Most read people news on Gorkana News

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Your bitesize update on the latest People News and Moves featured on Gorkana News:

henry-cook-2Portland hires former Michael Gove adviser 
Portland has hired Henry Cook, a former adviser to Michael Gove, as associate director in its Brexit unit.

Before joining Portland, Cook was special adviser to Gove for four years. He played a role in the Department for Education, the Government Chief Whip’s Office and, most recently, the Ministry of Justice.

Montfort hires Financial News journalist
Mike Foster will join Montfort as a senior consultant on February 13, after 21 years at London paper and news site Financial News.

Foster was a founder shareholder, asset management editor and associate editor at Financial News. Prior to setting up the title, he worked for six years in the Evening Standard’s City team.

oli-mann-2CNC appoints two new partners
Communications and Network Consulting (CNC) has promoted Oliver Mann and Harald Kinzler to its partner team.

Mann and Kinzler, currently managing directors based in London and Frankfurt, will join CNC’s global partnership team with immediate effect.

nina-sawetz-future-2Nina Sawetz departs BOTTLE to launch future consultancy
Nina Sawetz has launched her own consultancy called Future, after more than six years at Oxford PR agency BOTTLE, where, most recently, she was head of consumer editorial.

Sawetz joined Bottle in 2010 from Blue Zebra PR. She began her career with internships for Frank and the BBC’s press office for EastEnders.

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AXON makes trio of hires 
Healthcare PR specialist AXON Communications has hired Sola Neunie, Simonetta Ballali and Andy Scott (pictured).

Neunie takes on an associate editorial director role, Ballali joins as a programme director in the medical communications stream and Scott, who was a part of AXON’s graduate programme in 2007, rejoins as an associate director.

3 Monkeys Zeno appoints tech and healthcare leads 

3 Monkeys Zeno has bolstered its healthcare and tech practices, appointing FleishmanHillard Fishburn’s David Berkovitch as head of healthcare and naming Zeno Group’s European MD, Steve Earl, as head of tech.

 

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:

shortlist-media-ella-dolphin-phil-hilton-2Event: Media briefing with Shortlist Media
In our first media briefing for 2017, this week we were joined by ShortList Media’s CEO Ella Dolphin and editorial director Phil Hilton, who revealed that people are 6% happier when reading a print magazine, the challenge of getting commuters to pick up a free title and why PRs should think about content for “Met Set” readers.

clarity-pr-sara-collinge-2Interview: 60 Seconds with Clarity PR’s Sara Collinge
“Your team is the secret to making it all happen”, says Clarity PR’s UK MD, Sara Collinge. During an exclusive interview with Gorkana News she takes 60 seconds to reveal why she thinks Clarity is one of the fastest growing UK PR agencies, the measurement battle the PR industry is still facing, and which brand she’d most like to work with.

phil-borge-bcOpinion: The Tech Factor – how comms can win the tech talent search
As Deliveroo launches its search for 300 new ‘tech’ staff, Phil Borge, director, head of business services at Eulogy, discusses how internal comms is key to helping companies get ahead in the increasingly competitive tech talent search.

pexels-photo-102644-1Insight: Developing PR to reach the ‘uncompromising customer’

InterContinental Hotels Group’s (IHG) 2017 consumer trends report highlights the “uncompromising nature” of today’s customer who increasingly expects brands to deliver experiences that satisfy contradictory needs. Weber Shandwick, Havas PR and Curzon PR explain how PR can create opportunity in this complex environment.

anna-carter-bcInterview: 60 Seconds with Golin’s Anna Carter
Anna Carter, Golin’s head of client service, on the changes she has seen in the PR industry as an agency veteran, her thoughts on the future of PR and her favourite beauty campaigns.

 

Opinion: Harnessing the power of local radio

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Josh Wheeler, general manager at broadcast PR specialist Markettiers Manchester, argues the value of local radio and offers tips for PR professionals looking to target it in their campaign strategies.

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Josh Wheeler

The latest figures from Radio Joint Audience Research (RAJAR), the official body for radio audience measurement, confirm that radio is still one of the most powerful forms of media available in terms of reach.

Over 35m of us tune into local radio each week. Why? My gut feeling is that it represents, and gives a voice to, everyday people. People buy people, and the sound of a familiar voice who shops where you shop, eats where you eat and who knows your village, town or city like the back of their hand is far more relevant and engaging than a national outlet could hope to be.

Why does local radio get overlooked?
When it comes to PR, local radio can often be overlooked or disregarded. Some PR professionals place emphasis on national media because of its reach, but this could be at the expense of the benefits offered by hyperlocal.

National can and does deliver vast reach – but if your client is trying to inspire behaviour change or action, is the voice of the capital-based metropolitan elite really the best way to inspire that?

For communications professionals, regional voices across the country can truly bring a story to life for hundreds of thousands of people in their respective areas, and can deliver a more impactful way of engaging with consumers.

Targeting local stations can be more time-consuming and intensive, but that investment can deliver superb results. Part of my job each day is to brief various spokespeople who support campaigns across the country to make sure that they are confident, comfortable and equipped to take on media.

What is the power of local radio?
In its barest form, local radio has the muscle to help you convey highly-targeted messages on-air to considerable and engaged audiences on behalf of your clients.

Beyond that, I believe its secondary power is trust. Radio is the most trusted medium of all, and listeners identify with stations and presenters. The 2017 Edelman Trust Barometer recently revealed that trust in media fell to an all-time low (43%), but radio continues to buck that trend. Above all, radio is about is companionship, and can encourage brand loyalty in its listeners.

Take my city, Manchester, as an example. The RAJAR percentage reach of BBC Radio Manchester (11%), Key 103 (14%) and the local Capital (17%) are equal to – if not more – than BBC Radio 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5, as well as leading national outlets such as Kiss and Absolute.

And the story is not unique to Manchester – West Dorset, Yorkshire, Inverness and North East Scotland all report similar regional figures.

As a PR operative, how are you reaching those engaged audiences?

How can I harness the power of local radio?
So, what do you have to do to reach local radio and secure coverage? Here are some top tips to harness the power of local for your campaign:

  • Get to the heart of the story quickly and don’t include things like quotes or brand sentiment. Its turns broadcasters off – and the spokesperson can deliver that on-air.
  • Have as much local relevance as possible – i.e. one central campaign spokesperson and regional case studies and outline clearly who you have to offer.
  • Locally-relevant statistics (ideally commissioned by you for the campaign) or desktop insight that highlights compelling data already in the public domain.

Remember that stations are hyper aware of their target audience – both current and desired – so campaigns will also be judged on audience relevance. Try to find the all important ‘me too’ factor within your story.

A colleague of ours says that the mark of a good campaign is when a national story goes local, and I have to agree. National is, of course, fantastic – but I would urge you to consider the role that local radio plays within your client campaign mix.

Hanover Health makes Anna Korving chair

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Anna Korving has joined Hanover to chair its health practice working closely with Andrew Harrison, managing director of health.

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Andrew Harrison and Anna Korving

Korving co-founded and built healthcare agency Resolute Communications before selling it to the Publicis Healthcare Communications Group in 2010. She continued to run the business under the Publicis brand, and, most recently, served as Publicis’ executive vice president of global business development.

As chair, Korving will work across London, Brussels and Dublin, and will focus on the development of the Hanover Health product and corporate communications team, led by director Frances Beves.

Korving said: “Hanover Health occupies a very distinct place in the market, bringing together expertise in communications, market access and policy.”

Harrison added: “Anna is one of the standout entrepreneurs and communications leaders in our industry. She joins us at a critical juncture as we mature into a multi-disciplined health team networked across three offices.”

Hanover Health, which is part of the wider Hanover Group, recently launched a UK and international market access practice, opened a new office in Dublin and developed a UK advisory network comprising former senior NHS managers.

Mischief PR wins second Creative Shootout in a row with #TimetoThink campaign idea

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Mischief PR was named the winner of one-day creativity competition Creative Shootout last night for its live response to a brief from charities Mind and Rethink Mental Illness that competing teams received yesterday morning. Hotwire and Ready10 took second and third place respectively.

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The winning Mischief team from LtoR: Andy Garner, James Robinson, Georgina Quayle and Indigo Le Fevre

Yesterday morning, eight shortlisted agency teams, BOTTLE, FleishmanHillard Fishburn, Hotwire, Mischief PR (two teams), Ready10, Text100 and Wire Media, received a real brief, worth £250,000, from this year’s charity party, Mind and Rethink Mental Illness.

Four hours later, each team had 15 minutes on the stage at BAFTA in London’s Picadilly, to pitch their creative idea live to a judging panel and an audience of 250 people. This year, the audience also had a vote to help judges decide the winner.

Mischief PR pitching their winning pitch idea at Creative Shootout 2017

The winning Mischief team pitching their idea at Creative Shootout 2017

Mischief’s winning team wowed judges by highlighting the average time we spend on the toilet each week (apparently 1 hour 42 minutes), saying it was time to “be arsed about mental health” and “wipe away negativity” using the existing hashtag “#TimetoThink”.

The Engine Group-owned agency won the inaugural Creative Shootout final last year.

Taking second place was Hotwire after it pitched its #TuneIn campaign idea, wanting to use the power of radio to couple “listening in” with “tuning in” to the importance of mental health.

Ready10 came third this year and was the first team to pitch to judges at yesterday’s event. The team came up with the idea of an “All Talk” challenge around mental health, with its founder, David Fraser, saying that while men communicate with each other, they don’t talk.

Other pitches included a PornHub homepage takeover idea from Text100, with the team saying there was “#NoShame” in talking about mental health.

This year’s judging panel included:

Johnny Pitt, Launch PR founder and creator of the Creative Shootout
Jo Loughran, director, Mind and Rethink Mental Illness
Kati Price, head of digital media at The Victoria & Albert Museum
Joan O’Connor, PR director (Western Europe) at Coca-Cola
Claire Beale, global editor-in-chief, Campaign, Haymarket Media Group
Luke D’Arcy, president, UK, Momentum Worldwide

A full list of the judging panel can be found here.

60 Seconds with Golin’s Anna Carter

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Anna Carter, Golin’s head of client service, on the changes she has seen in the PR industry as an agency veteran, her thoughts on the future of PR and her favourite beauty campaigns.

You’ve had years of experience at top agencies including Red, Lexis, Hill + Knowlton and now Golin. What’s the biggest change you have seen in PR over this time?

The biggest change is integration; there is very little work we do now that sits in a PR-only silo. Today everything needs to work together, across channels and disciplines, amplifying, complementing and enhancing a consistent creative and strategy. The good news for PR is that with this change, PR tends to have a far more central role in the comms mix now.

More often than not, clients are looking for PR and social agencies to come up with the big content ideas that work across multiple channels, rather than expecting PR to fall out of the advertising creative.

What do you see in Golin’s future in the next five years?

Continuing to go down the path we are already on where the focus is on brilliant creative ideas rather than the discipline or channel they are coming from.  Removing barriers to how we work and dissolving self-imposed silos about whether we are a PR, a social or a digital agency so we are completely focused on delivering great work for our clients.

How did you get into PR?

I wanted to be a journalist for a long time, so I started writing for my student newspaper at Leeds getting to the dizzy heights of crime correspondent! But the diversity of PR really appealed to me, so I enrolled on a postgraduate PR course in Cardiff and that was my stepping stone into the industry.

What’s the best advice you have received for working in PR?

I’m not sure one single piece of advice stands out but I have been incredibly lucky to work with some very talented and inspiring people throughout my career who I have learnt a huge amount from.  I’ve learnt from the very best in the business on how to have the most productive, successful and close relationships with clients and that’s probably the most important thing I’ve learnt. You may have the best idea in the world, but if you don’t understand where your client’s focus is, or how to excite and engage them with something, you’re going to make it much harder to succeed and do great work.

Why are mentors important in PR and what’s your best bit of advice for new starters?

Mentors are really important and being able to learn from and bounce your ideas off people who are a step removed from your day to day workload is critical. My advice for new starters is to just go for it and be excited about what you’re doing – be proactive, put your hand up for things, ask questions, and get stuck in.

Having worked with a range of beauty brands in your time as a PR, and as a beauty enthusiast yourself, what’s your favourite beauty campaign of all time?

Without a doubt, and for so many reasons, the Dove Campaign for Real Beauty.  It was completely groundbreaking at the time and had (and continues to have) a huge impact on how other beauty brands communicated with their audience.  I felt incredibly strongly about what Dove was doing and so being part of the team that launched that campaign in the UK was a very proud moment. I will never forget the day the story broke, we had secured a front cover lead in the The Times Magazine and I woke up to a huge media frenzy that went on for months. It was a massive career highlight for me.

You have worked with household names such as Dove, Magnum and PepsiCo and Danone. What excites you about working with big brands?

It’s often not necessarily the brand itself but rather the appetite of the client to do exciting work and take a risk with bolder ideas. But I love working on integrated campaigns with big brands where all the agencies around the table are invested in cracking a brilliant single minded idea and exploding it out across all our channels.

How do you switch off?

That depends but I’m currently training for a half marathon so doing long runs in the cold, wet weather definitely helps me switch off from work!

Smart home devices company retains Yellow Jersey PR

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LightwaveRF, a developer of smart control devices in the home, has appointed Yellow Jersey PR as its retained financial PR adviser.

pexels-1Charles Goodwin, director at Yellow Jersey, and account executive Katie Bairsto will run the account, reporting to the board at LightwaveRF.

LightwaveRF specialises in the design, development and manufacture of home automation systems which enable the operation of household appliances, such as lighting, heating, air conditioning, door entry, video and security, through a mobile app. The company listed on AIM in 2008.

Yellow Jersey will help LightwaveRF to develop its equity story and build its profile as the business develops and grows.

Pagefield MD Oliver Foster promoted to chief executive

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Oliver Foster has been promoted to a newly-created chief executive role at Pagefield.

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Oliver Foster

Previously a managing partner, Foster joined the company when it was formed in 2010. The new role was created to enable Pagefield founder Mark Gallagher to spend more time on non-project work, such as political work, with charities and on Brexit-related activity.

Gallagher said: “The size and scale of the agency – together with its heavily embedded values and culture – means that I am now able to appoint a chief executive. I wanted someone with a deep knowledge of PR, public affairs and campaigning and someone who would retain and build Pagefield’s focus on outstanding client service.

“I am delighted that my fellow founding partner Oli Foster is that person. Oli has been doing a fantastic job as our managing partner for the past year or so, and this appointment confirms my confidence in him and in his exemplary track record as senior counsel and critical friend to our clients – and as a brilliant team leader.”

Prior to joining Pagefield, Foster was a public affairs manager at ITV, before becoming the head of corporate affairs at the UK Film Council in 2009.

Foster added: “Pagefield is a unique place. Mark is a unique friend and colleague, and becoming Pagefield’s chief executive is a unique opportunity that I’m thrilled to be taking on.”

Newgate appoints strategic adviser David Telling

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Newgate Communications has made senior corporate and geopolitical adviser David Telling partner, with a mandate to expand upon the firm’s geopolitical and blue-chip corporate client base.

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David Telling

Telling joined Newgate on January 1 this year following 17 years at Bell Pottinger, where, most recently, he held a partner role. He is a strategic communications specialist with more than 30 years of experience, and has particular expertise in the Middle East and Africa. Telling’s focus in recent years has been in reputation management and foreign direct investment (FDI), overseas and in the UK.

He said: “What I enjoy most is getting to the heart of difficult reputational challenges, and delivering a clear path forward, drawing on the fullest range of communications skills and disciplines. Newgate has created an exciting, nimble and flexible business model which means it can do this better and more effectively than any other organisation.”

Gavin Devine, chief executive at Newgate, added: “We are delighted to have added a partner with David’s unique skills and track record to our team. He has an unmatched reputation for delivering strategic campaigns for clients here and across the world.”

John Doe promotes Ocean Beach Club Ibiza and STK Ibiza

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John Doe has won a PR brief to handle, consumer, trade and influencer activity for Ocean Beach Club Ibiza and STK Ibiza.

John Doe has won a PR brief to handle, consumer, trade and influencer activity for Ocean Beach Club Ibiza and STK Ibiza

Ocean Beach Club Ibiza

The agency will position Ocean Beach Club Ibiza and STK Ibiza as the go-to spots for party goers visiting the White Isle in 2017.

Also, it will manage consumer and trade press outreach, as well as influencer engagement strategy, working alongside Nick Ede, owner of Eden Lifestyle, who will lead celebrity outreach.

Rosie Holden, John Doe’s MD, said: “We are delighted to be working with such iconic venues as Ocean Beach Ibiza and STK Ibiza, and the team is already working hard to position the island as the must-visit spot this summer.

“We have extensive experience working in leisure and entertainment and through Malibu, Ibiza Rocks and Absolut so this brief really plays to our strengths.”