Keeper Security appoints Frank to aid global expansion

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Frank has been appointed by Keeper Security, a US cyber security technology company which has created Keeper, a password manager and digital vault for mobile devices and computers.

Keeper Security

Frank has been retained to help with global expansion of the Keeper brand. Frank will work with sister agency Hotwire to ensure consistency of message across global campaigns.

Keeper Security, founded in Chicago in 2011, currently has 11 million registered users worldwide and 4,000 business customers.

The Keeper Security app allows users to aggregate all the passwords they use on social media channels, commerce, healthcare and online banking into the one mobile app, removing the frustration of having to remember and reset a number of different passwords whilst making their data and assets more secure in the process.

The agency will build brand awareness for Keeper in the UK and EMEA markets, as well as establish password managers as a useful tool for those looking to safeguard their digital assets.

Darren Guccione, CEO of Keeper Security, said: “We were really impressed with the creative approach of Frank. We are aware we need to educate UK and EMEA consumers about password managers.  It was clear we needed a creative agency like Frank to help us achieve this.

“Our business has grown rapidly since it was founded in 2011 and is now a well-known consumer tech brand in the USA. The amount of high profile hacks of celebrity social media and traditional cloud-storage accounts, as a well-publicised example, highlight how current security solutions are falling way short of what is required.”

Alex Grier, MD of Frank, added: “There is growing consumer awareness of password managers in the UK, but to really push Keeper into the mainstream we are going to work with the team to truly disrupt their category.

“We look forward to driving talkability for Keeper by taking a non-traditional approach to the sector. The team at Keeper has a real appetite for stand-out creative and as an agency that’s exactly what you want to hear.”

Mark Walsh joins Ketchum

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Ketchum has appointed Citizen Relations’ Mark Walsh to the newly-created role of consumer director in its London office.

Mark Walsh

Walsh will provide strategic counsel to Ketchum’s consumer brands in London and assume responsibility for growing Ketchum’s consumer client roster.

Walsh joins Ketchum from Citizen Relations, where he spent five years working across a variety of roles.

Most recently, he served as regional director, Asia Pacific, where he was responsible for establishing a business presence in the region and securing new business across lifestyle and technology brands.

His experience includes campaigns for blue-chip brands such as BT, Hewlett Packard, Casio and Sony Mobile.

In his new role at Ketchum, Walsh will report to Jo-ann Robertson, partner and deputy CEO of Ketchum London.

Denise Kaufmann, partner and CEO of Ketchum London, said: “Mark has worked with some of the biggest brands in the world, in both the U.K. and globally. Ketchum’s consumer practice in London is growing, and we are excited to offer Mark’s deep and unique consumer brand expertise to our clients.”

Walsh added: “It is a privilege to join Ketchum’s London team. I look forward to working with this team to further Ketchum’s reputation in brand marketing by delivering inspiring and relevant work for today’s top lifestyle and tech brands in the consumer sector.”

Havas Group acquires India healthcare agency Sorento

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Havas Group has acquired India-based health-and-wellness agency Sorento.

Sorento will integrate Havas’ Health & You business unit and be rebranded Havas Life Sorento. The acquisition will allow it to further develop its regional presence and add to its depth and breadth in India to deliver for global clients.

Following the acquisition, the management team of Susan Josi and Sangeeta Barde — Sorento’s co-founders and managing partners — will continue to head up the team of more than 70 health-and-wellness comms professionals.

Josi and Barde will report to Charles Houdoux, CEO, Havas Health & You APAC, and will work closely with local Havas India management for day-to-day operations.

Yannick Bolloré, CEO, Havas Group, said: “We are delighted to welcome Sorento to our group. The team will partner with Havas Health & You India to create a broader health-and-wellness offering in the region for our existing global clients and provide a new infusion of energy that will allow us to expand our APAC capabilities.”

srprs.me hires Rooster to help bring spontaneity to British travellers

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Dutch travel company srprs.me has appointed Rooster as its first UK PR agency as it looks to “bring spontaneity to British travellers”.

srprs.me

Founded in April 2014, srprs.me allows travellers to choose their theme, dates and budget, with srprs. consultants then crafting a surprise trip. Travellers then uncover their destination via a scratch card at the airport.

Rooster’s brief is to deliver a strategic PR campaign to educate the media and market about srprs.me’s key differentiators and philosophy to encourage travellers to “embrace the unknown”.

The agency will also build srprs.me’s corporate profile as an innovator within travel and digital business.

Raymond Klompsma, CEO of srprs.me, said: “The best trips are the ones that find you and we’re very happy to have found Rooster to help us bring our travel philosophy to the UK. We don’t just want to take the fuss out of booking great trips, but want to show Brits the joy of embracing the unknown.”

Rooster MD James Brooke added: “Visionaries like srprs.me keep the travel industry evolving, so we’re thrilled to have been appointed to support their UK launch. We’re looking forward to bringing srprs.me’s amazing brand and perspective to our comms activity – it was meant to be.”

srprs.me currently operates across The Netherlands and Belgium, where it has sent over 50,000 travellers on spontaneous trips since it launched in 2014.

HOOK LDN calls in John Doe

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New British eyewear brand HOOK LDN has selected John Doe as its retained PR agency as it embarks on a planned period of growth.

HOOK LDN

HOOK LDN was founded by music business entrepreneur Zak Biddu, with Simon Goodfellow in place as MD. Goodfellow career has seen him take Oliver Sweeney from a UK footwear brand to a global lifestyle brand.

Through a combination of creative collaborations, content creation and press office activity, John Doe has been briefed to establish HOOK LDN as one of the “hottest emerging fashion brands for consumers to keep an eye on”.

The appointment accompanies the opening of HOOK LDN’s first ever standalone store in London’s Shoreditch, which opened to the public on 2 May.

Goodfellow said: “Opening our first HOOK LDN store is a big moment for us, so it was extremely important that we found the right partner to tell that story and come on that journey with us. The team at John Doe impressed us greatly with their creativity and understanding of our brand, so we look forward to good times together.”

eToro appoints Headland

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Headland has been hired by eToro, the online trading and investment platform, following a competitive pitch process.

Headland has been appointed to run eToro’s pan-European corporate communications, focusing on driving new customer acquisition. The Headland team will be led by partner, Dan Smith, and fintech specialist Paul Crayston.

Iqbal V. Gandham, managing director at eToro, said: “We’re an established business that still has lots of growth potential, so it’s essential we have a partner that can support us as we develop. Headland will help spur our growth and bring new people to the world of trading and investing.”

Crayston said: “The companies that remake financial services over the next decade will be those that use technology to do more than build a better user experience, they will use technology to completely rethink what financial products can be. These are the harder stories to tell, but they are the ones that will make a real difference. eToro embodies this game-changing nature of fintech.”

New branding cements Pegasus’ integration with Ashfield

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Specialist healthcare agency Pegasus has unveiled a new brand identity to mark a full year since its acquisition by Ashfield Healthcare Communications.

Simon Hackett

Conceived by its in-house creative team, the new look signifies Pegasus’ successful integration with its parent company.

Pegasus has received five ‘Consultancy of the Year’ awards over the past 12 months, and was shortlisted in the Cannes Lion Health awards last year.

“For me our refreshed identity signifies more than just a strong, new look,” said Simon Hackett (pictured), Pegasus managing director. “It is a symbol of our increased strength and potential in terms of global reach, therapy area experience and service expertise.”

David Moore, Ashfield Healthcare Communications executive director, added: “The new identity is sharp, creative and impactful and brings Pegasus firmly into our group, without diluting the unique identity that attracted us to the business in the first place.”

Independent vs network agencies: the power of the mid-sized PR firm

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Peter Prodromou, president and CEO of Racepoint Global, believes the mid-sized agency is in the strongest position to drive influence for big brands compared to the “rigid structures” of large PR firms.

Peter Prodromou

As communications professionals, we spend a lot of time telling clients about how the media has changed. They’re doing more with less, turning stories around faster and taking full advantage of online publishing.

It sometimes feels like influential media figures are able to come out of seemingly nowhere by simply opening shop and finding the right audience. Because of these changes, the way communicators must work has changed as well.

It should be no surprise that for a faster moving, social media-driven media landscape, agencies designed to meet that pace and reach influencers where they are, are the ones who are poised for success.

Despite this, old biases and common wisdom sometimes prevail and clients are drawn towards huge, monolithic agencies that are not kitted out for the task at hand.

They choose an aircraft carrier, when what they need is a speedboat. The truth is mid-sized agencies are well positioned to drive influence for even the largest of brands because of their smaller size.

The way content is consumed has changed. There is little barrier between print and online, social and traditional media. Large agencies are, by necessity, filled with divisions and rigid structures.

This can create situations where aligning a campaign across media can be unwieldy – a situation avoided by smaller firms where an integrated model that reflects the realities of today’s media landscape is simply a natural fit.

Earned media experts are working alongside social media wizards who interface daily with a well-honed paid media team. And the democratisation of creative and productivity tools means that a clever team can deliver results that belie their small size.

At my own firm, Racepoint Global, we’ve been able to use this model to service the world’s largest clients, building client relationships with household names across the technology, healthcare, and consumer spaces.

Global brands care less about how many offices you have and more about how effective you can be and how quickly you can pivot to reflect changing media and market trends.

Mid-sized firms hit a sweet spot that clients are looking for – the resources to accomplish the task at hand, but a personal touch not found among larger competitors.

They know that the people they meet at the pitch are likely to be the people working on their account each and every day. They know that their agency is not beholden to a holding company mentality and has the flexibility they need to try new things and swim outside their lanes.

In a world where anyone with the right media strategy and a resonant voice can arise overnight and dominate a conversation, companies need a communications partner that can quickly change course. They need a partner with a personal touch who deeply understands their business. And they need a partner designed around the realities of how we share information today. Successful communications in 2017 and beyond will be driven by firms that are the right size for the job at hand.

IA comms manager Alex Hogan joins Unigestion

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Swiss asset manager Unigestion has brought in the Investment Association’s Alex Hogan as comms manager, associate, with a brief to work across the UK, Europe, North America and Asia.

Alex Hogan

Hogan has spent the last three and half years as comms manager for the Investment Association, the UK’s trade body for asset management, heading up its investment trade media relations.

Before that, he held comms roles at JPES Partners and Henderson Global Investors.

In his new role at Unigestion, Hogan will also help manage internal comms and branding for the business globally.

Based in London, he will report to Lynn Pattinson, head of corporate comms, media and branding at Unigestion, who is based at the firm’s Geneva HQ.

Pattinson said: “I am delighted to welcome Alex to Unigestion and my team. His UK background and experience will be invaluable as we continue to expand and build the Unigestion brand and will add a useful perspective.”

Hogan added: “I’m delighted to be joining Unigestion at such an exciting time for the business as it looks to expand into new markets and distribution channels globally.

“Clear and effective communication with the media and most importantly, our clients, will be pivotal to our success and how we evolve as a company and brand in the coming years.”

Unigestion manages some $23 billion (£17.6 billion) in client assets across four specialist areas: equity, multi-asset investing, private equity and alternatives.

Alex Hogan can be reached at [email protected]

Teneo acquires Brussels-based Cabinet DN

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Teneo Holdings, a global CEO advisory firm, today announced the acquisition of Cabinet DN, a European public affairs and strategic communications firm based in Brussels.

The transaction brings the firm’s global headcount to more than 600 employees operating from key markets around the world across 12 different operating divisions.

Cabinet DN’s management team, which includes founders Jacob Lund Nielsen (managing partner) and Timme Bertolt Døssing (partner), Deborah Nash (partner) and Mario Filipponi (partner), will continue in their leadership roles of the business and report to Charles Watson, chairman of Teneo International.

The business will be combined with Teneo’s existing Brussels team led by managing director Ruud Wassen.

Declan Kelly, chairman and CEO at Teneo, said: “With this announcement, we further strengthen our capabilities in Brussels and across Europe. Brussels and the broader European Union is a critical market for many multinational corporations; the acquisition of Cabinet DN allows us to continue to offer our clients best-in-class expertise and capabilities in a market of critical importance and at a time of heightened volatility.

“We have known the Cabinet DN team for many years and have followed closely their development of such a successful business. We are delighted to welcome them to Teneo.”

Jacob Lund Nielsen, managing partner at Cabinet DN, said: “Teneo’s acquisition of Cabinet DN is a milestone moment for our company, its employees and our clients. Becoming part of Teneo’s rapidly expanding global business is immensely exciting and will be transformational for our combined Brussels-based offering.

“We have followed Teneo’s impressive growth in recent years with great admiration and have huge respect for what it has achieved so far. We are excited to become a part of the firm as it embarks on this next stage of growth and development, putting Brussels at the heart of its growth plans.”