The One Brand appoints Houston PR

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Ethical drinks company The One Brand has appointed Houston PR as its retained communications consultancy.

Houston PR is working closely with The One Brand’s founder, Duncan Goose, and the One team on an ongoing campaign to alert UK consumers to the poor water conditions experienced by an estimated 663 million people worldwide.

The campaign kicked off for World Water Day (22nd March 2017) which saw the brand launch the trial of alternative packaging for One Water, developing a sleeve for its bottles to make the clean Welsh spring water they contain look dirty. Trial versions of the new bottles are being market tested and The One Brand hopes that through the project the company will secure a major listing with a leading supermarket.

Kate Hoare, associate director at Houston PR, said: “The One Brand is a small team, doing great things. Its work is incredibly inspiring and we are very proud to be working with Duncan and the team at what looks to be an exciting time in the brand’s development.”

Ian Spooner, marketing director at The One Brand, said: “Houston has a history of developing high impact, highly shareable brand campaigns. We were very impressed by its work for growing – and established brands alike – and we are delighted to have them on board.”

BritainThinks hires associate director

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International insight and strategy consultancy BritainThinks has added Holly Wicks to its team as an associate director.

Holly Wicks

Wicks, who previously worked as a research team leader for market research consultancy ComRes, has worked with clients including Arts Council England, The British Library, Heritage Lottery Fund, Teach First, Universities UK and numerous UK universities.

Deborah Mattinson, partner at BritainThinks, said: “We are thrilled to have Holly on board, and look forward to working with her as part of our growing team.”

CubanEight announces win and new hire

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CubanEight has been appointed by EchoMany, the video personalisation specialist, as it ramps up its UK presence.

Sian Gaskell

The B2B agency has also hired Emma Connolly, whose consumer PR experience includes a recent account manager role at Perception PR, where she worked with clients including the intu shopping centre in Milton Keynes, Queensgate Shopping Centre and Calumet Photographic.

Sian Gaskell, managing director at CubanEight, said: “It has been a strong start to the year for CubanEight; we are delighted to add EchoMany to our client base and very excited to be working with them.

“Our expanding team puts us in good stead for 2017 and Emma’s experience, particularly her digital and social knowledge, means she’s already proved herself an integral part of the team.”

CubanEight is also looking to hire a senior account executive.

The EchoMany brief tasks CubanEight with building its profile across the marketing, media and entertainment sectors, supporting the company’s growth.

EchoMany delivers personalised video campaigns for brands including 20th Century Fox, L’Oreal and Cancer Research, using social data to provide one-to-one marketing and advertising creative that generates real-time engagement.

Tim Redgate, co-founder at EchoMany, added: “CubanEight’s approach to our brief was very impressive, and the team’s energy and enthusiasm shone through. We feel they understand our ambitions and that working with them will help us achieve our goals. We are excited about embarking upon this relationship and look forward to some positive results.”

 

PRCA awards agencies for ethical practice

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Lansons, Citypress and Dynamo were among the agencies recognised at the PRCA’s inaugural Ethical Champions awards.

Lansons wins in the Very Large Agency category

Across five categories, agencies were awarded for upholding high standards in ethical practice. Lansons won in the Very Large Agency category, Citypress in the Large Agency category, Dynamo in the Medium Agency Category, Muckle Media in the Small Agency category and Long Run Works in the Very Small Agency category.

Francis Ingham MPRCA, director general at the PRCA, said: “One of the PRCA’s key priorities is to raise ethical standards within the PR and communications industry, which is why we launched Ethical Champions.

“Once again, we have been hugely impressed by the fact that this industry actively wants to be held to the most rigorous professional and ethical expectations. Congratulations to all of our winners, and thank you to everyone for getting involved in Ethical Champions 2017.”

Agencies were judged against four key attributes: staff welfare, ethical account management, recruitment and retention and ethical business practices.

The awards took place on Tuesday (28 March).

AMEC 2017: Global summit to feature 55 speakers in Asia

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Top international experts from 12 countries, including representatives from two Governments, will speak when the AMEC Global Summit, which is supported by Cision, makes its debut in Asia, in Bangkok on May 17 and 18.

Barry Leggetter

The AMEC Global Summit will bring together international PR leaders, PR consultancy heads, corporate communications and non-profit professionals in a special session to help PR and communications professionals commit to using the latest techniques.

Speakers will come from a range of major global companies and South East Asia leaders including Huawei Technologies, Citigroup, Microsoft, American Express, GE South Asia, Mubadala, GlaxoSmithKline Consumer Healthcare and Lenovo.

Barry Leggetter, AMEC CEO, said: “The strength of the speaker line-up is another sign of how many major businesses recognise the importance of measurement in public relations. We are delighted to deliver a programme featuring so many great speakers and PR influencers.”

He added: “Bangkok will be a great location for the first AMEC global annual summit to take place in Asia, and we are looking forward to welcoming the industry to the event in May.”

Speakers at the summit will come from China, United States, Singapore, India, Hong Kong, UAE (Dubai and Abu Dhabi), Australia, UK, France, Sweden and Denmark. They include Government communications experts from the Government Communications Service (GCS), UK and Ministry of Communications and Information, Singapore Government.

The Global Summit has also won the support of 14 APAC regional PR and communications organisations, including IABC.

  • Early bird registration discounts are now available through the Summit website.

 

Newton Europe briefs Bottle to raise brand awareness

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Operational consultancy Newton Europe has appointed Bottle to raise brand awareness.

Bottle will look to increase Newton’s profile within the national and the trade press, including public sector, healthcare, retail, defence and transport media. The agency will also raise awareness of Newton Europe’s services and views on key issues that matter to its clients, by positioning key spokespeople at the forefront of industry debate.

Bottle will help Newton Europe launch three new ‘cluster’ campaigns, to support business growth in its three focus areas. The first campaign will focus on the private sector (grocery and retail), followed by the public sector (adult social care, children’s services and NHS provider trusts) and, finally, Air, Land and Sea (ALS).

Recruitment and corporate profiling will be an ongoing key focus. As a result, Bottle will boost the employer brand to support the rapidly growing Newton Europe team as it hires more experienced consultants.

Through the use of its daily 7.30am newsroom, Bottle will increase day-to-day brand building through newsjacking and proactive outreach. Bottle will also draft and distribute content that presents senior members of the Newton Europe team as authoritative voices in their fields, while also developing media relationships for these spokespeople.

Robert Man, CMO at Newton Europe, said: “We feel certain that Bottle will successfully raise the profiles of our people and brand and are really looking forward to seeing how its team works within our specialist industries. We have big plans to create a disruptive voice in the market, based on the incredible array of knowledge within the firm, and Bottle will be integral to shaping that.”

Holly Tyzack, head of editorial at Bottle, added: “Our strong B2B team here at Bottle is well tuned to the management consultancy industry, so we are thrilled to now be working with Newton Europe. We’re coming on board at a very exciting time, with the launch of three ‘cluster’ campaigns that will really appeal to the key markets, so can’t wait to hit the ground running. We pride ourselves on red-hot media relations and, by implementing the right strategies, want journalists to be approaching Newton Europe as a credible voice in the Private, Public and ALS sectors.”

Milk & Honey PR wins PriceSpy

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Milk & Honey PR, the corporate brand agency set-up earlier this year, has been appointed by PriceSpy UK and Ireland.

Jo Cresswell

PriceSpy, owned by Schibsted media, is a price and product comparison service, and Milk & Honey will be responsible for its UK launch. The agency use a two-pronged approach to reach ecommerce and consumer audiences.

Adam Scott, country manager UK and IE at PriceSpy, said: “Milk & Honey demonstrated great energy and passion throughout the selection process. Their response to our brief was right on the mark. We know we have chosen the right partner to launch PriceSpy in the UK & Ireland and look forward to working closely with Milk & Honey to make this happen.”

Milk & Honey PR won the brief in a three-way pitch. Client director Jo Cresswell will lead the team.

Kirsty Leighton, managing partner at Milk & Honey PR, added: “We’re thrilled to be working with Adam and his team. PriceSpy is the perfect addition to our growing client portfolio; an exciting technology business with ambitious growth plans and a fantastic leadership team in place.”

This week’s top trending features on Gorkana News

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Your bite-sized update on the best PR opinion, interviews, events and insights featured on Gorkana News this week.

Alastair Campbell: ‘Comms will not fundamentally change because of Brexit’
Alastair Campbell is well known for his anti-Brexit views but he says comms is one industry unlikely to be affected as the UK leaves the EU. He talked to Gorkana at the opening of parent company Cision’s European HQ about his new role at The New European, the secret to the title’s success and how a post-truth society will affect the PR industry.

 

Opinion: Article 50 – How comms professionals should react
And we’re off! Theresa May has finally invoked Article 50, signalling the beginning of the end of Britain’s European Union membership. The implications for business are immense, says Andrew Clark, public affairs director at Burson-Marsteller and former deputy business editor of The Times. So how should communications professionals react?

Insight: Facebook leads in engagement for journalists, but are PRs taking advantage?
Facebook is currently leading as a publishing tool for journalists, but what does this mean for PR and how can comms pros use it to their advantage? Agency heads from Finsbury and PHA Media discuss.

 

Opinion: how PRs and ‘real’ news organisations should tackle fake news
Emma Morton, senior media strategist at Ruder Finn, on how the media industry can move forward from fake news.

 

Wavin appoints Tangerine

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Tangerine has been appointed by Wavin, a UK manufacturer of plastic pipe, stormwater management and plumbing and heating systems, to develop and implement a communications strategy across its five key brands: Wavin, Hep2O, Osma, Hepworth Clay and Warmafloor.

Tangerine is implementing an integrated communications strategy and providing brand consultation to help build on Wavin’s existing customer loyalty, as well as generate new customer relationships. In addition, Tangerine’s role is also to increase Wavin’s share of voice in the manufacturing and construction sectors.

Donna Rostovsky, marketing manager at Wavin, said: “Tangerine’s strategic thinking, combined with its creative approach and a real understanding of our audience, demonstrated it was the ideal partner to support us in meeting our objectives.”

Jo Hart, senior account director at Tangerine, said: “The plastic pipe market is an increasingly competitive one, but Wavin’s clear and exciting differentiators – from unique products, to focus on training and technical support – means there’s a lot to shout about.

“Through our campaign, we’ll work with Wavin to celebrate these differentiators and communicate them in a way that engages, motivates and drives conversion amongst the company’s broad range of audience groups.”

Facebook leads in engagement for journalists, but are PRs taking advantage?

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Facebook is currently leading as a publishing tool for journalists, but what does this mean for PR and how can comms pros use it to their advantage? Agency heads from Finsbury and PHA Media discuss.

Cision’s State of The Media Report 2017, an annual survey of 1,550 North American journalists, shows a rise in journalists relying on Facebook for engagement over other social media platforms.

According to the report, Facebook has become the media channel of greatest value in 2017, among other commonly used channels such as Twitter, press releases, Instagram etc. Of the survey respondents, 41.55% saw Facebook as the most valuable channel for audience engagement, 21.25% said the same for Twitter, 15.30% for Press Releases and 5.04% for Instagram.

This shows that Twitter, a commonly used tool among journalists, has received a 19% drop since last years’ Cision survey. In 2016, Twitter was ranked as most engaging by journalists with 40% identifying Twitter as most engaging and 39% saying the same for Facebook.

The preference for Facebook has been shown wordwide. Recent Digiday research shows that three quarters of European publishers also prioritise Facebook, with the majority of them putting more resources into the social network than Twitter, Snapchat, Instagram and YouTube.

‘A safe space for corporates’

Yim Wong, partner and head of digital at Finsbury, says journalists are likely to continue engaging with audiences on Twitter and relying on the platform for fast information but views on Facebook are changing.

“With more and more executives joining Facebook, I think we are gradually starting to see it becoming a platform for more considered thought leadership – the type that can’t be condensed to 140 characters,” says Wong.

She adds: “Part of this change may be that Facebook is also perceived as a safer space for corporates, where users have to identify themselves and publishers have more control over what is posted on their accounts. Twitter has just announced functionality that allows users to mute anonymous users and certain words or phrasing – it will be interesting to see if this helps the level of discourse on the platform.”

‘Don’t get carried away by journalist trends’

Tim Jotischky, senior consultant at PHA Media, says that while it’s useful for PRs to be aware of these trends, they shouldn’t get carried away by them. The focus should be on what channel works best for a client.

“Some stories will be told better through particular social channels, but if you don’t make the story engaging in the first place you won’t make an impact and achieve cut-through,” he says.

He continues: “It depends on a client’s priorities and where they will find their audience. For some of my clients, Twitter is the primary method of engagement and a Twitter Q & A – though not without risks at times – is the best way of achieving maximum impact. For some brands, particularly those in the luxury space, Instagram matters most. I think PR should not get too wedded to one social platform at the expense of others.”

The rise of Facebook Live

One area that is becoming increasingly important is Facebook Live as journalists are keen to get clients taking part in Facebook live interviews, according to Jotischky.

Cision’s report shows that of those journalists using video, 38% use Facebook Live, 29% use Instagram stories, 14% use Snapchat stories and 14% Twitter Livestream.