a leader in understanding and managing the network effect, using a mix of innovative and traditional PR techniques to stimulate what it calls “social action” on behalf of clients.
Bite originally established itself as a major player in the U.S. through its acquisition of Applied Communications, one of the industry’s most strategic and innovate technology specialists. It has broad expertise in both enterprise business-to-business and consumer public relations, as well as increasingly impressive corporate capabilities and a leadership position in the increasingly vital clean tech sector.
The firm begins every engagement with a comprehensive examination of the intended audiences, influencers and opinion makers, looking at how potential customers consume information and examining the factors that influence their decisions. Armed with that information, the firm generates insights into the best way to approach the target audience, developing highly customized messaging. And when it makes that approach, it does so without any preconceived notions about the right media to use. Print and broadcast media might be part of the solution, but a typical campaign increasingly includes blogs, podcasts, and other social media, as well as offline tactics ranging from speaking opportunities to creative mailers to guerilla marketing.
Bite works for industry leaders such as AMD, HP, Infosys, Sun Microsystyems, Vonage and Wind River, with more recent additions to its client list including Sybase, Lonely Planet, visualization and automation software company Parallels (originally a client in Asia). But the big news of recent months was the appointment of Michelle Herman, former head of the San Francisco office of Waggener Edstrom, as general manager of the North American operation, after her predecessor, David Hargreaves, was named to lead Next Fifteen’s digital and social media engagement consultancy Project Metal.
Bite has a global reach, with offices in the some of the largest markets worldwide, including strategic hubs in North America (San Francisco, New York and Toronto), Europe (London, Stockholm and Paris) and following last year’s acquisition of Upstream, the Asia-Pacific (Upstream brought offices in Kong, Australia, China, Japan, Singapore, and Taipei). In countries where the firm has no physical presence, it can draw on relationships with best-in-class affiliates as well as the broader Next Fifteen agency network, which includes sister agency Text 100.