The Gorkana Weekly Industry News Brief: 18-22 July 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.
Jane Lawrie is the new group comms director at Tesco
People News
Tesco has appointed Coca Cola’s Jane Lawrie to its executive committee as group comms director. She will join the retailer on October 10 2016.
Barri Friedman Rafferty is the new president of Ketchum. She assumes her title from current Ketchum president and CEO Rob Flaherty, who, in turn, becomes chairman and CEO.
British American Tobacco (BAT) has hired Lucinda Kemeny as head of communications, a newly-created role in its Next Generation Products division.
John Doe Communications has brought in M&C Saatchi PR’s Rik Salmon as an associate director, with a brief to lead some of the agency’s biggest consumer and lifestyle accounts, including adidas Originals, Absolut and Havana Club.
Pitch Wins
firstlight has been appointed to handle a pan-European PR programme for the Travel People, a newly-launched media business from lastminute.com Group.
Tulchan Communications has been retained to provide financial PR services for Frontier Developments, the British video game developer.
Lifestyle agency Stir PR has been chosen by stationery shop Paperchase to promote its portfolio of lifestyle brands, with two campaigns set to take place over the summer.
Weber Shandwick has been named as the international PR agency for PortAventura World Parks & Resort – one of Europe’s largest holiday and family entertainment resorts – with a brief to launch its third theme park, Ferrari Land.
The AA (The Automobile Association) has appointed Prova PR, a specialist automotive agency, to run a B2B thought leadership campaign.
Opinion
Has Trump created the perfect PR campaign?
With Donald Trump confirmed as the official Republican Presidential nominee, Lord Sugar’s former publicist, David Fraser, says it is worth stopping to reflect on what is arguably one of the greatest PR campaigns in recent years. Fraser, who is now MD of newly-launched PR and SEO agency Ready10, believes that when it comes to communications, Trump is “poetry in motion”.
Ethics in the PR industry
Adherence to a code of ethics is essential for the health of the PR industry, says Claire Walker, CEO at Firefly Communications. She suggests four top tips to ensure that high standards are met
and upheld.
Opinion: Influencer Marketing – you have to earn it!
W Communications launched a new division, W Influencer, this month, with the aim of bringing the benefits of “earned advocacy” to a wider range of brands. W’s founder and CEO, Warren Johnson, argues that, while influencer marketing is a “hugely powerful tool”, the practice of paying “influencers” to promote your product defeats its purpose.
Journalist News
Peter Flanagan has joined Bloomberg News as a reporter covering finance. Previously commercial property editor at the Irish Independent, he joins the organisation’s Dublin bureau.
Ludwig Burger, based in Frankfurt, is taking over new responsibilities as European Pharmaceuticals & Chemicals Correspondent at Reuters.
Deirdre Hipwell has been promoted to retail and mergers & acquisition editor at The Times.
Hayley Kenny and George Bowden have been appointed social media managers at The Sun.
Blathnaid Healy has joined CNN as senior editor in its London newsroom. She was previously UK editor at Mashable.
Massimo Marioni has joined CNN International as a senior digital producer. Massimo was previously deputy website editor at The Sun.
Features
Behind the headlines with Finn’s Matt Bourn
Leeds-based Finn officially opens its new London office this month, so Gorkana goes ‘Behind the headlines’ with London head Matt Bourn to talk about cutting his teeth as a children’s entertainer, his thoughts on reinventing PR for the digital landscape and what happened when he first pitched to
a journalist.
Gorkana meets…F1 journalist Christian Sylt
Christian Sylt, senior Formula 1 and motor racing journalist, talks to Gorkana about how he kicked off his career in the industry, founding Zoom, the F1 charity initiative, being a theme park industry specialist and the key thing PRs need to know when pitching in ideas.
Gorkana meets…Klaus Fiala and Forbes Austria
Klaus Fiala, financial journalist at Forbes Austria, talks about the publication’s relationship with the US edition, what he likes about business journalism and how he works with PRs.
PR Case Study: GrandFest 2016
In 2015, TVC launched GrandFest, a one-day festival for the “older people’s” charity Royal Voluntary Service (RVS), to showcase the craft skills of talented older people.
Royal Voluntary Service volunteer Sandra Talmey showcases her Knitting skills at GrandFest
White Paper
White Paper: 9 key insights into journalism and social media in the UK
Gorkana’s latest White Paper: 9 Key Insights Into Journalism and Social Media in the UK, based on an annual survey, shows that social media, and the way that it is used by journalists, is changing.
