Over the course of our comms careers, the Delphi team have worked with 30+ US-based tech brands entering the UK or European market. Everything from Big Tech platforms to new hardware startups.
There are many cultural differences between comms in the US and Europe. But one big difference stands out.
As a US comms person who now works in London put it to us, it’s this: “You can’t tell widget stories in Europe.”
The reasons she gave were simple:
🟢 The US has a much bigger pool of media outlets, which means there are specialist publications that cover most industries
🟢 As a result, they’re comfortable going super deep on niche technologies and running “tech and spec” stories
🟢 They’re also fascinated by competition within the industry
In Europe, by contrast, the media is much more limited, with more “general” audiences that have a different definition of what’s newsworthy:
🔵 European media are primarily interested in customer impact and business benefits
🔵 They want to know how the technology makes life easier, and what it helps them do
🔵 They care less about the latest widget and more about the human implications
We’re seeing this play out right now with the agentic AI conversation. So much agentic AI coverage is US-led and focuses on product features of different companies’ agents. Meanwhile, UK and European outlets are struggling to articulate the benefits for users and what this all means for companies.
That difference in emphasis between comms in Europe versus the US leads to different styles of storytelling and, ultimately, quite distinct skillsets.
Let us know if you agree or not? And if you’re a US tech company looking to succeed in the UK or European market, drop us a line at hello@wearedelphi.com.
