business with the EU’s Markets in Crypto Assets Regulation (MiCA) regulations. As a result, many clients have been turning to BCB to help them understand regulation and to learn from the company’s own work in that field. "It is important for us to do a lot of listening. It gives us the opportunity to finesse our existing offering and to be able to react to questions,” says Shrager. The European MiCA regulation offers a great example. “Clients want to know how we have tackled the various MiCA obligations and where we can assist them,” says Shrager. “We have developed a series of client communications and people are already finding that helpful. The demand for insights into regulation is only going to grow over the coming year, and we will need to be ready to listen to feedback and respond as quickly as we can.” Regulation is also an area where coordinated responses from the digital assets industry can make a valuable difference, giving the common interest a voice to governments and regulators. "Strategically, it has become increasingly important for us to be part of an organisation that can help advance our ideas and support our regulatory-first agenda and we have begun discussions about joining the Global Blockchain Business Council,” says Shrager. “The council is taken seriously by major regulators like the UK’s Financial Conduct Authority, and it has solid reach in all major jurisdictions.”
Tim Renew Deputy Chief Executive Officer BCB Group
Or as she puts it: “Falling back on the same old ideas isn’t going to cut it.” The decision to launch BLINC magazine at Paris Blockchain Week and to follow up with a second edition at Money20/20 is one example of communications disruption. “In the digital industries, the natural tendency is to assume that communications is a purely virtual affair, carried out on a website, through social media and so forth. Those are core to communications, and our website is designed to be a powerful resource for our clients and indeed anyone interested in digital assets and payments. “But a hard-copy magazine is different, people interact with a magazine in a different way to messages or links on their phone. It’s a change of pace and in a world where we all spend our lives looking at screens for information. A magazine literally disrupts that and for us it’s a clear and tangible way to signal our commitment to communication and industry dialogue.” ◆
“I speak to a lot of my fellow marketers to understand what their pain points are. I know some of them struggle to gain support internally, and I suppose I’m very lucky in that I don’t have that challenge,” she says. “When there is a lack of internal appetite for creative marketing, there can be less inclination to experiment. But, in marketing, when people start playing it safe with tried and tested channels, they stop standing out.” A key word for Shrager is disruption. Used widely by companies to describe their business strategy it is also a valuable approach to communication. The audience we need to communicate with is very wide. Obviously we need to keep clients informed of what we are doing, how we might be able to help them, and new products coming out. At the same time, we are communicating with the rest of our industry. Tim Renew
Innovation in both payments and communication
With such a heavy focus on products and innovation it is easy for companies in an emerging sector such as digital assets to look inward rather than outward. But Renew and Shrager argue that the work and culture inside a business must be at one with its communications. “For some organisations, communications are an after-thought,” says Renew. “In some ways that is understandable, we are all working hard to bring new products and capabilities to the clients and that is an obvious focus. But it is really important that how we communicate reflects that culture and the innovation in our business.” Shrager believes the solution lies in a combination of proven communications techniques with unexpected twists.
If you would like to join the BLINC conversation to share your insights or views on industry issues, contact sam@bcbgroup.io
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