Essays throw spotlight on Portland’s EU Referendum advisers

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In order to highlight its specialist services and advisers, communications consultancy Portland has released a set of essays, from major figures in the European debate, predicting what might happen in the event of a leave vote at the forthcoming referendum.

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Sir Stephen Wall

Portland’s referendum advisers – whose role is to advise clients on their communications strategy before, during, and after the referendum – are led by Sir Stephen Wall, its chief adviser on Europe. His experience includes five years as the UK Permanent Representative to the European Union in Brussels and four years as EU Adviser to, then Prime Minister, Tony Blair.

The essays, revealed today in advance of a Portland panel debate event this evening, compile the opinions of the nation’s foremost commentators on the subject of the EU Referendum: Rt Hon Michael Gove, Sir Stephen Wall, Sir Andrew Cahn, George Eustice MP, David Frost, Graham Bishop and Pierre de Boissieu.

  • Gorkana is publishing a daily EU Referendum digest in the run up to the vote. To order your copy visit the EU Referendum Digest page on Gorkana.com.

Hudson Sandler to handle LTG’s corporate and financial PR

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Cat Valentine

Integrated e-learning technology and services provider, Learning Technologies Group (LTG), has hired Hudson Sandler as its retained financial and corporate PR adviser.

The team, led by Cat Valentine, director at Hudson Sandler, aims to build LTG’s profile across national and corporate media.

Jonathan Satchell, chief executive at Learning Technologies Group, said: “LTG is well placed to achieve a prominent position in a highly fragmented growing market and we needed to ensure our communications fit that position. Hudson Sandler approached the pitch with new creative ideas and a dedicated communications programme to increase awareness and bring e-learning to life.”

Andrew Hayes, chief executive at Hudson Sandler, added: “We are delighted to be working with Learning Technologies Group at this exciting stage in their development. The e-learning industry has low visibility but this is changing, and LTG’s award winning businesses are at the forefront of this innovation and learning best practice.”

Citigate Dewe Rogerson enhances consumer PR team

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Eulogy’s Katie Moran has joined Citigate Dewe Rogerson as a director in its consumer PR team, with a brief to grow its existing portfolio of consumer clients.

Moran has more than 14 years’ experience spanning both corporate and consumer clients. She was previously head of client services at Eulogy, where she helped drive new business wins, including Tandem Bank.

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Katie Moran

Before that, Moran worked at Brands2Life with clients including Rentokil on its ‘Pestaurant’ campaign, as well as brands including John Lewis, T-Mobile and Ascot Racecourse.

Jonathan Flint, MD at Citigate Dewe Rogerson, said: “Katie brings valuable knowledge and experience to our dynamic consumer team. Clients want consultancy support that combines creative talent with deep business insight.

“We are expertly placed to meet clients’ needs for campaigns that focus increasingly on audiences rather than channel-based PR solutions.”

Moran added: “Citigate Dewe Rogerson has a strong track record in basing innovation and creativity on business insight in order to deliver highly effective campaigns for consumer brands.

“I’m delighted to join a company that marries robust strategic insights, supported by its in-house research department, with market leading creative thinking.  It is exciting to be joining such a highly talented, international agency and helping further expand its dynamic consumer proposition and impressive client base.”

Brazen to re-launch Chewits

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Confectionery company Cloetta has hired Brazen to promote its portfolio of sweet brands, which include Chewits, Goody Good Stuff and Frozn, in the UK.

Brazen will launch a number of consumer PR campaigns during the year, which will include the re-Chewits1launch of Chewits flavours this summer.

The agency will also create trade-focussed PR campaigns for the three Cloetta brands, with activity including new product launches and trade media advertising.

The team will also help enhance distribution and support buyer initiatives with key retail accounts.

Bev Rushbrook, commercial manager at Cloetta, said: “Having worked with Brazen before on the Chewits brand in 2014 it’s been really easy to pick up where we left off and hit the ground running with a jam-packed year of activity including the re-launch of a very popular flavour from our past for Chewits.”

Brazen’s CEO, Nina Webb, said: “We’ve always been huge fans of Chewits and we’re delighted to be working with Cloetta again both on this and its other hero sweet brands, Goody Good Stuff and Frozn.”

UKTV names marketing and comms chief

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UKTV, the UK’s largest multichannel broadcaster, has promoted its comms director,  Zoë Clapp, to chief marketing and comms officer.

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Zoë Clapp

Clapp has been briefed to lead UKTV’s 85-strong marketing and comms team, and will work closely with controller Emma Tennant to grow the viewership and reputation of its network of brands, which include Dave, Drama and W.

She will also oversee UKTV’s in-house  production facility, which creates over 2,500 on-air promos and 700 pieces of navigational content a year.

In addition to her previous remit, she will also take responsibility for UKTV’s Creative, Digital, Marketing and Media departments and its agency relationships with Edelman, Joint, Mmmultiply and Rocket.

Clapp first joined UKTV as a press officer in 2005 and rose through the ranks to become comms director in 2012. During her time at the broadcaster, she has overseen campaigns in digital TV, including the launch of Dave and Drama. More recently she oversaw the re-launch of Watch to become entertainment channel W.

Before UKTV, she worked agency-side and in-house for Exposure, Sole Technology, Extreme Sports Channel, Warner Music, Emap and Nike.

Clapp has served on the Edinburgh International TV Festival Advisory and the RTS London Advisory committees, and published three books on the media featuring essays from contributors including Martha Lane Fox, Ed Vaizey MP, and Google’s European chief, Matt Brittin.

In her new role, Clapp will continue to report to UKTV’s chief executive, Darren Childs, and serve on the executive board for UKTV.

Childs said: “Through her award-winning communications work for UKTV, Zoë shows superb strategic leadership and a drive for creative, future-facing marketing. She’s the natural choice for this brand new role, created to strengthen UKTV’s position as a vibrant challenger in the UK market, and to ensure the company’s continued strong growth.”

Clapp added: “UKTV’s brilliant marketing and communications teams have made an enormous contribution to the network’s outstanding growth, and to the happiness of millions of our fans throughout the nation. It’s a privilege to lead this highly talented group as UKTV creates an exciting future for British digital television.”

Opinion: Four ways to inspire creativity in your PR campaign

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“Creativity is the standard that sets people in PR apart”, says Sophie Chadwick, account director at PR and creative agency Peppermint Soda. With the majority of PRCA members citing creativity as one of the most important factors when it comes to winning new business, Chadwick offers four top tips to ensure you don’t lose your “creative mojo” when setting out on a new PR campaign.

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Sophie Chadwick

Creativity is the standard that sets people in PR apart, and coming up with ideas for campaigns can be one of the best aspects of the job. But, in an industry where you’re constantly expected to ‘think outside of the box’, it’s easy to sometimes lose your creative mojo.

So, while according to members of the Public Relations Consultants Association (PRCA), creativity is one of the most important factors in PR when it comes to winning pitches, 71% of members in the PRCA’s Leaders’ Panel believed that the industry still doesn’t showcase enough creativity.

If you need an inspirational boost to help you come up with those outstanding PR ideas you’re known for, we’ve got four tips to help you start inspiring creativity within your next campaigns:

1. Have smaller sessions

Jeff Bezos, CEO of Amazon, has a rule in business that if a team can’t be fed by two pizzas, then the team is too big.

Research by the consultancy firm QSM found that smaller teams were able to work much more effectively than larger teams – working up to five times faster. Having smaller sessions means that people feel less inclined to talk over each other and will listen to one another more, therefore increasing the likelihood of a good creative session.

Steve Jobs once said that creativity is just connecting things. Whether it’s a fun environment, new perspectives or the mindset of an audience, find what it is that helps you connect with your creativity. In PR, you’ll find that you’ll get the best out of yourself and your campaigns when you let your creative spark loose.

2. Bring someone new into your creative sessions

Collaboration is the key to creativity. Bring influencers into your ideas generation sessions and you’ll find that with new thought processes, you’ll have more perspectives at your disposal.

You never know, these perspectives may bring something to the table that nobody else had managed to think of, which could then launch you into a whole new world of ideas.

3. Put yourself in the mind of the audience

In any campaign, it’s essential that you take the time to really consider who the intended target audiences are. What will they be watching, listening to and reading? This is where you need to focus your energy.

Use insight to research the audience(s) and find out the key demographics and interests that you and your team should be aware of. By doing this, you’ll have a much clearer idea of where you need to go, and whether there are any potential limits to your creativity that you should be aware of.

4.Have fun when it comes to the campaign

During a TED Talk, Tim Brown, CEO of the IDEO consultancy firm, once said that offices where people had the security and comfort to play with ideas and have fun without being judged were more inclined to take chances and creative risks. In terms of PR, bringing fun into your decision-making will help massively.

It doesn’t have to be a massive commitment, but having a more fun and positive working environment will really help to boost how hard your team works. Occasional games and fun activities, or even regular social events, will help people to bond with one another and will also have a huge impact on creative ideas.

Sophie Chadwick is an account director at Manchester PR and Creative agency Peppermint Soda.

PRCA’s Wales Group announces new chairman

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Sharon Flaherty

Following the separation of the PRCA’s South West and Wales Groups, the Wales Group has appointed Sharon Flaherty as its new chairman.

Flaherty is the founding director at BrandContent, a Cardiff-based agency, and her previous positions include a journalism role at the Financial Times, followed by marketing roles at organisations such as Confused.com and Moneysupermarket.com.

Flaherty said: “I am excited to bring expertise in content marketing and digital communications to the new Wales PRCA Group, supporting members in engaging their audiences and innovating with their communications by putting content and purpose at the heart.”

Laura Windeatt, a freelance PR consultant and journalist, also joins the Group as vice-chair. Windeatt’s previous roles included stints at Golley Slater and Media Wales.

VIDEO: International Business Times UK

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Watch an exclusive video from Gorkana’s media briefing with IB Times UK which was attended by a packed audience last week (May 26) at the Blue Fin Venue on London’s South Bank.

In the video, UK editor-in-chief John Crowley and managing editor Julian Kossoff talk about the appointment of several top flight journalists to strengthen IB Times UK’s news team and what makes a great story for the UK web site, respectively.

Crowley told the briefing about the calibre of the title’s readership: “International Business Times readers are digital natives, intellectually inquisitive and they’re the future captains of industry.”

Gorkana‘s events channel features a fuller write up of the event.

 

Virgin Atlantic names Weber Shandwick as its retained consumer agency

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Weber Shandwick has been chosen by Virgin Atlantic as the airline’s new retained agency for UK consumer PR and social media, following a competitive pitch managed by CreativeBrief.

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Weber Shandwick’s brief will include strategy and creative development for PR and social campaigns to support this new brand positioning.

Virgin Atlantic, which was founded in 1984 Sir Richard Branson, now flies to over 30 destinations across the United States, Africa, Middle East and Asia.

The airline recently launched a new brand platform ‘Let it Fly’, to promote its core message: ‘Life doesn’t come to you, so go to it’. The airline said it marked a step-change in its brand campaigns, focusing entirely on its customers.

Weber Shandwick’s MD of consumer and London operations, Emma Thompson, and strategy and creative director, Stuart Lambert, will lead the account. They will be supported by Victoria Tomlin, who will be the account director on the business.

Sarah Coggins, vice president, PR and social media, at Virgin Atlantic, said: “We chose Weber Shandwick as our new partner following a highly competitive tender process. We were particularly impressed with their strategic thinking, together with an infectiously passionate team that had the right mix of energy and skills to deliver exciting campaigns.

“We have a really exciting year coming up at Virgin Atlantic and we are really looking forward to working together with Weber Shandwick to bring our plans to life.”

Thompson added: “When you think of brands that truly excite you, the brands you dream about working for and developing ideas for, Virgin Atlantic sits right at the top. It’s a company with an incredible story, an incredibly powerful place in the minds of the British public and so much potential for creative ideas to really fly. We’re thrilled to have been chosen and we can’t wait to get started.”

IBP announces shortlist for comms in the built environment awards

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The awards programme by IBP (International Building Press), which recognises outstanding communicators and campaigns within the built environment sector, has announced the shortlist for 2016.

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Young Communicator of the Year 2015, left to right: Tom Hawkins, press officer, WSP | Parsons Brinckerhoff, Ivan Massow and Jeremy Thompson, Gorkana (now MD, Cision EMEA).

Shortlisted in the Best Business Communications Campaign category is the in house team for Colliers International and agency Goodfellow Communications. Other categories are: Integrated Campaign, In House Communications Team, Young Communicator of the Year and PR Consultancy Team.

The winners will be announced at an awards party on Thursday 16 June, at St Martin-in-the Fields, Trafalgar Square.

The ceremony will be hosted by Rebecca Evans, editor, Construction News, and Gerald Bowey, president at IBP. The awards will be presented by Sophie Walker, leader of the Women’s Equality Party.

The full shortlist can be found here.