Threepipe promotes inaugural Unibet Champions League of Darts

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The Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) brought in Threepipe to work with sports sponsorship marketing agency Earnie to support the inaugural Unibet Champions League of Darts.

Darts Threepipe

Earnie and Threepipe will work together to drive ticket sales for the inaugural event, which will take place this September in Cardiff.

The Unibet Champions League of Darts will see the leading eight players from the PDC Order of Merit battle it out for a £100,000 first prize live on the BBC.

Earnie has developed a creative campaign that aims to play on the rivalry for the game, from both the players and the fans perspective. Threepipe will run an integrated digital campaign combining paid search and social advertising to reach darts and sports fans to attend the event at the Motorpoint Arena in Cardiff.

Alistair Gammell, founder of Earnie, said: “It’s great to team up with Threepipe to bring such an exciting event to life. With live crowds and TV viewing on the rise, it’s great to be part this showpiece weekend.”

Refresh PR appointed by insureTAXI

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Refresh PR will create and implement a communications campaign for UK taxi insurance broker, insureTAXI.

Refresh PR Team 1

The Refresh PR team

The aim is to generate news stories and creative content for national and regional news sites in order to boost brand awareness, as well as the insurance company’s online presence.

Laura Mashiter, founder and managing director of Refresh PR, said: “Companies are approaching us to help them be more visible online so they can be found by potential and existing customers. By understanding the media, and not only tapping into, but creating the news agenda, we can secure coverage on high authority sites, helping to get the client in front of new audiences, create a buzz and drive traffic to their website.”

Commissioned research will investigate the habits, attitudes and opinions of taxi drivers, and Refresh has also said that it will build relationships with educational institutes and local councils.

Tim Crighton, marketing director at The County Group, added: “It was important for us to partner with a PR team that would take the time to get to know our company and our customers, which Refresh PR set about doing from our very first meeting. As soon as we met Refresh PR we were confident they had the skills, knowledge and expertise to bring our campaign and deliver on results, while staying true to our brand and delivering our key messages.”

W launches Carabao energy drink in the UK

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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.

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Pictured left to right: Chelsea FC players Diego Costa, John Terry, Eden Hazard and Willian

W has been briefed to deliver a PR campaign, bringing to life the brand’s “inclusive ethos” through consumer comms and sport sponsorship, as well as trade and corporate PR.

The agency aims to challenge the dominance of other brands in the UK energy drink market by expanding the category to encompass a wider range of consumer lifestyles and interests.

Working alongside Carabao’s in-house team, W will support the brand’s football sponsorships of Chelsea FC and Reading FC.

The multi-million pound Chelsea deal, which begins this summer ahead of the 2016-17 Premier League campaign, sees Carabao become a principal commercial sponsor of the club, as well as official training-wear partner, for the next three seasons.

W won the account following a four-way pitch.

John Luck, chief marketing officer of Intercarabao, said: “We have huge ambitions for the UK, and believe the potential for energy drinks in this market is not being fulfilled by the current providers. Carabao has a far more universal appeal than other brands, and W’s role will be critical in helping us to shape that story. We have been hugely impressed by the agency’s energy, commitment, and vision – which were apparent throughout the pitch process.”

W CEO Warren Johnson added: “Carabao is a massive success story in Asia, so to have been chosen as a partner for its international expansion and entry into the UK market is a truly exciting moment for us. We look forward to working closely with the in-house team to help grow Carabao’s presence exponentially in the coming months.”

MSLGROUP strengthens UK leadership team

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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.

mslgroup Amber and Carson

Amber O’Connor and Carson Gray Elias

O’Conner joins to run existing and new accounts, both global and regional, across the MSLGROUP network.

She has more than 20 years’ experience as a global brand comms professional, working with FMCG and consumer health companies including Unilever, GSK, J&J, Merck and Pfizer in global brand development and local market activation roles.

Previously, she established the Consumer Health practice in Edelman London.

Gray Elias returns to MSLGROUP, having previously headed up its specialist practice for luxury, lifestyle and fashion brands in North America.

She now joins the UK team to lead its UK Luxury and Lifestyle offer.

A specialist comms consultant, Gray Elias spent more than 20 years advising global brands including Tiffany & Co., Rolls-Royce, Emirates, SHISEIDO and World Gold Council.

MSLGROUP AVRIL

Avril Lee

After working with Edelman to establish the agency’s UAE office, Gray Elias rejoins MSLGROUP with a brief to grow business across the UK.

Additionally, Avril Lee, who joined the firm in the UK last year and sits on the UK board of directors, will take the role of acting head of its Consumer Practice, whilst continuing her role as MD of the Healthcare practice in the UK and EMEA.

Lee, who is a former CEO of Ketchum, will work with the senior leaders in the Consumer Practice to support the team in the consumer and luxury space.

The move to strengthen the team follows yesterday’s news of Victoria Biggs, current MD MSLGROUP’s Consumer Practice in the UK, moving client side to join Trainline as EMEA comms director later this year.

Lee said: “Victoria has been a strong leader of MSLGROUP’s Consumer Practice and will be missed both personally and professionally. We wish her well in her new role at Trainline. Carson and Amber, alongside our existing directors, are already demonstrating the strong leadership required to continue to grow the Consumer Practice here in London.”

Golin announces winner of ‘unternship’ placement

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Chloe Abrahams

Art student, Chloe Abrahams, is the winner of Golin’s unconventional internship programme, which includes a two-month adventure.

In an effort to encourage diversity among its applicants, Golin launched an ‘unternship’ that would reward successful candidates with a two-month trip, as well as a three-month office-based internship in one of its creative teams.

Neil Kleiner, Golin’s head of content & social, said: “The communications industry relies on diverse and unlikely candidates to bring fresh thinking. The Unternship is about finding those candidates with an adventurous spirit, a different perspective to life and a willingness to go all in and seek out new experiences.”

Abrahams has been selected as the candidate to bring that new perspective to the agency. For her two-month trip, she has elected to travel to remote communities in the Amazon rainforest, Peru, Europe and the Galapagos without her smart phone, or any kind of digital technology.

Kleiner added: “Chloe ticks every box as an Untern. Her two months of travel and adventure without her smartphone will help her discover the core of what captures people’s attention.”

The 22-year-old will experience what it is like to communicate without the technology that many westerners take for granted.

Abrahams said: “I decided upon the most unconventional thing a 20-something, social media-obsessed person could do. To leave my smartphone and social media accounts behind.”

The unternship was opened up to people of all ages and backgrounds, so as to attract talent from beyond the conventional pool of Russell Group candidates. The application included a challenge to have a two-hour adventure in London for just £25. Abrahams will receive the London living wage (£18,500) as well as £1,500 upfront to help plan her journey.

Datcom hires Shooting Star

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IT services and support company, Datcom, will collaborate with Shooting Star to deliver its PR strategy.

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Pictured from left to right: Andy Maddison and Hannah Birdsall from Datcom and Mike Shields, PR account manager at Shooting Star.

Hannah Birdsall, marketing executive at Datcom, said: “I’m looking forward to working with Mike and the team at Shooting Star to deliver a combined marketing and PR approach that should see Datcom rightly seen as one of the county’s leaders in IT.”

Datcom offers IT support, services and solutions for SMEs in the East Midlands.

Mike Shields, PR account manager at Shooting Star, added: “We’re really excited to have Datcom as a new client. Having known the company for years and seeing them grow to their current size has been great, and to be able to raise their profile with a comprehensive PR strategy is a challenge we relish.”

Shooting Star is a PR, marketing and digital agency based in Lincoln.

 

Behind the Headlines with The Spa PR Company’s Tracey Stapleton

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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.

Tracey Stapleton Portrait 2014 cropped

Tracey Stapleton

Before I reach the office in the morning, I’ve already…
I’m a bit of an exercise and beauty junky and believe that if you feel good, you are not only happier but can achieve more. So every morning I spend ten minutes doing a combination of stretching and toning exercises as well as a daily body brush before plastering on layer on layer of creams and serums, and that’s before using any make-up.

At the moment I’m being influenced by one of our new clients, Sorabelle, a Korean beauty blogger who has a ten-step skincare routine. She’s a 40-year-old mother of four and looks incredible.

While getting ready, I catch up with the main news on Radio 4 and then on my train commute, the more popular news via Daily Mail, Huffington Post and our social platforms! I respond to emails which have come in overnight from our international clients and email myself with my daily ‘to do’ list. I’m a great list maker!

You’ll mostly find emails about…in my inbox.
At the moment I’m working on a magazine and forthcoming World Congress for our international client, CIDESCO, the world standard for beauty and spa therapy, so there are quite a lot of emails and activity around this. I’m also involved in new partnerships for the company. We’ve built up a strong reputation within the spa and wellness industry so developing our role beyond PR is an important part of our development strategy.

I know I’ve had a good day if…
I’ve had one of those ‘lightbulb’ creative moments in solving a strategy for a client campaign and we’ve been given the go ahead to make it happen. I love that sense of excitement of doing something different and you just know it’s going to be a success.

I’m lucky enough to work with a fantastic group of people who produce great results and, like my children, if they’re happy, I am too.

My first job was…
A legal secretary for a London solicitor specialising in matrimonial law. I studied law at college and found it fascinating so was tempted to pursue a career in this sector. However, after a year dealing with masses of paperwork and tearful wives it was enough to send me running to the recruitment agency for a complete change. However, what it did teach me was to have a high attention to detail and accuracy. This has been invaluable in my PR career.

I can tell a campaign is succeeding when…
There’s that ‘snowball’ moment. An article we’ve secured in one key publication such as the Daily Mail leads to a flurry of enquiries on the same story from other print/online media and TV.

I eat….when nobody is watching.
I feel I should say something like chocolate but since giving it up for lent a few years ago, it’s never quite tasted the same since! Before then, my children would say it wasn’t safe to leave their Easter eggs unguarded! My one weakness now, which I suppose you would call my healthy guilty treat, are nuts especially the packs from Marks & Spencer! I can nibble away at my desk all day long.

The first time I pitched to a journalist…
Hmmm, this was some 30 years ago so difficult to remember the first time and I’m not sure we even called it pitching then!  However, I do remember in my early 20s when I was working on travel accounts, spending quite a lot of my time out at lunch with travel editors. I’ve never been a big drinker but it seemed everyone I took out was, so getting them to agree to run a story didn’t seem too difficult!

Another time which has stuck in my mind is one of the first radio interviews I did. It was a discussion about ferry travel (my client, Brittany Ferries had just launched a new ship) and the topic turned to sea sickness. Now I am the world’s worst sea traveller and had spent many a journey on a press trip locked in my cabin worse for wear. So when the conversation turned to sea sickness, instead of trying to steer the interviewer off the subject, I went into great detail on how to avoid being sea sick (keep as low down in the boat as possible or if that fails, have a few drinks) more probably to convince myself than the listeners.

The worst thing anyone has said to me is…
“That’s not possible”.  It makes me even more determined to do it. I guess then that’s actually the best thing someone could say to me!  That’s one of the benefits of running a company, it gives you the freedom to do things your way.

The last book I read was…
Shape Up Your Business by the founders of Notonthehighstreet. There’s always something you can learn from other people in business and Sophie Cornish and Holly Tucker give some great advice based on their own experiences. They haven’t been afraid to call in help when they need it and talk about days when on the surface they appeared successful but were struggling to keep going and how they then rose stronger and more successful for it. They also give some useful ‘workshop’ style exercises within a 30-day success plan.

I’ve never really understood why…
Companies of a certain size feel they have to use a big agency. I’ve worked in both big and small agencies and it’s very much the experience, industry knowledge and talents of the team allocated to that account that matters.

If I could go back and talk to my 10-year-old self, I’d say…

  1. The next eight years are going to be challenging but will shape you to achieve more than you could have ever imagined.
  1. You have a good sixth sense, so always be guided by that.
  1. Get as much ‘mentoring’ support as you can. Most people are happy to help.
  1. Don’t worry about finding the perfect partner, he’ll come along just when you’re least expecting and you’ll have a long and happy life together.
  1. Love and respect your parents as they won’t always be there. Give your Mum as many hugs as you can.

Fancy featuring in a Behind the Headlines interview? Please email[email protected]

Language trumps location

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I hate to use the ‘T’ word, but the phrase ‘language trumps location’ from the recent AMEC Summit does have a ring to it.

Tim O’Brien, General Manager of Global Communications at Microsoft, referenced this point when sharing insights from his own measurement programme.

The nature of traditional media has helped to establish a ‘market by market’ approach to global communications. Regulatory bodies and news networks ensure print media is tightly contained within a market, meaning physical channels (print media) will reach a physical population. As a result, global corporations like Microsoft work with PR agencies in each operating market in order to benefit from the agency’s more nuanced understanding of its own market.

However, when we shift the conversation to digital media, a country’s borders become a bit blurrier… Let’s take China for example. According to the Economist, there are more Chinese people living outside of China than there are French people in France.Chances are they’re highly educated and have expendable incomes – definitely a viable target for many consumer brands. So what are they reading?

I would venture to suggest that the Chinese Londoner sitting next to you on the tube has a few Chinese news outlets bookmarked in their phone in addition to the Guardian. I would also hedge my bets they follow friends on Weibo and run searches on Baidu. When it comes to digital and social media, people are drawn to that which is culturally familiar and aligned with how they think, what they like, and how they speak.

This is a concept that isn’t often discussed in PR, but it warrants consideration. Understanding the differences in how different cultures engage with brands and media can play a crucial role in the success of a campaign – both in planning stages and in measuring its results.

Professor Jim Macnamara of the University of Technology Sydney shared an example of why cultural research needs to be applied at the planning stage. The Cancer Institute of New South Wales, Australia, wanted to run a public health campaign encouraging Indian and Sri Lankan women living in Australia to be checked for breast cancer. Before the campaign even began, the team ran focus groups and surveys to figure out how they could reach these women more effectively.

The results suggested a markedly different approach than they had planned. These women gently pointed out that their peers would not respond well to a poster of a white man checking the breasts of an Indian woman (shocker?) and instead suggested parades, Facebook campaigns, and even a fashion show – and (surprise!) it worked. The campaign exceeded targets by 100%.

pink sari

When applied to an even more diverse consumer base like London, these results warn that a singular approach to a campaign is likely to reach a singular audience. Simply put, if you don’t take into account that media consumption is largely determined by culture rather than location, you’re going to miss huge swathes of potential consumers. Instead, your content needs to be shaped and positioned according to the characteristics of each target demographic.

To get the most accurate results, the measurement of your campaign should reflect the campaign’s target culture as well. Linda Xu of Chinese social business intelligence provider CiC highlighted the importance of e-commerce data in her market (mainland China). Chinese consumers religiously share their reviews of purchases (on a much larger scale than we see in the West) and thus depend on the reviews of others for their purchasing decisions. Analysing this social content can quickly reveal the strongest USPs of a product, informing future PR and marketing strategies. But it can also provide useful feedback to product development teams, helping PR to work more closely with other parts of the business.

At Gorkana, we use a tool we’ve developed called UKPulse to research audience preferences and measure audience reach, but there are lots of tools out there to help to establish where your target audience is living within the digital media landscape. And as Professor Macnamara pointed out – don’t overlook the value of a good old focus group. A pink sari parade may just be the most successful campaign you ever run.

Photo credits: AMEC; Jim Macnamara

PRCA, ICCO and AMEC launch group for testing the Integrated Evaluation Framework

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The PRCA, ICCO and AMEC are setting up a global working group to provide feedback on AMEC’s Integrated Evaluation Framework which was launched at the London AMEC summit on 16 June.

Together the three organisations will implement controlled testing of the new framework by providing valuable user stories and practical testing.

Francis Ingham, PRCA Director General & ICCO Chief Executive, said: “The PRCA and ICCO are utterly committed to supporting the new framework from AMEC, which represents a huge step forward in PR measurement education and best practice. As part of that commitment, we will engage our global network of PR professionals in the process of getting under its skin and applying its guidance to real life experience.”

Richard Bagnall (pictured), CEO of Prime Research UK and leader of the AMEC group which developed the Framework, added: “The new framework details a comprehensive best-practice approach to planning and evaluation for today’s PR professional. It emphasises the importance of linking organisational objectives to communication objectives, and measuring not just in terms of media outputs but organisational outcomes and impact too.”

Gorkana’s Cannes Lions 2016 round-up

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This year’s Cannes Lions festival may have highlighted the challenges PR agencies face to get recognition at the event but, as ever, there were wins to celebrate and lots of talking points. Here’s Gorkana’s round-up of news and views from last week’s event.

At the start of the week, Engine was announced as one of the winners of a Health Lion for the Missing Type campaign for National Blood Week.

Weber Shandwick, Ogilvy & Mather and Saatchi & Saatchi London also gained bronze, gold and silver lions, respectively, for their work with health campaigns.

A total of 18 PR agencies were nominated for a PR Lion, including The Romans, Freud Communications, Engine London, Pitch and Taylor Herring.

However, out of the 18, only five PR agencies took awards home. Weber Shandwick-owned Prime Sweden secured three Lions; one gold, one bronze and one silver, and Edelman and its sister agency Zeno both received bronze Lions.

The US Ogilvy PR team received gold in the Young Lions PR Competition.

Mary Whenman, president at Women in PR and Communications Director at Callcredit Information Group, discussed her learnings as the only PR on a 10-strong judging jury for the Glass Lion: The Lion for Change panel.

PRCA’s director general, Francis Ingham, explained why Cannes 2016 will not be remembered with pride by PR agencies.

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