GLOUCESTER, UK — Radioactive PR has picked up the first retained PR brief for emerging British biotech and microbial control firm Zonitise, whose products have already been used to make London City Airport Covid-safe for travellers and employees.

The company makes antimicrobial surface cleaning treatments that can be used to make schools, hospitals, airports, venues and other public spaces safe from bacteria and viruses, including Covid-19, to a surgical standard, for up to 12 months.

Radioactive’s brief includes a mix of brand awareness and link building work, including creative PR for SEO to help build links from high-ranking media sites, media relations, case studies, and profiling founder Edward Tennent, as well as partnerships, social media and influencer work.

Agency founder Rich Leigh told PRovoke Media: “It’s one of the first companies we’ve worked for where you know it will save lives and make a genuine difference. Any public space, from bars and restaurants to theatres and hair salons, can use their product, and as well as the B2B play, they are about to bring out a consumer version. Our challenge is to communicate to buyers, in a way that isn’t too technical, that it’s a game-changing way to move forward from Covid.”

It is the second retained account win for Radioactive this month, including online brokerage platform Stake, which is targeting UK-based investors looking to trade on the US stock market.

The wins come after a number of new hires at the 15-strong agency, including senior appointments on the digital PR team.

Leigh said the company had bounced back after a tough period, like many, in late March and April, and his plan for 2021 was to broaden the scope of the PR agency’s umbrella firm, The Radioactive Group. This already includes performance influencer marketing arm Radioactive Talent, introduced last year, and Leigh is keen to add specialist paid social, production and speaker agency arms.

He said: “It’s been a tough year to run a PR agency, I’m not going to pretend otherwise. A brand budget survey we have out right now highlights a move to one-off work in PR, so these two retained wins as we near both our sixth year in business and Christmas mean a lot. As budgets dance across different marketing tactics, it’s even more important that we’re not just answering broader marketing problems with PR solutions, and that we are thinking audience-first.”