From the Blog

We are over the moon to announce the appointment of Michaela Krause as a non-executive director at Clearbox.

Michaela is the founder and CEO of Laika Berlin, one of Germany’s leading PR agencies in the tech and startup space. Michaela brings more than 13 years of PR experience to the Clearbox leadership team, both in B2B and B2C, across the DACH market.

She founded Laika following a role as General Manager of Ballou PR Berlin, the German branch of the European PR firm focused on start-ups and high-growth companies.

Michaela has a wealth of experience with some of the world’s biggest brands, including AOL, Box, Evernote, Jägermeister, Orderbird, Pinterest, Skullcandy, Snapchat, Soundcloud, Reddit, Transferwise and Twitch.

As an expert in product, corporate and crisis communications, Michaela will guide the Clearbox board of directors to help shape the future of the company and further enhance the range of services offered to clients.

Michaela’s appointment to Clearbox’s senior team will also offer a range of benefits to both agencies, including the opportunity to pitch for clients across Europe and an exchange programme where Clearbox staff will have the opportunity to work in Laika’s offices in Berlin, with Laika staff also coming the other way to work at Clearbox’s offices in Northern Ireland. The first exchange programme will take place in January 2022.

Claire Best, Clearbox General Manager, said: “The first time we met Michaela was over a beer in Berlin and we had an instant connection with her. We love her enthusiasm, drive and perspective on running a successful company and her views on the future of the PR industry.”

“The culture and success she’s built at Laika mirrors what we’re building towards at Clearbox and we are honoured that she’s joined us as a non-exec director. I’m sure this will be the start of a really great relationship for us all and we’re excited to work with Michaela and her brilliant team in Germany.”

Michaela added: “It is a great honor as well as exciting task to dock to the Clearbox ship, so to speak. Clearbox is characterized by an incredibly creative, dedicated and determined team. The close collaboration of both crews opens up new dimensions of thinking and many useful synergies for both sides. I look forward to our joint exploration of the comms cosmos!”

Michaela’s announcement comes on the back of several recent client wins for Clearbox, including Bamboo, Jackson Reece, as well as Neptune Software and Tomorrows Education, which Clearbox will work on thanks to the partnership with Laika.

To follow Michaela’s company Laika Berlin, you can visit the website, Twitter and Instagram.

Ends

Clearbox is a PR agency with operations in Belfast and the UK mainland. The company specialises in regional PR and digital and social campaigns for brands such as 3EN, Amazon, Bamboo, Boyzlife, HillView Prints, Jackson Reece, Neptune Software and Zoopla.

About Laika Communications

Laika Communications GmbH (Laika Berlin for short) communicates the technologies, ideas and entrepreneurs of tomorrow, makes the unknown understandable and paves the way for progress in terms of communication. To this end, Laika handles corporate, product and crisis communications as well as brand strategies for its clients. The offering is complemented holistically by photography and media training, as well as a variety of creative freelancers and partners who board the Laika spaceship from time to time when the client's mission needs an extra boost. Laika's portfolio includes clients such as Acast, Chatterbug, LivingPackets, orderbird, Skullcandy, Snapchat, Thrasio, Tink, Twitch and Zenjob. The +20 in staff big agency was founded in 2018 by PR consultant Michaela Krause.