Hair tool brand Cloud Nine hires Brandnation

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Brandnation has picked up the UK PR brief for hair tool brand Cloud Nine, which was launched by ghd founder Robert Powls in 2009.

Cloud Nine

Brandnation’s beauty PR division, which won the account following a competitive pitch, has been briefed to increase brand awareness across all target UK media channels, as well as manage an extensive blogger and influencer programme.

Lizzy Jackson, PR and marketing manager of Cloud Nine, said: “We want to educate and enthuse the consumer about our existing products as well as some exciting new additions scheduled for launch over the next 18 months.

“We also wanted to work with an agency that shares our dedication to excellence and can help support our ambitious growth strategy.”

Brandnation’s MD, Mary Killingworth, added: “Cloud Nine is an amazing premium brand that fits well with our expertise and our existing beauty client base.”

Promotions at JFL Search & Selection

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Comms recruitment consultancy JFL Search & Selection has promoted Poppy Green and Millie Santry to senior consultant and consultant respectively.

Poppy Green and Millie Santry

Green first joined JFL in 2013, while Santry took on her first role at the recruitment firm in 2015.

Both Green and Santry will continue to use their knowledge of the comms market to provide candidates for JFL’s clients, recruiting for mid-level positions across the PR and comms industry.

Edwina Goldman, MD of JFL Search & Selection, said: “These promotions are extremely well deserved. Both consultants have worked hard to get to this stage, and should be very proud of their success.

“Poppy and Millie have been invaluable to the growth and development of the business, and we are excited to see what the future holds.”

Infinite Global appoints Cameron Webb as head of branding and creative

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Infinite Global has appointed Cameron Webb as head of branding and creative as it looks to expand its creative services offering.

Cameron Webb

Webb will be based in the firm’s London office. He will lead Infinite Global’s creative department, focusing on expanding the practice and integrating brand and creative services into the firm’s communications offering.

With 20 years of experience focusing on the development of global B2B brands, Webb’s previous roles include client director at Radley Yeldar, head of brand for KPMG in the UK and Europe, and global head of brand for Amlin.

Jamie Diaferia, Infinite Global CEO, said: “Infinite Global has grown dramatically in the past few years, particularly in our creative and design function. Cameron’s hire bolsters our offering in this space and reflects our dedication to helping clients build brands that allow them to stand out in a crowded marketplace. Our communications, content, creative and branding expertise enables us to provide our clients with an even more valuable and comprehensive service.”

Webb said: “I am delighted to join such a talented team and am excited at the opportunity to build out our offering that looks at reputation in a more holistic way. Historically, brand focus for many organisations has centred on reactive crisis communications work, but here we are promoting a more proactive and rounded approach. We embrace the commercial need for businesses to define themselves positively and stand out among their competitors, building brands that are both experiential and consistent.”

Gorkana meets… Reorg Research

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Kent Collier - Reorg ResearchKent Collier, founder and CEO of Reorg Research, explains the power of its online editorial in the global distressed debt and high yield market.

What content does Reorg Research produce and how often?
Reorg Research produces real-time news, commentary, and analysis on the distressed debt and leveraged finance markets, producing somewhere between 30 and 70 stories a day.

Who reads your editorial content and what do they get from RR that they cannot find elsewhere?
Our subscribers include hedge funds, law firms, investment managers and investment banks
across the US and Europe. We provide news in near real-time that is more sophisticated, and
cover situations more deeply than other offerings in the market.

What does Event Driven – your new launch – add to your offer and why start it now?
Event Driven will offer real-time news and analysis on corporate litigations, Washington,DC,
policy changes and M&A enforcement that affect the prices of publicly traded equities. This
broadens our offerings beyond just the debt markets and so, given the uncertainty in Washington,
the timing for this new coverage is ideal.

Where is your audience based (geographically) and how does this affect the content you
produce? For instance, what would you want to hear from businesses/PRs in the UK?
Most of our subscribers are based in the United States, though we do have a sizeable and
growing presence in Europe which represents about 20% of our customers. Our subscribers want to hear about interesting situations wherever they arise, so there is really no geographical limit to our content; if there is a story to cover, we’ll figure out a way to cover it.

You have editorial teams in London and New York and now an office in Washington, DC.
Who does what and how do they work together?
New York is our headquarters, where much of our senior-level staff is based and where our
Reorg US., Reorg First Day, and Reorg Covenants products are produced. Reorg Europe is
produced by the team in London and Event Driven, our newest product, will report out of both
New York and the new DC office.

What’s the story RR has run in the last 12 months you are most proud of and why?
We produced over 10,000 stories in 2016, and we’re on pace to shatter that this year, so it’s
really hard for me to pick just one. I would say that our team has distinguished itself in our
continuing coverage of the Puerto Rico fiscal crisis. I really believe that we are the leading news
outlet in the world on that situation, and it’s something that makes all of us proud.

What’s next?
We’re going to keep expanding our editorial products across geographies and subject matters.
Anywhere we think we can provide the deep dives and sophisticated news and analysis that
have become our trademarks is a possible “next” for us.

Kent Collier is founder and CEO of Reorg Research (www.reorg-research.com) which offers subscribers an informational advantage over their competitors by providing time-sensitive, market-moving and independent news and commentary on the distressed debt and high yield market. 

London Design Festival hands global comms brief to Exposure

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London Design Festival has chosen Exposure to lead its global comms. The agency aims to develop a long-term comms strategy that will “democratise design” by highlighting its impact on all areas of life.

The Smile by Alison Brooks (credit: Ed Reeve)

London Design Festival was founded by Sir John Sorrell and Ben Evans in 2003 with the vision to celebrate and promote London as the design capital of the world.

The next festival is due to take place from 16 to 24 September, with activity taking place at several venues and institutions across the capital.

Exposure’s comms activity aims to elevate the Festival’s global credentials, as well as showcase the talent of the international design community.

Sir John Sorrell, who is chairman of London Design Festival, said: “We look forward to working with Exposure on London Design Festival.  With our shared motivation to celebrate design’s global impact, this collaboration will bring a reinvigorated approach to our communications strategy, and will continue to shape the Festival’s national and international success.”

Raoul Shah, founder and CEO of Exposure, added: “It is a genuine privilege to be representing London Design Festival. We will be working closely with its Board to develop a long-term communications strategy, ensuring we not only celebrate the impact of good design in society and in our everyday lives but also to raise awareness of the cultural, economic and social impact of design, ideas and creativity in the UK and beyond, via a multi-tiered communications approach.”

Stone Junction to spearhead Gough Engineering’s PR

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Staffordshire industrial equipment-maker Gough Engineering has appointed local technical agency Stone Junction to lead its PR activity.

Stone Junction will lead Gough Engineering’s PR activities

The two companies will work together closely to enhance Gough’s presence in engineering publications as well as the local and national press.

Gough Engineering has an extensive portfolio of process and production equipment, providing bespoke solutions to household food industry names including Nestle, Unilever and Associated British Foods.

“We’ve worked in engineering PR for ten years and so we understand the importance of being proactive and implementing marketing tactics to achieve a business’ goals,” said Stone Junction’s managing director Richard Stone. “Gough Engineering has a continuous focus on enhancing the services it offers to its customers and it is this continuous development that positions the company as a market leader.”

He added: “Together, we plan to undertake a technical PR campaign that not only champions the company’s portfolio, but demonstrates how Gough Engineering’s design and production engineers can offer customers the right solution first time.”

Social Communications wins Liberty Retirement Living’s PR brief

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Liberty Retirement Living has enlisted nationwide PR consultancy Social Communications promote its accommodation, lifestyle and care services for the over-55s.

Indicative illustration of Liberty Retirement Living’s first retirement village in Aberdeenshire

Social Communications will provide PR, planning consultancy, brand development and in-house digital and creative services to support the fledgling company.

Liberty Retirement Living said it was impressed by Social Communications’ detailed understanding of housing development and planning issues. The developer unveiled its plan to deliver 25 retirement villages over the next five years with its launch this month.

“Liberty Retirement Living is a hugely significant win for Social Communications,” said Social Communications’ group managing director, John Quinton-Barber. “We’re looking forward to bringing our diverse experience of placemaking to the fore on this account.”

Liberty Retirement Liberty’s managing director, Jane Barker added: “Social Communications has helped us find a unique voice in an increasingly competitive sector, which I’m sure will resonate with many older people across the UK.”

50cycles hires Sugar PR as part of northern expansion plans

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Electric bike retailer 50cycles has appointed Manchester-based Sugar PR to handle its PR and content marketing.

Pete Davies

So far, 50cycles has sold more than 25,000 electric bikes and already has four other stores in London, Brighton, Bristol and Loughborough.

The appointment comes as 50cycles targets five northern UK cities for new stores and earmarks a £10m turnover within the next 18 months.

Scott Snaith, MD of 50cycles, said: “We appointed Sugar PR because of the enthusiasm of the team for our business and the fact that the agency is strategically located in Manchester, which is perfect as we continue opening new stores in the North of England and Scotland in particular.

“We’re also happy to support a young, startup PR agency because we remember what it was like in the early days of our business. We’re looking forward to working with Pete and the team to support us getting our key messages out there in the marketplace.”

Pete Davies (pictured), Sugar PR MD, added:“We’re delighted to have been appointed by one of the UK’s most innovative retailers. It’s always a pleasure to be working with clients who are disrupting their marketplaces.

“We’re going to be assisting 50cycles on their growth journey and making sure that everyone in the UK is in no doubt who the specialist electric bike retailer is.”

JustGiving calls in Rooster PR for crowdfunding push

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JustGiving, the UK’s biggest social fundraising platform, has brought in Rooster PR to handle its UK crowdfunding press activity.

JustGiving’s largest and fastest growing crowdfunding appeal ever, raised more than £500,000 in less than 24 hours for F4 driver Billy Monger.

Activity will focus on the placement of human interest stories in the national and regional UK media to drive press coverage for the website and its fundraisers.

Rooster’s press office function will include monitoring the news agenda, finding and maximising trending campaigns as well as working on data and stats stories.

Activity has already kicked off, with Rooster working on several stories, including JustGiving’s largest and fastest growing crowdfunding appeal ever, raising over £500,000 in less than 24 hours for 17-year-old British F4 driver Billy Monger, who lost both his lower legs after a high-speed crash.

Other stories include JustGiving’s second largest personal crowdfunding campaign, which raised £736,133 in memory of PC Keith Palmer, following the Westminster attack in March.

Rooster will work with JustGiving’s in-house team, headed up by PR director Rhys Goode.

Goode said: “JustGiving is already known across the UK as the leading charity fundraising platform and we’re aiming to reach similar awareness levels for crowdfunding.

“We’re excited to combine our 15 years’ social giving experience with Rooster’s extensive PR expertise in the crowdfunding arena to position JustGiving as the ‘one stop shop for fundraising’ and to continue to grow the world of giving.”

Rooster MD James Brooke added: “JustGiving is an inspirational company that helps people raise money for a wide range of deserving causes. We’re proud to have been appointed to help them showcase what an incredible impact their crowdfunding pages can make on peoples’ lives. The team has already hit the ground running, working on several heart-wrenching appeals that have touched the heart of the nation.”

Quill PR appoints Peakon’s Nick Croysdill

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Specialist financial services consultancy Quill PR has appointed Nick Croysdill as an account director.

Nick Croysdill

At Quill, Croysdill will work across a range of clients within the asset management and wealth management sectors.

Croysdill has more than seven years of agency experience, advising financial and professional services organisations.

He has most recently been working as PR consultant at Peakon and has managed national and international media relations campaigns for clients such as Aldermore, Thomson Reuters, CIPF (Channel Islands Property Fund), law firm Mayer Brown, AnaCap and Aureos (which was acquired by Abraaj Capital).

Hugo Mortimer-Harvey, managing director at Quill, said: “Nick is a very welcome addition to the team, as he has a strong track record within financial and corporate communications. His varied sector experience will play an important part in developing opportunities within our new business pipeline, which is looking particularly encouraging.”

Croysdill added: “Quill has an excellent reputation as one of the leading financial services agencies in the UK.  They have an enviable list of clients, which include many of the eminent names in the City. I have been very impressed with the team’s positive and welcoming manner, and I am excited to help contribute to the agency’s continued growth.”