Confessions of a Gorkana intern: part one

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I’m Marissa, the new intern working across Product Marketing, Events and Sales at Gorkana. I’m a 3rd year PR & advertising student at the University of Westminster and I come from sunny Cyprus.

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Marissa Kirkou

My first week at Gorkana has officially ended and I must confess that it has been far more exciting than I expected it to be. The best thing about starting a new internship or a job is meeting new people and noticing the different types of personalities within an organisation. These vary from the quiet readers, the strategic marketers, the competitive salespeople to the fun and outgoing event planners.

My main aim of this week was to dip my toe in the media intelligence water and gain as much knowledge as possible, even if it did give me a bit of a headache in the beginning. I’ll be honest, even though I’ve had other internships in the PR industry, it was mostly writing press releases, creating coverage reports, media lists and sending out products. However, during my time at Gorkana I’ve realised that due to the scope of what the database can do, PRs do not need to spend hours creating endless spreadsheets with contacts, which made me cry a bit inside for wasting so much valuable time on them previously.

The software training that I had and product demos helped me understand the ins and outs of the organisation, what it actually sells and all the fun things you can do – or at least fun things for people in comms industry!

In order to sum it up, the highlights of my week were:  

  • Helping the events team organise team building activities for the annual sales kick-off. Who doesn’t like googling fun activities during work?
  • Attending product marketing meetings, learning all about their complex strategies and their new ventures.
  • And finally, being present during a client call with a multinational company. Even though I obviously did not contribute to the discussion it was something completely new for me as an intern and made me feel I was part of something important, even if it didn’t last long.

As you can tell, so far it’s been a brilliant experience and I can’t wait for my next week. Bring it on!

Henry Boot hires Hudson Sandler

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Henry Boot plc has hired Hudson Sandler as its retained financial and corporate communications adviser.

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Henry Boot is a property developer

The Hudson Sandler team, led by managing director Nick Lyon and director Wendy Baker, will promote Henry Boot’s investment case and raise its profile among City stakeholders.

Lyon said: “We are delighted to be working with such a high quality, long established company.’’

Henry Boot, which was established 130 years ago, is a property investment and development, land development and construction company.

Benefit appoints We Are Social

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Benefit Cosmetics has appointed We Are Social as its digital and social agency for Benefit UK and Ireland.

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Benefit

Benefit has briefed We Are Social to develop 360 digital campaigns throughout 2017. The agency will lead creative digital strategy for the brand, working on a number of high profile product launches, as well as a new influencer programme.

Natasha Curtin, marketing director at Benefit Cosmetics, said: “We Are Social’s strategic thinking really fits well with where we see the brand going next year. We loved their creative ideas and the way they brought the brand to life in the pitch.”

Alyssa Drysdale, account director at We Are Social, added: “The We Are Social team is incredibly passionate about Benefit’s proposition and its appetite for truly innovative digital marketing. The brand’s forward thinking approach makes this appointment particularly exciting for us and we’re looking forward to running a number of campaigns in 2017.”

Buchanan wins trio of mining accounts

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Buchanan has added Tharisa plc, Berkeley Energia and Silver Bear Resources to its roster of mining companies.

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Silver Bear’s Mangazeisky Silver Project

Bobby Morse, senior partner, will lead the accounts, supported by account directors Anna Michniewicz and Chris Judd.

Tharisa is a chrome and PGM producer listed on the London and Johannesburg stock exchanges. The Tharisa mine, located near Rustenberg in the Bushveld complex, produces 10% of the world’s chrome.

Berkeley Energia is currently constructing a 100%-owned Salamanca Uranium mine in western Spain, and Silver Bear Resources, listed on the Toronto Stock Market, is focused on the development of its Mangazeisky Silver Project.

Bite wins Rocket Fuel brief

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Rocket Fuel, a global predictive marketing company, has appointed Bite to handle all UK comms activity, following a competitive pitch.

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Rachel Gilley, deputy MD at Bite

Rocket Fuel uses artificial intelligence and big data to evaluate customer behaviour in real-time to understand what people are interested in and where they are in the purchase cycle.

Bite has been selected on a retained basis to raise Rocket Fuel’s corporate profile and increase its own sales, as well as help the business produce efficient and accurately targeted marketing.

Sophie Light-Wilkinson, ‎EMEA marketing director at Rocket Fuel, said: “We’re excited to be working with Bite. The strategic way in which it approached our brief and demonstrated its knowledge of our industry and customers from the outset was very impressive.

“We know Bite has great pedigree when it comes to working with brands with innovation at their core, and we are two companies committed to doing work that make heads turn – watch this space.”

Rachel Gilley (pictured), deputy MD at Bite, added: “Rocket Fuel is an exciting company, not afraid to challenge the status quo and driving the change that brands have been crying out for. With innovative technology and a first class leadership team, we couldn’t be more excited about the partnership.”

TVPlayer briefs Clarity PR

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Clarity PR has been chosen to handle the consumer PR for live TV streaming service TVPlayer.

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TVPlayer

Founded by Adam Smith, TVPlayer is an online freemium Over The Top (OTT) TV platform. It streams live TV across multiple devices from free-to-air and pay broadcasters and has had more than three million downloads. It provides more than 100 channels to over one million unique users a month.

TV Player has also struck licensing deals with leading UK broadcasters including ITV, Channel 4 and Channel 5 to simulcast their free-to-air channels across desktops, mobiles, tablets, Apple TV, Amazon Fire TV and Roku devices.

It has briefed Clarity’s team in London to handle media relations, partnerships and events in the UK.

Rob Hodgkinson, COO for TV Player, said: “As we’ve experienced significant growth and demand for our platform, it was important to work with the right communications partner to elevate our communications strategy in order to reach wider audiences.

“Clarity’s infectious enthusiasm and creative flair, as well as its understanding of consumer audiences, ensures we have a PR partner that can communicate effectively to our younger demographic.”

Sara Collinge, UK MD at Clarity PR, added: “TVPlayer is truly innovating in the channel distribution market on behalf of consumers. With numerous licensing deals signed and plans to secure other key commercial broadcasters, it is the perfect time to help TVPlayer communicate the benefits of their service to viewers, as well as demonstrating that the service provides some of the UK’s best channels in one app.”

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:

richard-parkinson-text100-2Richard Parkinson becomes global creative director at Text100
Next 15-owned global marketing comms agency Text100 has announced a new leadership structure, including the appointment of Richard Parkinson, its London-based global head of client services, to global creative director.

 

paul-middleton-2KPMG hires Paul Middleton as corporate comms senior manager
Professional services firm KPMG has appointed Ketchum’s Paul Middleton as corporate comms senior manager, with special responsibility for the firm’s Brexit comms activity.

 

nicola-furbisher-2Nicola Furbisher joins Furbisher Media
Ex-editor of the Yorkshire Evening Post Nicola Furbisher is joining her husband John Furbisher at the PR agency he founded – Furbisher Media.

 

pete-murray-2Hume Brophy hires Metro Bank PR director to lead corporate affairs team
Hume Brophy has appointed former director of comms at Metro Bank Pete Murray to lead on corporate affairs. He will be responsible for developing and leveraging global resources, products and services to support offices around the world.

 

hay-festival-2Hay Festival appoints Christopher Bone as publicity director
Global literary event brand Hay Festival has appointed FMcM Associates’ Christopher Bone to the new role of publicity director, who will oversee UK and international PR for the organisation in its 30th anniversary year.

 

jim-joseph-2Cohn & Wolfe makes Jim Joseph worldwide president
Global comms agency Cohn & Wolfe has announced a set of leadership changes including the appointment of Jim Joseph as worldwide president.

 

kevin-roberts-2Former Saatchi & Saatchi chairman joins Beattie
Kevin Roberts, the former Saatchi & Saatchi chairman and CEO, has joined UK creative communications group Beattie. He will coach the senior team and help grow Beattie and its ‘Only’ brands internationally.

 

 

Jonathan Bird joins Hillgate

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Jonathan Bird

PR and brand comms agency Hillgate has brought in Worldstores Group’s Jonathan Bird as an associate director.

Bird was previously head of PR and brand partnerships at WorldStores Group, the UK’s largest online home & garden retailer. He oversaw all PR, content and partnerships for Worldstores, ACHICA, Casafina and Kiddicare.

In his new role as associate director at Hillgate, Bird will oversee new business development for the PR and brand comms agency.

He will report to Helena Gustavsson, MD of Hillgate.

British Business Bank appoints MHP Communications

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MHP Communications will provide British Business Bank, the UK’s national economic development bank, with PR and corporate comms support.

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Siobhan Shea-Simonds

MHP will help the bank to meet its KPIs and enhance its reputation as an SME finance expert.

Graeme Fisher, MD policy, communications and marketing at British Business Bank, said: “MHP’s communications bid demonstrated that the team has a great understanding of the bank’s communications objectives, strong financial services and public sector expertise as well as creative campaign ideas to support our work. We are excited to be working with them.”

British Business Bank was established two years ago with a remit to support a more diverse funding environment for smaller businesses. The bank does not lend to SMEs directly, it works through the market, partnering with a wide range of financial institutions to increase access to funding.

Siobhan Shea-Simonds, a managing director at MHP Communications, said: “British Business Bank has done some fantastic work in helping SMEs to grow and we look forward to building on these foundations with our strong sector expertise.”

Publicis Health rebrands PR and medical education agency

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Publicis Health’s PR and medical education agency has been renamed Publicis Resolute.

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Publicis Resolute: new logo

Along with the new name, the agency has launched a new website, new social media channels and a new logo.

According to Publicis, the updated brand identity “reflects synergies between the agency’s future and its heritage”.

Glen Halliwell, medical education business unit director, said: “We feel that we are the agency that brings real creative flair to medical education, and true scientific rigour to the art of public relations. Over the years we’ve grown and evolved, yet we’ve stayed true to our roots and the familial company ethos is as strong as ever.”

The medical education agency was founded as Resolute Communications in 2002. It then merged with Publicis Health’s advertising agency Publicis LifeBrands in 2010 to become Publicis LifeBrands Resolute.

Publicis Resolute’s sister advertising agency and former namesake has returned to its previous name, Publicis LifeBrands, with a new website and logo.

Victoria Wright, managing director of Publicis Resolute, Publicis Life Brands and Real Science, added: “Across our three agencies we offer a truly integrated approach. Yet each agency has its own distinct brand and the new look and feel is a perfect reflection of the Publicis Resolute personality.”