Strategic PR that builds trust in complex, high-stakes industries.
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Defence PR
The defence sector faces unique pressures. Every project is judged not just on innovation, but on reliability, compliance and its long-term value. Contracts are won and reputations are kept when stakeholders understand not only what you build but why it matters.
With over 20 years’ experience working across engineering, manufacturing and high-security sectors, we know how to tell these stories clearly and credibly.
Why Defence Communications Matter.
In 2010, a BAE Systems communications director rang our office with a straightforward brief: write new vision, mission and values copy. 15 years later, we’re still working with them.
That longevity isn’t unusual for us. We’ve supported Eurofighter for 12 years, working across four partner nations. We don’t just understand defence communications. We’ve been embedded in it since our first defence brief arrived.
Your work involves years of investment, strict regulation and impacts that reach national and global security. If government stakeholders don’t understand the strategic importance, if procurement teams can’t grasp your value, if your supply chain doesn’t recognise your reliability, you’re competing with your hands tied.
The communications challenge in defence isn’t just about getting your message out. It’s about getting it right when:
- Governments and multiple stakeholders around them need to approve the same story
- Technical accuracy and commercial sensitivity must be kept in mind
- Security clearances take longer than most PR campaigns
- Stakeholder groups span air forces, governments, procurement teams and supply chains
We’ve navigated all of this. From our Lancashire base, we’ve worked at Warton, Farnborough and Munich, supported programmes from Berlin to Dubai, and written content that’s been cleared by multiple national frameworks.
Our Defence PR Services.
We provide communications support designed to fit the realities of the defence sector:
- Technical storytelling: Translating engineering capabilities into narratives that work for procurement teams and technical audiences alike, substance intact, jargon stripped back.
- Contract win support: Building narratives around bids and tenders that help decision-makers see strategic value, not just specifications.
- Stakeholder engagement: Managing relationships across governments, industry partners and complex supply chains where one misaligned message can damage years of work.
- Reputation management: Protecting and enhancing credibility when programmes face scrutiny—something we’ve handled for clients operating under intense public and political pressure.
- Employee voice: Positioning manufacturers as employers of choice when skilled engineers have options. We’ve helped national defence organisations articulate their employee value proposition in ways that feel honest, not manufactured.
- Crisis Comms and Preparedness: Ensuring you’re ready to respond when pressure arrives, because in defence, it’s not if, it’s when.
- Market positioning: Differentiating your capabilities in competitive markets where everyone claims innovation and reliability.
Our Approach: Communicating What Counts.
We immerse ourselves in your world. That’s not agency talk, we’ve had team members seconded into BAE Systems twice. Once for six months that turned into two years leading their external media team. Again, to bring digital capability directly into their communications operation.
When your client embeds your people in their business, you’ve moved beyond supplier to trusted partner.
Our priorities:
- Demonstrating measurable value: We helped BAE Systems run a Typhoon content campaign in 2023-24 that performed 32% above baseline for online engagement. Results matter more than effort.
- Building trust through proof: We’ve produced over 2,500 pieces of strategic defence content since 2010. Every piece cleared through the necessary security and approval processes.
- Positioning innovations clearly: We don’t hype. We worked with Eurofighter to maintain narrative consistency through five different Communications Directors over 12 years. That requires knowledge and genuine partnership substance, not spin.
- Creating engagement that drives outcomes: The Fighter Show YouTube series we support for Eurofighter grew from 10,000 views per episode in year one to 260,559 average views in year three. We found the audience and grew it.
By tailoring content to each channel’s strengths, we make sure your social media strategy is efficient, targeted and delivers measurable impact.
The Fighter Show: Defence Communications for New Audiences.
In 2021, Eurofighter launched The Fighter Show—a YouTube series targeting 15-34 year olds with dynamic, accessible content about fighter jets. Our role: ideation, PR for each episode, and promotion across digital channels.
The results demonstrate what happens when defence communications break conventions:
- Year 1: 10,000 average views per episode
- Year 3: 260,559 average views per episode
- 23.14% subscriber growth in 18 months (baseline was 2.8%)
- 40% of viewership from the target 18-34 demographic
- 3+ million cumulative views across all platforms in the first year
- Multi-platform success: 233,771 views on YouTube Shorts, 62,294 on TikTok, 567,280 on Meta
The show won recognition at the 2024 Aerospace Media Awards. We didn’t just support it—we helped find the audience and grow it.
Defence Sectors We Support:
Our work spans the areas where communication strengthens positioning and delivers tangible results:
Aerospace and Aviation.
We’ve explained advanced engineering and safety credentials to global buyers and regulators, including writing content for Typhoon and Tempest
Advanced Materials and Components.
Highlighting the technologies that underpin defence platforms—the innovations that rarely get headlines but make everything else possible.
BAE Systems: Embedded Partnership Since 2010.
For more than a decade, we’ve worked across Air Sector, Group Communications and Shared Services at BAE Systems. Our work has touched everything from Hawk trainers to Typhoon to Tempest next-generation fighter development.
The relationship demonstrates what long-term partnership looks like in defence communications. We’ve been trusted to work on Defence Information, Applied Intelligence, Maritime and Submarines programmes. We understand the stakeholder landscape because we’ve been navigating it for 15 years.
BAE Systems: Embedded Partnership Since 2010.
Two team secondments represent the ultimate client trust. Our MD took on the role of External Media Manager at Warton from 2012-2014. An Account Executive supported their Digital Media team for three months in 2016. You can’t fake insider knowledge when you’ve actually been inside.
Quote from client testimonial:
“I have worked with Viva for over a decade across multiple business areas at BAE Systems. They bring real clarity, creativity and consistency to digital communications. Viva is a trusted partner who understands how to deliver in complex, high-security environments.” — David Coates, BAE Systems
Why Defence PR Matters Now.
Global defence markets are shifting. Procurement decisions are increasingly influenced by reputation, track record and the ability to communicate security and value clearly. Public perception matters too, with scrutiny on everything from ethical sourcing to environmental responsibility.
If you’re pursuing long-term contracts or attracting the skilled workforce you need, effective communication isn’t an add-on. It’s central to success.
We’ve seen this first-hand. The programmes that communicate clearly and consistently are the ones that maintain political support, win international customers, and attract the engineering talent they need.
Communications in Critical National Infrastructure
Our partnership with another key UK defence partner (name withheld because of NDA) demonstrates our capability in the most sensitive defence environments.
We’ve provided strategic internal communications support for more than two years, handling challenges that include:
- Creating engaging content within strict information security protocols
- Addressing multi-generational workforce communication preferences
- Reaching employees across secure facilities with limited digital connectivity
- Handling workplace culture issues with appropriate sensitivity
- Coordinating across communications, HR, People teams and senior leadership
Communications in Critical National Infrastructure
Employee Value Proposition work:
Beyond campaign delivery, we helped the organisation to articulate their authentic employer brand in an increasingly competitive talent market. We created a strategic narrative framework that’s being rolled out across the organisation —helping them communicate what makes it a compelling place to work without resorting to the generic employer brand language that everyone ignores.
Quote from client testimonial:
“Tony and the Viva family have been pivotal in helping us articulate its Employee Value Proposition. They helped us bring to life what’s great about working here in an honest and authentic way—no cat fishing here!”
Our Track Record.
We’ve worked with organisations across engineering and manufacturing who operate in highly regulated, sensitive environments. Our experience includes:
- 15+ years supporting BAE Systems across multiple business areas
- 12 years managing Eurofighter multinational communications
- 2,500+ pieces of strategic defence content produced and cleared
- Security clearance across multiple national frameworks
- Team members embedded directly into client operations twice
- Content campaigns that perform 32% above baseline
- YouTube series growth from 10,000 to 260k+ average views per episode
Eurofighter: 12 Years in Multinational Defence Communications.
Since 2012, we’ve provided daily communications support to Eurofighter GmbH, the Munich-based organisation managing the four-nation Typhoon partnership.
This showcases our ability to work within genuinely complex multinational defence environments:
- Four partner nations: UK, Germany, Italy, Spain
- Four governments with different priorities
- Four air forces with distinct requirements
- Multiple industrial partners with competing interests
- Cultural and language sensitivities that can fragment messages
What we deliver:
- Strategic communications counsel
- Board-level communications support
- Multi-channel content creation (2000+ pieces of written and digital external content since 2012)
- Website content development
- Internal communications
- Video content production
- Social media management (1,000+ posts maintaining narrative consistency)
Eurofighter: 12 Years in Multinational Defence Communications
The challenge of leadership transitions:
Over 12 years, we’ve supported five different Communications Directors through various programme phases. Each brought fresh priorities. Most agencies start from scratch each time. Our deep programme knowledge and established relationships meant we maintained narrative consistency while adapting to new strategic directions.
Quote from client testimonial:
“Proactive and responsive, Viva is a great agency to work with. From providing strategic counsel through to writing content for our digital and social channels, their work is always high quality.” — Tom Clarke, Eurofighter
Why Clients Trust Viva.
We’re the UK Small PR Consultancy of the Year 2025 and 2026, as awarded by the Chartered Institute of Public Relations. But beyond industry recognition, we’re trusted because we understand that technology communications isn’t about impressing people with technical jargon – it’s about showcasing genuine innovation that creates commercial value.
Whether you’re launching breakthrough technology, securing investment or simply want to ensure your technical excellence gets the commercial recognition it deserves, we know how to translate what you do into what people understand and value.