Sibylline, a global intelligence firm, needed to improve the team's ability to provide expert commentary for the media. Despite excelling at delivering strategic risk analysis and geopolitical insights, not all team members were able to communicate complex information to journalists effectively. 

Given the importance of delivering clear, accurate insights, Sibylline required training that would standardise media relations skills across different seniority levels whilst building confidence in how team members present information to external audiences. 

Sibylline approached Canny Comms to develop comprehensive modular training courses tailored to their analyst, associate, and principal levels. 

Associate Director of Consulting and Training, Sibylline

Jack Nott-Bower

Canny created three entirely bespoke modular training courses tailored to Sibylline's organisational structure: analyst, associate, and principal levels. The virtual training programme was delivered directly onto Sibylline's systems. 

Crucially, Canny's deep understanding of the geopolitical context and threat environment – stemming from its specialisms in defence and security – enabled it to develop highly relevant content that addressed the specific challenges the team faced in commentating for the media. 

Each course was structured as progressive modules, delivering increasingly advanced techniques through on-camera presenters who explained concepts, demonstrated positive and negative examples, then provided practical exercises for skill development. The video training was supported with slides, tests and handouts. 

The modular structure allowed for role-specific training whilst maintaining consistent standards across all levels, with content linked to individual promotion criteria. 

Building confident, consistent media communicators worldwide

The training exceeded expectations, with strong client praise for both content quality and delivery method. The structured progression through increasingly advanced techniques created genuine skill development, whilst video examples demonstrating successful and unsuccessful media interactions proved particularly effective. 

The modular format enabled efficient implementation across Sibylline's team, establishing consistent media relations standards whilst allowing for role-specific advancement. Since implementation, there has been a marked improvement in the ability of commentators in national and international media appearances, as well as repeat requests from producers due to the individuals' communication skills. 


 Modular Training

The Hydra 400 is a hybrid heavy-lift uncrewed aerial vehicle (UAV), developed over the past five years by a small team of experts based in the UK. The platform was showcased on the Army stand at DSEI 2023, where it was fitted with a replica MBDA missile system to demonstrate potential payload compatibility. But to move forward, Hydra needed more than interest – it needed recognition, funding, and backing from the wider defence community.  

That support came when MBDA recognised the value of Hydra as a platform and invested directly in the company; the first time MBDA had taken a shareholder position in a UK SME. It was a major step forward but also came with limitations. The challenge was to encourage reticent stakeholders to engage and build a story that celebrated progress, championed UK-made technology, and encouraged deeper MOD engagement, all without crossing regulatory or messaging lines.  

Our deep expertise in defence and security communications made Canny the right partner for the challenge, combining a sharp understanding of MOD stakeholder priorities with the ability to craft compelling narratives for highly specialised audiences. We also brought in-depth knowledge of security and commercial messaging constraints, critical in a project where disclosure and positioning need to be tightly managed.  

A simple, clear message was built around three core themes: UK innovation, smart partnerships, and long-term impact. The focus was on why Hydra’s development matters for the company, UK supply chains, and the future of sovereign defence capability. Rather than referencing specific systems or integrations, the campaign highlighted Hydra’s advanced engineering, the strength of its team, and the strategic importance of continued backing from major industry partners.  

Having identified MBDA and specific Army stakeholders as the main target audience, we selected channels that were most likely to resonate with these audiences and drew up a content plan that would appeal to them directly. Quotes from Hydra’s CEO, Dr Stephen Prior, were used to explain why the investment has implications not just on a tactical level, but strategically, to the defence community.  

Our established relationships and credibility within the defence sector enabled us to secure a powerful endorsement quote from MBDA’s director of UK sales and business development, lending crucial third-party validation to the partnership announcement.  

The campaign significantly lifted Hydra’s visibility and credibility across defence and national audiences. LinkedIn performance for the company soared, with an increase in new followers and 8,500+ impressions in one week. Within 30 days, Hydra gained around 3,870 new followers and built a highly engaged defence audience.  

Media outreach generated attention from key outlets including an initial exclusive in The Telegraph, with further coverage in ADS, Shephard, and EDR, while stakeholder engagement extended to Army stakeholders and MBDA leadership.  

The campaign strengthened Hydra’s standing as a serious player in UK defence innovation, setting the stage for future investment, DSEI visibility, and deeper MOD engagement. It also directly supported significant business development activity, including follow-on engagement and contract discussions with leading defence primes. 

It proved the power of SME–prime collaboration in delivering sovereign capability at pace.  

HYDRA X MBDA

Fering approached Canny Comms with a significant challenge: introduce their revolutionary all-terrain, fully electric/biofuel military vehicle—the Pioneer X—to the notoriously conservative defence sector. As an unknown vehicle brand with groundbreaking capabilities, including 80km of silent electric operation and a 7,000km hybrid range, Fering needed to quickly establish credibility and generate interest among military decision-makers.

The campaign needed to transform complex engineering concepts into compelling narratives that would resonate with defence procurement teams. With just three months to prepare for the International Armoured Vehicles (IAV) event in January 2025, we needed to develop a strategy that would cut through the noise at a crowded industry gathering.

Chief Operating Officer, Fering

Gren Paull

Our multidisciplinary team of communications experts, engineers and ex-military personnel developed an integrated campaign that highlighted the Pioneer X's revolutionary stealth capabilities. We created a strategic messaging framework focused on five key pillars: engineering excellence, capability, reliability, sustainable innovation, and precision British engineering.

We implemented a tiered media relations approach, crafting bespoke pitches for national, defence specialist, and technology publications. Rather than pursuing volume, we targeted 25 priority journalists across 15 key publications with tailored content.

The campaign combined exceptional off-road video footage with CGI showreels demonstrating the Pioneer X's stealth capabilities in realistic operational scenarios. We prepared Fering's spokespeople as "technical translators" who could explain complex engineering in accessible terms, while our exhibition stand showcased the vehicle's innovations through live demonstrations.

The campaign dramatically exceeded all objectives. Coverage was secured in four major publications—The Telegraph, Daily Express, Jane's Defence, and European Defence Review—reaching a combined audience of over 8 million readers. 92% of coverage included at least three of our five key messages, with stealth capabilities mentioned in 100% of articles.

Digital engagement soared across platforms with our LinkedIn content achieving a remarkable 23.6% average engagement rate—nearly six times higher than the industry standard. One thought leadership piece generated 83,000 impressions, more than 40 times the normal engagement. On Instagram, we reached 11,184 profiles (exceeding the target by 11.8%), while our technical showreel videos received 18,691 views across platforms.

The campaign delivered exceptional business impact, generating enquiries from multiple military forces (including Dutch special forces and Singapore), interest in urgent orders from three countries (Malaysia, Poland, and Hungary), exclusive negotiations with a UK defence Prime company, and interest from major defence companies, including BAE Systems and BHE.

Launching Fering's Pioneer X

The British Army’s Project ZODIAC team were planning to take part in Project Convergence Capstone 4 (PCC4), an event held in the United States of America (USA) to experiment with and demonstrate international military technology collaboration. Roke is ZODIAC’s Prime Systems Integrator and was due to lead the industry team at PCC4 to demonstrate how ZODIAC could be used in collaboration with international allies to provide coordinated ISTAR. 

The Army and Roke wished to use the event to promote ZODIAC but required tailored communications and marketing materials.

We proposed a collection of targeted materials and activities to promote ZODIAC, including striking graphics, handout brochures, backdrop banners and slides for presentation by Army stakeholders. We also provided stakeholders with materials and approved wording to engage wider audiences. We engaged with the Army Communications Team and other stakeholders involved in ZODIAC to ensure messages were coordinated and amplified.

Throughout this project, we worked closely with Roke, who provided the strategic direction needed for us to deliver this work and oversaw the planning and delivery of our comms work as part of the wider project ZODIAC PCC4 activity. This collaboration ensured appropriate stakeholder input, buy-in and approvals, and that the comms aligned with and complemented the ZODIAC demonstrations at PCC4.

We received very positive feedback from Roke and the Army. The supplied materials and the advice we provided helped to raise the profile of Project ZODIAC both for attendees at PCC4 and for other project stakeholders.

“We were very happy with the work supplied by Canny Comms for Project ZODIAC. The brochure and graphic were a particular highlight – they really showcased the ZODIAC system and demonstrated what it can do.” Nik Beecher, Assistant Director Integrated Solutions, Roke

Project ZODIAC

Last month, Defence Secretary John Healey announced that 13 sites across the UK have been identified for new munitions and energetics factories, part of a £1.5 billion investment to strengthen Britain's defence industrial base. Six new factories will be built this parliament, with production beginning within 12 months and at least 1,000 new jobs created.

The engineering challenge is formidable. Building facilities to produce propellants, explosives and pyrotechnics at scale, something Britain hasn't attempted in nearly two decades, requires exceptional technical expertise, stringent safety protocols, and significant capital investment. Yet there is another challenge, rarely discussed in procurement announcements, that will be equally determinative of success: whether these projects can build the ecosystem of understanding and support required to sustain them through the inevitable complexities of delivery.

The challenge is compounded by decades of cutbacks that cast a long shadow. Rebuilding the engineering and manufacturing skills base, ensuring lessons once learnt are not forgotten again, is not trivial. The recent surge in apprenticeships driven by tier one and two companies demonstrates recognition of the scale of recovery required. Earmarking a budget proves straightforward; spending it cost-effectively to deliver capability at pace is rather more demanding.

These facilities will not succeed in isolation, however accomplished the engineering. They will require sustained support from local communities reassured about safety and convinced of economic benefit, skilled workers choosing careers in a sector many will know little about, supply chains coordinating around unfamiliar requirements, MOD stakeholders maintaining confidence through inevitable delays, and Parliament understanding why this investment merits protection through future spending reviews. Each of these relationships depends on effective communication. Defence has a mixed record here. Brilliant engineering has foundered before when projects could not maintain the understanding and support required for complex, long-term delivery.

The war in Ukraine offers instructive lessons. Ukraine achieved extraordinary industrial mobilisation, scaling domestic drone production to an estimated 2-3 million units annually, with over 96 per cent manufactured domestically. This was accomplished not merely through technical capability, but through extraordinarily tight feedback loops between manufacturers, military users and government. Ukrainian firms, supported by NATO partner funding and technical assistance, could communicate operational requirements and technical solutions at a pace traditional Western procurement struggles to match. The innovation was not simply building things faster but understanding requirements and adapting solutions faster.

Defence organisations consistently encounter specific communication difficulties that threaten programme delivery. MOD audiences operate within distinct vocabularies and contextual frameworks where the same technical term can carry entirely different meanings depending on whether one is speaking to tactical operators, strategic planners, or procurement officials. MOD stakeholders face multiple competing drivers, tactical versus strategic, unit-level versus force-wide requirements. When organisations cannot articulate problems with sufficient clarity, or when funding constraints prevent frank discussion of what is genuinely achievable, communication breakdowns become inevitable.

Defence decision-making structures remain opaque to those outside them. Organisations struggle to identify the actual decision-makers, understand internal political dynamics, or navigate the institutional barriers that slow communication to bureaucratic pace. This opacity proves particularly daunting for innovative SMEs without defence heritage. Whilst government actively encourages SME participation through bodies like the £400 million Defence Innovation fund, smaller firms must navigate these communication complexities without the institutional knowledge larger contractors possess. Often the brilliant engineering required comes from precisely such suppliers, who find themselves facing communication barriers that their technical excellence alone cannot overcome. Below senior decision-maker level, MOD structures demonstrate considerable risk aversion, and when junior officials lack authority to make substantive decisions, communication becomes protracted, with each layer filtering or delaying information flow.

The Defence Secretary referenced "wartime pace" repeatedly in his announcement. Yet rapid delivery imposes its own communication requirements. Technical stakeholders require detailed specifications whilst political stakeholders require clear outcomes. Both require confidence they possess accurate, appropriately framed information. When difficulties emerge, as they inevitably will in complex engineering projects, that information must travel quickly from delivery teams to programme managers to MOD stakeholders. Peacetime procurement often filters or delays uncomfortable news. Wartime pace cannot afford such delays.

These factories will require coordination between MOD, industry, local authorities, skills providers and communities. This demands establishing shared understanding across institutions with different priorities, vocabularies and decision-making processes. Parliament and the public must maintain support through the challenges inherent in complex industrial projects, which requires honest communication about both progress and setbacks, not defensive public relations when difficulties arise.

The companies awarded contracts for these facilities will succeed not solely on technical merit, but on their ability to communicate safety and environmental credentials convincingly to local communities, articulate value in terms MOD stakeholders recognise, build trust through transparent reporting of progress and challenges, attract skilled workers through compelling narratives about career development, and coordinate effectively across intricate supply chains through clear, consistent communication.

This programme tests whether Britain can deliver complex defence infrastructure at the pace contemporary security requires. Success will depend on exceptional engineering, but also on building the communication infrastructure that enables diverse stakeholders to understand, support and sustain complex delivery over years. The £1.5 billion investment will construct physical infrastructure. The communication infrastructure, the shared understanding, the trusted relationships, the reliable information flows, will determine whether those factories deliver the capability Britain requires.

From Lindsay Compton. Lindsay is founder and CEO of Canny. She sits on the Make UK Defence Advisory Board and the ADS Defence SME Committee.

Why investment in defence manufacturing needs to be more than engineering brilliance

When did you last ask whether your organisation is spending enough on helping people understand what you're building? If you're developing technology for defence and security applications, the honest answer might be "never". And that's precisely why promising innovations languish whilst threats multiply.

The UK's Strategic Defence Review, published in June, commits Britain to becoming "the leading edge of innovation in NATO". Lord Robertson's team identified a "deadly quartet" of Russia, China, Iran and North Korea, demanding capabilities delivered at unprecedented speed. The US Department of Defense's Replicator initiative aims to field thousands of autonomous systems within 18-24 months. These aren't aspirational timelines, they're operational necessities.

Yet early survey responses from across the defence sector, MOD, primes, SMEs, reveal an uncomfortable truth: communication failures are materially impacting programme delivery.

Organisations report that breakdowns between technical teams and stakeholders routinely contribute to delays, increased costs, and reduced effectiveness. The challenge isn't building the technology. It's ensuring the right people understand it, trust it, and adopt it quickly enough to matter.

This isn't about glossy brochures or media relations. Academic research on technology adoption demonstrates that social networks, peer communication, and organisational training support determine success more than technical merit alone. The social identity of communicators influences adoption, stakeholders are most convinced by those sharing group identity or comparable operational conditions. In defence contexts where engineers must persuade procurement officials, technical developers must engage military end-users, and everyone must navigate security constraints, this insight is existential.

The notorious ‘valley of death’, where innovations go to die, is in significant part a communication failure. Whilst technical maturation and operational validation present genuine challenges, research from the US Department of Defense explicitly identifies continuous communication with allies and partners as essential to fostering ecosystem vibrancy. When useful research languishes because bureaucratic processes prevent engagement, or when vendors focus on technical specifications rather than communicating operational value, billions of pounds of R&D investment delivers precisely nothing to the front line.

Survey responses reveal the human reality behind these failures. Respondents describe "competing drivers for the MOD audience", "over-promising by competitors", and "invisible soft politics" alongside chronic lack of access to decision-makers' actual requirements. One noted that MOD audiences "think they know what they want as they have been incorrectly briefed by a large prime". Another identified "the inability for the customer to share full details of the use case" combined with unrealistic expectations of what funding can deliver. These aren't technical problems. They're communication failures that burn through budgets and timelines.

So what should organisations actually spend? Defence R&D typically constitutes around 20% of defence budgets under NATO guidelines, whilst corporate communications averages 8-15% of operating budgets in high-compliance B2B sectors. For organisations developing defence and security technologies, strategic communications should constitute 2-3% of annual revenue or budget, approximately 15-20% of R&D spend. This isn't overhead. It's the forcing function that transforms R&D expenditure into operational capability.

But spending money isn't enough. You need to spend it correctly, and in sequence. Forty per cent should fund stakeholder engagement infrastructure, the unglamorous work of mapping decision-makers, creating feedback mechanisms, and maintaining dialogue across military users, procurement officials, and technical developers. Another 35% should resource technical translation: communication professionals who can explain why a five-millisecond latency reduction matters to a brigade commander, or how an AI algorithm addresses a specific capability gap.

The final 25% should build ecosystem partnerships. The SDR emphasises breaking barriers between Services, military and private sector, but barriers don't break themselves. This requires sustained relationship management programmes, industry days, joint capability demonstrations. Survey responses identify building partnerships across traditional industry boundaries as the most important future challenge. That doesn't happen through occasional networking. It requires dedicated resources.

Here's the uncomfortable question: can you name the person in your organisation responsible for ensuring that the people who need to adopt your technology actually understand its operational value? Not marketing. Not bid management. The systematic work of translating technical capability into operational benefit, then ensuring that message reaches decision-makers through trusted channels.

If you can't, that's your problem. And it's costing you, in failed bids, in delayed programmes, in capabilities that never reach the forces who need them.

Government and industry must fundamentally reset how they view communication investment. For government, this means recognising that funding R&D without funding its communication is like buying ammunition without logistics, technically present but operationally useless. Procurement processes should explicitly resource communication activities. Innovation funding should include stakeholder engagement as a deliverable, not an afterthought.

For industry, this means treating communication as engineering discipline, not corporate function. Technical leads should have communication expertise embedded in their teams. Bid processes should allocate communication resources proportionate to technical complexity. Knowledge management systems should capture not just what the technology does, but how to explain it to different audiences.

Most fundamentally, both sides must accept that in an era where speed determines survival, communication isn't what you do after you've built the capability. It's how you ensure the capability gets built correctly, adopted quickly, and deployed effectively.

The threats Lord Robertson identified aren't waiting for us to perfect our stakeholder engagement strategies. They're accelerating. The question isn't whether we can afford to invest 2-3% of defence technology budgets in strategic communication. It's whether we can afford not to, whilst promising innovations die in the valley of death and adversaries deploy capabilities we invented but failed to field.

Ask yourself: what's your organisation's communication budget as a percentage of R&D spend? If you don't know, find out. If it's less than 15%, you're not serious about adoption. And if you're not serious about adoption, you're not serious about national security.

Organisations can contribute to building the evidence base for communication investment through Canny Comms' Defence Communications Survey at https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/PC7DPZX, with £15 donated to The Royal British Legion's Poppy Appeal for every completed response.

Military drone technology demonstration on Salisbury Plain (c) CROWN

The invisible failure costing billions: why nobody understands what you're building

This latest collaboration marks the continuation of a long-standing relationship that dates back to the event's early days as the Three Counties Defence and Security Expo at the Three Counties Showground. Our team has supported the convention through its evolution and growth, and we're proud to be part of SDSC-UK's ongoing success story.

"It's a real privilege for our team to bring its expertise back to an event we know well," said Lindsay Compton, CEO of Canny Comms. "We're looking forward to supporting SDSC-UK as it continues to strengthen its position as a key fixture in the UK defence calendar."

The Canny team working on SDSC-UK brings together specialists who understand both the technical complexity of defence and security innovation and the art of strategic communication. Led by Lindsay, the team includes Alex Griffiths, who previously led the team that brought UK Defence Intelligence onto social media during the invasion of Ukraine; Hannah Bourne, named 'Navy Communicator of the Year' in 2025; Patrick Morgan, who brings defence analysis experience from AKE and The Times; and Annabelle Davies, whose journalism background brings creative precision to content and storytelling.

What makes Canny uniquely suited to this partnership is our specialist focus on defence and security science and technology. We bridge the gap between technical innovation and the frontline, translating complex capabilities into clear narratives that resonate with everyone from end-users to senior decision-makers. Our team combines STEM expertise with award-winning communications practice—including silver-level Armed Forces Covenant recognition—and a deep understanding of the sector's unique communication challenges.

"Continuity matters in events like SDSC-UK," added Lindsay. "We've been part of this journey, and that insight allows us to hit the ground running while bringing fresh thinking to help the event reach new heights."

The partnership reflects both organisations' commitment to supporting UK defence and security innovation, and to ensuring the vital work of the sector is communicated with clarity and impact.

In 2026, SDSC-UK takes place at the NEC, Birmingham between 3 - 4 February. 

Find out more and register to attend SDSC-UK here: https://www.sdsc-uk.co.uk/ 

Canny Comms is delighted to announce its renewed partnership with Specialist Defence and Security Convention UK (SDSC-UK) as the event's official PR and Communications partner.

Canny returns as official PR partner for SDSC-UK

They came because defence and security communications is different. The stakes are higher. The constraints are tighter. The audiences are more complex. And generic comms training simply doesn't address the unique challenges of managing reputation when national security, operational sensitivity and public scrutiny collide.

Reputation Masterclass 2025 delivered what the sector needed: practical strategies from people who understand the pressure, honest conversations about what works (and what doesn't), and a room full of peers who actually get it. The event earned CIPR accreditation and established itself as essential professional development for anyone navigating communications in this high-stakes environment.

"Reputation Masterclass 2025 was a culmination of our years of experience in the sector," said Lindsay Compton, CEO of Canny Comms. "We wanted to create a supportive event for marketing and comms pros to come together, share knowledge, and tackle the sector's big reputational challenges head-on. The response exceeded our expectations."

Reputation Masterclass returns to Farnborough International on 10 February 2026, and the programme has been enhanced based on what attendees told us they need most.

This year's content is designed to equip you with cutting-edge tools, proven strategies and valuable insights for managing reputation in an increasingly volatile global environment. The programme features fresh perspectives on the most pressing issues facing defence and security communicators, with expanded content for government communications teams.

The agenda tackles the challenges you face every day: the PR-media partnership in defence and security contexts, frontline UK Government communications priorities, and technical storytelling for diverse audiences. New sessions explore social value communications, using AI safely in defence and security marketing, maximising impact at major defence events, and positioning yourself as a strategic business leader.

You'll hear campaign case studies with honest insights from both MOD and industry communicators about what worked and what didn't. And you'll have facilitated networking opportunities with journalists and senior peers who understand exactly what you're dealing with.

As communications professionals in defence and security, Canny intimately understands the unique challenges the sector faces. After years of supporting defence and security communications and marketing professionals, the team identified consistent challenges that demand innovative solutions.

"This isn't a commercial venture – it's our way of giving back," explained Lindsay. "Rather than keep our insights to ourselves, we're bringing together the very best of our network to share knowledge, build capabilities and strengthen our entire sector."

Every penny of profit will be donated to Heropreneurs, the military charity that helps veterans and military spouses become entrepreneurs, turning professional development into meaningful community impact.

The event aligns with Canny's broader commitment to supporting the military community. The company holds silver-level recognition in the Armed Forces Covenant Employer Recognition Scheme and actively employs veterans, reservists and military spouses across its team.

With limited spaces available and strong early interest already, booking soon is essential. You'll gain practical tools for high-pressure situations, insider perspectives on emerging challenges, networking with senior industry peers, and can log 10 CIPR CPD points.

Standard tickets are £250 + VAT, with discounted rates available for Canny clients, ADS Group members, Make UK Defence members and CIPR members. Complimentary places are available for MOD personnel (limited spots – enquire early).

Visit www.canny-comms.co.uk/masterclass-2026 to secure your ticket today. Don't miss the defence and security communications event of 2026.

In January 2025, communications and marketing professionals from across the defence and security sector converged on Farnborough International for something that didn't exist before: a masterclass built specifically for them. 

Why 65 defence and security communicators gathered at Farnborough – and why you should join them in 2026

At Canny, we could easily keep our communication expertise to ourselves. After all, maintaining a competitive advantage is business sense, right? But when it comes to defence and security innovation, we've chosen a different path – and here's why teaching others our skills creates far greater impact than hoarding them ever could.

The exploitation challenge facing defence and security innovation

Every day, brilliant scientists and engineers across the defence and security sector make breakthroughs that could transform how we protect our nation. Yet too many of these innovations remain trapped in laboratories, struggling to make the journey from research to frontline capability.

The problem isn't the quality of the science – it's the communication gap. Experts who can revolutionise warfare often struggle to explain their work to the decision-makers, investors, and end-users who could make it reality. Security constraints, complex technical concepts, and simple lack of media training create barriers that slow innovation adoption when speed could save lives.

When we work directly with organisations, we might help five or ten technologies reach their potential. But when we train experts to become confident communicators themselves, we amplify our impact exponentially.

Train one scientist to articulate their research compellingly, and every project they touch benefits. Train a research team, and you transform an entire organisation's ability to secure funding, attract partners, and drive adoption. Train leaders across the sector, and you accelerate the pace of innovation delivery across defence and security.

This is why our training programmes – from intensive media coaching to our Canny Experts membership – aren't just services. They're force multipliers for the entire defence and security innovation ecosystem.

Beyond business: A mission-driven approach

Our decision to share rather than hoard stems from our core mission: getting great science and technology into the hands of frontline users, faster.

Every expert we train becomes an advocate for their own innovation and a more informed voice in public discourse about defence and security technologies. When technical specialists can communicate confidently with media, they counter disinformation, build public understanding, and create the informed debate our democracy needs around defence and security investment and priorities.

More expert voices in the media means better-informed public discourse, increased collaboration opportunities, and stronger counter-narratives to disinformation about defence and security technologies. In a world where technical misinformation spreads rapidly, having more trained communicators who can explain complex realities is a strategic necessity.

The competitive advantage of collaboration

Some might argue we're training our competition. We see it differently. Collaboration accelerates innovation faster than competition ever could. When the entire sector communicates more effectively, everyone benefits:

Funding flows more readily to promising technologies

Industry partnerships form more quickly around compelling opportunities

End-users adopt innovations faster when they understand the benefits

Public support for defence and security investment strengthens through better communication

The challenge of getting cutting-edge technology from laboratory to frontline is too important for any single organisation to solve alone. By building communication capabilities across the sector, we create an ecosystem where innovation thrives.

As we share our expertise, we're simultaneously enhancing it. We're continuously investing in new approaches to training design and delivery, incorporating insights from psychology, neuroscience, and learning technology to make our programmes more effective.

From understanding how technical minds process communication concepts to leveraging digital platforms for immersive training experiences, we're constantly refining our methods. This commitment to innovation in training delivery ensures we're not just teaching communication – we're demonstrating it through cutting-edge educational practice.

The feedback from every programme participant, the latest research in adult learning, and emerging technologies all feed back into improving how we develop communication excellence. It's a virtuous cycle where sharing knowledge helps us generate better knowledge.

Building the communicators our sector needs

Whether through our intensive face-to-face media training, flexible virtual development programmes, or the comprehensive Canny Experts membership, we're building a community of technical experts who can bridge the gap between complex science and public understanding.

Our Reputation Masterclass brings together these voices annually, showcasing the breadth of expertise across defence and security whilst raising funds for those who have served. It's a tangible demonstration of what becomes possible when expert communicators connect, collaborate, and learn from each other.

True transformation happens when individual capability building creates systemic change. As more technical experts become confident communicators, the entire defence and security sector's ability to articulate its value, secure support, and drive adoption improves.

This isn't just about better presentations or smoother media interviews – though those matter. It's about ensuring that the innovations our nation needs for future security can navigate the complex journey from research breakthrough to operational capability.

In defence and security, the stakes are too high for communication to be an afterthought. Lives depend on getting the right capabilities to the right people at the right time. That's why we teach what we know, train our potential competitors, and invest in building communication excellence across the entire sector.

Because when everyone communicates better, everyone's innovations travel further, faster.

Ready to join the multiplication effect? Explore our training programmes and discover how enhanced communication skills can accelerate your innovation's journey to frontline impact.

Sharing expertise to accelerate defence and security innovation

Why we teach what we know: The multiplication effect of communication skills

Let's start with a truth universally acknowledged in defence innovation circles: A revolutionary technology in possession of poor communications must be in want of attention. 

As part of a £2.2bn addition to the defence budget, Chancellor Rachel Reeves just announced a £400 million investment in defence tech, pledging to reform our "broken defence procurement system" and make it "quicker, more agile and more streamlined."  

For innovative SMEs, this should be cause for celebration; there are positive signs regarding the need to improve engagement between SMEs, MOD and prime contractors. 

But here's the inconvenient truth—having brilliant technology isn't enough. And never has been. 

This paradox affects everyone in the defence ecosystem. Whether you're a startup trying to break into the sector, a prime contractor with new capabilities, or indeed the MOD and its agencies trying to communicate your own innovation programmes — you've spent years perfecting technology that could transform battlefield capabilities, save lives and deliver strategic advantage. Yet somehow, the most brilliant innovations often remain on the lab bench. 

Your technology might be invisible by design (we're looking at you, stealth capabilities), but your company and its value proposition shouldn't be. 

Consider the case of Advanced Material Development (AMD), a nanotechnology firm that was creating extraordinary materials but struggling to communicate their defence applications. After implementing a focused communications strategy for DSEI in 2021, it formed over 100 new relationships across industry, government and academia, secured a DASA contract worth approximately £400k, and added £8 million to its company valuation. 

The technology was evolving, but crucially, so was the conversation around it—and that made all the difference. 

The three deadly sins of tech communication 

We've observed a curious phenomenon across the defence tech landscape, affecting both industry innovators and government/military organisations alike: 

You understand your technology so thoroughly that you've forgotten what it's like not to understand it. You explain your breakthrough using acronyms that mean nothing to your audience, and technical language that obscures rather than illuminates.  

TB2 Aerospace had this challenge with their drone recharging operational payload system. Their solution wasn't more technical specifications—it was crafting visual narratives through 3D animations that showed real-world military applications, helping stakeholders immediately grasp its potential. 

You're so focused on your clever solution that you're not properly articulating the problem it solves. "We've built an AI-powered quantum widget!" Great. What operational problem does it address? How does it fit into existing capability frameworks? 

Radnor Range, selected as the Prime contractor for a collaborative autonomous Test and Evaluation project, faced this exact challenge. Rather than simply promote the range and its integrated facilities , it needed to demonstrate how these capabilities positively impacted the speed and quality of test and evaluation. A coordinated communications approach that focused on real outcomes rather than technical features led to a 167% increase in followers and engagement rates 2-3% higher than industry standards. 

Your technology doesn't exist in isolation. It operates within complex defence ecosystems, doctrines, and capability development roadmaps. Without context, even the most impressive technology can appear irrelevant. 

The Land ISTAR programme faced this exact challenge. A tailored communications strategy built on stakeholder interviews is transforming how the programme is perceived and understood. 

The right communications approach can multiply the perceived value of your technology without changing a single line of code or component. 

Sibylline transformed their rather dry global risk register into a rather splendid interactive 3D globe that visualised risks around the world. The information remained the same, but the experience became transformative, driving record attendance at their Annual Forecast event. 

It's not just industry that benefits from this multiplier effect. The MOD and its agencies face the same challenges when communicating their own innovations: 

Bright Corvus, a high-profile R&D programme at the Defence Science and Technology Laboratory (Dstl), achieved similar results. Taking time to visualise and communicate the potential battlefield applications of complex radio frequency technologies, it gained significant traction with MPs and senior military personnel at critical events. 

Project ZODIAC succeeded by creating a coordinated communications approach that included striking graphics and targeted materials. This comprehensive approach raised the profile and built understanding of the project amongst both military and industry stakeholders. 

With defence spending set to increase to 2.5% of GDP by 2027, we're looking at billions of pounds flowing into capability development and – strategically - the war in Ukraine has illustrated  both the power of disruptive technologies and the speed at which they can be brough to the front line. But there's a translation gap between innovative technology and defence procurement that swallows promising innovations whole. 

Whether you're in industry or the public sector, your technology represents years of innovation, testing, and refinement. It deserves to be understood—not just by technical peers who already speak your language, but by the people who make acquisition decisions, approve budgets, and determine which technologies make it into the hands of those who need them most. 

Your technology might just change the world. Make sure you're talking about it in a way that gives it the chance. 

Canny specialises in communicating technology and innovation for defence and security. Our team combines expertise in communications and marketing with deep technical knowledge, helping innovative organisations navigate the defence landscape and achieve their goals. 

Want to discuss how your defence innovation can break through? The team stands ready to help.

Book a free 45 minute consultation here: https://lnkd.in/e2fUK2Sf

The team in front of a screen with a CGI animated drone on it showing the TB2 DROPS system

Why your revolutionary defence tech won't change the world...

Mark has 18 years of experience in researching and managing technology in defence and security.

Mark’s career started at the Defence Science and Technology Laboratory (Dstl) as a research engineer and trials manager, later taking on the roles of project manager and technical lead. Projects ranged from blue-sky research to support of in-service military capabilities.

Mark’s career then took him to Marlborough Communications Limited, in the role of a project manager. Mark managed the introduction into service of a number of specialist military capabilities, as well as in-service support of current and legacy systems. He combined this with the preparation and management of tenders for defence contracts.

Mark is a chartered mechanical engineer and joins Canny Comms to provide expert advice and support on technology, the industry and business development as we help our clients to commercialise their technology.

We are very pleased to say that Mark Hawkins joins the team today as innovation & technology consultant.

A new team member

More news & insights