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3 Monkeys Zeno has been handed a European comms brief by global broadband networking tech provider ZyXEL.
Mick Paddington
The agency will serve as the lead PR agency for ZyXEL, acting as the UK and European Hub for content marketing and thought-leadership and aim to develop ZyXEL’s comms messaging to “humanise” the brand and drive relevance with its key audiences.
A content marketing programme will build awareness of ZyXEL as a leading provider of connectivity solutions to consumers and businesses across all European territories. 3 Monkeys Zeno will also work with ZyXEL’s global HQ in Taiwan for its event and product support.
3 Monkeys Zeno will also make use of its influencer engagement programme, BrandExec, to raise the profile of ZyXEL UK executives and help them drive engagement with key influencers in the industry, through traditional and social media channels.
Adam Clatworthy, account director at 3 Monkeys Zeno, will lead the account and report to Mick Paddington, European comms director at ZyXEL.
Paddington said: “Having seen a lot of successful campaigns delivered by 3 Monkeys Zeno it was a no brainer to get them here at ZyXEL. I wanted ZyXEL’s PR to really step up, and with 3 Monkeys Zeno’s knowledge of the IT space, coupled with their extensive network of press, media and influencers, means they are able to deliver on a number of key communications and business objectives for ZyXEL.”
Italian bakery brand Crosta & Mollica has hired Aduro Communications as it looks to expand the business in 2016.
Translated from the Italian for ‘crust and crumb’, Crosta & Mollica ranges include breads, pizzas, seasonal cakes, savoury biscuits and conserves.
Aduro will develop an integrated campaign, which will include media relations, blogger outreach and consumer sampling to support a number of new product launches in 2016.
James Orr, founder of Crosta & Mollica, said: “This is a big year for the business, with a number of new products launching to market that we’re really excited about.
“We really valued the creativity and strategic approach that Aduro came to us with and feel that with their passion behind our brand we can really achieve a step-change and be taken to the next level in our PR and marketing plans.”
Aduro founder Natalie Luke added: “We are a huge supporter of independent businesses here at Aduro, and we are thrilled to be working with Crosta & Mollica. The business has a great backstory with James as a really inspiring entrepreneur at the helm, bringing its range of delicious, high quality Italian bakery products to the UK.”
Yvonne Maher is joining the London team of Cognito, the financial communications and marketing consultancy firm, as a director for its EMEA business.
Yvonne Maher
She will be responsible for diversifying Cognito’s client base and contributing towards its continued growth in the EMEA region.
Formerly a director at Grayling, Maher specialises in corporate communications and international PR for clients in the financial services, professional services and energy sectors.
Andrew Marshall, deputy CEO and MD EMEA at Cognito, said: “Yvonne’s knowledge and international experience will be invaluable as we look to grow our global presence and further enhance our offering and services.”
Maher added: “Cognito truly lives and breathes integrated communications, delivering compelling campaigns and measurable results for its clients. I was immediately struck by its dynamic and progressive approach and look forward to working with its clients and contributing to the future success of the company.”
In order to accommodate its growing team, Cognito’s London team plans to move to a new Moorgate office at the beginning of next month. Cognito also has offices in New York, Los Angeles and Singapore.
Andy Giles Associates partner and former tech journalist Murdo Mathewson has launched a new Hove-based consumer and B2B comms agency called Ginger Dog Comms, specialising in tech PR.
Murdo Mathewson
The new PR and comms agency will specialise in consumer electronics, the arts, finance, music, and technology. Ginger Dog Comms will also offer product consultancy services.
Mathewson will remain as a partner with consumer tech PR specialist Andy Giles Associates, an agency he has been with for more than nine years. The agency’s founder, Andy Giles, will also act as a consultant to Ginger Dog Comms.
Previously group media relations manager at Royal Bank of Scotland, Mathewson moved over to Haymarket Media Group, where he took on a variety of journalist roles, including reviews editor at What Hi-Fi? magazine.
He has also edited Haymarket Publishing’s Ultimate Guide consumer technology series, and contributed to tech titles, including Stuff and T3, before joining Andy Giles Associates in 2007.
Mathewson said: “Ginger Dog Comms was born out of a desire to deliver a ‘nose to tail’ communications service, from the terrific base of Brighton and Hove. The world of professional communications, especially PR, has massively evolved over recent years and we are delighted to be part of the brave new world.”
Redleaf Communications has promoted Rebecca Sanders-Hewett, Charlie Ansdell and Henry Columbine to managing director.
Rebecca Sanders-Hewett
Sanders-Hewett heads up the capital markets team, which specialises in financial PR and investor relations. Under her leadership, the team has grown significantly in terms of both revenue and profit, and has won four awards in the past three years.
Ansdell, who joined Redleaf from Santander Group in June 2014, leads the professional and financial services team, which manages communications for predominantly wealth, life and pensions, banking and insurance clients. Ansdell has overseen increased profit within his team.
Henry Columbine, who manages the property team, has also been promoted to a managing director role.
Emma Kane, founder and chief executive at Redleaf, said: “Leading our three specialist practices, Henry, Rebecca and Charlie have been instrumental in the significant growth we have experienced in recent years. Their entrepreneurialism, dedication, leadership skills and enthusiasm have made a significant contribution not just to our growing revenues and profits but also to the positive and happy working environment that is so central to life at our agency.”
When the Food Standards Agency looked to encourage restaurant goers to seek out its green ratings stickers in restaurant windows, Threepipe came up with “thumb stopping” video content to hijack the high levels of “#foodporn” on social media. Video clips featured a cockroach emerging from a steak sandwich and a bloody plaster surfacing on a bowl of soup.
The FSA wanted to increase consumer awareness of its Food Hygiene Rating Scheme (FHRS) and to encourage restaurant goers to seek out the green ratings sticker in restaurant windows.
To work, the campaign needed to create engaging, sharable content to impact an audience that frequently eats out, achieve over 5.6 million impressions across Facebook and Instagram, and drive traffic to the FHRS website.
Target audience:
Men and women, aged 35 to 55-years-old in England, who eat out more than other age groups.
Strategy
Given the audience’s high usage of Facebook, coupled with its sophisticated targeting options, Threepipe recommended it as the primary platform. To get the word out as economically and effectively as possible within our target audience, we focused on a paid strategy promoting engaging content. That way, we could continually optimise our approach throughout the campaign and ensure that our specific audience was engaging with the content.
We wanted to create ‘thumb-stopping’ content not seen previously in this area of government regulation. We developed a series of innovative and engaging cinemagraphs that were designed to shock and illicit an emotional response. This would encourage sharing of the content and drive the audience to seek more information about the FHRS – both by going online and also looking for the green sticker when visiting a restaurant.
We decided to capitalise on all of the incredible “#foodporn” across social media, but with an original approach. The cinemagraphic creative were set up beautifully, but as they appear to loop, it revealed some shocking unhygienic aspect to the unsuspecting viewer. For example, a cockroach emerged from behind a beautiful steak sandwich and a bloody plaster floats to the surface of a steaming bowl of soup.
This elevated FSA into the foodie lifestyle realm but with a special twist. The video encouraged users to think about what’s touching their food before it goes onto their plate. By creating this unique take on an emerging creative approach, it ensured our content would be highly sharable and a key discussion point.
Over the course of the month’s campaign we, built 32 campaigns, 82 advert sets and 1,332 adverts, which allowed us to granularly optimise the delivery of the creative and copy to the specific audiences.
Results
The campaign delivered over 8.3 million impressions across Facebook and Instagram, surpassing our KPI by 47%. With a unique reach of over 2.3 million people, we engaged with a significant portion of our key audience through Facebook.
The most revealing metric, which showed we truly impacted the audience with our creative, was the 1.3 million views to the end slate of the cinemagraph, representing 47% of all views. That showed that our content hooked the audience and kept them engaged enough to watch the majority of the video, reaching the brand’s message and giving consumers the opportunity to take a social action.
Got a cracking campaign – with impressive results – that you’d like to showcase? If so, please email [email protected].
German life sciences company Bayer has chosen WPP agencies Finsbury and Hering Schuppener to work alongside its retained adviser, Brunswick, on its £42.8 billion ($62 billion) bid to buy American agrochemical company Monsanto.
The brief is being led by Faeth Birch, partner at Finsbury, and Alexander Geiser and Brigitte von Haake, managing partners at Hering Schuppener.
If completed, Bayer’s bid to buy Monsanto, which was confirmed yesterday, would be the biggest takeover by a German company in US history.
Hering Schuppener and Finsbury recently announced a “strategic alliance” in order to better serve its global clients.
Global business advisory firm FTI Consulting has appointed Fiona Holroyde as managing director within its public affairs practice in London.
For the past year, Holyroyde has been advising Royal Mail Group on UK and EU policy issues, which included the European Commission’s consultation on the The Digital Single Market strategy.
Prior to this, Holroyde was the managing director and head of public affairs at MHP Communications, with responsibility for the day to day operation of the public affairs business.
Alex Deane, head of public affairs at FTI Consulting, said: “After eighteen months of great growth and success in UK Public Affairs it’s time to bring on an additional senior player to keep pace with growing demand for strategic counsel from our clients. Holroyde is a first class addition to our team, and we are delighted to welcome her.”
Holroyde has also held senior roles at FD, Bell Pottinger and Brunswick where she has worked with a number of high profile businesses and organisations including Ineos, BrightHouse, Ofcom, British Airways and McDonald’s.
Pernod Ricard, which includes alcohol brands Absolut Vodka, Beefeater Gin and Jameson Irish Whiskey, has promoted its head of corporate comms, Aurélie Kane, to comms and corporate affairs director.
Aurélie Kane
Kane, who joined the business in 2006 as head of corporate comms, has seen her role grow to encompass CSR and public affairs.
She takes on her new role as comms and corporate affairs director on 1 July, and will join Pernod Ricard’sUK Executive Committee.
Kane will continue to report to Pernod Ricard’s UK MD, Denis O’Flynn.
O’Flynn said: “Aurélie’s increased remit to cover public affairs and the promotion of this role onto the Executive Committee reflects our ongoing commitment to responsibility and sustainability within the industry.”
In other news, Ben Gibson, former technical director at Pernod Ricard Winemakers, has also been promoted to operations director at Pernod Ricard UK and Pernod Ricard Travel Retail Europe.
Sambazon, a US-based food company specialising in açai berries, has chosen Clarion Communications to handle its UK consumer and trade PR activity.
Sambazon was launched in 2001 by ex-NFL player Ryan Black and his brother Jeremy. Ryan Black discovered Açai berries while on a surfing trip in Brazil, and saw an opportunity to bring the “superfood” to Northern America.
Açai berries are said to be rich in antioxidants, omega fats, fibre and protein.
Clarion has been briefed to launch the brand to London food service outlets and natural food retailers, which will be followed by a roll-out in selected partner supermarkets nationally.
An influencer engagement strategy, national news creation and large scale sampling activity will also be used to promote details of the company’s philosophy, which claims to measure both economic, as well as social and environmental success.
Amanda Meyrick, CEO of Clarion Communications, said: “Sambazon is a rapidly growing business in other markets and we’re delighted to be able to bring our wealth of knowledge and experience to launch the brand into the UK.
“The rise in consumers seeking a healthier lifestyle and adopting global food trends, particularly with the Rio Olympics being high on the news agenda, provides huge PR potential and we’re very excited about the opportunities ahead.”
