Page 12 – Gorkana

PR news round-up (25 June – 2 July)

July 2, 2018/in Industry News /by Alister Houghton

Here’s a round-up of last week’s biggest PR news – featuring Forbes Europe’s Alex Wood and senior appointments at Curzon, Montfort, Cicero Group, Cirkle and Hydra Strategy.

Forbes Europe media briefing

Forbes Europe works best with PRs, companies and entrepreneurs that develop long-term relationships with the title, Forbes Europe editor Alex Wood revealed at last week’s exclusive Cision media briefing.

Enhancing your PR measurement with ‘maturity mapping’

AMEC’s Measurement Maturity Mapper will help communicators uncover the vital insights they need to build more effective PR campaigns, its creators said in last week’s Cision webinar.

Thought leadership

Iain Anderson, Cicero Group‘s executive chairman and committee member at LGBT+ PR networking group InterComms, discusses whether PR is inclusive enough and how communicators can help support the LGBT+ community.

Lauren Winter, head of brand and consumer marketing, EMEA, at FleishmanHillard Fishburn, details why the importance of brands taking risks was her big Cannes Lions takeaway.

Interviews

Guy Walsingham, founder and CEO of B2B tech agency Red Lorry Yellow Lorry, discusses why he started the agency, his fight against “factory PR” and the thinking behind the name.

Account wins

Birds Eye has appointed Cirkle to handle consumer and B2B PR, influencer relations and crisis communications for its frozen food product portfolio.

Captain Birds Eye

Former The Apprentice contestant Elizabeth McKenna has selected Radioactive PR to manage her profile and build her personal brand. The agency will look to promote McKenna as a media personality, small business expert and the face of online florist brand Lizzie’s Bundles.

Venture capital firm Draper Esprit has appointed MHP Communications as its retained financial PR adviser.

The Hub will handle briefs for catering equipment supplier Nisbets, food distributor Leathams, fruit and vegetable smoothie brand Love Taste Co and chai latte brand Drink me Chai.

Clean energy drinks brand Flyte has appointed Palm PR to manage PR and social media content around its UK launch.

Shooting Star has announced three new account wins. The agency is to increase market research company Swift Research’s social media presence, handle PR and social for UV gel nail brand NeoNail and promote the Our Health Heroes Awards, a national awards scheme supporting the NHS’s 70th anniversary celebrations managed by Skills for Health.

People news

Cicero Group has hired Joey Jones as strategic counsel, with a wide-ranging brief to provide strategic political and communications advice to its blue-chip client base. Jones has previously served as Theresa May’s spokesperson while she was home secretary and deputy political editor at Sky News.

Global strategy and comms consultancy Curzon PR has appointed Jason MacKenzie as managing director.

Montfort Communications has appointed Nick Bastin as a senior consultant. He brings significant corporate and financial comms experience to the consultancy, offering particular expertise in the M&A and share offer fields.

Cirkle has hired Chris Grabowski as its first creative director in order to expand its creative capabilities.

Hydra Strategy has appointed Neil Stockley as a partner. He will lead the agency’s integrated, strategic comms across the energy and environmental sectors.

Integrated comms agency Mercieca has hired FMCG and lifestyle specialist Amina Ghaith as an account director.

Amina Ghaith

Gatehouse Bank has appointed Andy Homer as director of communications who will be responsible for developing the bank’s comms strategy and product offerings.

Agency news

Threepipe has acquired creative agency Earnie to boost its creative services offering. Earnie’s founder Alistair Gammel will continue to lead the company while also joining Threepipe’s management team.

James Higgins, former group editor of Cumbrian publisher CN Group, has launched PR, content marketing, media training and digital strategy agency 32West.

Sterling Media took home the PR Firm of the Year award at the UK-India Awards 2018. The agency has worked on a number of briefs which encompassed both countries, including helping to launch Aston Martin in India.

PRCA news

The first Summer Stars intake

The PRCA has pledged £50,000 towards membership and training fees to the alumni of the Taylor Bennett Foundation’s new summer internship programme; Summer Stars. Cision’s head of insight Paul Hender is among those to guest lecture for the Taylor Bennett Foundation’s scheme.

Cicero Group exec: PR needs to be more inclusive

June 29, 2018/in Interviews /by Alister Houghton

What inspired you to go into PR?

I was a journalist and a political adviser, so PR was just an obvious step. I love being in the heart of the news debate and PR is just about that for me.

How welcoming is the PR industry to the LGBT+ community?

I think the PR sector looks superficially welcoming – like other creative industries – but I think it needs to do much more to support LGBT+ people on an ongoing basis with mentoring and opportunities.

How would you rate diversity in the industry?

I think the sector needs to do more. There is a straitjacket of conformity sometimes – whether it be the black t-shirt or the suit – which can be off-putting for some. More visible action from industry leaders and talent teams is vital now. We are at a good point, but more needs to happen. I’m interested in people’s ideas first and foremost.

As a communicator, how effectively do you feel brands and other organisations communicate with the LGBT+ community? Can some brands be cynical with their attempts to appeal to the community?

Like most LGBT+ people, I hate ‘rainbow-wash’ brands jumping on the bandwagon with ZERO commitment to supporting LGBT+ employees or customers. But I really want to encourage firms that want to do the right thing and are a little afraid about how to do it. Let’s not call them out for using the wrong words sometimes. Let’s help them get it right as professional communicators.

What does Pride Month and the Pride celebration mean to you?

It’s a visible and tangible celebration of acceptance – no exceptions. Over my life seeing Pride grow has been fantastic.

THRSXTY appoints Rob Lester as reputation director

June 29, 2018/in Industry News /by Alister Houghton

THRSXTY has appointed Rob Lester as reputation director to lead the agency’s new reputation management division.

He joins from Good Relations, where he was head of issues and crisis management. Lester will work with CEO Oliver Wheeler to protect and enhance the reputations of clients across the Exposure Group of agencies. Wheeler previously founded and led the reputation and crisis management practice at freuds.

“When it comes to reputation, clients want to work with people who have a proven track record,” said Wheeler. “Between us, Rob and I have over 40 years of working at the sharp end.”

Brands under increasing scrutiny

THRSXTY’s decision to create a reputation management division illustrates the pressure brands are under to protect their reputation.

Lester explained: “Brands are certainly under more scrutiny than ever before – because of 24-hour rolling news and social media, but also because there’s a greater expectation from the public for ethical behaviour and transparency.

“There’s never been a more important time to invest in your reputation. Yet, too often it remains an afterthought for brands and only comes onto the board’s radar when something goes wrong. We work with our clients to develop modern, proactive reputation management strategies that genuinely contribute to business success.”

Maintaining brand values in a crisis

Speaking out and taking a stance on social issues is now a key feature of brand messaging, helping brands reach consumers who expect them to stand for something more than making money.

“The recent trend for brands to make their values a more central part of their marketing is a positive step that can help enhance a company’s reputation,” said Lester. “But with that comes an expectation that they’ll stand up for those values in reaction to a breaking scandal.”

He added: “We often talk about a brand’s values becoming their moral compass in a crisis, so there’s a need to be consistent in their communication. There’s a danger that the positive messages they put out there could be undermined if they don’t stand up for their beliefs in times of trouble.”

Opinion: Cannes Lions proves brands need to take risks

June 29, 2018/in News Analysis /by Alister Houghton

Lauren Winter, head of brand and consumer marketing, EMEA, at FleishmanHillard Fishburn, details why the importance of brands taking risks was her big Cannes Lions takeaway.

If last year was the year of AI, then the theme of Cannes this year was the year of NI: Not Interested.

As I paced between panels and talks it became very clear that we’ve all out-talked each other. Marketing speak to marketing people means very little in the eye of the Croisette storm and, faced with one’s peers, advice on how to get your views up on a piece of ‘content’ really didn’t cut the mustard this year.

Explaining why, not how

There seemed to be a cynicism when people started to tell the audience “how”, the people who really won were those who asked “why”.

When IKEA creators explained what they thought about what mums really needed in a high chair was not for kids to eat, but to be able to make a mess with no added stress for them – this intel didn’t come from a spreadsheet – it came from real people, and the winners this year spoke from the heart.

Take the Skyn condom session. They didn’t talk about sex, they talked about being a relationship brand – the first for women. They argued why we don’t need sex education, rather, tutoring on how to have relationships from a young age. The brand talked openly about where we are today and with meaning – meaning that will move the bottom line, no doubt.

Brands need to take risks

Talking of protection, there was a lot of talk about looking after one’s self and one’s brand. Well, as critical as our audience at Cannes was, so are the wider public. When discussing the dirty value of influencers, value and risk are inextricably linked. With great value comes great risk.

What people need to ask themselves is who, why and what they are taking that risk for. As I once heard our very own CEO say: “If you’re going to jump across the river you don’t take two steps.”

Well it’s the same for making an impact. It was only when Skittles dared to spend all of their prime time dollars on an advert that would only be shown to one kid, that they realised the true power of taking a risk. It was only when KFC took a leap of faith and followed the human wave of FCK, did they truly win. On and off the stage.

In the main, purpose-led campaigns continued to rule. In the current climate though, how long can the creative world flit between ROI and true good for goods sake?!?

It’s time brands trusted their gut, made the world better because they can, and realise at the end of the day, it’s all a risky business.

How AMEC’s ‘maturity mapper’ will transform the PR industry

June 27, 2018/2 Comments/in PR Tips /by Solomon Radley

AMEC’s Measurement Maturity Mapper will help communicators uncover the vital insights they need to build more effective PR campaigns, its creators said in this week’s webinar which is available to view below.

Having unveiled the tool at the 2018 AMEC summit in Barcelona, Cision’s Paul Hender, FleishmanHillard Fishburn’s Ben Levine and Survey Solutions’ Colin Wheeler outlined why they believe it will soon transform the industry.

Using examples from their initial pilot study, the trio revealed how it aims to drive innovation and deeper integration between marketing and PR.

“How do you know if your programme is good or bad? Are you tracking your progress against goals effectively?” asks Wheeler. “That’s where the measurement maturity mapper comes in.

“It’s a combination of a benchmarking tool and, most importantly, a tool which gives you the opportunity to identify the things you can do next.”

Plotting the path to perfect PR measurement

Hender said the team’s pilot study showed that the industry has made great progress in recent years, but it’s still some way off the ultimate goal of full measurement integration across PESO.

The team wanted to create an online tool that shows companies how they compare to others in their sector and the industry at large. What’s more, they wanted it to provide communicators with guidance on how best to improve their PR measurement practices.

“The vast majority of people are regularly evaluating their activity and 69% are measuring quality as well as quantity,” Hender said. “Meanwhile, just 19% contribute PR data to market mix analysis in order to understand the contribution of different marketing channels.”

“This data suggests that while progress has been made, there’s still more to do,” he continued. “A significant proportion of respondents say that comms evaluation is not as robust as other parts of the organisation.”

“We all know that measurement can be very simple and just basic counting,” Wheeler added. “There’s limited opportunity if all you’re doing is counting to actually have any influence on your campaign activity moving forward, because it doesn’t really give you any insight.

“If you develop your reporting to make it more sophisticated and give you more direction, you can build more effective campaigns – and you can also build campaigns that have more of an impact at the organisational level.”

A powerful tool to enhance your PR evaluation

One of the key themes at this year’s AMEC summit has been driving cultural change within organisations to use PR and comms data to demonstrate the discipline’s business impact and inform organisational decisions.

As such, the measurement mapper is also intended to provide case studies and recommendations about how to drive management changes – both downwards and upwards within an organisation. Levene believes the tool will be valuable for in-house communicators and agencies alike.

“The first way the mapper can be used within an agency context is as a conversation starter,” he said. “With existing clients, it’s an opportunity to re-engage with them.”

He added: “The tool sets benchmarks. It allows you to get a sense of where you as an organisation sit. And nothing motivates individuals like a league table, so to speak.”

Going forward, the team will now refine the measurement mapper survey, continue analysing the data, build the interactive tool and develop supporting case studies to accompany the resource.

The finished Measurement Maturity Mapper is set to launch on the AMEC website during its annual ‘measurement month’ in November.

Listen to the whole webinar below:

Pictured (l-r): Ben Levine, Paul Hender and Colin Wheeler

Forbes: We want to build long-term relationships with PRs

June 27, 2018/in Features /by Alister Houghton

Forbes Europe works best with PRs, companies and entrepreneurs that develop long-term relationships with the title, Forbes Europe editor Alex Wood revealed at today’s exclusive Cision media briefing.

Speaking to a packed audience of PR professionals, Wood explained that he has an “old fashioned” view of how PRs and journalists can work together.

“For me personally, it is about more of a long-term relationship,” he said. “I like to keep in touch with PRs on the basis of ‘these are the clients I have’ or ‘this is what is going on’ or ‘this could happen in the future’. I don’t really respond well to last-minute stuff, purely because I’m so much about quality and I want to do something well rather than see it rushed.”

Wood also discussed the title’s focus on the personalities who drive the business world, how to make pitches stand out to the team and its signature lists and contributor model.

People and personalities are key

The businesspeople and personalities Forbes covers are lifeblood of the Forbes brand and its stories, Wood explained. The team is always looking for up-and-coming influencers and business leaders to speak with.

In the last working week of December they always draw up a list of people to speak to the following year, to the point of even setting up Google news alerts about them.

“Generally I love really opinionated people,” Wood revealed. “I want contrarian views, I want people to stand out there in the market and have something different to say. I think that’s really important for us.”

He added: “I’d really recommend getting in touch in December and helping us build that list as we forward plan content for the following year.”

Forbes is looking for European contributors

Forbes is famous for its network of contributors. It has 2,000 contributors across the world. The team can’t be everywhere and know everything, so it draws on the expertise of others to add scale to its brand. Wood noted that one of the key areas he will look to grow over the coming months is Forbes Europe’s network of contributors, and he is keen for PRs to help him to do this.

“We are going to be aggressively expanding the contributor network in Europe,” he said. “I want to work more collaboratively with PRs and their clients to find experts in their field.”

However, he warned that the title is becoming stricter about removing contributors from the site if the team feels the content they produce does not add value to the Forbes brand.

Pitch to the right people

Wood explained that the title’s chief content officer, Randall Lane, is working to ensure that reporters have specialisms and beats to cover exclusively, rather than working more generally across all content.

This means finding the correct contact for your story is key. But whoever you contact, it is best to email with an eye-catching subject line.

Wood said: “I really like everything to be in an email. It’s just a really easy place to be able to manage and know where you are with things. It’s searchable and I can come back to it.”

He added: “A pitch needs to have a really grabbing subject line and follow the fundamentals of storytelling. It needs to have intrigue and it needs to have surprise.”

Being on a Forbes list is life-changing

Part of the allure of the Forbes brand is its lists recognising businesses and entrepreneurs. Wood recalled a recent trip to Cannes, where CMOs screamed with delight when they found out they had been included on a Forbes list, adding that appearing on one is “the type of thing that can change your life”.

Such is the popularity of its 30 Under 30 series, Wood highlighted that it altered the traditional Forbes reader demographic from “hardened capitalists of the US” to include “thousands of the world’s top up-and-coming entrepreneurs”.

He noted that the team is currently working on, and taking submissions for, the 2019 30 Under 30 List for Europe, which will include a summit in Amsterdam later this year. Wood also revealed that other lists coming to Europe would be Midas list and a Women in Digital list.

Alex Wood spoke to Kaizo director Steph MacLeod at this Cision briefing at The Trampery, a London-based social enterprise, specialising in shared workspace and support for entrepreneurs.

The Trampery is an ecosystem of eight acclaimed shared workspaces and sector-focused facilities across London. More than 500 entrepreneurs, innovators and creative businesses have called it home, with partners including the Barbican, Peabody and London & Partners. Building on this experience, The Trampery is making a strategic shift towards developing ‘innovation districts’ which combine the space and support for entrepreneurs with housing and lifestyle facilities.

To stay up-to-date with The Trampery, sign up to the monthly newsletter here.

60 Seconds with Red Lorry Yellow Lorry’s Guy Walsingham

June 25, 2018/in Interviews /by Alister Houghton

Guy Walsingham, founder and CEO of B2B tech agency Red Lorry Yellow Lorry, discusses why he started the agency, his fight against “factory PR” and the thinking behind the name.

Why did you found an agency focused on B2B tech PR?

I come from an in-house background in B2B tech and have experienced some of the opportunities and frustrations of working with PR agencies. I simply thought that we could do things better.

What’s the story behind the agency’s name?

Red Lorry Yellow Lorry is one of those tongue twisters taught in school. Our job is to make things that are difficult to articulate easy.

When it comes to B2B tech customer comms, how important is tone of voice?

Tone of voice and the way an organisation communicates underpins its brand and values. Too many businesses spend money on a visual brand or expensive advertising creative, only to let themselves down with the tone of voice of their social media, internal comms or customer service.

Long, corporate, jargon-filled content does nothing to engage customers or potential buyers. Comms isn’t just what your marketing department pushes out.

Why did you choose to expand internationally and what are the most important things to bear in mind when breaking into new markets?

Many of our clients are global names and technology is a global business. Our international presence – through either our own offices or our Convoy agency partner network – helps us to deliver often complex stories consistently worldwide.

Local goals, markets and cultures mean that campaign planning should include a local perspective that feeds up into the global strategy. This is often the piece that is missed by central corporate comms teams.

You’re on record as looking to fight back against “factory PR”. What is this and why is it something to be avoided?

B2B technology PR is a knowledge-based creative service. Often the need to deliver client work efficiently – or indeed too much work – drives agencies to load account teams with numerous projects at any one time.

We often interview account managers who are asked to deal with eight or 10 clients across different sectors in teams of 10 or more junior PRs. This factory approach results in high volume tactical work and cannot possibly deliver the strategic insights and advice that add value to a client’s communications.

So, what can be done to avoid factory PR?

The command and control, work ’em hard model of some PR agencies isn’t good for clients, employees or ultimately the agency itself. We believe in industry-focused teams, with no account manager managing more than five clients’ campaigns.

Each team has the time to get to grips with the nuances of a client’s strategy, market landscape and messaging, to build strong relationships and deliver informed, high-quality content and advice.

Finally, which upcoming tech launch are you most looking forward to?

The next one – the industry and our clients are constantly pushing the boundaries.

How to enhance your PR measurement with ‘maturity mapping’

June 21, 2018/in PR Tips /by Solomon Radley

The overwhelming majority of PRs are actively trying to evaluate the success of their activities. But, new research from AMEC and Cision shows that fewer than one in four regularly link PR performance to their organisation’s reputation or business objectives.

Now, there’s a way to find out if your competitors are beating you at PR measurement and see how to ensure your comms initiatives are working as efficiently as possible with the rest of the marketing mix.

It’s called ‘maturity mapping’ – and Cision’s next webinar will show you how it works.

Having unveiled AMEC’s new ‘Measurement Maturity Mapper’ initiative at this month’s summit in Barcelona, Cision’s Paul Hender will host the webinar alongside FleishmanHillard’s Ben Levine and Survey Solutions’ Colin Wheeler.

Together, they’ll reveal how this new tool will drive cultural change within organisations and help communicators use data to show the business impact of their work and inform business decisions:

You’ll see how to map your evaluation practices against those of your peers and see where your strengths and weaknesses lie.
You’ll hear why integrating evaluation across paid, owned and earned and understanding PR’s contribution in context is the future of PR measurement.
And you’ll discover what you can do today to take your PR measurement programme to the next level and drive business results.

This webinar is essential viewing for anyone who’s interested in improving the performance of their PR initiatives. So, click the link below and reserve your place on Enhancing your PR measurement with ‘maturity mapping’ now.

PR news round-up (18-22 June)

June 21, 2018/in Industry News /by Alister Houghton

Here’s a round-up of last week’s biggest PR news – featuring Tin Man, Attitude’s Matthew Todd and the UK’s new largest public affairs agency.

Enhancing your PR measurement with ‘maturity mapping’

It’s called ‘maturity mapping’ – and in our latest webinar, Paul Hender, Cision’s head of insight, will show you how it works.

Joining him will be Ben Levine, FleishmanHillard Fishburn’s head of research, analytics and measurement, and Colin Wheeler, MD at Survey Solutions. They’ll share a wealth of insights to help you enhance the performance of your comms initiatives.