Rhizome broadens SME offer with rebrand

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Rhizome PR has rebranded to Rhizome Media as it expands beyond media relations to include social media campaigns and community management work for SME clients.

Rhizome, which was founded by ex-journalists Dominic Hiatt and Jonny Stevens in 2008, provides a range of services to SMEs and “start-ups on tight budgets”. These include website creation, SEO and content marketing, crowdfunding campaigns and media training.

It has also launched a Walk-In Clinic where business owners can book an hour slot and seek advice from Rhizome Media’s team on anything media-related. A pay-on-results PR service, Just In Time PR, will continue to operate under its own sub-brand.

Emily Garnham, the agency’s MD, said: “Our SME and start-up clients were asking us for so much more than public relations that for us to be perceived solely as a public relations agency was a huge undersell.

“Increasingly, PR is aligned with social media, while content creation has never been as important. While the media sector is in a state of flux, if you’re constantly evolving your model it can be hugely rewarding, too.”

Rhizome Media is based at Liberty House in Soho, central London. It counts SpareRoom.co.uk and price comparison website uSwitch.com among its clients.

Just Beauty UK hires Kez Barnaby for comms

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Kez Barnaby, a former account manager for Twitter, has joined e-tailer and shopping destination Just Beauty UK as marketing and brand manager.

In her new role, Barnaby will oversee all brand and comms activity for the brand including social, PR, press, content and creative.

She will report to Just Beauty’s CEO, Ben White.

Speaking about her new role, Barnaby said: “A natural leader, I work best in a fast-paced, dynamic, creative and intense environment. With me it is all or nothing. I firmly believe that if you are not going to bring 110% to what you do, then there is no point doing it.”

As well as her time at Twitter, Barnaby has worked at fashion retailer Bershka as global social media manager. She is also currently writing a book, is studying  and volunteering with several NGOs.

KPPR to promote heat radio presenter Sarah Powell

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KPPR has been chosen to handle the publicity for TV and radio presenter Sarah Powell.

Powell has her own show on heat radio, with past guests including Adele, Calvin Harris, Ed Sheeran and RuPaul, as well as a presenting role on ITV’s This Morning, where she discusses entertainment features.

She also writes for Heat magazine, blogs for The Huffington Post UK, and is open to requests for columns and commissions.

Activity will be led by Katie French, account manager at KPPR.

Powell’s heat radio show is on weekdays from 4pm to 7pm and This Morning airs on ITV weekdays from 10.30am to 12.30pm.

The AA briefs Headland Consultancy

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The AA’s financial services arm has hired Headland to handle its corporate and product communications, following a competitive pitch.

Headland will relaunch AA’s financial services brand, build the the company’s reputation as a trusted financial partner and promote its suite of products.

Last year, the AA signed a 10-year partnership with the Bank of Ireland in the UK to provide financial products including credit cards, savings products and loans, with mortgages planned for later this year.

Ian Crowder, head of PR at the AA, said: “During the pitch process, Headland emerged as our preferred PR partner as they showed a combination of sound strategic thinking and some great creative ideas to deliver what we need.

“The AA was one of the first non-traditional providers to enter into financial services, more than 30 years ago.  Now is an exciting time for our FS business as we relaunch with a number of new competitive products, offering members something extra.”

Suzanne Morris, Headland partner, added:  “The AA is one of the most trusted brands in the UK so we’re thrilled to be working with them to relaunch the financial services business.  We’ll be working to build on the AA’s solid heritage in the sector whilst delivering campaigns that tap into issues consumers face today.”

Media specialist White joins IFC Advisory

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IFC Advisory, the investor and media relations agency set up by Graham Herring in February last year, has hired Newgate Threadneedle’s Alex White as a media specialist.

White joins Herring, a former founder of Threadneedle Communications, and co-founder Tim Metcalfe to enhance the agency’s media offering. A former Fleet Street journalist, he will focus on supporting clients with their media relations programmes specifically with the financial press.

His experience as a PR includes providing support to companies across multiple sectors, including Imperial Chemical Industries and plumbers Dyno-Rod.

Metcalfe said: “We are very excited to welcome Alex to the team to help us enhance our media offering to our clients. We have been fortunate to hire some experienced and well established operators in the business and will continue to add quality to the team as we progress. We have had a very successful first nine months in business expanding our client base and capabilities and will continue to expand our offering.”

H+K launches behavioural insights team

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Hill+Knowlton Strategies (H+K) has launched a behavioural insights and strategies team, under the leadership of Matt Battersby, the co-head of its financial and professional services division.

The new division will “apply analysis of human behaviour to communications”, using H+K’s new behavioural comms model SMARTER, which brings together seven methods “by which communications can influence behaviour.” 

H+K’s new unit, which is made up of four people from across the agency, is headed up by Battersby. He recently completed an Executive Master of Science degree in Behavioural Science at the London School of Economics.

He said: “I believe behavioural science should and will have a significant impact on our industry. Clients are increasingly looking for ways to help their customers and other audiences make better decisions and use communications to change behaviour. Whether that’s encouraging participation in sport, switching to healthier food products or managing their money more effectively.”

The company has launched the model following a successful trial last year.

Richard Millar, CEO of H+K UK , added: “As an industry we’ve moved on from the days where our primary expertise was a knowledge of how the media works. As more of our communications become direct to audience, we need to become expert in the science of how people think, behave and make decisions. Matt’s team will provide that expertise, strengthening H+K’s research capabilities and providing further value for our clients.”

Retail discounts: how PRs should respond

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The line between promotional seasons in retail has become blurred. Who can tell where Black Friday begins and the summer sale ends when there is a concoction of mid-season discounts in between, both online and off? And how should PRs respond in this unpredictable environment? We asked comms experts what they think about the trend.

According to the KPMG/Ipsos Retail Think Tank (RTT), the traditional ‘end of season sale’ no longer exists. Consumers previously anticipated post-Christmas discounts and summer promotions around the  mid-year mark, and these discounts were largely driven by the need to shift excess stock at end of the season.

However, this framework can look simplistic when compared to what we have today, which is a multi-faceted and complex system of traditional sales, online discount concepts, such as Cyber Monday, and mid-season sales.

The UK’s import of Black Friday in 2010, where retailers slash prices for a weekend in November just before Christmas spending kicks off, has added to the mix.

So, what do the comms experts think about the challenge this retail market presents for brands and retailers?

Brand relevance is key

“In all honesty, whether promotions are the right or wrong approach depends on the kind of brand you’re building, the kind of customers you want and, most critically of all, the trading strategy,” said Martin Currie, managing director at Citypress – an agency that works with retailers including Aldi.

“For some brands, the yo-yo pricing of competitors can help them differentiate and cut through with a more “everyday low pricing” proposition – in other words, ‘we’re always great value, you don’t need discounts with us’. This can provide a great springboard for creative and compelling brand communications.

“For other brands – often, though not always, premium or mid-premium brands – side-stepping promotions can entirely can help maintain quality, kudos and cachet and keep a core customer base loyal,” Currie added.

Create ‘events’ around the best promotions

Simon Dornan, head of PR at Dixons Carphone, said: “At Currys PC World we still try to keep the “event” feel to our promotions, for example for the new school term for computing or a large sporting events (Olympics, Euro’s) for TVs, so that we can differentiate between them and build that sense of space between each one. More recent phenomena like Black Friday add to the noise around a traditionally promo heavy period such as Christmas.”

“We plan around [these events] in our calendar and whilst the notion of a traditional ‘sale’ isn’t going to be PR’able, many of the items featured in the promo will be singled out and we’ll service them to shopping and lifestyle media. The more lifestyle led promos like a new school term or around sporting events lend themselves to us as a PR team getting really creative to amplify them.”

Cross-discipline marketing and content combats consumer ‘fatigue ‘

Eileen Stretton, managing director at Golley Slater PR North – which currently works with retail brands such as John Lewis, said: “We have to find a way to protect brands integrity and ‘worth’, whilst playing into the hands of the bargain hunting consumer too.”

“I’d say that, from a PR point of view, there is a fatigue with the plethora of ‘special days’ and they’ve become a little meaningless to many. Clever retailers will work to understand which days fit their customers’ agenda and their own operational capability, but build meaningful relationships with them through their chosen channels consistently year round and through the line – not just PR, but all channels and touch points.”

The Zeitgeist Agency launches European division

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Music PR agency The Zeitgeist Agency, which handles the PR for the Reading and Leeds festivals, has launched a new European division, Zeitgeist Europe, with three new clients, including the Roskilde Festival in Denmark.

Aimi Lewis-Mattock, who has worked at the agency for four years, will head up Zeitgeist Europe.

She said: “Many publications want to talk specifically about international festivals, and with the festival market in the UK and Europe saturated, it’s particularly important to have a clearly defined roster of media-worthy shows.

“That doesn’t just mean the largest capacity shows with the biggest lineups, but festivals with great USPs, be it sustainability, unique parties in abandoned hotels or hot tub cinemas. Zeitgeist Europe shows have all of these attributes and more.”

Zeitgeist has been briefed to handle all UK PR activity for the Roskilde Festival, which takes place from 25 June to 2 July.

Mads Mikkelsen, head of marketing and comms for the Roskilde Festival, said: “Roskilde Festival is one of the biggest and oldest festivals in Europe, and this status in itself attracts interest from quite a lot of PR companies. When looking for people to work with, however, we look for more than a good résumé and track record. We build these relationships on trust and loyalty, so we don’t do PR auditions and merely choose either the most experienced or the cheapest.

“Zeitgeist has plenty of festival experience – also in continental Europe – and we have only heard good things about them professionally and personally. Crucially, they understand what we do. They’ve visited the festival as fans, and they know all about our non-profit profile, the unique atmosphere, our loyal volunteers and, of course, our diverse music programme.

“Understanding a large festival’s identity, really understanding it, requires a lot and this was something that made us choose Zeitgeist.”

The agency has also been briefed to handle the UK PR for the Finland-based Flow Festival, which this year takes place in Helsinki from 12 to 14 August, and the Horizon Festival in Bulgaria, taking place from 12 to 17 March.

Tuomas Kallio, artistic director and chairman of the board for the Flow Festival, said: “We had in total four pitches in the UK, and Zeitgeist seemed like the strongest option for us.

“We’ve had some good earlier experiences with Zeitgeist in the 2015 summer as they took on the Flow Festival Ljubljana case just a couple of months prior to the event. Also, the ideas they presented for Flow Festival Helsinki 2016, their track record and specialisation in music festivals made them feel like a natural choice.”

Svetlana Schek, marketing lead for Horizon Festival, said: “Several companies pitched for the PR for Horizon Festival. We were drawn to The Zeitgeist Agency and its pitch ideas. We chose Zeitgeist for their industry experience and their understanding of selling tickets for festivals and music events.”

 

Former DADA chief Laura McIlquham joins Beattie

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Laura McIlquham, former head of PR for Glasgow-based PR, design and events agency DADA, has joined creative comms group Beattie to take on a senior account director role in Scotland.

McIlquham has more than 15 years’ PR experience and she will work with Scottish director Joanne Spence and her 50-strong team on the day-to-day management of accounts and campaigns, as well as helping Beattie expand its client portfolio.

She started her career at Reekie PR (now Freshwater UK), before moving over to DADA in 2003. From 2005, she held the position of head of PR at the agency, overseeing offices in Glasgow and Edinburgh.

In 2010, McIlquham set up her own freelance PR consultancy. During this time, she also lectured in PR and marketing at Glasgow Caledonian University and City of Glasgow College.

Spence said: “Laura has a fantastic, weighty background in PR with many years at a senior level. She is extremely well placed to help guide our team in Scotland and grow the office’s already enviable client list. As a business we are aggressively moving forward in our expansion plans, both in terms of new recruits and clients.

“Over the next 12 months we will be targeting more new business as we look to grow and Laura’s experience and creativity will perfectly support those plans.”

Homestay.com calls in Four Communications

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Four Communications has been chosen to handle the UK PR for Homestay.com, an online marketplace for hosted accommodation.

Homestay.com offers accommodation for travellers where the host is present. It has more than 50,000 hosts offering places to stay in some 150 countries, and enables travellers to stay in the home of a local resident while they are there.

Four Communications has been briefed to increase Homestay’s share of voice, raise awareness of the Homestay.com brand, drive traffic to the site and increasing bookings.

Four Communications director Helen Coop will lead the account.

Alan Clarke, Homestay CEO, said: “We are delighted to be working with Four Communications.  We were looking for an agency that could build on the work we have already done to promote the Homestay brand and felt that Four Communications has the right experience, contacts and creative ideas to help make this happen.

“We are in an increasingly competitive marketplace and we look forward to working with our new PR team to really help the Homestay brand stand out in the UK.”

Coop added: “This is a very exciting time to be working on a brand like Homestay. Having an authentic experience is becoming more and more important to tourists; the Homestay brand, with its hosted accommodation, is incredibly well placed to offer visitors a raft of experiences that they will not get elsewhere.  We will be delivering traditional and digital campaigns to support the brand’s marketing strategy, drive traffic to the website and ultimately generate bookings.”