THE WEEKLY GORKANA BRIEF
A round-up of the essential highlights from the main PR and media stories, features and events content on Gorkana News this week.
Pitch Wins
Independent family-owned distiller William Grant & Sons UK has chosen Tin Man as the UK PR agency for its seven brand Esoteric whisky portfolio, which includes The Balvenie and Monkey Shoulder.
adidas has brought in Hope&Glory to handle the PR around its running and women’s performance categories, following a competitive pitch.
Personalised card and gifting retailer Moonpig.com has named Popcorn PR as its retained consumer PR agency, following a competitive pitch.
Aisle 8 has been briefed to handle the launch and ongoing comms activity for new luxury sex toy brand Perlesque.
International Women in Mining (IWiM), a global web-based community which aims to improve the gender balance in the mining industry, has appointed Yellow Jersey as its comms adviser.
PR People News
Rebecca Shelley, corporate affairs director at Tesco, will leave the business in February after nearly four years at the retailer.
Apple’s Ben Williams has taken on the newly-created role of digital director at music TV network The Box Plus Network.
Independent comms agency Freshwater has appointed John Morris from Birmingham International Airport to strengthen its work in the transport and infrastructure sectors.
Freesat, the subscription free satellite TV service, has named Jennifer Elworthy as director of marketing and communications.
Claremont Communications has brought in Victoria Page, former director of CSR and sustainability at Grayling Future Planet, as a director to help grow the agency’s private sector clients.
Global network provider Truphone has hired Marketo’s Alan Banks to take on the newly-created role of chief sales and marketing officer, with responsibility for the company’s comms function.
Deal / Launch News
The Academy has merged with Shine Communications to form a new group called The Academy, with Shine becoming its consumer PR arm.
Bernard Ginns, business editor of the Yorkshire Post, has set up Branksome Partners to provide comms advice to individuals, companies and organisations.
Brands2Life’s Katie Buckett and Alex Pearmain have launched a new social and digital marketing consultancy OneFifty, with backing from consumer brand agency Hope&Glory PR.
Journalist News
Guardian News & Media has announced the return of Nick Hopkins as head of investigations.
John Thornhill has been appointed the first innovation editor at the Financial Times, while Oliver Ralph has been named insurance correspondent at the paper.
COSMOPOLITAN UK has brought in InStyle UK’s Amy Bannerman as fashion director and promoted Claire Hodgson to digital director.
Former FHM upgrade editor Tom Ward has joined Men’s Health UK as features editor.
Howell Davies has been appointed online showbiz reporter at The Sun.
Kate Leahy and Jules Cooper have been named digital editors at The Sunday Times’ Style.
This week’s features
Gorkana meets…The Locals
Laura Scott, editor of culture and lifestyle platform The Locals, on showcasing the human stories behind creative ideas, plans to cycle across America in under 30 days, what’s new with the site and why strong PR relationships are essential for good content.
Behind the Headlines with Experience12’s Chris Whittle
Chris Whittle, founder and MD of Experience12, on his marker for a successful campaign, how painting Homer Simpson next to the Chalk Giant was his first big success in PR and his love for all things Asterix.
Case Study: Bike Moments
Find out how Forster Communications helped raise the profile of road safety charity The Institute of Advanced Motorists by creating a series of tongue-in-cheek Facebook and Twitter “Bike Moments”.
Gorkana meets…Alphr
David Court, editor of Dennis Publishing’s new tech title, Alphr, on how tech isn’t just for IT managers, why he thinks in-car tech is so exciting, and how PRs should “walk-the-walk” and find creative ways to pitch in.
60 seconds with Liontrust Asset Management’s Lora Coventry
Lora Coventry, PR manager at Liontrust Asset Management, on how the industry could benefit from more women in senior positions, the indispensable asset of passion, and why she’d make a great Blue Peter presenter.
