The Gorkana Weekly Industry News Brief: 9 to 15 April 2016
Missed out on this week’s PR News? Get your handy round-up of the essential highlights of PR and media stories, features and events content over the last seven days on Gorkana News.
Pitch Wins
The Financial Times handed Golin a brand reputation brief, with a focus on digital advertising.
Center Parcs brought in Hope&Glory as its retained consumer brand agency, with a brief to promote the brand as a “champion” of family time.
The Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) briefed Blue Rubicon to lead on its “reputation turnaround”.
Home appliance brand Beko hired sports and entertainment marketing specialist Synergy to handle the global launch of its sponsorship of FC Barcelona, following a competitive pitch.
Grayling was appointed by Lloyds Banking Group to support its public affairs engagement across the UK.
People News
The Chartered Institute of Public Relations (CIPR) promoted Koray Camgoz to PR manager, as Andrew Ross departs to become media relations manager at the Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industry.
Bottle promoted Nina Sawetz to head of editorial for the agency’s consumer division.
Chandos Communications, the Havas back financial PR agency, promoted Teresa Wincrantz to partner.
Ruder Finn brought in Brands2Life’s Robin Grainger to take on the newly-created role of director of connected comms.
The World Health Organisation (WHO) appointed Bloomberg’s European healthcare reporter, Makiko Kitamura, as communications officer for the Health Data Collaborative.
Agency News
Hotwire PR has entered a co-branded partnership with Dubai-based Active (Digital. Marketing. Communications.)
Comms business Next 15 reported a growth in headline operating profits of £16.5m, up 29.9% year-on-tear, for the 12 month period ending January 31 2016.
News analysis
World Retail Congress: what PRs need to know
This week’s World Retail Congress (12-14 April) emphasised the need for retailers to create an all-encompassing experience for consumers as global sales slow and brand loyalty becomes a thing of the past. Speaking to experts at agencies Bottle and Portas, Gorkana looks at how PR can help retailers to engage consumers further.
Journalist News
Anna Lewis was appointed digital new and entertainment editor at COSMOPOLITAN (UK), arriving from her previous role as food editor at heatworld.com.
Will Dunn joined New Statesman as special projects editor, as he moves from his previous role as editor at Stuff.
The Telegraph’s brand new website is now live. The redesign shows a a stream of stories in chronological order so that readers can easily find out what happened in the past 10 minutes, past hour or past day.
Alberto Nardelli joined Buzzfeed UK as Europe editor.
Ravender Sembhy was appointed as City editor at the Press Association and will leave his role as news editor at City A.M. on 18 April.
Features
Gorkana meets…Jean Comte and the Société Générale de Presse (SGP)
SGP’s Jean Comte discusses how he covers EU news, SGP’s readership and how PRs can help with content, by Jeremy Martin.
What the Panama Papers leak teaches communicators
Jonathan Jordan, Founder and Senior Partner at corporate affairs advisory firm Sermelo, says the high profile revelations and the ensuing media frenzy surrounding ‘The Panama Papers’ story has lessons for PRs and communicators about building and maintaining trust with their audiences and the importance of getting their crisis management plans in place, and implementing them properly.
Future of the Press – Vikki Cook of Cookie Media on events
In the second part of our series looking at the future of the press with board members of the London Press Club (LPC), Gorkana‘s Ronan George talks to LPC director Vikki Cook, founder and owner of Cookie Media, about what journalists want from their own events, the changing media landscape and lessons she has learnt from her career highlights, including the launch of London Live.
Behind the Headlines with Ranieri MD Pietro Ranieri
Pietro Ranieri, MD at consumer tech PR firm Ranieri, on the roller coaster ride of running a PR agency, understanding what success actually looks like, and why journalists shouldn’t bash PRs for trying to do their job.
Gorkana meets…The AJ and The Architectural Review
Christine Murray, who was appointed editor-in-chief of The Architects’ Journal and The Architectural Review in February, talks to Niall Davies about her new role, her plans for the two business titles, and how to pitch to them.