Chatsworth Communications leads client R3 to $107 million investment

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Fintech PR specialist, Chatsworth Communications, has steered its client R3 to a Series A investment of $107 million from more than 40 financial institutions across the globe.

R3 is leading a consortium of banks and other financial institutions working together to develop a new operating system for the financial services industry based on distributed ledger technology (DLT), which was borne out of blockchain – the infrastructure that enables the transfer of virtual currencies such as Bitcoin.

The company has raised a $107 million series A round of funding from a group of banks including HSBC, Barclays, UBS and Wells Fargo.

Chatsworth has handled global PR for R3 since its launch in September 2015.

A spokesperson said: “During the last 18 months we have worked closely with the financial, business and technology media to raise awareness and understanding of R3’s unique approach and technology as it sought to grow its network of members and investors.”

M&S appoints Phipps as UK PR agency for beers, wines and spirits

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Food and drink PR agency Phipps has been appointed by Marks & Spencer as its retained PR agency for the retailer’s Beers, Wines, and Spirits division.

Marks & Spencer

The appointment comes after M&S launched its first Bordeaux En Primeur wine collection earlier this month.

The high street retailer said these new additions to its Fine Wine category will make it more accessible for consumers to purchase wines from leading châteaux.

Phipps has been briefed to drive awareness and recognition around M&S’ drinks offering.

Lottie West, associate director at Phipps, will lead the account and report to M&S PR manager Hazel MacRae.

Phipps MD Nicky Forrest said: “We are thrilled to be working with such an iconic retailer.  M&S is renowned for its food offering and our role is to help build its reputation to a similar level for its beers, wines, and spirits.

“The level of innovation and expertise at M&S is unparalleled. It is the only major UK retailer to have its own team of winemakers who work with some of the top producers in the world bringing unique blends and wines into store.

“Wine writers already know and love M&S drinks, so a big part of our brief is to reach out to more consumer and lifestyle media, while continuing to bring relevant and interesting news to the drinks press.”

CIPR, Mischief, Telefonica and Save the Children join Cision World Tour London panel debate

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Lucy Hart, head of influence at Mischief, Nicola Green, director of corporate affairs at Telefonica UK and Kirsten Walkom, global communications director at Save the Children will be appearing on a panel at Cision‘s upcoming London World Tour event to debate how brands can work best with the media.

Nicola Green

The trio are joining a panel which will be moderated by Jason MacKenzie, president of the CIPR, entitled: Creating a win-win relationship between your brand and the media.

Faced with declining public trust, shrinking deadlines and a new emphasis on emotion over fact the media landscape is changing fast. Against this backdrop, the panel will delve into the best ways to re-imagine your marketing and communications strategies in 2017.

Also, renowned brand strategy consultant Chris Sanderson is to be the keynote speaker at the event which follows Cision’s global summit events in Chicago, San Francisco and New York.

The London event takes place at Soho’s Ham Yard Hotel on Tuesday, June 6, for an afternoon of connections, cocktails and conversation. To reserve your place visit the World Tour website.

Cision CEO Kevin Akeroyd and CMO Chris Lynch will welcome attendees to the event. They’ll kick off proceedings with discussion and debate, and will look into how combining great storytelling with data science is helping brands uncover influencers to share their stories, craft content that gets read and link coverage with customer behaviour.

Faced with declining public trust, shrinking deadlines and a new emphasis on emotion over fact the media landscape is changing fast. Against this backdrop, our panel will delve into the best ways to re-imagine your marketing and communications strategies in 2017.

 

W creates “Wins. Not wings” for Carabao to celebrate Chelsea’s Premier League title win

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W unveiled its new integrated advertising campaign for Carabao this week, celebrating the Premier League title win of the energy drink’s partner, Chelsea Football Club.

Wins. Not wings

The new creative has been planned, produced and executed in-house by W on the back of Chelsea’s final match of the season where the Premier League trophy was formally presented to the champions at their West London home ground Stamford Bridge.

W’s work is running in The Sun, Metro, London Evening Standard, Daily Star, Daily Mirror, the Guardian and The Grocer, as well as 20 digital outdoor sites across the UK, and brand and partner social channels.

It will be highlighted in the official match-day programme and across Stamford Bridge’s in-stadium digital screens to mark Chelsea’s moment of triumph. Media has been planned and executed by Total Media.

John Luck, chief marketing officer at Intercarabao, who worked alongside the W team through the development process, said: “Our new ‘Wins. Not wings.’ campaign celebrates Chelsea’s incredible Premier League title win.

“A can of Carabao gives you the energy you need to keep going, so we naturally wanted to recognise our partner’s very on-brand rise to the top of the table! Carabao will also be following Chelsea into Europe later this year, as we continue to grow the brand internationally.”

Warren Johnson, CEO and founder of W, added: “Carabao is a phenomenally exciting brand, so we are especially thrilled to have been able to develop and launch such eye-catching, agenda-setting work on its behalf.

“The new campaign demonstrates W’s best-in-class creative and executional firepower. Our ability to bring this landmark initiative to life in a matter of weeks – from initial concept to final execution – exemplifies the agency’s agility and skill, and is testament to the amazing support of our client.”

The Thai energy drink, which takes its inspiration from “the physical and spiritual determination” of the carabao water buffalo, is one season into a three-year principal partnership with Chelsea FC.

Next season, Carabao will add to its list of football partnerships, which also includes Reading FC, by embarking on a marquee sponsorship of the EFL Cup, set to be named the Carabao Cup over the next three seasons.

Clearbox picks up Irish PR brief for Sony Mobile

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Sony Mobile has brought in Clearbox to manage its comms and PR programmes across the Republic of Ireland. Activity kicks off with the launch of the Xperia XZ Premium smartphone.

The Xperia XZ Premium smartphone

The agency will work on a range of activities for Sony Mobile’s Xperia brand, including product launches, sponsorship activation and press office management.

The Holywood-based agency will work alongside London-based consumer consultancy Fever PR, as part of an on-going partnership between the two agencies.

Clearbox’s first campaign will be the launch of the Xperia XZ Premium smartphone, which was unveiled at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, which took place earlier this year.

Clearbox will report to Ciaran Cleary, who heads up Sony’s mobile division in Ireland.

The Clearbox team

Cleary said: “It’s a hugely exciting time for Sony as we continue to push the boundaries of mobile phone technology with the launch of the Xperia XZ Premium, which features a 4K HDR screen and a world class Super slow motion camera. We’re looking forward to working with the team at Clearbox on lots of innovative campaigns over the coming months.”

Anna Morris, Clearbox’s head of excellence, added: “It’s a massive honour to work with such an iconic brand. From the Walkman to PlayStation, Sony has been an integral part of our personal lives since we were kids and Xperia is a fantastic brand for us to sink our teeth into. We’re raring to go and can’t wait to get started with Ciaran and his team.”

Wickes hands PR brief to Clarion Communications

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Home improvement retailer Wickes has appointed Clarion Communications as its retained UK PR agency.

Wickes

The agency’s focus will be on growing consumer preference for the brand across key categories, including gardens, kitchens, tiling and flooring.

Activity will include ongoing media relations and news generation across all categories and specific hero products.

Clarion will also work alongside the roster of Wickes marketing agencies on the Wickes’ ‘Let’s Do It Right’ strategy and creative platform.

The team will also support big brand partnerships, including Channel 4 Homes and English Football League sponsorships.

Helena Keane, PR and social media manager for Wickes, said: “It’s an exciting time for Wickes and we wanted an agency partner to share our passion in creating a deeper brand understanding with consumers.

“We were impressed with the energy and enthusiasm for the brand, alongside the team’s desire to help deliver brand reappraisal. The agency’s media relations will no doubt help showcase the many surprising products we offer and highlight our incredible showroom ranges.”

Matt Stokoe, deputy managing partner at Clarion Communications, added: “Wickes is an amazing brand with great character and personality, so it was a challenging but exciting brief.

“We’re looking forward to working on some inspiring, creative campaigns to help drive footfall and sales as well as surprising media along the way with some of the unique products and services on offer at Wickes stores nationwide.”

The brief for Wickes came through PRCA Matchmaker, a free service for clients seeking help in finding the right PR agency for their needs.

PHA hires Ketchum’s Tom Green

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PHA Media has hired Tom Green as a senior account director in the company’s Technology and Innovation Team.

Tom Green

Green will be heading up the B2B branch of the technology team. He has previously worked at Ketchum and Weber Shandwick.

Green said: “The tech team at PHA is ambitious, driven and riding a wave of great client wins and industry awards. I’m excited to be working with such a talented, successful, growing team and look forward to doing some great work for our clients.”

Smithfield Consultants retains The People’s Pension

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Smithfield Consultants, Edelman’s specialist capital market and financial services communications consultancy, has been appointed by The People’s Pension as its retained public relations agency.

The appointment builds on Smithfield’s extensive experience in pensions and consumer finance with retained clients currently including JLT Employee Benefits, Lincoln Pensions, The Society of Pension Professionals, the Pensions Management Institute, and Comparethemarket.com.

Darren Philp, director of policy and market engagement at B&CE, provider of The People’s Pension, said: “Smithfield’s experience in pensions and consumer finance came through very strongly in a highly competitive pitch process. They demonstrated a good technical understanding of the issues affecting the market and presented some innovative ideas to promote what we stand for as a not-for-profit. We look forward to working with them to realise this exciting programme.”

John Kiely, managing director of Smithfield, added: “Our track record in pensions continues to go from strength to strength and our appointment by The People’s Pension is another positive endorsement of our offering.  We look forward to delivering some fantastic results on their behalf in the weeks and months ahead.”

Drone company SkyX appoints The PR Office

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SkyX, the company which creates “fully autonomous” drones to service the oil and gas industry, has appointed The PR Office to oversee its financial and corporate communications.

SkyX has developed drones designed to inspect pipelines for damage, as well as for mapping and security surveillance.

Marc Cohen, managing director, The PR Office, said: “We are delighted to be involved with SkyX’s exciting project right from launch. SkyX is providing oil & gas companies with a revolutionary alternative to the current pipeline monitoring market, and we feel passionate about spreading this message to help market SkyX to customers and investors.

“I am excited that The PR Office is rapidly building one of the biggest portfolio of technology clients in the PR market.”

PR Case Study: Palmer & Harvey – Delivering Hope

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MHP is helping Palmer & Harvey, the UK’s largest delivered wholesaler, put the sides of its beige delivery vans to good use by transforming them into mobile billboards for missing persons’ charity Missing People.

MHP launches Delivering Hope

Nicki Durbin, whose son Luke has been missing since 2008

Campaign: Delivering Hope
Client: Palmer & Harvey
PR Team: MHP
Timing: May 2017 – May 2019

Summary

As the UK’s largest delivered wholesaler, Palmer & Harvey works with more than 90,000 retail outlets and employs almost 4,000 people. It felt blighted by the fact that their beige delivery vehicles seemed to go unnoticed despite covering every postcode in the UK.

To remedy this problem, the company enlisted MHP to spearhead a new corporate social responsibility initiative to do something positive for the communities it serves.

Strategy

Sometimes PR is as simple as making the best possible use of the assets you have to work with. In this case we saw the issue of P&H’s ubiquitous but unseen beige vehicles as an opportunity – and a blank canvas to work with.

Taking that lead, our idea was to put the anonymity of P&H’s vans to good use, utilising the space in partnership with the Missing People charity. An estimated 250,000 children and adults go missing in the UK each year – and Missing People helps find them and supports families as they wait for news of loved ones.

This campaign is more than just a PR stunt for P&H. We brought the company together with Missing People and affected family members like Nicky Durbin, whose son Luke has been missing since 2008.

P&H CEO Tony Reed has now committed to a £1million fundraising target over the next three years. Missing People will then be able to distribute any funds raised to the areas they are needed most.

“The Delivering Hope campaign allows us to use our extensive delivery network to help this hugely inspiring cause,” said Martyn Ward, P&H MD. “To our customers, what matters is inside the vans. Yet, the exterior is effectively a blank canvas that could be used to grab people’s attention and help those in the communities we serve.”

Results

While this campaign will draw attention to P&H’s fleet of delivery vehicles, its primary purpose is to help reunite as many people as possible with their missing loved ones.

P&H announced the campaign in their trade publication The Grocer on Tuesday, May 16. Since then, the story has been featured on Channel Five news’ prime time 6:30pm news slot and on Heart FM’s breakfast news bulletins across the South West.

Over the three-year duration of this campaign, both MHP and P&H will continue to work to raise as much awareness as possible for Missing People and the vital work they do.

Jo Youle, CEO of Missing People, said: “The new Delivering Hope campaign will be instrumental in helping us extend the reach of our publicity appeals and we really hope it will play a role in reuniting missing people with their loved ones.”

Would you like to showcase your latest campaign success on Gorkana? If so, please email [email protected].