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Weber Shandwick has acquired Flipside, a specialised mobile and digital agency, for an undisclosed sum.
Andy Polansky
Flipside will retain its name and work with Weber Shandwick to deliver a digital offering that “blends content, community and commerce for both B2C and B2B marketers”.
Headquartered in London, with an additional office in Guildford, Flipside designs and develops mobile apps and digital experiences for brands.
The company also offers strategic business and technology planning, social media management and mobile-centric marketing comms.
Clients include Waterstones, Visa, Cemex, Dairy Crest, Heathrow Express, GSK, Diageo and Doddle, according to its website.
The acquisition will combine Flipside’s mobile platform expertise, creative and technical services with Weber Shandwick’s global social media, brand publishing and integrated media offerings.
Andy Polansky (pictured), Weber Shandwick’s CEO, said: “As our clients realign their marketing efforts around mobile environments, our focus is on bringing them the most creative and transformative solutions possible. Flipside has particularly strong creative and technical expertise, and its team further bolsters Weber Shandwick’s leading position in content marketing and social media.”
Marcus Dyer, MD at Flipside, said: “Flipside’s success has been in helping our clients to capitalise on business and comms opportunities in an ever more mobile world, and I’m delighted that our deeply talented team of mobile and digital specialists has the opportunity to continue that pursuit on a global scale as part of Weber Shandwick.”
Chinese takeaway Zing Zing, which raised £1.6 million in the biggest “over-fund ever” on platform Crowdfund earlier this year, has appointed Alfred’s Stacey Jaffe as PR director, as it ramps up its growth plans.
Jaffe was previously planning director at Alfred, where she worked closely with the company’s founders to drive new business and support the team with strategy development for new and existing clients.
Before Alfred, she was an associate director at Lexis, where she led the Pizza Restaurants UK account and headed up several Coca-Cola brand campaigns.
Prior to that, she worked for both Frank PR and The Red Consultancy.
Josh Magidson, Zing Zing’s founder, said: “It’s been an incredible year for Zing Zing and Stacey’s appointment is testament to how quickly the business is growing. Stacey will work with myself and the team towards our goal of becoming the best Chinese takeout in the world.”
Having sold his first business to Just Eat, Magidson founded Zing Zing to “change the face” of the Chinese food takeout and delivery industry by offering “modern, healthy food, cooked fresh and delivered fast”.
With a turnover of £1 million in 2015 and reaching profitability from two restaurants, Zing Zing is backed by investors and advisors with experience of Wagamamas, Chipotle and Domino’s.
Following the success of the London Paralympics in 2012, it wasn’t certain that Rio would grab the same level of attention for sponsors and stars in 2016. But, PRs tell Gorkana the athletes’ human interest stories and extraordinary feats continue to create a compelling narrative.
But, now we are in the final week of the games and such worries have calmed, as ticket sales have picked up and attendance has surpassed the Beijing Paralympics.
Stories behind the starshave made this year’s event compelling for a worldwide audience, despite some negative press at the start, according to PRs from Pitch, H+K Strategies and Polygon PR.
Emphasise the positive human interest stories
Andy Sutherden, global head of sports and marketing sponsorship at H+K Strategies, tells Gorkana that spectator attendance is an important metric of success, but it’s not the only one comms pros should pay attention to.
“After the Rio Olympics, some would say it’s naïve to expect fans to suddenly become organised and buy tickets in advance for the Paralympics. Embracing cultural norms in any host market for major sports events is a pre-requisite to effective comms planning.
“When outcomes are so unpredictable, scenario planning and having the ability to optimise positive news in real time becomes paramount,” he adds.
The Paralympics make it all the easier to tell a positive story due to the strong human interest stories presented by the athletes. Sutherden continues: “Paralympians are elite athletes who present a catalogue of extraordinary human interest stories that powerfully connect with the public.
“Brands like Nissan, Allianz and Samsung have slowly woken up to the trail blazing lead of Channel 4 and Sainsbury’s but, in my opinion, driving positive brand reputation through Paralympic sport still remains one of the biggest missed opportunities in the global sports marketing industry.”
Channel 4 plays a key role in creating Paralympic stars in the UK
Since its successful coverage of the Paralympic games in 2012, Channel 4 has been a leader in marketing the games and their athletes. This year, the channel has recreated its ‘Superhumans’ campaign which highlights the achievements of the athletes taking part.
Pitch has been working with the broadcaster’s PR team to remind media of the ‘special’ place that Paralympic sport gained in the UK after London 2012 and build on this success.
Chris Allen, account director at Pitch, says: “We’re telling the stories of Paralympic athletes in an engaging and positive way. We have found that for the majority of media there is still great appetite to hear more about them in the build up to Rio 2016, regardless of ticket sales on the ground.”
It’s the stories behind these athletes that mark the Paralympics out as different to other sporting events, according to Allen. He says: “The stories they have are unique and the understanding each athlete has over the need to grow and improve their sport, as well as the perception of disability, provides a real opportunity for PR, programming and marketing.
“Unlike other sports, where sometimes athletes can seem removed from the real world, Paralympians provide audiences with both elite sport and a human connection and I think this is reflected in the way the nation and media supported them during London 2012 and has continued to do so in the build up to Rio 2016.”
According to Allen, the ‘We’re The Superhumans’ campaign, launched earlier this month, has received widespread praise, “blanket” media coverage and to date, nearly six million YouTube views and 32 million views on Facebook.
The campaign has also led to landing coverage in listings guides – including a front cover and four page feature on the Radio Times – detailing Channel 4’s broadcasting schedule – as well as regular athlete and Channel 4 presenter columns in The Times, Metro, i and The Scotsman.
Stories can shine when there is less media ‘noise’
While the Paralympics Games are still large in scale, fewer attendees and eyes on screens can create PR opportunities, according to Mark Southern, creative director and founder at Polygon PR.
“Lower profile events create great PR opportunities for the event participants and brands seeking to align with these people. Usually this corresponds to more time to talk in detail about a story, due to less competing noise – in this case, the inspiring stories of Paralympians have more space to breathe in the media coverage,” says Southern.
He continues: “The brand opportunity here is to open up in more detail about why this athlete means so much to their brand, which creates greater engagement, and inspires more people.”
Aspectus, the B2B agency specialising in financial services, technology, energy and engineering, has appointed Michael House as an account director on its technology team.
Michael House
House, who will be based in Aspectus’ London office, joins from tech PR agency FieldHouse Associates. Prior to that, he worked for Hotwire PR in the telecoms team, and started out his career as a journalist for trade titles including, most recently, Mobile News.
House said: “Aspectus is an exciting, innovative and highly effective agency, with a collective of brilliant people. I’m thrilled to join the technology team, packed with enthusiasm and cutting edge clients. I very much look forward to becoming entwined in its ongoing growth.”
Aspectus has offices in Aberdeen, London, New York, Lucerne and Singapore. Its client base includes AirSwift, Concur, Invenias, LapCabby, KIC InnoEnergy, Oanda, RES and Zaizi.
Sophie Hodgson, head of technology at Aspectus, added: “We are delighted to have Michael join us and feel he has the right skill set we need to grow the technology team over the coming months. There hasn’t been a more exciting time to be working in tech PR in the UK and having people with the right experience will be vital to servicing our current clients’ needs and attracting new business.”
SEC has taken a 60% stake in Newington Communications, and its international headquarters will now be based at the agency’s London office as it seeks to grow its presence in Europe, and expand into Asia and the Americas.
The deal comes just over a month since SEC, which also has operations in Brussels, Germany and Spain, listed on AIM, and brings the combined annual turnover of the group to more than £22 million.
Fiorenzo Tagliabue, SEC’s founder and CEO, said: “We had wanted to invest in a British consultancy that combined a strong track record in the sector, with a forward-looking approach when it comes to developing new integrated campaigning techniques, and is on the front foot when it comes to transparency and ethics.
“Newington met this criteria and we’re delighted it has joined our developing partnership across Europe, the US and Asia.”
Mark Glover, co-founder and CEO of Newington, added: “This partnership will provide Newington with the necessary scale to continue to build our integrated public affairs and corporate comms offer at a local, regional, national, European and international level.
“This is a new business model – a partnership of independently run consultancies which are encouraged to retain the unique qualities that set them apart from the competition.”
Naomi Harris will remain managing director of Newington’s public affairs division, working alongside Glover and Newington co-founder and managing director Phil Briscoe, both of whom will also become members of SEC Group’s management committee. The committee is chaired by Tom Parker, the managing director of Cambre, SEC Group’s Brussels agency.
Last month, Newington Communications launched as part of a major rebrand of Bellenden to mark its tenth anniversary year.
Manifest has named IlK’s Martin Farrar-Smith as branding and design director, as the agency further bolsters its executive committee for growth and international expansion plans.
Martin Farrar-Smith
Farrar-Smith is the third senior appointment at Manifest this year. Previously, he was art director at Ilk, an integrated agency based in Leeds.
A school-friend and long-time collaborator of Alex Myers, group CEO at Manifest, Farrar-Smith has more than a decade of experience as a senior brand and design consultant, delivering work for brands including BrewDog and Panasonic.
Based in Manifest’s London office, he will work on global briefs and drive best brand and design practice at Manifest New York.
Myers said: “Martin’s appointment demonstrates our commitment to breaking the traditional agency mould. He doesn’t just add creative design to our service offering, his arrival means we’re able to fuse strategy, communications, content and design expertise within a new agency model.
“In a traditional agency structure, these disciplines are kept separate, but Manifest is forging a new structure built around true integration and the changing shape of the media. Martin isn’t just building a design studio, he’s merging design thinking and visual communication into everything we do – from brand development to media relations.
“He’s also pretty quick with a Simpsons quote and can recite Mean Girls in its entirety, so his talent really knows no bounds.”
Farrar-Smith added: “Manifest is the only agency laser-focused on innovation, partnership and creativity above margins or outputs. This doesn’t just make it successful, it makes it significant, and I couldn’t be prouder to join the team. Our unique integrated approach means we go way beyond just delivering exceptional work; we’re constantly challenging expectations of the industry and the stereotypes that can hold comms agencies back.
“In just a few weeks I have already been involved in work that not only breaks new ground in the client’s industry, but redefines marketing in general,” he added. “It’s incredibly exciting to be a part of something so ambitious.”
The Advisory Board is charged with ‘challenging, provoking and inspiring’ new ways of doing business, and advising on new trends such as emerging technology, new content platforms, products and services, collaboration opportunities and thought leadership.
The board will complement the firm’s newly formed GLC, comprised of 20 senior Ketchum leaders. The Advisory Board will work closely with the GLC and the firm’s partner group, and will report to Rob Flaherty, Ketchum’s chairman and CEO.
The 10-member Break Through Advisory Board consists of five women and five men, selected from all levels of the global agency through an open application process. Members include Asya Soskova, director of organisational development, based in Moscow and Adriana Toledo, brand marketing practice leader, based in São Paulo. See the full list here.
Flaherty said: “When we launched the Global Leadership Council, I wanted to uncover our brand enthusiasts, our entrepreneurs and our disruptors to ensure we tap into the energy that pulses throughout the agency so we can bring our best to our colleagues, our clients and the industry. The sheer number and quality of applications for the Break Through Advisory Board underscored for me that our future is in good hands.”
He added: “Ketchum has embarked on a year of tremendous transformation in 2016, having named a new worldwide president, a chief operating officer in Europe, and a new CEO across all of our German offices. Now, as we elevate even more diverse voices across our network and at all levels, I am eager to see these individuals contribute new thinking and help us develop innovative ways to better serve our clients.”
Peter Ross, former MD and EVP of Weber Shandwick’s EMEA tech practice, is launching a content writing business Ross Content Writing & Consulting to support corporate, social media, executive leadership, product/tech and internal comms programmes.
Peter Ross
Originally a marketing comms writer with a background in journalism, Ross has 22 years’ industry experience. He joined Weber Shandwick’s – then called Miller Communications – Silicon Valley office as a part-time intern and progressed over two decades to run the firm’s tech PR business in both the UK and Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA).
He has also worked for Hotwire in London as a senior partner.
Ross Content Writing & Consulting, based in London and West Sussex, will partner with in-house professionals, specialist consultancies and PR agencies in the B2B/B2C tech, financial services, fintech, B2B industrial, education, healthcare and non-profit sectors.
Ross will also target markets such as Asia and the Middle East, where English may not be the first language or where, he says, writing resources are scarce.
Ross Content Writing & Consulting’s founding client is a leading global technology company, and the consultancy is also providing pro-bono support to the East Palo Alto Kids Foundation.
Ross said: “The role of content has never been more important in terms of differentiating yourself and sustaining business momentum. In my experience, I appreciated good writers who also understood my world as a comms professional: the pressures, politics and challenging timelines.
“Seniority and diplomatic polish was a must for working with my subject matter experts and internal teams. It’s this intersection of skills and qualities that I’m providing.”
Global CEO advisory firm Teneo has integrated its entire UK strategic comms businesses, including Blue Rubicon, under the new name Teneo Blue Rubicon.
Teneo Blue Rubicon
The move follows Teneo’s acquisitions of Blue Rubicon, Stockwell and Pendomer Communications in 2015. The 250-strong team is now in offices near London Bridge in Central London.
Teneo Blue Rubicon says it will use the global capabilities of the broader Teneo platform across 12 operating divisions to give “strategic counsel to the leaders of large companies and organisations”, with the aim of solving major financial, reputational and transformational issues.
The business is grouped around “four core centres of excellence”: reputation campaigning, government relations, financial communications and strategy consulting.
In addition to the Teneo Blue Rubicon team, the combined office will also include members of Teneo’s Consulting, Sports, Digital and Intelligence divisions.
According to the agency: “The combined London offering represents a major new force in the European consulting market and will provide clients with a unique set of services and expertise not available anywhere in the world today.”
Ian Middleton has today joined Celicourt as a partner and co-investor in the company.
Ian Middleton
Middleton joins Celicourt from Powerscourt, where he was head of industrials, energy and natural resources and a member of the senior management team. Previously, he worked as a director at financial and business comms consultancy Merlin PR, and at equity marketing consultancy Scott Harris.
Middleton has worked for clients including Dong Energy (on its recent IPO), Airbus Group, Royal Dutch Shell and Volvo Group.
Mark Antelme, Celicourt’s MD, said: “We are extremely pleased that Ian is joining Celicourt. He is an excellent operator and our current and future clients will benefit hugely from his expertise, which has been honed over an impressive career, including in investment banking and subsequently for over a decade in strategic communications. He is a great addition to the team and we welcome him on board.”
Middleton added: “I have been very impressed by Celicourt, not only by the standard of its work, but also with the attitude and culture of the team. They have got off to a superb start and I am very excited about joining them and playing my part in the ongoing development of the business.”
