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Enterprise Ireland (EI), the Irish government body charged with the international growth of Irish enterprises, has extended its contract with Eulogy for a further two years.
Trinity College Dublin
Eulogy, which has offices in Mumbai, Delhi and Bangalore as well as in London, will raise the profile of the Education in Ireland brand, which is managed by Enterprise Ireland. Through a digitally-led communications strategy, Eulogy aims to promote Ireland as a higher education destination among Indian overseas students.
While there are currently around 2,000 Indian students studying in Ireland’s higher education institutions, Education in Ireland predicts that this number will grow significantly in the next couple of years.
Cyrus Jogina, managing director of Eulogy India, said: “It is an exciting time to be working with Enterprise Ireland, as it seeks to deepen its engagement with India’s student population.
“Our work with them over the last four years has allowed us to get close to their core student audience and we are excited to build on that experience, deploying a digital communications programme which will help match India’s growing student body to Ireland’s world-class education sector.”
Goodyear brought Bottle onboard for a creative and innovative campaign to launch a new tyre product. The video-led campaign raised brand awareness and reinforced Goodyear’s values through an artistic idea with a focus on social sharing.
Client:Goodyear PR Team: Bottle Timing: Video launched 29 April, 2016
Objectives: Goodyear asked Bottle to: “Make our new tyre famous”. It wanted to generate publicity for the Eagle F1 Asymmetric 3 product, as well as the wider Eagle tyre range.
Goodyear asked for a strategy that would reflect its ‘made to feel good’ brand positioning and creativity ethos. Bottle sought to drive engagement across Goodyear’s website and social channels, especially on Facebook, through a video-led campaign.
Strategy and implementation: The target audience for the Eagle campaign was male, in the late 20s to 40s and classed as AB1. It’s seen as an image conscious group, in general, that values craft and ‘experiential discovery’.
To capture attention, engage the viewer and encourage sharing, Bottle used video to create a campaign it hoped would be emotive, communicating originality, creativity and memorability.
Bottle partnered with British artist, Ian Cook, to create an original artwork with the new tyre. Bottle’s creative content lead, Wes West, oversaw the two-day filming process. The tyres were captured in time-lapse motion and edited into a one-minute video to culminate in a ‘big reveal’ ending.
Social channels and ‘shareability’ were important to the content-driven campaign, and the final video edit was hosted on Goodyear’s Facebook, Twitter and YouTube channels, as well as the brand’s publishing hub, HugTheRoads.com. All posts included a call to action. Results:
A plan was set up for real-time monitoring throughout the four-week Eagle campaign, and underperforming aspects were cut. Paid activity on Twitter and YouTube, as well as media outreach, were also closely monitored.
The video was covered by publications that included the BBC, The Drum and LBBonline.com. Goodyear’s video was viewed nearly one million times in the first two weeks. The campaign reached over two and a half million people in its first month.
The Eagle F1 Asymmetric 3 product page received a 77% increase in visitors on launch day, with 12% of visitors coming directly from Facebook. In addition, Goodyear’s Facebook channel received a 175% increase in daily page likes on launch date, and 880 new page likes in the first four-week period as a direct result of the Eagle campaign.
Have you recently run a great campaign with results worth shouting about? If so, let Emily Andrews know.
Following Havas’ acquisition of London-based Just:: Health Communications in June 2015, the agency has rebranded to Havas Just::.
Havas Just::, which is part of the Havas Health group, continues to be led by its co-founders, Emma Crozier and Jennie Talman.
Talman said: “We are proud to be part of Havas Health. We share the same passion and enthusiasm for the work and after a successful 12 months we are delighted to embrace Havas not only in spirit but also in name.”
Crozier added: “We have had an invigorating first year as part of the HAVAS
family and are working closely with other agencies in the HAVAS Health network to
deliver relevant and refreshing campaigns.”
Havas Just:: reports to Havas Health chief executive Donna Murphy. She added: “The acquisition of Just:: last year was a strategic investment in the PR space to further grow the HAVAS Health brand footprint in global markets. In the last 12 months HAVAS Just:: has successfully joined forces with other agencies in the HAVAS Health network to offer clients a unique and unified agency approach to healthcare communications.”
Havas is a major, multinational advertising and PR agency headquartered in Paris, France.
Leeds-based Finn Communications has officially opened its new London office today. Matt Bourn, who has joined the agency from MWW PR, heads up the new offer.
The move is part of the 10 year-old agency’s plan extend its consumer, trade and corporate PR services to media brands, as well as bring new content and platform expertise to the agency’s existing clients.
Finn clients include Taylor’s of Harrogate, Quorn Foods, ghd, Morphy Richards, R&R Ice Cream and Addo Food Group.
Bourn said: “Clients need agency partners who can manage and build reputation to positively impact on commercial performance. I am hugely excited to be joining Finn which is perfectly suited at the heart of consumer brands, technology and the media landscape.”
Bourn is the former MD of Braben and, most recently, SVP Europe of MWW PR’s media practice, where he built a client base including Bloomberg Media, Sky Media, Bauer Media, and the Content Marketing Association.
MGT Capital Investments has appointed Tiffany Madison as director of corporate communications.
Madison was previously the CEO of d10e, an international disruptive technology conference. Prior to joining MGT, she was the campaign manager for the last six weeks of proposed CEO, John McAfee’s presidential bid.
John McAfee is an American computer programmer and businessman who ran for the 2016 presidential election as a member of the self-declared ‘Cyber Party’. He later decided to run as a Libertarian, but lost the election to New Mexico governor Gary Johnson.
John McAfee, proposed executive chairman and chief executive officer of MGT Capital, said: “I have worked extensively with Ms Madison, and she is one of the great communicators of our time. We are tremendously lucky to have her on board.”
MGT Capital Investments is currently in the process of acquiring two cyber security companies: D-Vasive, a provider of anti-spy software, and Demonsaw, a file sharing software platform provider. MGT Capital intends to change its corporate name to ‘John McAfee Global Technologies, Inc’ upon completion of the D-Vasive acquisition.
Yellow Jersey will act as financial PR adviser for Totally Plc, which manages outsourced services for the healthcare sector.
Yellow Jersey director, Felicity Winkles, who will lead the account, said: “We are delighted to be working with Totally at such a progressive time in the company’s strategic development. Our remit will see us report direct to the board with a proven track record of delivering value accretive acquisition opportunities.”
Consultant Joe Burgess and junior consultant Josh Cole will also work on the Totally account.
Totally aims to become a leading provider of ‘out-of-hospital’ care in the UK, and is currently developing its ‘buy and build’ strategy in order to diversify its offering.
Totally currently operates three wholly owned subsidiaries: Totally Health, My Clinical Coach and Premier Physical Healthcare Ltd. Its shares are listed on AIM.
Bike brand Raleigh has appointed Conker Communications as its first PR agency.
Conker, based in Didsbury, has been called upon to handle all PR and comms activity for Raleigh’s UK offering, with campaigns spanning both consumer and trade markets.
The agency aims to target people who are new to cycling and will also support Raleigh’s Bike for Life consumer campaign.
Michelle Jakeway, Raleigh’s marketing manager, said: “I’ve worked with Conker before and always found them enthusiastic, hardworking and results driven, so when we decided to call on a PR agency they were the natural choice. They’ve hit the ground running and within weeks have received praise from all the executives and secured attention grabbing coverage, which is just what we asked for.”
In addition, Conker has won a brief to handle the PR for snacking start-up brand Real Handful.
The agency will launch Real Handful, which is described as a “nutritionally balanced trail mix inspired snack”, to consumer and B2B markets. The brand has already been taken on by national stockists Holland and Barrett and Ocado, as well as a number of independent stores.
Sarah Wallwork, Conker MD, said of the agency’s new pitch wins: “We’re delighted to be working with such exciting companies. From the Great British institution that’s Raleigh to a plucky start up, like Real Handful – which is already showing it can compete with the big boys – at Conker we’re in our element when we’re raising our clients’ profile with business boosting results.
“2016 has been a great year so far for team Conker. We’re looking forward to wowing Raleigh with our consumer and trade campaign, as well as hitting the lifestyle press to help spread the word about Real Handful.”
Missed out on this week’s PR News? Get your handy round-up of the essential highlights of PR and media stories, features and events content over the last seven days on Gorkana News.
Aduro Communications has been briefed to promote the 45th birthday of Mr. Men.
People News
Trainline has appointed MSLGROUP London’s Victoria Biggs as European director of comms. She takes on her new role in August with a brief to drive brand awareness in the UK and Continental Europe.
Global vehicle manufacturer Nissan has strengthened its global comms function with a series of promotions and hires. Sadayuki Hamaguchi, currently head of Nissan’s global corporate comms, has taken on the role of general manager and head of Japan comms, PayPal’s EMEA head of comms, Amanda Groty, has been named general manager, global corporate comms, and David Reuter, currently vice president of comms for Nissan North America, is to take up the role of vice president, global comms operations.
Eulogy has promoted Lucie Kaye to head of consumer, who takes over from Scot Devine, who is in a new cross-agency role as brand and innovation director.
Blue Rubicon’s Dan Masser has joined LEWIS to head its new corporate comms practice.
MSLGROUP, Publicis Groupe’s global PR firm, has strengthened its UK consumer offer with a number of appointments, including Amber O’Connor as global and EMEA director and Carson Gray Elias as head of its Luxury and Lifestyle team.
Art student Chloe Abrahams has been named the winner of Golin’s unconventional internship programme, which includes a two-month adventure.
Pitch Wins
Dr Leah Totton, winner of the BBC TV series The Apprentice in 2013, has hired Positive Communications to handle her PR.
Aduro Communications has been chosen to deliver an anniversary campaign around this year’s 45th birthday of the Mr. Men family brand.
Global agency TK has been appointed by Melitta Professional Coffee Solutions to handle the UK launch of its new range of blended coffee, following a three-way pitch.
South-East Asian energy drink brand Carabao has selected W to lead its UK comms, as it gears up to launch a multi-million-pound UK marketing campaign and three-year partnerships with Chelsea FC and Reading FC.
The Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) has brought in Threepipe to work with sports sponsorship marketing agency Earnie to support the inaugural Unibet Champions League of Darts.
IT services and support company Datcom has briefed Shooting Star to deliver its PR strategy.
Agency News
In response to growth in the health tech sector, Hotwire has launched a new global health tech practice.
Beattie is opening an office in Canada and claims its international expansion is a reaction to the recent Brexit vote.
Events
Media briefing with What Car?
From the outset, when it launched in 1973, What Car? set out to be different, says editorial director, Jim Holder. At an exclusive Gorkana media briefing this week, Holder explained how the magazine strives to talk to the “general consumer” and give them the stats, data and information they want to make informed car purchases.
Meet Kate Thornton, editor-in-chief of TBSeen.com Gorkana has a few final places available for its exclusive breakfast briefing with smart shopping and lifestyle content platform TBSeen.com next Thursday 7 July.
Opinion
PRCA’s Francis Ingham: ‘Cannes 2016 will not be remembered with pride’ After only five of 84 PR Lions were awarded to PR agencies at this year’s Cannes Lions festival, the PRCA’s director general, Francis Ingham, discusses his disappointment with the results and suggests four areas to concentrate on in the future.
Analysing effective communication and leadership As the agency publishes its fifth annual Ketchum Leadership Communication Monitor (KLCM) study, Rod Cartwright, director, global corporate and public affairs practice, explains how it benefits Ketchum and its clients.
News Analysis
Digital Marketing World Forum: three PR takeaways The Digital Marketing World Forum, which took place in London last week, hosted big players in the marketing and comms industry, with speakers from brands including the BBC, Oxfam, TSB and GOV.UK.Gorkana has rounded up the three key takeaways for PRs from the two day conference.
Journalist News
Andrew Ward has been appointed energy editor at the Financial Times, with a brief to lead the FT‘s coverage of energy, including the oil and gas industry, nuclear power and related policy issues. He was previously the FT‘s pharmaceutical correspondent.
Alison Phillips has been appointed deputy group editor-in-chief at Trinity Mirror.
Felicity Morse has joined the i as digital news editor. She was previously social media editor at BBC Radio 1’s Newsbeat.
Georgi Kantchev has been appointed as financial markets reporter at The Wall Street Journal, where he will cover equity, credit and commodity markets. Georgi was previously an oil reporter at the title.
Lauren Franklin and Joshua Fox have been named digital showbiz reporters at The Sun.
Claire Lomas has been appointed UK senior video editor at MailOnline. Claire was previously video news producer at The Daily Telegraph.
Kate Phillips has been chosen as controller, entertainment commissioning at the BBC. Currently creative director of formats at BBC Worldwide, she will replace Mark Linsey who has been named director of BBC Studios.
Tomi Adebayo has been appointed tech editor at UNILAD. He also remains editor at GadgetsBoy.
Features
PR Case Study: #Try20
When PHA Media was enlisted to support Living Streets’ National Walking Month 2016 and change the behaviour of the general public, particularly among the middle aged, the agency developed a #Try20 campaign which called on people to walk at least 20 minutes per day. The results? More than 450 pieces of coverage and a five-fold increase in pledges on the previous year.
Behind the Headlines with The Spa PR Company’s Tracey Stapleton Tracey Stapleton, MD of The Spa PR Company, on the importance of developing the agency’s role beyond PR, being a great list maker, the thrill of achieving a media “snowball” moment during a campaign and the five things she’d like to tell her ten-year-old self.
Jasmine Birtles, founder and editor of consumer finance site MoneyMagpie.com, talks to Gorkana‘s Ebunola Adenipekun about the site’s recent re-launch, why content needs to be all about making money and being the first site to write about how to cash in from buying lost luggage.
You launched MoneyMagpie in 2007, describing it as “a go-to-site for money-making ideas and guides to managing your money”. Where did the name come from?
We thought it up one evening as we were trying to find a fun, memorable name for a lively site about money. We were pretty impressed when we found it was available!
The site went through a relaunch this year. Tell us about that.
The site originally launched in 2007 and has been through a few redesigns since, but the one that we’ve just done is far more extreme than any of the others. We have changed the colours, the logo and the orientation. It’s now much easier to navigate, more professional looking and more targeted.
We have specific demographic groups that we have identified among our readers – parents, professionals, over-50s, students, the unemployed and disabled people – and now it is much easier to find the articles that relate to them.
How often is new content posted to the site?
We upload new content every day – articles, videos, competitions and pictures.
What are the main types of stories do you post?
We concentrate primarily on articles about ways to make money, although we also have a lot of content on how to save money, as well as a lot of ‘manage your money’ articles (investing, saving, insurance etc). We have regular competitions as well and our videos are on all sorts of subjects connected to money. We also have articles on clearing clutter and organising connected to our annual National Clear Your Clutter Day campaign.
When do you see most traffic on the site and what are the average weekly/monthly views?
Monthly uniques are around 250,000 (Alexa ranking is around 6,000) with 70,000 plus on the weekly newsletter. On the whole, our biggest traffic surges happen on Tuesdays when the newsletter goes out.
How big is the team?
There are about six on the team.
How can PRs help with content and how do you prefer to be approached?
Writing to [email protected] is the best way to contact us. We are interested in money-making ideas, products for competitions and, particularly, freebies to offer our readers. We try to include them where possible in our weekly newsletter.
What should PRs bear in mind when approaching you and your team?
We prefer to be contacted by email. We are a very small team and have very little time to speak to PR executives.
And finally, what has been your biggest scoop on MoneyMagpie so far?
For public relations practitioners, says John Orme, senior partner and counsellor at Porter Novelli, Brexit necessitates careful risk management. Trying to understand who the key players are, he says, is the best way to predict and prepare for unforeseen circumstances.
John Orme
Is Brexit a precipitous leap into the unknown that redefines the nature of corporate risk, or is it just another chain of events that can be assessed, evaluated and managed?
So much depends on your organisation’s risk profile. Entrepreneurial start-ups are often defined by their large appetite for risk and their ability to seize opportunity from the jaws of disruption. Established corporations tend to build large legal, operational and fiscal infrastructures to manage and mitigate risk. They’re at opposite ends, but still on the same scale.
A starting point for any corporate or brand management team reviewing the hour-by-hour aftershocks of the Brexit decision is fundamental risk assessment, trying to get a clear understanding of the balance between the likelihood of the risk occurring, and the impact if it does.
The difficulty with any calm analysis of the post-Brexit situation is that it is a constantly shifting kaleidoscope of real, reflected and refracted images, with each partial conclusion fuelling the next piece of speculation.
In the immediate aftermath of the result, the exploitative response of the traders in the world’s stock markets and current exchanges created a backdrop of financial shock and awe that has stoked fires of emotional panic, vulnerability and distrust.
Much of this volatility is driven by the arrival of so many different involved participants with an array of financial, political, organisational, personal, family, social, cultural and existential vested interests. What started as one UK political party’s decision to trigger a referendum to resolve internal pressures about its European policy has triggered consequences that have already been felt personally by most people around the world.
As there are so few specific facts available about post-Brexit plans, processes or outcomes, the most reliable starting point for corporate and brand management teams is to try to understand the underlying motives of the players influencing their particular fields of interest.
In a recent Porter Novelli blog on the benefits of using war-gaming techniques for effective risk management, we said: “Working away at the motives of the key players means that the scenarios are based on underlying drivers that are unlikely to change, rather than jumping to try and anticipate and respond to short-term tactics. Focusing on the context surrounding an issue provides a realistic understanding of the external factors that will influence the participants, and even identify new players to the game.”
At a time when facts are overwhelmed by speculation and spin, keeping a careful eye on all the protagonists and doing the hard work to understand their real motivation and goals are two of the most valuable exercises for any brand or organisation trying to plot a risk strategy to navigate through the post-Brexit minefield.
John Orme is senior partner and senior counsellor at Porter Novelli. See a previous article on crisis comms here.
