North and South PRmoment Awards 2017 announces shortlist

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The shortlists for the North and South PRmoment Awards have been announced. Smarts Communicate is shortlisted the most times in the North and Hope&Glory has the most listings in the South.

prmoment

PRmoment Awards

The PRmoment Awards are split into two regions:

  • The North, Northern Ireland & Scotland
    Awards ceremony to take place in Manchester on March 16 2017
  • London & The South (including the Midlands and Wales)
    Awards ceremony to take place in London on March 29 2017

 

 

North highlights

Smarts Communicate appears 14 times on this year’s shortlist for the North, including Large Agency of the Year – which this year is sponsored by Cision, Consumer PR Agency of the Year, Consumer PR Campaign of the Year, Media Relations Campaign of the Year and Best Use of Creativity.

Weber Shandwick Manchester is also in the running for the North’s Large Agency of the Year.

Fighting it out for the North’s New Agency of the Year are No Brainer and Petal & Co, while Clearbox, Down at the Social, Faith PR, iseepr, Manc Frank, PR Agency One, Rule 5, SERIOUS and Umpf are competing to be named the North’s Boutique Agency of the Year.

Also, Finn, Smoking Gun and Umpf are up for the North’s Integrated Agency of the Year.

The full shortlist for the North can be found here.

London and the South highlights

Hope&Glory makes 20 appearances on this year’s shortlist for London and the South, including Boutique Agency of the Year, Integrated Agency of the Year, Consumer PR Agency of the Year, Media Relations Campaign of the Year, Financial Services Sector Campaign, Best Use of Creativity and Consumer PR Campaign of the Year.

Battling it out for the South’s Large Agency of the Year, which is also sponsored by Cision, are AllisonPartners UK, Cohn & Wolfe UK, Golin, Hotwire, LEWIS, Octopus Group, Porter Novelli London, PREMIER, W Communications and Weber Shandwick.

This year’s New Agency of the Year contenders are Another Word, Long Run Works, Ready10 and Well Hello.

4mediarelations, Alfred, Capella, DawBell, Eulogy, Manifest, Prova, The Romans and Tin Man are also in the running for Boutique Agency of the Year, alongside Hope&Glory.

In the running for the South’s Integrated Agency of the Year are BlueGlass, Good Relations, Harvard, Hotwire, Manifest, Pegasus, PREMIER, Threepipe and TVC Group, as well as Hope&Glory.

The full shortlist for London and the South can be found here.

Ben Smith, founder of PRmoment, said: “There were some top top entries this year. The quality of the work makes me proud to work in public relations. I’d advise people to get your tickets for the Manchester and London events ASAP. Last year we sold out.”

  • Cision is proud to be a sponsor of the North and South PRmoment Awards 2017.  More information on the PRmoment Awards and ticketing arrangements can be found here.

This week’s top agency news on Gorkana News

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Your bitesize update on the latest agency news featured on Gorkana this week:

06.02.2016 (c) Gretel Ensignia 07783620234 gretel_ensignia@hotmail.com

Clodagh Higginson, political correspondent for ITV’s Good Morning Britain, has teamed up with her husband John Higginson, a former political editor at the Metro, to launch a new PR agency called Higginson PR.

Higginson PR will specialise in PR and social media support, comms strategy, political campaigns, and media training.

media-trust-imageWeber Shandwick has teamed up with UK communications charity Media Trust to create a paid internship programme which aims to bring in diverse talent to the PR industry.

Following a successful pilot project in 2015, Weber will recruit three or four young people for the programme from a range of backgrounds each year.

 

pexels-photo-186461-1Prophet, the global strategy consultancy, has announced a partnership with Innovate Finance, an independent members’ association representing the UK’s global fintech community.

Prophet will apply its global network of experts to help Innovate Finance members build relevant brands and customer experiences, use digital as a “transformative” force and create strategies to accelerate growth.

grant-thornton-bcWalbrook PR  was awarded PR Firm of the Year at the 2017 Grant Thornton Quoted Company Awards held in the City of London last night.

The awards recognise the achievements of quoted companies, their directors and advisers outside of the FTSE 350.

This week’s top trending features on Gorkana News

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Your bitesize update on the best PR opinion, interviews, events and insights on Gorkana News this week:

pexels-photo-29781Insight: The power of flexible working in PR
Timewise has selected the top 50 most powerful part-time workers in 2017 featuring a host of in-house and agency comms pros. Gorkana asks how flexible working has empowered people in PR.

 

jodie-butt-hse-cake-2Opinion: Celebrity free speech? We’ve not heard the end of it
The BAFTAs are set to take place this weekend, and the BBC is reportedly worried about a potential “deluge of political speeches” from the winning stars. Jodie Butt, head of PR at HSE Cake, argues that while there’s a risk for celebrities getting it in the neck for joining the political stage, PRs shouldn’t fear their talent airing political views, and embrace the moment.

smack-sarah-carlin-2Opinion: Why PR and digital agencies need to “co-create”
Aalia Walker, co-founder of SMACK, a London-based digital agency which works with clients including Ted Baker, The Body Shop and Molton Brown, believes co-creation between PR and digital agencies can ensure clients benefit from more than just the “sum of the parts”.

 

ian-betteridge-alphr-2Interview: Gorkana meets…Alphr
Gorkana’s Ben Spencer catches up with Ian Betteridge, editorial director of Dennis’ tech title, Alphr, to find out how it has established itself as a top tech brand, why he decided to embark on a tour of key tech PR firms and how it’s built a more gender-balanced audience than your average tech title.

 

gill-galassi-bcInterview: 60 seconds with Swinton Insurance’s Gill Galassi
Gill Galassi, head of public relations at Swinton Insurance, tells us about working with the business as it celebrates its 60th anniversary, how she is creating an in-house PR team and the dynamics of the insurance sector.

 

Opinion: Why PR and digital agencies need to “co-create”

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Aalia Walker, co-founder of SMACK, a London-based digital agency which works with clients including Ted Baker, The Body Shop and Molton Brown, believes co-creation between PR and digital agencies can ensure clients benefit from more than just the “sum of the parts”.

smack-sarah-carlin

Aalia Walker

While many agencies have made the move into a full service offering, there are many more that do not offer specialised digital support. But rather than lose out, many smaller firms are pairing with specialist digital agencies to work together on briefs.

Below are three areas I think PRs need to consider when partnering with digital agencies:

 

 

Better briefings = better results

As PRs will know, the more comprehensive the client briefing, the more likely it is that you’ll be able to deliver exactly what the client wants. It’s the same when working with a digital agency.

Too often, the requirement for some sort of ‘digital component’ is tacked on to the end of a PR brief with no real thought given to what the client hopes that digital will achieve  – both for the campaign and their business. Is it increasing web traffic? Providing a dedicated microsite or complementary app? Managing social media?

Identifying what “success looks like” for the client will ensure PRs get the best value from the digital agencies they’re working with.”

Get the chemistry right

Of course, PR, digital, print etc. are all vying for a slice of the budget, so the temptation can be to try and find opportunities to show the client that while those other disciplines are nice, your specialism is the one they should be prioritising when it comes to allocating funds. This is understandable, but cross-agency meetings which owe more to the Sharks and the Jets than teamwork aren’t going to achieve results.

Fostering a spirit of collaboration, rather than competition, is key.

Let digital be part of the story (or even lead the story)

Digital doesn’t always have to just support the story – sometimes, it can BE the story. When a PR is – despite their best efforts – struggling to find that killer angle that will get their client the coverage it needs, sometimes a digital agency can help actively create a story via, say a killer app, microsite or social media campaign.

For example last summer, we launched a digital campaign to drive footfall into Mecca Bingo halls by encouraging Bingo-goers to ‘catch ‘em all’ as they played and share their spoils as they played. It resulted in 12,378 engagements on Facebook, with 974 Likes and other Reactions, and 1,656 comments. It also garnered numerous pieces of media coverage. The traffic doesn’t have to be all one way.

Digital can inspire PR just as PR inspires digital.

 

  • Aalia Walker is founder of digital agency SMACK

GMC Software appoints Spark Communications to expand influence past print

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GMC Software, a customer communications management tool, has appointed Spark Communications as its UK PR agency, with the objective of engaging audiences beyond the print industry.

Ana Williams Spark 2

Ana Williams

Spark won the account following a three-month trial period focused on the insurance industry, during which it had to demonstrate its ability to create content including opinion pieces and research projects.

The agency delivered coverage to targeted insurance and technology titles using this content.

Magali Germain, senior director of field marketing EMEA at GMC Software, said: “Our main aim was to spread awareness beyond the existing print press. Spark’s ideas, its energy and ability to engage with key press for the insurance audience made the final choice obvious.

“Since the initial period, Spark has broadened its reach to include financial, technology and marketing audiences and has demonstrated exactly the same levels of creativity, dedication and success. We are looking forward to Spark building our influence even further.”

Ana Williams, director at Spark, said: “Digital transformation is revolutionising both the way organisations communicate with their customers, and customers’ expectations of that experience.

“From claiming on motor insurance, to checking your bank balance, customers demand the exact same experience whether they’re visiting in person, over the phone, or on an app. Working with a company at the forefront of ensuring businesses can provide that single, consistent experience over any channel is a challenge we’re more than relishing.”

Celebrity free speech? We’ve not heard the end of it

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The BAFTAs are set to take place this weekend, and the BBC is reportedly worried about a potential “deluge of political speeches” from the winning stars. Jodie Butt, head of PR at HSE Cake, argues that while there’s a risk for celebrities getting it in the neck for joining the political stage, PRs shouldn’t fear their talent airing political views, and embrace the moment.

jodie-butt-hse-cake

Jodie Butt

At my best friend’s wedding recently I was asked to stand up in front of a 100 of her dearest friends and family and give a toast about her new husband. This request came to me about two minutes before a microphone was thrust in to my hand and a room full of expectant eyes waited for my first words.

For some of us that split second can be a terrifying mumbling affair, while for others it’s an opportunity for centre-stage attention. You’ve got the microphone, and the moment is yours… and no one enjoys that feeling more than a celebrity accepting an award.

Give them the spotlight, the adulation and the permission to speak freely and they will hold on to it as tightly as the statue in their hands. In this current political climate, we’re increasingly seeing our favourite stars use this opportunity to voice their own political agenda, and capture the attention of their peers, the audience at home and the worlds media.

Take the Golden Globes; London woke up to social media feeds packed with Meryl Streep’s comments as she spoke out against proposed immigration policies and press restrictions. Meryl implored a room full of A-list celebrities and the worlds press to “Take your broken heart, make it into art”.

Of course, Meryl is the most nominated actress for the Academy awards, ever, and has arguably earned the right to add her voice to the debate – even if POTUS was less than impressed.

But, what if her footing was off? What if her tone had gone awry? What if it hadn’t come out as intended? Take Tom Hiddlestone, who on the same night made a self-congratulatory speech about a recent UN trip. The social media fallout was swift. His “I’m sorry I was nervous” didn’t really cut it, and I’m sure his next award will be quite a different affair.

Let’s not forget, giving a speech of any kind can be seriously daunting. Doing it in front of the world’s media, when you’re a global superstar; knowing every word will be scrutinised, replayed, edited and quite possibly turned into a never-ending GIF of streaming tears and snot, adds a whole other level of pressure.

Previous award seasons would see PRs advise their client to use the platform to ingratiate themselves with the audience; to be humble, thankful, funny but not too crass, eloquent, but not over laboured, and to take particular care when going up and down the steps.

However, these are unusual times. The political agenda is no longer something we can keep out of popular entertainment, nor should we expect to. People may be divided, but they are engaged, and on a mass level. PRs shouldn’t fear this from their talent, nor should they seek to control it.

We have to let go of the fear of talent expressing themselves and being vocal, on any platform, about issues they care deeply about. Whether that’s defending the right of the press to continue to speak freely or to oppose the injustices that they believe in.

Social media opened the door for this years ago, allowing these seemingly perfect untouchables to show their true personalities, to have opinions, to get involved, to debate. Love it or hate it, there’s no questions that we want more of it.

There is an evolution taking place. For once it’s not just about who’s wearing what, it’s now about who’s saying what – and I for one can’t wait to hear it.

  • Jodie Butt is head of PR at HSE Cake. HSE Cake manages EE’s sponsorship at the BAFTAs and will be there on Sunday overseeing red carpet activations and VIP guests.

Husband and wife former lobby journalists set up PR outfit

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Clodagh Higginson, political correspondent for ITV’s Good Morning Britain, has teamed up with her husband John Higginson, a former political editor at the Metro, to launch a new PR agency called Higginson PR.

Clodagh and John Higginson

Clodagh Higginson has been political correspondent for ITV’s Good Morning Britain since April 2016.

Previously, she spent more than 15 years at The Sun, rising through the ranks to become consumer affairs editor in May 2009 and Whitehall editor in January 2010.

John Higginson was political editor of the Metro between 2007 and 2013, and has spent the last three years working as head of comms for Westbourne Communications and ICG.

Higginson PR will specialise in PR and social media support, comms strategy, political campaigns, and media training.

Among Higginson PR’s initial clients are change management consultancy Blacklight Advisory, as well as a retail chain and non-government organisation.

John Higginson said: “Between us we have 40 years of experience in national newspapers, the Westminster political lobby and broadcasting. Intelligent clients understand that to deliver an effective media campaign you need to be working with people with a deep and recent background in today’s newsroom.”

Clodagh Higginson added: “We are living in extraordinary times, full of extraordinary opportunities. There has never been a more interesting – or vital – time to get the message right. I’m excited about helping our clients do just that.”

Prophet unveils partnership with fintech membership body

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Prophet, the global strategy consultancy, has announced a partnership with Innovate Finance, an independent members’ association representing the UK’s global fintech community.

The partners are collaborating to help the fintech community “create relevance for consumers and businesses through value propositions and design experiences”.

Prophet will apply its global network of experts to help Innovate Finance members build relevant brands and customer experiences, use digital as a “transformative” force and create strategies to accelerate growth.

The first major component of the agreement will see Prophet sponsor, and participate in, the 2017 Innovate Finance Global Summit taking place on April 10-11 at London’s Guildhall.

Both partners will collaborate on a wider programme of thought leadership content and events. This is designed to help Innovate Finance members share knowledge, in order to remain relevant to their customers in a rapidly changing digital world, and, ultimately, look to drive growth.

Greg Handrick, Prophet partner, said: “We’re thrilled to be a part of the Innovate Finance community, which places Prophet at the epicentre of the world’s most dynamic fintech hub. At the same time, we’re pleased to be bringing something to Innovate Finance and its members that it doesn’t yet have – broad expertise in the kind of customer-focused growth that fintech businesses of all sizes will need in order to succeed.

“For smaller fintech businesses that are just starting up, Prophet can help bring greater clarity to their value propositions, sharpen their business cases and create a go-to-market strategy to get ideas off the ground. For larger, more established businesses we can help to make concepts more relevant, by bringing fresh thinking around customercentric innovation at a time when this is on top of many enterprise agendas.”

Lawrence Wintermeyer, CEO at Innovate Finance, said: “We are looking forward to working with Prophet as we broaden our footprint and increase the range of resources we make available to our members. Prophet brings a unique mix of business consulting, customer experience and digital strategy to our platform, and this is already showing results.

“Our partnership shows our commitment to maximising our potential to reach as many fintech influencers as possible and to share our content and knowledge to those who are taking part in the exciting changes that are shaping the future of financial services.”

The Wern PR appoints its first apprentice

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Start-up specialist The Wern PR has appointed an apprentice to its team following recent client wins.

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Lucy Werner

Katarzyna Zdunczuk will join the agency as an apprentice and was discovered through an apprenticeship scheme with Digital Futures which ran a programme with marketing title The Drum last year.

Zdunczuk will split her time between Shoreditch and Aldgate while she completes a digital marketing and social media course.

Also, Jemma Wythe is joining as senior account executive. She has more than five years of PR experience and will support across the agency’s clients including Accelerator London, Hob Salons and new accounts.

The starters will join as the agency secures two new accounts; Ebookadabra, the ‘netflix for children’s books’ and Sherpa, a soon-to-launch insurance tech start-up.

Lucy Werner, founder of The Wern, said: “Offering an apprenticeship allows us the opportunity to provide vocational training with a salary to someone who might not otherwise be able to afford to work for free to gain experience in a PR consultancy.

“We strongly believe that all business owners have a responsibility to employ from a diverse talent pool and whilst a degree is great, it didn’t teach me anything that I use in the work environment. The skills that our apprentice will learn – without getting into debt – will be applicable to whether she chooses to stay in PR or move a different sector.”

AfterShokz hands UK PR brief to Ranieri

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Consumer tech PR firm Ranieri has been appointed by AfterShokz to handle the UK PR for its bone conduction headphone range, including the Trekz Titanium and Sportz Titanium.

aftershokz

AfterShokz

Initially developed for military special operations and law enforcement in 2001, bone conduction technology uses transducers to guide mini vibrations through the cheekbones to the inner ears, allowing users to listen to music without blocking their ears and impacting upon their awareness.

AfterShokz is looking to develop its status as a leading brand in the industry, offering a “safe alternative” for cyclists and runners when listening to music.

Ranieri’s brief includes a PR, events and influencer campaign targeting the lifestyle, health and fitness and technology sectors.

Kim Fassetta, chief marketing officer at AfterShokz, said: “We chose to work with Ranieri in the UK because of the agency’s strong track record in the health and fitness market.

“With the team’s expertise and knowledge, we’re convinced it will help us to build the AfterShokz brand, raising awareness and promoting the benefits of bone conduction technology. We look forward to a long and fruitful relationship.”

Pietro Ranieri, MD at Ranieri, added: “AfterShokz has already built a strong brand in the US and we’re keen to replicate that success over here. The company’s exciting and innovative technology will no doubt help us to build the story with consumers. We’re excited about working together.”