Countryfile’s live event appoints House PR

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Ahead of the launch of Countryfile Live, SME London Ltd, under licence from BBC worldwide, has appointed House PR to lead and activate the PR strategy around the first event.

Countryfile Live takes place at Blenheim Palace on August 4 to 7.

Tom Clarkson, SME London’s marketing director, said: “We are delighted to be working with House PR on this exciting new event, which is shaping up to be one of the UK’s biggest consumer show launches for quite some years. House PR’s wealth of experience in the live event sector and working with major brands meant it was a great fit for us.”

Ginny Paton, managing director of House PR, said: “Countryfile is a BBC bastion for so many on a Sunday night that it’s an ideal property to realise into a live event. We’re hugely excited to be part of the show’s journey, as well as experience what the live show will have to offer.”

Amy Vickery, senior account director at House PR, will lead the account, with support from Paton.

House PR has a diverse and long-standing client list, including Empire Cinemas, William Grant & Sons and OpenTable.

Virgin Holidays appoints Kelly Grindle as PR lead

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Kelly Grindle BCVirgin Holidays has appointed Kelly Grindle as a PR lead as it looks to refresh its external communications.

Grindle will be responsible for overseeing all PR and external communications for Virgin Holidays.

The new role will include management of the Virgin Holidays press office, planning and execution of integrated consumer campaigns, social media integration and management of corporate reputation. Grindle will report to Sarah Coggins, VP, PR and social media for Virgin Atlantic.

He will also work closely with Mark Anderson, managing director of Virgin Holidays, to help establish a strong corporate narrative for the business as well as further its efforts in sustainability, diversity and responsible tourism.

The communications teams at Virgin Atlantic and Virgin Holidays have undertaken a number of changes in recent months, bringing together the two brands into one team and blending the PR and social media function.

Grindle said: “When you hear the word ‘Virgin’ you automatically think of creativity, excitement and fun. I’m looking forward to working on a brand that doesn’t mind taking a calculated risk, and is recognised globally as a trail-blazing leader in terms of PR. There is a busy 12 months mapped out in front of us, and PR will continue to be a key in marketing pillar for the business.”

Coggins said: “Kelly brings a vast amount of PR knowledge into the team, with his experience at a number of top PR agencies. We have worked with him on many memorable PR activities; including Virgin Atlantic’s inaugural flight to Atlanta with a live-streamed Rudimental gig in the air. I knew Kelly was the perfect fit for the team and we’re excited to see what he can do to help strengthen Virgin Holidays PR and external comms.”

Grindle has held a range of senior agency roles and has formerly acted as associate board director at Cake and associate director at M&C Saatchi PR.

RNLI Mayday campaign goes to Red Consultancy

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The RNLI (Royal National Lifeboat Institution) has appointed Red Consultancy to support its Mayday fundraising campaign, after a competitive pitch.

Annually, the charity runs the Mayday campaign as its own “call for help” and this year it has targeted £750,000 in donations, to raise funds to keep the charity and 237 lifeboat stations operating around the UK. The charity survives on public donations.

Red Consultancy, which won a place on the RNLI roster of agencies just over a year ago, has been appointed on three other campaigns for the charity, including its Alternative Boat Race on the Thames.

Emily Morgan, Red Consultancy board director, will lead the campaign.

She said: “Our partnership with the RNLI is going from strength to strength, and the inspirational crew, who volunteer their time day and night to help those in trouble at sea, inspire us to do our very best work for them, working creatively to ensure we build campaigns that generate cut-through for minimum spend.”

instinct pr wins Monster Jam account

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Jonathan Kirkby mainMonster Jam, which claims to be the world’s largest monster truck tour, has appointed instinct pr, a London-based consumer PR agency, to handle its comms.

The Monster Jam account win expands the firm’s entertainment division, having worked with Feld Entertainment on its Disney on Ice show since 2012.

instinct will provide PR support for Monster Jam, a live motorsport event tour and TV show operated by Feld Entertainment, for all activities in the UK. It will manage day-to-day press, create PR and social media content, deliver stunts, and host VIP events to generate national and regional press coverage.

Claire Ballard, Regional Marketing Director for Feld Entertainment, said: “instinct pr has always done a fantastic job on Disney on Ice and was a natural fit for Monster Jam. We are always impressed with the creativity, strategic thinking and high quality coverage it generates for every tour.”

Jonathan Kirkby (pictured), Founder and Director of instinct pr, said: “We’re thrilled to add Monster Jam to our entertainment division. With our experience in live family entertainment we look forward to delivering a full throttle PR campaign that will get everyone talking about the most action-packed live event on four wheels to come to our shores.”

Celebrating the royal birthday

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The longest-serving British monarch  Queen Elizabeth II marked her birthday on the 21st April  as she spent much of the previous 90 years: waving to the crowds.

It was announced that on 17:30 she had reigned for 23,226 days, 16 hours and approximately 30 minutes – surpassing the reign of her great-great-grandmother Queen Victoria.

The occasion was trending on Twitter for most of yesterday and took social media by storm with updates ranging from well-wishers’ tributes to clever PR stunts by companies inventing creative way to honour Her Majesty’s anniversary.

Birthday like a Queen
As the Queen celebrated her historic milestone, companies around the globe came up with clever congratulatory messages.

To pay tribute to Queen Elizabeth II on her 90th birthday, Twitter created some animated balloons for users who headed over to the official @BritishMonarchy account, and it was later revealed that all tweeters could have an equally colourful birthday by enabling the feature from their settings.

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Fast food chain Burger King honoured Her Majesty by renaming its Tottenham Court Road branch in London to Burger Queen for the day – much to the delight of the public.

Railway stations around London also took part in the celebrations and wished Queen Elizabeth II a happy birthday via public announcements while it was also announced that later this year Crossrail will be named the Elizabeth line in honour of the Queen.

Meanwhile, as the Queen spent the day celebrating her birthday, Buckingham Palace announced that they are on the hunt for a new social media manager to look after her official Twitter feed well as maintaining and growing the Facebook and YourTube accounts for  The Royal Family, Kensington Palace and Clarence House.

The position for the Head of Digital Entertainment will be based in Buckingham Palace and is said to offer a competitive salary and free lunches – and let’s not forget who your boss will be…

 

 

Gorkana meets… Metro Features Desk

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With the launch of a new daily Eat & Drink section in today’s Metro UK, commissioning editor (features) Jenny Stallard talks to Gorkana‘s Caleb Greenland about the free paper’s newest content, the growth of dating features and why there’s sure to be a raccoon café in Shoreditch some day soon.

Describe your role at Metro UK.Metro UK

My title is commissioning editor for the features team, which traditionally means you organise all the features content coming in – but as that’s done under different department heads (such as travel, or film) it’s a combination of looking after the new eat/drink pages, sister pages to Metro’s Property section (‘Property’ has just been nominated for two awards) and lifestyle content (anything from dating to self help and organising interviews or guest author pieces). I liaise with freelancers on copy, briefing them on features, as well as working with PR teams to secure interviews.

Metro UK has today launched a new Eat & Drink section, which you’re overseeing. Tell us more.

It’s so exciting! This will be a daily section, celebrating London’s restaurant and bar scene. It will include everything from reviews and chef interviews to quirky or ‘can’t miss’ dining and drinking events.

The section will be a daily guide for anyone wanting to know where to go that evening, week or weekend in the city – with tips and suggestions as well as new openings and pop ups.

You’ve been on the features desk at Metro UK for 18 months now. What has changed since you started?‘

There have been quite a few changes. The most notable was changing our ‘Eat’ section on a Tuesday to ‘home’, and launching our new property section, which has been a huge hit with readers and advertisers. We also have ‘Weekend’ now – Property, home and weekend are all overseen by Liz Burcher and her team. Now there’s the new section to add to that content – so we really are focusing in on how our readers live – and want to live – their lives.

I think since I started, the dating content has expanded as that’s my ‘baby’. I also write a lot of ‘heart on sleeve’ opinion pieces, which might not have happened so often before I arrived here. Nobody else on the team seems to need writing as therapy!

What are readers looking for from Metro?

I like to think of Metro as ‘that mate on the train that read the paper before you’. We’re chatty and here to fill you in when the last thing you watched was News at 10. It’s a balanced mix of humour and hard news, with reviews and of course celebrity gossip. I think readers want a bit of everything, written in a friendly, accessible way without any political bias.

Are there any specific topics or types of articles that work best?

We can tell from our tablet and phone editions how long a reader stays on a certain piece. And from the ‘home’ point of view, upcycling and freezer food have been top reads, as was an interview with Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall for his TV show Waste.

When it comes to dating I think people like honesty and things they can relate to. We’ve all been on a bad date and I think readers relate when I write about my dating woes.

How far in advance to you tend to work with feature pieces?

It depends on the content. I’ll know the gist of what I want to run a few weeks prior to planning a day’s content but we work ‘on edition’ too. For example if a book is launching in June, I’ll have a note of that and an interview set up (this also goes for pieces that are hooked onto a TV TX date). Some pieces are written on edition as and when news breaks that we react to, in particular with a food or drink trend, or a lifestyle piece.

Is there room for feature-led content in more unusual areas?

Absolutely. If something isn’t right for an editorial feature in the paper, there could still be something else we can do with it through creative solutions or one of our digital platforms. For example, we ran a recent campaign based around Lara Croft which was a huge success for the PR company Brown Betty.

What advice would you give PRs pitching to the features desk?

Read the pages you’re pitching for. It sounds so obvious but I often get asked about the ‘home lust list’ (it’s called Hot List!) and also whether I’ve covered a certain topic (eg gin) when we’ve covered it the week or month before.

A photo of the product as an attachment on an email is also very helpful. I get a lot of emails asking ‘what are you working on?’ whereas I’d much rather have a more proactive ‘we have xx celeb, or xx new product and think it’d work for House Doctor/Hot List’ etc. Oh, and don’t email ‘Dear name, surname’ or ‘Dear Jenny, would this work for Kittens Weekly….’ That happens a fair bit!

What would your ideal feature piece involve?

I love features that have a heart, and make me laugh – the ideal piece makes me want to write in to the letters page. Last year we tested the most expensive Easter Eggs on the market. That was pretty perfect. Oh and going to New York to learn about the dating scene there, of course.

Is there anything in particular you wouldn’t cover?

That’s not one for me to answer on an overall scale, but for features we tend not to review experiential events that are one-offs and things that are beyond the budget of what we think Metro readers would spend. It’s not our style to say ‘we did this but it’s expensive and beyond your reach, sorry reader!’.

Good examples of this are high end dating events/matchmakers or one-off fashion events. Personally, I’m always open to feature ideas – I even went on the TV show First Dates for a piece!

What trends are you are expecting to be big this year that could be covered in Metro?

Anything linked to tech and social media. Our tech pages are hugely popular and there’s so much going on in that world that crosses over. From dating and kids to sport – tech’s everywhere and I think it’ll figure in all our worlds and so many features this year. Mindfulness, meditation and wellbeing are all big news – we write about them regularly in the features pages. That and we revealed in Metro that Raccoons are the new cats on Instagram so that’s surely only a matter of time before there’s a raccoon café in Shoreditch.

Finally, you wrote a book last year, Boyfriend by Christmas, with the lead character set a tough deadline to find a boyfriend by Christmas. Are you met with many unusual deadlines in real life?

Haha, no, nothing like that! Although, I wrote a column for Metro called Boyfriend by Christmas, which inspired the book.

My most recent ‘job’ was to go to New York for the weekend to write about the dating scene there. I did the Tough Mudder obstacle race for a feature and over the years, in magazines, it’s been more the random locations I’ve been to – most memorably a one-way train line to a remote Welsh village – to interview women for real life stories.

We also once stayed up for the local council election count at my first job, until 3am, and saw the Lib Dems take Guildford from the Conservatives for the first time in decades, which was quite a big deal for us as reporters at the time.

Jenny was talking to Gorkana’s Caleb Greenland.

Rooster briefed by news service Upday

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Axel Springer-backed news platform, Upday, has appointed Rooster to build brand and product awareness in the UK.

Rooster is set to position Upday as an innovator among the UK media and advertising trade press, ahead of the launch of a new mobile advertising offering in June.

Rooster will identify relevant opportunities in tech titles and columns as consumer PR will be a secondary focus.

The agency will also take responsibility for the content development and management of the English language version of the Upday blog.

James Brooke, managing director at Rooster PR, said: “Upday is already disrupting the way news is consumed on mobile. Exclusive to Samsung and created in partnership with the European media powerhouse that is Axel Springer, we’re seriously excited to have been appointed. Upday’s offering for both users and publishers is unique, with the brand also set to revolutionise the mobile advertising space.”

Jan-Eric Peters, chief product officer and editor-in-chief at Upday, said: “Upday is already outperforming its predecessor and we are keen to communicate its success to relevant audiences. Rooster’s work to raise awareness of the service in the UK will be pivotal in powering our growth in the UK and our expansion into further territories across Europe.”

Zakti drafts in PR support

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Claire Etchell, founder of marketing and PR industry blog NakedPRGirl, has been brought in by fitness fashion brand Zakti to launch its SS16 menswear range, as well as promote its women’s active wear offer.

Zakti was launched as a sister brand to outdoor retailer Mountain Warehouse and now has four stores: two in London Claire Etchellin Upper St, Islington and Chiswick High Road and shops in Reigate in Surrey and Summertown in Oxford, after its opening at the end of the month.

Etchell has been handed a six-month brief to handle press activity and influencer and blogger outreach for the men’s and women’s collections.

Jennie Bianco, Zakti’s head of brand marketing, said: “Bringing in external PR support will allow us to add knowledge, experience and passion to the team so I am looking forward to strong results in over the next season.”

Etchell, who is also a PR Consultant for luxury brands including denim brand DONNA IDA, added: “Fashion is fast-paced and constantly evolving with active wear becoming a permanent trend in the UK market.

“I’m excited to work with the instinct PR team to promote Zakti’s fun, functional, innovative pieces which will inspire and motivate both men and women to get active while looking good.”

Hospice charity Care2Save hires Refresh PR

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The Care2Save Charitable Trust has brought in Refresh PR, alongside brand and comms firm Thrive Creative and digital agency Reason Digital, to lead a number of creative campaigns, including a partnership with Bentley.

 

Refresh PR, Thrive Creative and Reason Digital will work together to raise awareness of Care2Save’s year-long schedule of campaign activity to encourage people around the world to donate funds to change the face of hospice and palliative care.

Refresh will act as the lead agency on the campaign, handling all media relations, content development and project management.

Thrive will be responsible for creative, digital marketing and will work with a specialist consultant to deliver social media, while Reason will handle all website development for the project.

The first arm of the campaign, Bentley by Me, is a global initiative launched in partnership with Bentley Motors, which will see people around the world invited to donate as little as £1 towards hospice and palliative care.

For every individual donation pledged, the donor will be entered into a prize draw to win a new Bentley Continental GT V8.

Andrea Ladeira, chief executive of Care2Save, said: “When we were looking for agencies to help promote our various initiatives, it was important to find companies that not only aligned with our ethos, but that actively wanted to help us make a significant difference to hospice and palliative care around the world.

“The teams at Refresh PR, Thrive Creative and Reason Digital have clearly demonstrated that they understand our mission and we’re confident that they will work hard to ensure we achieve our goal.”

Laura Mashiter, founder and MD of Refresh PR, said: “Palliative care is a subject close to many people’s hearts, so when we spoke with The Care2Save Charitable Trust and heard about its aim to tackle this global crisis we were eager to be involved.

“We’ll be working closely with Thrive Creative and Reason Digital to generate mass awareness both nationally and internationally to ensure the world knows about Care2Save and its aim to transform palliative care – something that will affect all of us at some point in our lives. We’re proud to be flying the flag for North West agencies.”

Cow PR to launch Festival of Learning 2016

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Cow PR has been chosen by the Learning and Work Institute to launch the 2016 Festival of Learning, which aims to get more adults to take part in learning.

fesoflearning

 

Festival of Learning is a not-for-profit campaign, supported by the European Social Fund (ESF) and the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS). The campaign encourages and celebrates lifelong learning and the impact it can have on personal and professional development.

Cow, which won the account following a competitive pitch, will work with the Learning and Work Institute throughout the year on nominations for the Festival of Learning Awards, which are open to adult learners, employers, projects and tutors.

Nominations will be open for the awards until late May and shortlisted entrants will be announced at the start of August.

Joyce Black, assistant director for research and development at Learning and Work Institute, said: “From the outset we were impressed with Cow’s enthusiasm, creativity and inherent understanding of what we are trying to achieve,  and have been delighted with the results achieved so far.

“Learning isn’t just something that happens in a classroom, and it shouldn’t stop when you leave school. It has never been more important for life, work and health and here at Learning and Work we feel as though working with Cow we have a shared belief in the power of adult learning.”

Sian Morgan, founder of Cow PR, said: “For us to be working on an account like the Learning and Work Institute is a great privilege. Here at Cow we believe they do a fantastic job with getting people involved in learning and it chimes with our ethos too.

“We’ve always invested in helping staff bring more to the table than a checklist of skills, with benefits such as our ‘make yourself more interesting’ fund, which all Cows can spend on trying something new and finding inspiration outside of work.”