Clarion wins brief with British Turkey Federation

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Madeleine Shaw

Clarion Communications has been appointed by the British Turkey Federation to raise awareness of British turkey products.

The agency will work on a campaign with social media influencer and nutritionist, Madeleine Shaw. Shaw will support the campaign through national news generation, events, recipe creation and social media.

The campaign aims to drive awareness of British turkey by tapping into current health and well-being trends to reach a target of ‘busy mums’ and ‘younger consumers’.

Shelley Wyatt, managing partner at Clarion, said: “This campaign will champion quality British turkey as a great tasting, healthy, lean and versatile meat to ultimately move turkey further up the UK’s culinary agenda.”

Catriona Lee, chair of the British Turkey Federation’s publicity and marketing committee, added: “Clarion developed a solid and insightful strategy and creative in response to our brief. The team have excellent food PR experience and high levels of energy and enthusiasm. We are delighted to have them on board.”

US Ogilvy PR team take gold in Young Lions PR Competition

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Michael DiSalvo and Ben King, account directors at Ogilvy PR’s New York office, have won gold at the 2016 Cannes Young Lions PR Competition.

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Ogilvy PR’s Michael DiSalvo, CEO Stuart Smith and Ben King

Competing against 17 other teams from around the world, DiSalvo and King are the first US team to win gold in the Young Lions PR Competition.

After winning regional competitions and being chosen to represent their nation, each team was then asked to compete at the festival in Cannes, creating a campaign to end retailer food waste on behalf of the UN Sustainable Development Goals.

The Ogilvy duo created an Extra Ordinary Food campaign aimed at shifting public perception through partnerships with beauty magazines. The predominant message was, ‘good food does not need to always look perfect.’

DiSalvo and King said: “Cannes Young Lions has been an extraordinary experience and it was fantastic to work on a brief around such an important cause. We hope it showed how PR still has the ability to change behaviour and influence outcomes. We have been so grateful for the support we have had from Ogilvy PR, the PR Council and NCM along the way.”

Matt Watson and Paul Stollery from Hotwire, representing the UK in the global competition, won the bronze award. Silver was won by Hungary.

Watson, programme director at Hotwire, said: “We were really proud to represent the UK in this year’s competition. Cannes has been an incredible experience and we’re absolutely delighted to be coming home with bronze!”

The PR Young Lions competition asks for teams of two PRs under the age of 30. On Saturday 18 June, the teams were each given a brief by Nikhil Seth, executive director at United Nations. On the following day the teams had 12 hours to create an effective and creative campaign.

 

Swedish creative agency takes Grand Prix PR Lion

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In contrast with Cannes Lions 2015, when the Grand Prix PR Lion was won by PR agency MSLGroup, this year’s most coveted award was won by Swedish advertising agency, Forsman & Bodenfors.

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The Organic Effect campaign for Co-op

 

Forsman & Bodenfors won the PR Lion Grand Prix award for its The Organic Effect campaign with Co-op. The campaign, produced in collaboration with Stockholm PR agency, King Street, media agency OMD and production company Acne Production, focuses on the benefits of an organic diet. The campaign is credited with boosting sales at Co-op, as well as changing the public’s attitude towards organic food.

A total of 19 Gold Lions, 30 Silver Lions and 34 Bronze Lions trophies were awarded. Weber Shandwick-owned Prime Sweden secured three Lions; one Gold, one Bronze and one Silver, and Edelman and its sister agency Zeno both took home Bronze Lions.

Five of the 84 PR Lions won at this year’s Cannes Lions festival were awarded to PR agencies. Advertising, marketing and digital agencies won the majority of the awards, having also dominated the shortlist earlier this week.

The award winners were announced on Tuesday night (21 June 2016).

Digital PR specialist Me:Mo launches production arm

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Me:Mo’s Marc Reeks and Michelin star chef Chris Galvin

Me:Mo has launched a dedicated production platform, Me:Mo TV, that specialises in making digital video content for brands.

Me:Mo TV will look to deliver editorial film for brands as part of PR campaigns, social campaigns, traditional promotions and marketing.

The team will be overseen by the BAFTA award-winning head of video production, Marc Reeks.

Nat Coombs, founder and MD of Me:Mo, said: “In today’s climate, most brands understand the importance of video as part of their overall marketing output so it seemed like a logical move for us to create a production arm to address a client’s needs head-on.”

Good Relations hires Henry Elliss to bolster content team

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Henry Elliss

PR  and content agency Good Relations has appointed Henry Elliss as senior online strategist to enhance its content marketing team.

Elliss will focus on senior client counsel and team development. He will also play a key role in new business growth.

With 15 years’ experience in digital and content marketing, Elliss has particular expertise in SEO and social media.

Elliss said: “The breadth and scope of Good Relations’ work, as well as the enviable client list makes this an incredibly exciting challenge for me. I’m looking forward to getting stuck in and helping build the content marketing offering.”

Robert Anderson, executive director of content marketing at Good Relations, added: “Clients are increasingly coming to us for integrated campaigns with content at their centre. Henry is hugely talented online strategist and we’re delighted to welcome him into our fast-growing content team.”

Yellow Jersey wins corporate Trade Finance Solutions brief

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As it launches in Europe, Yellow Jersey PR wins the corporate brief for US alternative finance lender, Trade Finance Solutions.

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Aidan Stanley

The financial and corporate communications consultancy will implement a B2B media relations campaign that will drive awareness of Trade Finance Solutions in Europe.

The account will be managed by consultant Aidan Stanley, director Felicity Winkles and Dominic Barretto, founder of Yellow Jersey PR.

Winkles said: “It has been a terrific first half of the year for Yellow Jersey, having secured seven new clients across a range of sectors in the B2B corporate space. Trade Finance Solutions sees the agency advise in one of its core sectors of financial services, and we look forward to working with the organisation on its expansion.”

Trade Finance Solutions provides businesses with alternative financing options such as factoring and purchase order financing.

Opinion: Is today’s corporate affairs director tomorrow’s CEO?

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Oskar Yasar, managing partner of Broome Yasar Partnership, explains why communications skills are so highly valued among today’s corporate leaders following the publication of  the consultancy’s report: From Corporate Affairs to Corporate Leader: Today’s corporate affairs director, tomorrow’s CEO? 

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Oskar Yasar

Chief executives, who are entrusted as guardians of finances, organisational structure and strategy, have traditionally been accountants, corporate lawyers and consultants.

However, as the corporate world globalises and embraces technological change, chief executives need to engage with employees, shareholders, customers, government and other key stakeholders.

According to our report, “From Corporate Affairs To Corporate Leader”, an estimated one third of a chief executive’s time is spent communicating, and a growing proportion of future leaders will learn these skills from periods of employment in corporate affairs or communications.

Drawing on research collated from 120 corporate affairs directors and frank and insightful interviews with communicators-turned-executives, including Pearson chief executive John Fallon, SABMiller Europe managing director Sue Clark and Institute of Directors director general Simon Walker, the study found that:

  • A greater alignment between the communications capability expected of today’s CEOs and the vast experience in this field of corporate affairs leaders is starting to generate more corporate leaders with a predominant background in communications
  • One in five UK corporate affairs directors have considered progressing into a broader general management role
  • Many aspiring CEOs see corporate communications as a learning experience where they can hone core skills such as the ability to build a narrative, remain calm in a crisis, multi-task, think fast and communicate succinctly and quickly
  • The increased importance of reputation management is pushing corporate affairs and communications executives to the frontline, to protect and enhance brands and values that organisations now consider to be their greatest assets

High-profile role models exist for the transition from communicator to leader, with Prime Minister David Cameron having served as director of corporate affairs for television company Carlton.

However, communications has often been regarded as lacking in a direct link to revenue generation, and the depth and diversity of skills needed to run major organisations.

In contrast, our research finds that a new generation of leaders have developed their skills and outlooks in a digitally-connected 24/7 world, where communication is at the centre of the way they work.

So how do you ensure you’re a credible contender? Those interviewed suggested above all the need to broaden financial and commercial experience, which may require a sideways move into an operational leadership role to gain some P&L experience – all of which can be a big wrench if you’re used to sitting on an ExCo, reporting directly to a CEO.

With a growing complexity among audiences and stakeholder groups, CEOs have no choice but to spend more time communicating. Those that have spent time in corporate affairs and communications say that it has helped them to learn how to manage and influence corporate reputations – an art frequently overlooked by corporate recruiters.

PR Case Study: Disastrous Best Man Speeches

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When wedding accessory and stationery supplier Bride & Groom Direct wanted to enhance its online visibility and SEO, PR agency Search Laboratory devised a campaign to tell customers’ true stories of disastrous best man speeches with the help of miniature Lego figures. The campaign went on to lead a 10% revenue increase YoY.

SearchLab Case Study

Campaign: Disastrous Best Man Speeches
Client: Bride & Groom Direct
PR Team: Search Laboratory
Timing: March – May 2016

Overview

Bride & Groom Direct, established in 1993 and a CCA Occasions brand, is the leading supplier of a range of personalised wedding accessories including invitations, favours, and save the date cards. With a reputation for quality and service, the company provides both products and advice for couples planning their wedding day.

Bride & Groom Direct began working with SEO and PR company Search Laboratory in January 2016. Tasked with increasing visibility and online revenue by improved search engine rankings, a campaign was devised to capitalise on true stories of disastrous best man speeches, collected from customers and social followers of the Bride & Groom Direct brand.

On signing with Search Laboratory, key performance targets were set to work towards online coverage in both the wedding niche and wider mainstream media, in order to increase awareness and visibility of the brand in search rankings leading up to the summer wedding season.

Objectives

  • Create and implement a PR campaign to gain coverage and links on high authority sites
  • Boost overall search rankings
  • Increase traffic to the Bride & Groom Direct domain 

Strategy

Bride & Groom Direct already has a loyal customer base (which extends to its following on social media) of largely female customers. This provided a pool of engaged people to gather funny and embarrassing stories from involving best man speeches. This topic would be interesting for a cross-section of demographics, not just Bride & Groom Direct’s largely young, female audience.
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Preliminary, research for similar stories that had been covered by major target publications in the past showed that outlets such as The Telegraph and the Metro had written about the topic area. However, this revealed a gap for similar content to originate from a brand with an active community, effective research, and professional imagery.

Using the stories as a basis, pictures were created using Lego mini-figures to depict the funniest stories set upon a wedding cake. This was done to increase the shareable nature of the piece and grab attention.

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It was clear when planning the campaign that the success would depend on two elements: the strength of the stories, and the execution of the imagery. Collection of the stories was conducted via social media with the use of seeding towards relevant wedding-related keywords and accounts. The favourite stories were chosen from the data set with image creation in mind to make full use of the creative license that the Lego figurine cake-topper scenes provided.

On completion of the material, outreach was targeted towards the wedding niche and mainstream publications, with journalists identified in the planning stages. Social sites such as Reddit and Imgur were used as catalysts to increase awareness and engagement with the imagery.

Search Lab Dance

From the initial outreach, the campaign was able to garner immediate coverage that was continued into wider markets, including international coverage.

Results

PR coverage

  • 18 links and five pieces of coverage.
  • Covered on major sites such as The Mirror, Yahoo.com, The Sun, MSN.com, New York Post and BuzzFeed.com.
  • Estimated coverage views: 2.5 million calculated using Coverage Book (total publication readership/average views per article).
  • Social shares: 456,000 (estimated using Coverage Book).

SEO improvements

  • One of Bride & Groom Direct’s most important search terms, ‘wedding invitations’, has moved from position seven to position four.
  • Organic revenue has increased 10% YoY
  • Since the campaign was launched, organic traffic has increased 20% YoY.
  • 12% increase in SEO visibility.

(All SEO improvement stats from CCA Occasions, tracked by Google Analytics)

Got a cracking campaign – with impressive results – that you’d like to showcase? If so, please email [email protected].

Mischief appointed by Newmarket Racecourses ahead of its 350th anniversary

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Mischief has been appointed as UK PR agency for Newmarket Racecourses as the venue celebrates its 350th anniversary.

The agency will look to engage with a younger, more digitally-savvy audience for Newmarket.

An advocacy programme will be launched pairing the venue with Instagrammers to capture ‘behind-the-scenes’ moments. The account will be led by Mischief Sport & Media director Kate Miller.

The campaign will spread across the summer season in 2016 and the Moët & Chandon July Festival.

Olivia Hills, communications manager at Newmarket, said: “We have some exciting plans for 2016 celebrating this momentous anniversary in our history and we look forward to working with Mischief to bring these to life. Mischief showed it is the right agency to work side by side with our team.”

B2B Case Study: ‘Making Telegraph Hill tasty to the grocery sector’

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Coverage, mentioning Telegraph Hill, in The Grocer 30 April 2016

To position ‘audience first’ ad agency Telegraph Hill to brands as a leader in the food and drink sector, Velvet PR initiated a campaign that utilised its expertise and media tools to create a list of industry influencers. The campaign led to media coverage, social media interaction and new business leads.

Campaign name: Making Telegraph Hill Tasty to the Grocery Sector

Client: Telegraph Hill

PR Team: Velvet PR

Timing: May 2016

Objectives:
As part of its growth strategy, ad agency Telegraph Hill has set its eyes on securing new clients in the food industry. Its PR agency, Velvet, worked with it to devise a way of quickly getting on the radar of major food influencers.

The Grocer

The Grocer 30 April 2016 front cover


Strategy and implementation:
Velvet devised a PR campaign to leverage Telegraph Hill’s internal data which allowed the agency to credibly identify the “top 50 most influential foodies” in the UK.

Those appearing in the list were ranked by their level of influence on the nation’s changing tastes, or their ability to start food trends. Celebrity chef Jamie Oliver topped the list. Online nutrition guru, ‘the Body Coach’ Joe Wicks, made the number two spot, ahead of serial entrepreneur Julian Metcalfe and ‘Great British Bake Off’ judge, Paul Hollywood.

Food bloggers, lifestyle experts, supermarket bosses and fast food delivery entrepreneurs all made their way onto the list.

Telegraph Hill carried out the analysis using its proprietary TrueScore™ tool. The tool evaluates influencers based on their real-world power, online activity, presence in traditional media (such as newspapers and TV), their reputation and their brand strength.

Results:

Velvet secured a seven-page feature in The Grocer, a substantial online hub on the magazine’s website, a full page national exclusive in The Observer, and further coverage in The Guardian, Daily Mail, Waitrose Weekend and numerous food B2B titles.

Activist Jack Monroe, Wicks and other influencers all joined the conversation driving over 3,000 shares on social channels.

A week after the story broke, a large department store chain, slimming club and various FMCG brands had approached Telegraph Hill to find out more.

The research also tipped the competition off, with over five competitor agencies downloading Telegraph Hill’s full report which details the Top 100 Most Influential People in the Food Industry.