Groupe PSA hands three-year social media brief to 33Seconds

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33Seconds has been handed a three-year social media brief by Groupe PSA, the French automotive company behind car brands Peugeot, Citroen and luxury brand DS Automobiles, following a competitive pitch against eight other agencies.

33Seconds

Groupe PSA

Having been Peugeot’s retained UK social media agency since 2014, 33Seconds will now lead content creation and community management across all of PSA’s UK social platforms.

Andrew Baird, head of digital for Groupe PSA, said: “33Seconds has unrivalled experience in social and an impeccable reputation. The agency has delivered fantastic results for Peugeot over the last two years and we’re delighted to have gained the team’s expertise. It’s proven social content production and first class community management will help us drive awareness and build engagement for all the PSA brands.”

Dominic Cook, cofounder and CEO of 33Seconds, added: “We love working with the Peugeot team and are over-the-moon to be able to apply our knowledge and experience to deliver what we know will be award winning work for these global car brands.

“We’ve led some exciting and innovative campaigns for Peugeot over the last couple of years – including #208Unleashed and our more recent Just Add Fuel campaign – which achieved impactful results. We’re looking forward to replicating this success for the Citroen and DS teams.”

PSA joins Amazon, Magners, Greenpeace, SoundCloud and Web Summit as part of 33Seconds’ current roster.

Gorkana meets… Dennis Publishing’s head of digital

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Paul Hood, head of digital for Dennis Publishing, tells Gorkana’s Ben Spencer that 70% of tech titles on the newsstands are published by Dennis, talks about the publisher’s content partnership with The Mirror and reveals that he’s looking for PRs who can come up with “BHAG (Big Hairy Audacious Goal) ideas”.

Paul Hood

Paul Hood

Tell us about Dennis Publishing’s technology titles.

We’ve been publishing technology titles for more than 30 years – which is long before technology became a topic of mainstream interest. As a result, our media brands and journalists are very well known and respected as being authoritative, credible and trustworthy. This gives us a strong point of difference in a market that has become increasingly crowded with new entrants jumping on the tech bandwagon.

Around 70% of newsstand sales of technology titles in the UK are magazines that are Dennis Publishing brands*, meaning that trust levels among our audiences are very high. We’ve also developed some fresh, new digital-only brands in the past few years, including Expert Reviews, Cloud Pro and Know Your Mobile, and just last year we launched Alphr.com.

What makes a great story or piece of content for your titles?

We aim to cover tech stories and review products that are relevant, interesting and inspiring or engaging. Today, some of the world’s most innovative new products and fascinating stories come from tech companies. Often, the best content we write isn’t actually about the tech at all, it’s about what it enables – how it can make people’s lives easier by saving them time, money or inconvenience. The best PRs understand this and find the right angles to create interesting narratives for the brands they represent.

We’ve seen that you’ve recently started syndicating product reviews from Expert Reviews and Alphr.com to Mirror.co.uk. What is the thinking behind this?

Stories from the world of tech are no longer just the preserve of tech geeks and hobbyists. Today, a much broader audience are interested to know more about the latest smartphones, wearables and tech gadgets.

The Daily Mirror, one of the best-known British news brands, has recognised this, and it’s taken a really smart approach to its online coverage of technology. It has a small, dedicated editorial team finding the tech stories that are particularly relevant to its audience (which is upwards of 75 million unique visitors each month according to ComScore), but when it comes to in-depth product reviews, they turn to our tech brands for this content.

We’ve forged a partnership that allows them to cherry-pick a certain number of our articles each week to bring their readers to access product reviews written by our team of experts. Essentially, Expert Reviews and Alphr.com have become contributing “authors” to The Mirror’s Technology section.

From our point of view, this partnership further cements these two brands as premium, authoritative sources for a wider audience who are interested in technology. It’s a pioneering inter-publisher content collaboration that is working well for us both.

How are the editorial teams set up for Dennis’ digital brands? 

We have four excellent editorial leads for our six brands. Maggie Holland is group editorial director for our B2B brands, which are IT Pro, Channel Pro and Cloud Pro. Ian Betteridge is the editorial lead for Alphr.com, David Court for Expert Reviews and Richard Goodwin for Know Your Mobile.

How do you find news stories?

There are a number of ways we look for interesting stories, from working with our audience development team, to keeping an eye on various sources. But we also recognise that brands and PRs are a fantastic source of interesting stories, so we’re actually very keen to engage more fully with PRs and brands who have exciting new products, great stories or interesting insights to share with us.

What are your ambitions for Dennis’ technology division?

We want our brands to continue to be the first destinations that people actively seek when they want information to help them make a tech-related purchasing decision. That could be IT Pro providing the information to help a CTO choose the right enterprise platform, or it might be Alphr.com explaining the practical applications of connected devices.

We want our media brands to be number one in the UK market in terms of consumer preference, attention and influence. We’re less concerned with being number one in terms of outright audience scale for our digital brands, because we’re not obsessed with trying to reach everyone. We want an audience who have money to spend on tech and are looking for the best advice they can find.

That’s a tough goal given the rapid pace of change in the technology sector, but I’m really confident that we have the right people and the right culture to maintain our competitive advantage.

When are PRs most useful?

PRs perform tremendously valuable functions for the brands they represent. I think at times that some of us on the publishing side have been guilty of failing to build and nurture relationships with PRs. At Dennis, we’re putting in a concerted effort to improve in this area. From November this year, we’re planning to host a monthly session where PRs can come and meet the editors of our technology brands and engage with them face to face. Our hope is that this will be hugely useful for PRs.

In terms of how PRs can best engage proactively with us, we get excited by those who come with BHAG (Big Hairy Audacious Goals) ideas. We deal with run-of-the-mill stuff every day… but when PRs come to us with a big vision for their client, and we can work with them to turn into a compelling story, that’s what makes us tick.

This campaign from Fitbit UK is a fantastic example of an excellent PR-led campaign. FleishmanHillard Fishburn came up with a really good idea, and worked with us to turn it into a great experience and a whole series of engaging stories. This collection of stories has turned out to be among the most popular and most shared articles on Coachmag.co.uk and Alphr.com this summer.

* Source: ABC 2014 – Total newsstand sales of technology titles (including PC Pro, PC Pilot, Wired, T3, Stuff etc) was 5.7m. More than 4m of these sales were of brands owned by Dennis. 

Paul Hood was talking to Gorkana’s Ben Spencer

Beattie sets up “vlogger dating forum”

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Creative comms group Beattie is to launch a “vlogger dating forum” to match vloggers and bloggers with brands, and is setting up a video and content studio in Scotland.

Beattie

Beattie Group CEO Laurna Woods

The video and content studio, which will be based in Beattie’s Media Village in Falkirk, will be used to produce videos and vlogs for clients in the UK, US and other countries.

The studio will be up and running by the end of the year and will coincide with the launch of a dating forum to match vloggers and bloggers with corporate brands.

Laurna Woods (pictured), CEO of Beattie Group, said: “We are creating a dating forum to bring consumer brands together with the hottest celebrity bloggers and vloggers, as well as establishing our own stable of aspiring blogging and vlogging talent.”

Beattie has just completed a 100-seat conference centre and a dedicated training academy in Beattie’s Media Village. The total cost of the investment will be £120,000.

Celebrating its 30th anniversary this year, Beattie has eight offices in the UK including London, Birmingham, Manchester, Leeds and Glasgow. It recently opened an office in Canada.

Gorkana meets… Formule1’s joint-editor-in-chief, André Venema

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Tell us about how you started in sports journalism.

F1

André Venema

As a teenager, I always loved to hang out in sports halls and at squares. Apart from school obligations, I spent most of my time playing basketball, which is still my favourite sport to date. Sports and music have always been important to me and my family, so for me it was a logical step to focus on sports journalism after high school. During my internship at the, now deceased, legendary and very progressive, regional Winschoter Courant, I was offered a permanent job.

After several years at regional newspapers, I moved to Finland as freelancer where I wrote a piece about Kimi Räikkönen (Finnish racing driver for Ferrari Formula 1) for the (also now ceased) magazine RaceReport.

Have you always been more passionate about F1?

From early days I have always been attracted to Formula 1; there is enough to cover and it is rarely boring because it involves politics, conspiracies, power games, entertainment, lifestyle and sports. At the daily national Algemeen Dagblad, I decided to specialise in Formula 1 and by now I have already visited over a 100 Grand Prix.

You started your career as a sports reporter for regional newspapers, and then moved to national media (broadcaster NOS and Algemeen Dagblad). Apart from coverage, what differences have you observed in working for regional and national media?

I find it easier to work for a national newspaper. You are not bound to a regional approach and not forced to search for a regional angle, so you can write about any topic you find exciting. Also, when you work for a national newspaper, it provides an open door for sports professionals, teams and PR-agencies to approach you. Because of the ‘magic of the circulation number’, you are now in the front of the queue, it is that simple.

In these days in where journalists – to my annoyance – are almost forced to be a ‘brand’, this is an undeniable benefit.

You are now joint editor-in-chief for Formule1 and write for Dutch magazines such as JFK, Coach, GTO, AutoWeek and newspaper Metro. Tell us more about the differences between writing for a newspaper to a magazine.

The game has now definitely changed. Personally I find it easier to write for a magazine. In a newspaper article you are restricted to a certain amount of space, forcing you to write in a short and sharp style. This is a true and exciting art in itself.

A magazine allows you to go more in depth and to intertwine your own knowledge about the topic in your piece. I love more complex sentence structures, to include different angles (which is in my opinion essential for a magazine) and try to write ‘pretty’ in order for readers to stay engaged and to surprise them with my features.

What I do miss are the dynamics; to quickly write a piece full of adrenaline and to then see it in the newspaper the very next day…wonderful! To make sure I get my adrenaline fix, I still regularly write for newspapers.

How does a typical week look like and how do you balance your time with your different activities?

I often work from home and follow a strict working schedule. For me, missing a deadline is shameful. I also wish to be able to have time for extra assignments that may present themselves. Besides that, I try to visit our Amsterdam office a couple of days a week to discuss ideas, brainstorm and prepare our next issue of Formule1 together with my colleagues. I also try to manage relationships with my contacts and visit Grand Prix’s.

How would you describe your target audience? Have you noticed an increased interest in F1 since the Dutch Max Verstappen joined F1 racing? (youngest racing driver to compete F1 at the age of 17)

Absolutely! Max Verstappen hasn’t just reinvigorated Formula 1 in The Netherlands, but in the rest of the world as well. Because of him, we now have a big new audience in The Netherlands, who we would like to reach with our magazine, but we also need to make sure to cater for our existing subscribers and not chase them away with an easier approach.

On the other hand, we do need to educate this new generation of Formula-1 followers: it is a delicate balance. We also see this renewed interest in the people that visit our website Formule1.nl. Last month 24 hits in our ‘top 25 most read articles’ were related to Max Verstappen. People want to know everything about him.

How can PRs make their story attractive for you to choose to write about?

I am interested in things and events that are somehow different or have a personal twist. At circuits you only get 10 minutes for an interview with a F1-driver, often with three colleagues at the same time. In an informal setting, without a stopwatch next to you, you will get the best stories and are able to touch on more in-depth topics. In such cases, we are always willing to reward the facilitator or organiser, also in the commercial sector: quid-pro-quo, I’m never difficult about that.

How would you describe your relationship with PRs, and how do you prefer to be contacted?

My relationship is good. PRs know where to find me and the magazine, especially in the automotive branch. In most cases, initial contact is made over the phone and PRs check if we are indeed interested in a certain event.

Do you have a social media strategy?

We are currently working on that, but a good strategy is going to be crucial for the nearby future. Especially with the young(er) generation, who consume news differently. We are very much aware that Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and other channels are vital for us as a news medium and for our magazine. A lot has already changed for the good.

And finally, what is the most memorable story that you have reported on?

Ten years ago, I wrote a candid piece together with the late Dutch Formula One driver Jos Verstappen, Max’ father. During one of the sessions he was in tears because of the difficult private issues he faced at that time (various allegations and accusations). You can imagine that this left quite an impression on me.

One of my best memories was the invitation I received from Philip Morris International to visit the Grand Prix in Monaco. Together with 50 guests from all over Europe, we stayed overnight on a luxury yacht in the harbour and were spoiled for six days in a row! From my room I could literally walk to the media centre within a minute, but those days are over now.

André Venema was interviewed by Gorkana’s Anna Masuku

AXON communications opens Swiss-based office

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Healthcare communications firm AXON is set to establish an office in Switzerland to support global and European head offices of Swiss-based clients.

Claire Williams main

Claire Olivia Williams

The agency has appointed Claire Olivia Williams as vice president to lead the Swiss business.

Switzerland is a key hub for the pharmaceutical industry, according to AXON, and its base in the country will complement existing relationships in the business and serve to develop new ones.

This will be the agency’s fifth global office to open alongside the UK, US, Canada, Denmark and Switzerland.

Williams said: “The professionalism and diversity of experience of the AXON team is what really struck me. I am looking forward to working with the cross-functional AXON team to provide tailored solutions to our clients.

“Having lived and worked in Switzerland for many years, I appreciate how beneficial it is to have teams established on the ground to foster and develop relationships.”

60 Seconds with Hotwire UK’s Matt Cross

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Hotwire’s UK MD, Matt Cross, on the benefits of an expanding business, how the agency manages as an international business and why he’s a believer in ‘PR karma’.

Matt Cross BC

Matt Cross

Hotwire is going through a lot of changes at the moment, what’s the internal view?

Our recent acquisition of Eastwick in the US was met with genuine excitement across Hotwire in the UK. We have worked with Eastwick for many years and to cement that relationship by bringing it into the Hotwire family is a significant show of intent not just in the US but here too.

It opens up enormous possibilities for us and speaking personally, I have always been a huge fan of Barbara Bates and Heather Kernahan – they are super well connected on the West Coast and thoroughly awesome people too! That can only be a good thing for us here as clients look to expand into EMEA and beyond.

What are the advantages that come with the agency’s growth?

Apart from those obvious business advantages, we have brought 55 new, highly skilled and experienced people into the business with whom we can exchange ideas and learn from. Having such a sudden influx of diversity and talent is a great boost for a business which strives to do things differently. As we win more global accounts, I’m sure this will also present more opportunity to travel for the UK team.

How do you retain that localised specialism?

‘Glocal’ is a term which makes me feel mildly ill to use, but it actually works quite well for the dynamic we have at Hotwire. A global team which understands the nuances of large, complex clients, but with autonomy to operate at the local level to drive real results with real outcomes. When we train our people up, it is first with the local in mind, getting a solid grounding of what domestic PR requires to be truly successful. Only then can you have a wider appreciation of how that works on the international stage.

What are the challenges that come with working internationally?

For me the biggest challenge is being able to effectively demonstrate empathy across different regions. Without showing an understanding of a colleague’s situation and local pressures, creating a seamless working relationship is impossible. Giving everyone ample time to build relationships outside of the day to day is really important here too. Spending time training together, chatting over video calls and at our annual all-hands event is critical to being able to solve the issues which inevitably come up on complex multi-country campaigns with tight deadlines!

So far this year, what professional achievement are you most proud of?

Becoming MD of the UK office is definitely the highlight of my year. In fact it has also become the biggest milestone of my career (yes, even beating the time I met Seve Ballesteros on a press trip!). When I started in PR in 2004 it felt like a huge mountain to climb. All the senior management had these amazing relationships, knew everyone in the industry and had a million anecdotes to tell. Some 12 years later and I have plenty of war stories to tell and hope that I have made friends along the way. The industry is a small place really and doing the right thing by people over the years will serve you better in the long run – I’m definitely a believer in PR karma!

What are your ambitions for Hotwire in the UK?

We have got an incredible team here in the UK, which I’m very proud and lucky to lead. They are highly motivated and have a strong desire to learn more and progress. This gives us the perfect platform to push ourselves into new sectors such as Health Tech, as well as really grow our Consumer business over the next few years. Our B2B and Corporate teams meanwhile continue to push the boundaries of PR, developing truly integrated campaigns for clients spanning not only tech but also into banking, retail and media too.

What, in the wider PR industry, is exciting at the moment?

I spent the last few years with a growing feeling that PR must behave and act more like the advertising industry. Their use of insights and creative seemed like a good benchmark for PR to aspire to. But I’ve come to realise that actually it should be the other way round. Advancements in technology have democratised the data game and PR agencies are in a position to take huge advantage of this. We’re not bound by the legacy processes of old school advertising and can now access audience insight data which would have been out of reach just a few years ago. Combined with our consultancy-led approach, this makes us more attractive to CMOs looking for an alternative to the massive ATL budget requirements of yesteryear. Our Insights business is probably the fastest growing service we provide and I think that will continue as clients realise the advantages which can be gained.

Hume Brophy expands with new Frankfurt office

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Global communications firm Hume Brophy has opened an office in Frankfurt.

Juergen Parr

Juergen Parr

The new office will be the agency’s seventh international base and allow the firm to provide European, Asian and US clients services in Germany. It joins other branches based in London, Dublin, Brussels, Paris, Singapore and New York.

Hume Brophy is opening the office thanks to an expected surge of interest in Frankfurt following Brexit. The agency claims to have already seen demand from clients for financial services and corporate communications support in Germany.

Juergen Parr will head up the Frankfurt office and he brings 20 years of experience in strategic financial services and corporate communications.

Conall McDevitt, CEO of Hume Brophy, commented: “We are already seeing moves into Frankfurt as a result of Brexit, as institutions worldwide prepare themselves for how they structure their European corporate presences. Politically and financially, firms will need to a way to engage with stakeholders there. That’s the demand we are seeing from clients – and the new office puts us ahead of the curve, and perfectly positioned to meet that demand.”

Grayling wins public affairs brief with Virgin Trains

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Grayling has won a public affairs brief with Virgin Trains following a competitive pitch.

Jonathan Curtis BC

Jonathan Curtis

The brief covers public affairs services, including stakeholder engagement support, political intelligence and strategic advice to the operator of the East Coast and West Coast franchises.

Jonathan Curtis, Grayling’s head of public affairs, said: “We were thrilled to be appointed by Virgin Trains after a very competitive pitch process.  This is another great win for Grayling and adds to our hugely exciting roster of premium brands.  Our transport offer is second to none and successes like this continue to confirm that.”

The new brief adds to a string of high profile wins for Grayling’s public affairs team in recent months, including Lloyds Banking Group.

Omnicom Group reports UK organic revenue growth in Q3

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Omnicom Group has reported UK organic revenue growth of 5.2%, year-on-year, for the third quarter of the year ending September 30 2016. 

In its public relations businesses worldwide, which include FleishmanHillard Fishburn, Ketchum and Porter Novelli, it reported a 4.4% organic revenue increase in Q3 compared to the same period last year.

In contrast, for the other three ‘fundamental disciplines’ in the business it reported that organic revenues in advertising increased 3.6%, CRM increased 1.6% and speciality communications increased by 6.2% year-on-year, respectively.

Overall, Omnicom’s worldwide revenue in the third quarter of 2016 increased 2.3% to£3,081 million ($3,791.1m) in the third quarter which is up from £3,011 million ($3,706.6m) the previous year.

Neville McCarthy promotes London Craft Week

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London Craft Week, an annual event which showcases British and international craftsmanship, has appointed Neville McCarthy Associates to handle its PR and comms strategy.

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London Craft Week

From 3 to 7 May 2017, London Craft Week will showcase “first class craftsmanship” from around the world in a series of
over 200 innovative events across the capital.

The programme will include “hidden workshops” and “secret makers” alongside renowned masters, celebrated studios, galleries and luxury brands.

Neville McCarthy’s brief involves consumer and trade media relations activity across top-tier traditional and online media.

The agency will also be handling the social media channels to include content creation and curation.

Guy Salter, chairman of London Craft Week, said: “Neville McCarthy impressed us with its strong media relations, enthusiasm for craft, and creative response to the pitch. It also demonstrated a clear understanding of the luxury lifestyle sector and has experience across a broad spectrum of UK media.”

Dominic McCarthy, MD of Neville McCarthy, added: “London Craft Week is a prestigious win for NMA. Every year London Craft Week firmly places the city centre stage as the world’s creative capital and we aim to help them build on their already considerable success.”