Kate Southgate joins Suffolk PR and marketing agency Pier

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Pier PR & Marketing has appointed marketer Kate Southgate to the role of copywriter.

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Kate Southgate

Having worked in marketing for seven years, Southgate joins Pier from marketing agency Banbury Howard.

An experienced marketer and specialist copywriter, she has worked on several writing challenges, from award entries and editorial to a variety of digital content.

In her new role at Pier, Southgate will be responsible for writing creative copy for several of Pier’s clients, as well as delivering a range of marketing solutions.

Kate Bowden Smith, MD at Pier, said: “Pier PR is known for packing a real punch for its size and hiring the right people to get exceptional results for our clients is the single most important part of my job. Kate Southgate brings with her a wealth of experience and exceptional writing skills to our ever-increasing pool of talent here at Pier and we are looking forward to introducing her to our clients.”

Southgate added: “I have always been impressed with the breadth of Pier’s clients and quality of work, and am thrilled to have this opportunity to join the team at an exciting time for the company. PR and marketing is a fast-paced and ever changing industry and I am really looking forward to sinking my teeth into a wide range of campaigns and projects.”

UK law firm Weightmans chooses Citypress

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UK law firm Weightmans has selected Citypress as its PR agency.

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Peter Lappin

Citypress will deliver a new PR and media strategy, and a programme that will promote the sector expertise of the 180-year-old law firm and its specialist industry teams.

Weightmans appoints Citypress as part of its push to achieve its growth ambitions. The firm is consolidating all of its existing regional and national briefs under one agency.

Sarah-Jane Howitt, marketing director at Weightmans, said: “Citypress is a fast-growing organisation with an ambition, values and culture very close to our own. It demonstrated a clear understanding of our client-centric approach and plans to place client storytelling at the heart of our PR activity.”

Peter Lappin, senior account director at Citypress, added: “We’re proud to add Weightmans to our roster of UK-wide briefs – alongside brands like Lloyds Banking Group, British Gas, Coca Cola and KPMG – that leverage the full strength and breadth of our regional office network.”

Weightmans has 11 offices nationwide, with a full service marketing team which operates from the firm’s Liverpool office. The win follows the launch of Citypress’ premises in the city in December, which are led by Lappin.

Liberty Communications names first US MD

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London-headquartered tech PR agency Liberty Communications has named Jim Lubinskas as the first MD of its North American operation.

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Jim Lubinskas

The six-strong US operation, which has offices in New York and San Francisco, was launched by Dee Gibbs, Liberty’s founder and global CEO, in 2015 (Gibbs first launched Liberty Communications in London 18 years ago).

Lubinskas, who will be based in Liberty’s San Francisco office, has been briefed to oversee client services across the US and drive new business development efforts.

A PR professional with nearly 20 years of experience, Lubinskas has represented companies including Cisco, Digex, MicroStrategy and Software AG, and previously held senior positions at Spire Communications, Mach Media and W2 Communications.

He will report directly to Gibbs, who is based in Liberty Communications’ London HQ.

Gibbs said: “The technology boom in Silicon Valley shows no sign of stopping and companies are increasingly turning to us to provide guidance as media coverage becomes harder to achieve. Jim has had great success in this regard and will bring his expertise to our clients as they look to stand out in a crowded and competitive space.”

Lubinskas added: “I am pleased to be joining an agency which has an established reputation for excellence. Liberty is well positioned to service clients in the technology sector as it has an in-depth knowledge of the publications and influencers who cover this space. I look forward to being part of and growing the San Francisco office as we increase our presence in Silicon Valley.”

PR Case Study: Banning “Fur” from Warhammer

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For the cost of a postage stamp, animal protection charity PETA made headlines around the world, trended on Facebook, and received record website traffic after appealing to gaming miniatures company Games Workshop to ban “fur” garments from its fictional Warhammer characters.

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Warhammer characters (Credit: Duncan McGregor)

Campaign: PETA asks Games Workshop to Ban ‘Fur’ from Warhammer Characters
Client/PR Team: PETA
Timing: January 2017
Budget: £0

Objectives

  • Communicate PETA’s anti-fur message to young men, aged 16–35
  • Increase traffic to PETA.org.uk – with a target of 150,000 unique page views during the campaign week
  • Generate discussion of PETA’s campaign in gaming forums and on social media sites
  • Achieve brand development by targeting an engaged fan community in order to garner wider media coverage of discussions about fur – and to raise PETA’s profile and promote our objectives as a result

Strategy

Unlike our opposition, which consists mostly of wealthy industries and corporations, PETA doesn’t spend millions on advertising so must generate awareness through media coverage.

We wrote a letter to Games Workshop CEO Kevin Rountree and shared it with dedicated gaming media, and the news spread – quickly and organically – to mainstream outlets.

In addition, we hosted a blog post on the PETA website that contained more information about the campaign and, importantly, video footage showing how animals in real life suffer in the fur trade.

The campaign generated outrage, debate, and some confusion over our intentions, which intensified the media attention. Then, 48 hours after launching the campaign, we published a second blog post detailing the rationale behind the action:

“Here’s a little secret: we know that Warhammer characters are fictional, and we’re not losing sleep worrying about what Leman Russ or the other miniatures are “wearing”. We are, however, lying awake at night thinking of ways to make people aware that real animals who are raised for their fur, skin, or flesh are suffering every day.

“We’ll sleep a little more easily tonight knowing that we’ve managed to get nearly a quarter of a million people (and counting!) to visit PETA.org.uk in the days since we sent our letter, because – whatever their reason for doing so – they’ll now know more about the cruelty behind fur.”

Results

  • We generated discussion of PETA’s campaign in gaming-specific media – including PC Gamer, PCGamesN, and Game Revolution – as well as in forums and on social media sites. YouTube channel Arch Warhammer released a video about the campaign which has received 55,655 views to date, and dedicated Warhammer site DakkaDakka had several threads on its forum discussing the action.
  • Gamers’ responses were picked up by the international media, including the BBC, The Telegraph, The Times, the guardian, and the International Business Times. Some prominent outlets shared video footage from PETA exposés showing what happens to animals on fur farms.
  • The campaign trended on Facebook for two days – and the engagement saw it featured on viral websites The Daily Dot, Uproxx, and io9/Gizmodo.
  • We surpassed our original web traffic target and received 322,440 unique page views on our website during the campaign week. Within the first 48 hours, we achieved our third-biggest day for web traffic ever.
  • Got a cracking campaign with impressive results that you’d like to showcase? If so, please email [email protected]

Frontier Services Group appoints The PR Office

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The PR Office has been appointed by security and logistics services company Frontier Services Group (FSG).

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Marc Cohen

The London-based agency will focus on building a campaign to grow the profile of the business and its chairman Erik Prince. It will also provide financial communications and investor relations support in key global financial markets.

David Whittingham, head of business development and IR at FSG, said: “The PR Office is a unique combination of expert IR advice, strategic communications counsel, as well as creative and impactful PR support. Marc (Cohen, co-managing director at The PR Office) and his team really understand the business and the numbers behind the message.

“For a London-based firm, I was also particularly impressed by the team’s international experience, with great contacts in the UK, Africa, China and the US. In just a few short months, our PR trajectory and corporate awareness internationally has completely changed.”

FSG is listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, with headquarters in Hong Kong and offices in Beijing, Dubai, Nairobi and Johannesburg. FSG helps businesses operating in frontier markets to overcome complex security, logistics and operational challenges.

Cohen added: “Frontier Services Group is a market leader in the provision of complex logistics solutions in frontier markets. It has a fascinating story to tell in a constantly changing sector and is a strong investment proposition.”

Why visual corporate financial statements lead to more engagement

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Visual content is key for companies at the top of FTI Consulting’s annual list of FTSE 100 brands most successfully using social media for corporate financial statements. Diageo, BP, GSK and Tesco are ranked as some of the most engaging brands, mainly due to their use of rich media, the agency reports.

For its fifth annual report, compiled between December 2016 and January 2017, FTI Consulting claims that there is a 105% increase in interactions with ‘results content’ in comparison to that of 2015.

This increase is not across the board – the top four performing companies were responsible for 42.5% of all engagement with results posts. Diageo is ranked first with BP, GSK and Tesco comprising the rest of the top four.

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FTI Consulting’s 2017 list of the best social media use featuring 69 of the FTSE 100           Source: FTI Consulting

Companies that moved up most from 2015 include Tesco (+41), HSBC (+38) and Taylor Wimpey (+36). Those that moved down the list the most include Intercontinental Hotels Group (-44), Vodafone (-44), Dixons Carphone (-32).

Ant Moore, senior managing director at FTI Consulting, says those generating most engagement have led their PR initiatives with visual content.

“Engagement is being driven by companies using visually engaging content, including infographics, GIFs, live streams, quote cards and video. The leading companies are converting traditional results-related content into bite-sized social media-friendly posts across Twitter, LinkedIn and YouTube that use innovative ways of engaging their audiences, through organic reach,” he continues.

Here are the three things top companies did to increase engagement, according to the report:

1.Use eye-catching infographics

Top listed Diageo encouraged engagement with ‘beautifully presented infographics and imagery’. These visuals can be particularly useful as they can be produced in advance of a corporate announcement and be re-purposed for other corporate materials.

2.Use integrated and rich-media content

Aviva utilised the “whole spectrum” of rich media content to communicate the company’s results, ranging from a hyper-lapse video, to a live stream, infographics, fact cards, quote cards and photos.

The report states: “Investment in original rich media content increases the chances of your content being noticed, read and engaged with – and ultimately increases the penetration of your message.”

3. Multiple posting

Repetitive posting of these types of content can increase the lifespan of a Tweet and reach new audiences, across different time zones and without additional investment. “Multiple posting of the same Tweets allows BP, Mayor of London, Women in the World and others to increase shelf life of their content on Twitter – the average lifetime of a single Tweet is just 18 minutes,” it states.

Effective social media strategies help brand building

Pearson came 23rd on the list and jumped up from 49th spot last year. Tom Steiner, director of corporate media relations at Pearson, says increased social activity in this space has helped with brand building, particularly as it looks to focus the brand from a B2B to a B2B2C model.

He adds: “FTI Consulting’s survey is a useful benchmark for us and we are pleased to see Pearson making progress on last year.

“From a corporate and financial perspective, we’ve built a strong following on our primary Twitter account @Pearson as well as other dedicated handles. We have used social media as a tool to communicate financial results and company news for several years. It’s another important means of transmitting information in a timely and transparent way.”

  • To rank the companies, FTI Consulting analysed the channels and feeds of the FTSE 100 companies across Twitter, LinkedIn, YouTube and Slideshare. It considers these most relevant to corporate communications and financial results reporting.
  • Three elements of results-related content were then analysed by the data and insights team at the agency, including volume, quality and impact of the Tweets.
  • The research is based solely on publicly available online information; no interviews were conducted for the report.

Rule 5 launches video content venture – ‘V’

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PR and digital comms agency Rule 5 is to launch a new video content venture, ‘V’, at the two-day Prolific North Live 2017 event, which starts tomorrow (15 February).

PR and digital comms agency Rule 5 is to launch a new video content venture, 'V'

Rule 5 founders Rob Brown and Julie Wilson

Rule 5 founders Rob Brown and Julie Wilson say they launched ‘V’ in response to the demand for “rich content” from clients.

The agency has previously created digital content for clients including British Cycling, Brother and Blackpool Pleasure Beach.

‘‘V’ will offer bespoke and responsive short form video and specialise in the distribution of content through social channels, including Facebook, Snapchat and YouTube, with a mix of organic and promoted activity.

Editorial content will be aimed at broadcast and online news outlets.

Brown, managing partner at Rule 5, said: “We’re combining the production and distribution of video content.  Rule 5 has been producing and sharing video content for several years using freelance producers, editors and camera operators, many of whom also work for broadcasters and TV production companies located in Salford’s creative and media hub.”

‘V’ will exhibit at Stand 197 across both days of Prolific North Live, an annual expo focused on digital innovation and marketing, which this year takes place at EventCity in Manchester.

Last year, more than 2,200 people attended the event, and, in 2017, organisers expect over 4,000 in-house and agency comms and marketing professionals.

Linklaters hires global head of external comms

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Tom Gilbert has joined Linklaters as the new global head of external communications.

tom-gilbert-1At the legal firm, Gilbert has responsibility for PR and marketing communications including digital and brand marketing, global campaigns and thought leadership, as well as alumni programmes and communications.

Previously, he worked for the London Stock Exchange Group where he held the position of head of special projects in the corporate communications function.

Prior to the LSE Group, where he spent approximately six years, Gilbert worked as a corporate communications manager, EMEA at Thomson Reuters. He has also worked for agencies Fishburn Hedges and Ogilvy.

60 Seconds with CNBC’s Lee Thompson

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Lee Thompson, international communications lead at CNBC, explains how Davos has kicked off a busy year for the business news broadcaster, and shares how he deals with the challenges of international communications.

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Lee Thompson

What are you currently focusing on in your role at CNBC?
The team and I have recently returned from the World Economic Forum in Davos, where we were busy publicising the incredible interviews we had on the ground.

This year we spoke to in excess of 100 CEOs and world leaders over the four-day conference, which is quite something. Most of these were exclusives, so we were incredibly busy.

Now we’re back in London we’re gearing up for a busy few months ahead; we have a number of new shows and also some landmark anniversaries that we’ll be shouting about.

Over the last 12 months we’ve really tried to turn up the volume. We have an engaged audience and some really amazing content. When people think business news, I want them to think CNBC.

Who are your key audiences/stakeholders?
The CNBC audience fits into two distinct groups: the influential and the aspirational.

Every single day we have more CEOs consuming our content than any other network. At the same time, as we’ve broadened our reach digitally (via CNBC.com and social), we’ve attracted a new, millennial audience who are coming to CNBC for content that will help them to get ahead.

From a PR point of view, I want to promote and showcase the amazing editorial content we’re creating, but also attract new people to CNBC that may not have thought to come to us before.

Another key stakeholder group on my radar is the advertising community, and supporting my commercial colleagues in positioning CNBC as the number one choice for organisations that want to engage with the world’s most influential business leaders and investors.

In addition, I spend a lot of time talking to other PRs, explaining what CNBC is about and why it’s a great place for companies to tell their stories.

What are the key messages you aim to convey?
That really depends on the audience. Ultimately though, CNBC has been the number one business news network in Europe for decades. There’s a reason for that. We’re delivering actionable content that’s helping business leaders and people who are moving up the ladder every single day.

Our unbiased analysis is delivered with a colourful personality you just don’t get from other networks. So the overarching key message is affirming CNBC as the number one business and financial news network on the planet.

What do you like about working for a media brand?
I love that I’m in a landscape that’s changing at a rapid rate. Thanks to digital distribution, media brands are evolving and transforming the way they deliver content. I’m excited to be with a network that’s embracing this change and transitioning its content to be truly multi-platform. As a communicator, it’s exciting for me to be able to help shape this story.

What are the advantages of working in-house?
The main benefit of working in-house is the opportunity to get under the skin of a brand, and to get to know it inside and out.

The senior leaders at CNBC really value PR and communications. My constant dialogue with the CEO and leaders across our international business allows my team and I the opportunity to help shape the future of the business.

What are the challenges of communicating internationally?
Half of my team are in Singapore so time zones are obviously a challenge. Luckily though, I’m an early riser and am often messaging with my Asia comms manager at 5.30. The team have regular conference calls and we’re always emailing to make sure we’re on the same page and on track with deadlines.

Being a news network that broadcasts in over 385m homes around the globe, there’s also the temptation to cast the net too wide. We have to be strategic in our communications and where we place resource. For me, ensuring we’re front and centre in places like the UK and Singapore, where we have studios, is essential.

  • Gorkana met up with CNBC International’s news editor Katrina Bishop, social media editor Cristy Garratt and managing editor of digital, Phillip Tutt at a Gorkana media briefing in January 2016. View the conversation here. To sign up for Gorkana’s 2017 media briefings, including the March 9 briefing with Kamal Ahmed, economics editor at BBC News, visit the Gorkana events page.

DKB Household hires PHA Media to launch new knife collection

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Global homeware brand DKB Household has chosen PHA Media to launch its new range of kitchen knives, Zyliss Control.

Global homeware brand DKB Household has chosen PHA Media to launch its new range of kitchen knives

Zyliss Control

DKB Household is a globally operating Swiss holding company, which specialises in the development and management of brands and focusing on areas that “enhance home living”.

The DKB portfolio includes brands including Cole & Mason, Culinare and Jamie Oliver homeware.

PHA Media has been briefed to support the launch of the Zyliss Control collection into new retailers, raising awareness of the Zyliss brand, and educating consumers on the features of the new range of knives.

The four-month project will include a ‘knife skills’ masterclass event hosted by a celebrity chef, media and celebrity gifting activity, feature placement and product reviews, and a proactive press office.

Grant Race, marketing director at DKB Household, said: “Here at DKB Household we’re really excited about the nationwide launch of the Zyliss Control knife collection, so it was vital for us to hire an agency we felt confident would generate great results.

“We were drawn to PHA’s previous experience of launching new products to the consumer market, particularly within the kitchenware sector, so we’re eager to see what the next four months will bring.”

Sarah Sharp, senior account director at PHA Media, added: “We’re absolutely delighted to be working with DKB Household on the launch of the new Zyliss Control knife collection. We have strong experience in this sector, and we are keen to deliver a campaign that will raise awareness of the brand and educate consumers on the unique features of the stunning new knife range.”