TOUCHDOWN PR TURNS 20!
By Global Managing Director, Tim Hurley
Twenty years is a long time in technology. In tech PR, it can feel like a lifetime. Even a few lifetimes.
When Touchdown PR opened in the spring of 2006, tech looked very different. The iPhone had not yet been launched. No one had ever heard or dreamt of TikTok, ChatGPT or app stores. AI was something scary and the domain of the folks at MIT, Carnegie Mellon and super secret labs. In B2B tech, conversations centered on Internet commerce, online business models and how digital channels would change the way companies bought, sold and competed. Since then, wave after wave has reshaped enterprise technology: cloud computing, big data, mobility, cybersecurity, AI and now quantum computing.
The Touchdown journey started in the UK, expanded across EMEA into France, Germany and beyond, and crossed the Atlantic when the TD flag was planted in Austin in 2014. The company was aptly named as a “Touchdown” point in different regions, helping clients land, connect and grow in markets around the world, which continues today.
And across two decades, the work we do for clients has evolved as quickly as the technology cycles we have witnessed. But the core job has not changed. Credible, lasting communications and brand building is not about chasing headlines. It is about making complex ideas understandable, building trust in noisy markets and giving founders, executives and technical leaders the confidence and clarity to tell their stories when it matters most. That has been Touchdown’s mission from the start.
I am still relatively new to Touchdown. I joined the agency 18 months ago, but I had partnered with the team for a decade before that, supporting U.S. clients who needed smart counsel and strong execution across EMEA. I knew the people and the work ethic long before I officially became part of it.
Over 20 years, Touchdown has ridden some extraordinary highs. It has seen entire categories emerge almost overnight. It has watched numerous startups attain successful exits and in many some cases become market leaders. We certainly had a hand in helping make that happen too that has been very gratifying. Along the way, our teams have helped clients navigate major launches, funding rounds, acquisitions, expansions, reputational challenges and category-defining shifts.
At the same time, Touchdown, like every agency, has also lived through harder chapters. The 2008-09 financial crisis tested everyone. Budgets tightened. Markets slowed. More recently, we’ve navigated a global pandemic, economic uncertainty, geopolitical instability, shrinking newsrooms and a media environment that gets more fragmented every year.
Yet, Touchdown has endured because the fundamentals still matter.
Strategy. Relationships. Substance. Tech knowledge. Respect for the media.
These are all critical to our agency’s longevity and success.
But above all, people matter most. This was the philosophy taken by Touchdown PR founder James Carter back in the humble early days. It continues today.
Touchdown has remained a leader in enterprise technology PR by staying laser focused on what we do best. We are still a top-tier boutique agency, but one with the scale, reach and depth to support companies across markets and regions. Clients can expect senior counsel, deep technology expertise, accountability and global execution. Very few agencies can credibly claim that combination.
So, to the entire Touchdown team — in the US, UK, France, Germany, Scandinavia, Asia Pacific and beyond, past and present — thank you. You built this agency. You created and protected its culture. You earned the trust of clients, journalists, analysts and partners. Touchdown is what it is because of your talent, drive, humor and commitment.
To the hundreds of clients we have served: thank you for trusting us with your stories, challenging us and allowing us to be part of your growth. The best client-agency relationships are built on honesty, collaboration and shared ambition. We have been fortunate to work with companies that believe in all three.
To our business partners, media contacts, analysts, friends and advocates across the industry: thank you for being part of the journey. Communications have always been a relationship business, and we have never taken those relationships for granted.
Now, as part of Ruder Finn for the past three and a half years, the next chapter is taking shape. We continue to expand our services, grow our geographic footprint and deepen our expertise, bringing clients new ways to connect strategy, creativity, data, digital engagement and storytelling. The tech markets we serve will keep changing. The pace will only get faster. The questions will get bigger.
Which is why we keep asking: what’s next?
Here’s to the first 20 years.
And here’s to the next 20.
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