This week’s PR news in brief (20-24 November)
Here’s our round-up of essential PR news stories and features from the past week, including the key insights from Cision’s latest webinar, account wins for Cherish PR, RKM and Stand Agency and the winner of the Cision PR Influencer Award 2017.
Opinion
Jason Nisse from The Nisse Consultancy and Munch’s Lizzie Earl discussed how smaller agencies are primed to disrupt the PR industry in an exclusive Cision webinar.
Nadine Causey, Guinness World Records’ SVP for EMEA and APAC, considers what lessons communicators can learn from this year’s record breaking PR campaigns.
Interviews
John Higginson, Higginson PR’s co-founder, discusses why he and his wife Clodagh set up their own agency, the growth of the business and how comparable the role is to his time in journalism.
Huw Turbervill, managing editor at The Cricketer, elaborates upon the magazine’s loyalty to its readers, the upcoming Ashes series and why he will always be welcoming of PRs.
Account wins
Electric street racing motorsport series Formula E has appointed CSM Sport and Entertainment to handle its global and local PR following a competitive pitch process.
Wealth management company European Wealth has appointed Redleaf Communications to handle its corporate, financial and trade PR ahead of its rebrand to Kingswood PLC.
Online marketplace Florismart has appointed Stand Agency to provide PR support for the UK tour of its floristry education bus. The bus, known as “Florence”, aims to raise awareness of floristry skills and provide advice and support to florists.
Energy supplier OVO Energy has chosen Influence Digital to provide strategic advice on its social media activity. The agency will work closely with OVO to evolve its social media content and campaign strategy across multiple business objectives.
Taylor Wimpey’s Bristol and Southern Counties business units have selected integrated comms agency One to manage PR for its new developments in the two areas following a competitive pitch.
Purpose Europe has appointed RKM Communications to manage PR for health campaigns Help Britain Breathe and Clean Air Now. The agency will help raise awareness of both campaigns to drive action on air pollution in the UK.
Cherish PR has added online lottery Lottoz to its technology PR portfolio. The agency will handle UK media outreach and manage online media and influencer relations, digital promotions and partnerships for the company.
Agency news
Hanover Middle East has signed an agreement to acquire the shares of Bell Pottinger Middle East in Dubai and its operating licence in Abu Dhabi. The acquisition will add 14 consultants to Hanover Group’s 125-strong EMEA team and will take its 2018 fee income to over £20 million.
Cognito has launched its Communications and Marketing Survey for 2017/18. The survey found that firms are investing in data analytics and technology to improve measurement, created content is respondents’ biggest budget winner and major financial media has grown in importance as credibility is challenged by fake news.
AI transcription service Trint has appointed former Microsoft marketer Donna Opzoomer to help expand its UK business. The tech start-up is also working with PR agency The Wern to drive awareness across the UK.
People news
Stir has appointed Jo Vyvyan-Robinson as its new managing director. She will oversee management of the agency as well as masterminding new ventures to drive growth.
Financial services, energy and technology comms agency Aspectus has promoted Tim Focas to lead its capital markets sub-sector. Focas will be responsible for providing strategic comms advice to existing capital markets clients and driving new business opportunities in the sector.
Influence Digital has announced a number of team changes. The agency has hired Stacey Townley as senior account manager to work across the agency’s fashion and lifestyle clients, as well as promoting Carlos Rodrigues to general manager and Natalie Clarke to head of client services.
HROC has made five new appointments as part of its growth strategy. Katja Benischke joins as a PR account executive, Katie Brown as social media account manager, Loukia Koumi as digital account manager, Ian Baker as digital account executive and Joshua Hollyoak as video production editor.
Awards news
Viktor Frisk was crowned Sweden’s most influential PR consultant at the Cision PR Influencer Award 2017. Frisk is head of social media at a PR bureau, which he combines with being a successful pop star and a highly respected social influencer.
“This award is indeed a sign of the times, showing how we work in an ever-changing business that never stands still,” said Alexander Mason, commercial director of Cision Scandinavia. “We have hosted this award for many years and if someone would have told me five years ago that a pop artist would win, I wouldn’t believe what I heard.”
Read the full write-up here.
Global tech comms agency GingerMay PR won the Fastest Growing Company of the Year and Women-Run Company of the Year gold awards at the 2017 Stevie Awards for Women in Business.
Bristol City Council took home two highly coveted gold awards at Friday’s Chartered Institute of Public Relations PRide Awards for the South of England and Channel Islands. A full list of winners can be found here.
PR events
Time is running out for you to join CNBC International’s Noelle Murbach-Lami, head of news and programming, and Cristy Garratt, head of social media and digital video, at Cision’s final media briefing of 2017 on Wednesday 6 December.
Murbach-Lami and Garratt will reveal how the team likes to work with PRs, the best ways to pitch them ideas and exactly what stories their audience loves to hear about.
You can reserve your place at the exclusive media briefing here.
