Burger & Lobster briefs Manifest London as it expands internationally

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Restaurant chain Burger & Lobster has brought in Manifest London to establish the brand internationally.

Burger & Lobster first launched in 2011, selling lobster and burgers at the same price (£20). It now has 12 restaurants and has briefed Manifest London to help educate customers about the origins and sustainability of its products.

Manifest’s New York office, which opened 12 months ago, will also support the restaurant’s US expansion.

Maisie Denning, head of propaganda and marketing for Burger & Lobster, said: “The Burger & Lobster model is easy to understand – we do burgers and we do lobsters, and we do them both well. What’s not so easy to get is why and how we do them, so we’re excited to bring Manifest on board to tell our story.

“Manifest’s passion and experience of giving brands purpose and meaning, whilst making them stand out from the crowd is exactly what we need. We want our diners to expect the unexpected in 2016 and the ideas Manifest presented have inspired us; we’re certain it’s going to be our most exciting year yet.”

Alex Myers, group CEO at Manifest, added: “When it launched in 2011, Burger & Lobster inspired a generation of restaurateurs and diners by creating a cult dining experience that spread worldwide.

“The team there wants to continue blazing a trail and aren’t afraid to take risks and that speaks to us. We’re looking forward to continuing its culinary revolution both here and in the US.”

3 Monkeys’ Craig Stockwell joins on demand concierge service Henchman as head of marketing

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Henchman, an on demand concierge service that promises to deliver “anything from anywhere” within central London, has appointed 3 Monkeys Communications’ former marketing and new business manager, Craig Stockwell, as its head of marketing.

Henchman has a team of drivers, based across London, who can collect a variety of items, including restaurant dishes, fast food, alcohol, concert tickets and dry cleaning, and deliver them to required destinations in the capital.

The company was tipped by US business magazine Forbes last month as one of three firms “set to make it big” in 2015 as part of the ‘doorstep economy’ – a response to increasing consumer demand for more goods and services to be delivered at speed.

Stockwell will oversee the development of Henchman’s marketing, PR and comms strategy, as the start-up looks to expand its service in 2016 across London and other UK cities.

Ryan Perera, CEO and co-founder of Henchman, said: “Craig brings a host of marketing know-how, digital understanding and unbridled enthusiasm to Henchman, and I’m looking forward to him growing with the company.”

Stockwell said: “I’m really excited to take on this new role at Henchman. There’s a huge buzz in the industry about the doorstep economy, on demand services, and how they’re set to grow massively over the next few years, and it’s fantastic to be in it from the start with such a rapidly expanding company.”

Stockwell spent nearly two years at 3 Monkeys as marketing and new business manager.

Case Study: Energizer ‘Waste to Wonder’

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When Energizer approached Cirkle to launch its EcoAdvanced battery, which is made from recycled batteries, the agency created an attention-grabbing, battery-powered, a four metre high replica of Tower Bridge made up of more than 80,000 recycled batteries, which led to EcoAdvanced winning The Grocer’s ‘Launch of the Year 2015’.

Campaign: Energizer ‘Waste to Wonder’
Client: Energizer
PR Team: Cirkle
Timing: Summer 2015

Overview

Let’s face it, batteries aren’t the sexiest of products – they are often viewed more as a functional purchase with low brand loyalty and with sales often driven by in-store promotional offers. So imagine our excitement when Energizer briefed us on a technological breakthrough that represented a world first. The new Energizer EcoAdvanced is a battery made from RECYCLED batteries.

Objectives

To launch one of Energizer batteries’ most technologically advanced innovations – Energizer EcoAdvanced – which is the world’s first high performance battery made from 4% RECYCLED batteries.
To use the launch to drive awareness and sales of the overall Energizer brand.
To generate earned media which features key messages, in gold and silver tier titles.

Target audience:

Trade – multiple and convenience retailers.
Consumer – families and individuals in the 25 to 45-years-old age-range.

Strategy

Our strategic starting point was to prove to Energizer that we needed to take a disruptive approach to the battery category – moving away from the brand’s focus on traditional ‘press office’ activity in favour of making a big bang among target consumers.

We translated Energizer EcoAdvanced’s proposition of ‘taking worn out things and making them better’ into ‘RE-IMAGINATION ’ and put this at the heart of our plan. A two-phase approach was designed to (a) create a groundswell of advocacy amongst environmental, consumer affairs and business influencers; and (b) engage consumers in a compelling way that captured the cultural zeitgeist and rich media appetite for high impact stunts.

Partnering with global trend forecasters The Future Laboratory and leading sustainability campaigner Tony Juniper we created The Re-Imagination Report, looking at the future of recycling and how waste will become a premium resource. We launched it to ‘green’ influencers including science, environmental, consumer affairs and trade media at The Future Laboratory’s Shoreditch hangout.

We then created a ‘media moment’ through our showstopper that re-imagined London’s iconic Tower Bridge. The kinetic sculpture was made out of 83,000 batteries collected from recycling plants showing how EcoAdvanced turned waste products into something wonderful.

Weighing two tonnes, the sculpture was 12 metres long and four metres high. Ensuring a genuine likeness, the replica was battery operated to open and close at the same time as the real London landmark and was erected in front of the real bridge in Potters Fields.

Taking four weeks to make, the installation was unveiled by The Gadget Show’s Pollyanna Woodward, with our photocall attracting media, bloggers and consumers. Collateral included a timelapse film of the build and the installation to drive share of voice and social shares.

Unleashing the power of online influencers, we selected parenting and lifestyle bloggers from our exclusive ‘Social Inner Cirkle’ community and set them a ‘re-imagination’ challenge. Supplying them prop boxes comprising materials doomed for the bin, they were tasked with upcyling worn out items and transforming them into something new.

Results

  • At year end, Energizer’s total share increased by +3.4% in a market where brand leader Duracell’s share declined by -0.9% (source: WE 26.12.15 Nielsen).
  • Widespread national news coverage on business pages including high share of voice in the FMCG trade ‘bible’ The Grocer – reinforcing Energizer’s position as a thought leader.
  • National and broadcast consumer coverage in gold and silver tier media was gained, including the Guardian, BBC and The Mirror, generating 400m OTS.
  • We smashed our earned media KPIs by achieving 10 more pieces of national coverage versus our original target.
  • There were 300,000 shares on social media.
    Our campaign contributed to EcoAdvanced winning The Grocer’s ‘Launch of the Year 2015’

Mandy Iswarienko, marketing director at Energizer, said: “The Cirkle team is very strong, passionate and results-driven. A fabulous combo to reach the ambitious targets we needed to obtain for this campaign.”

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

Biotech company Sanofi Genzyme hands UK and Ireland corporate brief to Consilium Strategic Communications

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Sanofi Genzyme, a biotech company and the speciality care business of global healthcare specialist Sanofi, has brought in Consilium as its corporate comms adviser.

Sanofi Genzyme develops and distributes therapeutic Sanofi Genzymesolutions focusing on patients’ needs. Diabetes medicines and vaccines are among its products.

Consilium will support the Paris-listed Sanofi Genzyme in the UK and Ireland. Consilium Partners Chris Gardner and Amber Fennell lead the brief with support from Chris Welsh and Lindsey Neville.

The team will work with Sanofi Genzyme’s Henry Featherstone, director of public affairs, and Stefanie Holman, corporate communications manager.

Gardner said: “As an independent strategic communications agency focused on healthcare, it is very exciting to engage with Sanofi Genzyme as the company establishes itself as the specialty care business unit of Sanofi. We look forward to working with the company as it builds on its existing reputation in rare diseases and MS and continues to dedicate itself to making a positive impact on the lives of people with serious diseases.”

Pumpkin PR appoints ITV’s Tracey O’Connor to newly-created MD role

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ITV ‘s head of press, Tracey O’Connor, has returned to Pumpkin PR, which specialises in the creative and media sectors, as the agency’s first MD.

In this new role, O’Connor will develop the agency’s business strategy, with an aim to grow its account portfolio.

She will report to Pumpkin CEO Sarah Owen.

With over 20 years’ PR experience in media and broadcasting O’Connor has most recently focused on corporate comms for the ITV, with senior roles in commercial, online, ITV Studios and ITV Studios Global Entertainment.

She led the PR strategy for the recent repositioning of ITV’s VOD service and latterly managed the corporate comms for ITV’s biggest advertising Upfronts – the ITV Gala.

ITV has also retained Pumpkin to manage its commercial and online PR until April 2016.

Prior to her three years at ITV, Tracey was director at Pumpkin, having joined from Premier PR, where she led the TV team. Previously, she was deputy head of press at Channel 5, which she joined from ITV

Owen said: “Tracey is the obvious and ideal choice to lead Pumpkin in the next stage of its development. Not only is she a joy to work with, she has a deep understanding of the commercial landscape, exceptional crisis management skills and proven leadership expertise. We are growing fast. So her first task at Pumpkin will be to attract and add to the existing team.”

O’Connor said: “I am delighted to be joining Pumpkin as MD at such a crucial stage. Sarah has built an exceptional and growing business with a fantastic reputation as a can do agency that knows the industry inside out. I am really looking forward to working with Sarah and the team to realise its ambition for further growth and success.”

As ‘Blue Monday’ informed news agendas again this year, what opportunities can brands and PRs find in such media concepts?

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Blue Monday, the third Monday in January which is apparently the most depressing day of the year, is an annual media concept but it divides opinion. While many brands – including Innocent and Vodafone – use the story of Blue Monday to push feel-good products and create playful campaigns, many journalists and media experts feel such ‘days’ are hollow concepts. 

Blue Monday is a popular, but divisive media concept. Yesterday (Monday 18 January) brands such as easyJet, Innocent and Vodafone UK all launched social media campaigns which provided some comic relief for consumers on what is said to be the most depressing day of the year. Other brands ignored it. Even its origins are in disrupt. Some media experts think the concept was created by Sky Travel in the 1980s to boost airline sales, and others, including psychologist Dr Cliff Arnall, argue that there is a scientific argument for thinking this is the most ‘depressing’ day of the year.

But, does Blue Monday – and other such concepts – really capturing the imagination of consumers – and journalists – in the way brands hope? And how can PRs use this effectively?

Gorkana asked a brand, a journalist and a comms expert to tell us what they thought about Blue Monday and if brands should take part in the conversation surrounding it. Here is what they said:

  • Targeting is key

Yesterday, Pizza Hut launched a social media campaign for the day where it offered free pizza for a range of businesses such as giffgaff, Benefit cosmetics and Misguided and tweeted them with messages that suggested they needed cheering up for Blue Monday.

Lisa Hale, account director at Tangerine – the agency that manages Pizza Hut’s social media activity, said: “Pizza Hut is currently underway with its ‘Taste Freedom’ campaign – a complete refresh of its branding, huts and menus. The aim is to reposition the brand to make it more appealing to the influential, trendsetting millennial audience.

“Blue Monday was the perfect opportunity to affiliate Pizza Hut Restaurants with the likes of Boohoo, Benefit UK and Misguided – brands that already have a lot of ‘clout’ with this audience.

“Jumping on a trend always results in good engagement. However, it is important to be selective and relevant with the trend. The key is to always keep your target audience in mind, ask if they would get involved in it and what value your brand can credibly add to the online conversation.”

  • It’s about storytelling

Creative director at Borkowski.do, Mark Borkowski, commented on his blog that such concepts have power: “The story of Blue Monday demonstrates that power of an idea to trump the facts. People buy into the notion that the start of an unremarkable week in a bleak month, when you’re broke after Christmas and have used up all your leave until June, is probably the year’s shittiest day. To have a day to acknowledge this low point is an act of solidarity signalling. We are all in it together and, via social media, we are invited to join in the struggle to get to the other side of this 24 hours.

“Regardless of whoever cobbled together the phoney press release, the principle of Blue Monday is as old as storytelling itself. You latch onto people’s hopes and wishes, fears and worries, and attach a spuriously rationalised moment that provides vendors with a window in which to capitalise. Historically we haven’t needed Twitter to reduce our calendar to itemised moments. The creation of Christmas –a day that notionally celebrates an unauthenticated birth of a possibly fictional miracle worker- is only a more established version of Blue Monday.”

  • Be honest

Katie Jacobs, editor at HR Magazine, says that although as a brand HR magazine wants pieces that are heavily focused on academic research, she is open to pieces that are ‘tongue-in-cheek’ and playful. However, when brands try to pitch stories around Blue Monday that are said to be based on scientific research, Jacobs draws the line.

“In this case I definitely don’t want any stats, I just don’t think they’re true when it comes to Blue Monday, and there is no scientific basis on why this day is worse than any other Monday. It is fine when it’s a playful piece and can have its place but don’t try and pretend it is based on something that it’s not.”

 

UTV Media chooses Amy Grantham to head up comms

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Chivas Brothers’ former global PR manager, Amy Grantham, has joined UTV Media as head of comms.

Grantham has been briefed to oversee all internal and external comms across UTV Media (GB) titles, which includes talkSPORT, the world’s biggest sports radio station, and Sport magazine, the largest sports magazine in the UK, as well as 12 independent stations.

Her brief will soon include three additional national radio stations: Virgin Radio, talkRADIO and talkSPORT 2.

Describing her new role as “an exciting opportunity with a lot to do”, Grantham will work as part of a three-strong comms team and report to UTV Media’s commercial development director, Howard Bareham.

Grantham was previously global PR manager for Scotch whisky and premium gin business Chivas Brothers, part of Pernod Ricard. She oversaw the global PR and comms output for brands including The Glenlivet, Ballantine’s and Beefeater gin.

She also headed up the PR team for the British Horseracing Authority, before moving on to Pernod Ricard in 2012.

She started her PR career in horseracing, working as a press officer at Ascot Racecourse, before moving to manage various consumer PR accounts including Land Rover, Triumph Motorcycles and Stolichnaya at Exposure, followed by Walkers Crisps, Russian Standard Vodka and The Carphone Warehouse at Freud Communications.

FTI Consulting and Walbrook PR lead rankings of AIM client accounts after a decade of “flux” in the AIM Adviser Rankings Guide of the last ten years

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FTI Consulting tops a list of AIM Adviser Rankings – by number of clients – with 66 PR accounts in the tenth anniversary AIM Adviser Rankings Guide. Walbrook, which represents 65 briefs is second in the list, which covers the ten year period to 30 November 2015.

FTI has seen a rise of 36 AIM clients since November 2005, reports the guide. The PR adviser also heads up a table of market cap by AIM clients, which represents nearly £9bn.

Walbrook, which was founded in 2009 by former Parkgreen Communcation’s Paul McManus, is a new entrant to the rankings in the last decade and now represents clients with some £2.28bn market cap in the AIM market. Its growth, reports the quarterly published guide, is due to targeting “AIM and Small-Cap plays as a means of driving their businesses”.

In the last 12 months, it has won briefs from security and facilities management company Mortice and Philippine minerals business BlueBird Merchant Ventures.AIM clients 10 year NEW SITE

McManus commented: “Our success has been driven by bringing together a team that enjoys working with smaller companies and properly understands the particular issues that these growing businesses face. We’ve focussed on providing our clients with high quality independent and honest advice on media engagement and investor relations and have quickly built a reputation as a trusted voice for smaller companies that can be relied upon by journalists, analysts and investors alike.”

Other new entrants in the guide include Yellow Jersey, which has eaten up market share of the minerals sector, the consolidated MHP Communications, Camarco, Vigo Communications and Alma PR.

The rankings are compiled by Advisers Rankings Ltd, with the data supplied by Morningstar.

Innovate Finance partners with comms firm freuds to offer media strategy to the FinTech organisation’s members

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Innovate Finance, an independent membership association that represents the UK’s FinTech community, has forged a strategic partnership with PR firm freuds to provide media strategy to the organisation’s members.

Founded in 2014, Innovate Finance has some 170 members including banks, tech companies, start-ups and so-called unicorns – start-ups worth over £700 million ($1bn). It aims to connect members to policymakers, regulators, investors, customers, educators, talent and key commercial partners.

In return for offering strategic council and connectivity to Innovate Finance, freuds will gain access to stakeholders and members, as well as get access to events including the Global Summit at the Guildhall on 11 April.

Lawrence Wintermeyer, CEO of Innovate Finance, said: “We are proud to partner with freuds to help shape the future narrative of the global FinTech sector. freuds’ experience and enthusiasm for financial inclusion initiatives, coupled with its extensive experience in supporting new innovations, was key to selecting it as a partner.

“We are confident that together we can continue to promote the growth of this important market and to help create a better future for financial services.”

Andrew McGuinness, CEO of freuds, added: “freuds accesses a unique network to build powerful partnerships so we are very excited to work with Innovate Finance and its members – companies that are revolutionising technology-led financial services. FinTech is one of the fastest growing industries and presents huge socio-economic potential. Together we will champion the UK as the FinTech hub, a space that promotes innovation, creativity and disruption.”

Deutsche Boerse

60 seconds with David Thomas, The World Federation of Exchanges

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David Thomas, head of communications at industry body The World Federation of Exchanges, on the fun he had as a journalist in the mid-’90s, how editorial experience is indispensable in PR and his dream to work for expat radio in the South of France. 

What media outlet can’t you start your day without?

CNBC Squawk Box is a relatively sane way to start the morning and provides the main market headlines. Myriad journalists cover my sector in market structure – FT Trading Room, Bloomberg, Reuters, FOW (Futures and Options World), The TRADE, Risk magazine. They are all excellent in their own niches and one has to keep an eye on all of them. Patrick Young [of Exchange Invest] is a seasoned guru of the exchange space and his daily blog is always entertaining and provocative.

What one lesson from your role as a journalist has best contributed to your work as a PR?

Knowing what’s a story and how and who to pitch it to. Also how to set a story in a newsy context which hopefully captures the journalistic imagination.What three qualities do you ask from your colleagues?Colleagues should just try and live up to that fine word. The best have a balance of ego and id – we all have to try to live that ideal.

What is your favourite thing about working in comms?

Creating a media buzz around a topic, company, policy or product. True, this Champagne can turn out flat but it’s fun to die trying.

What is your favourite scoop from your years as a journalist?

I was in Brussels for nearly ten years. The big European stories may not start or end in Brussels but they always have to pass through. As a result it is a great listening post and a great place to pick up documents, which was always a thrill when it happened.

I recall one incident which never fails to tickle me to this day. I was waiting for the press conference to start at the end of an EU finance ministers’ meeting in Verona in the mid-’90s when I was approached by an official of the European Monetary Institute whom I knew. “I have a document I want to leak – who is here from the Financial Times?” he asked. It was a less-sophisticated time then, media relations-wise, but a lot more fun for journalists. I persuaded him to opt for a solution that assured more widespread coverage.

What industry practice would you like to see less of?

The tendency to make PR a pseudo profession is not a good one. Some even study PR at university as if it is an academic discipline. Journalism experience is indispensable. PR is about putting stories in newspapers or news wires or TV when it gets down to basics – the rest is just process. So you need to know how journalists work, what makes them tick and empathise with them.

What do you do to take off your business head?

I have taken up Boris biking and have persevered despite a collision with a wall a couple of months back which put me in the Royal London for a night. I love it but London roads are lethal as are many fellow cyclists who seem to be in the Tour de France in their heads. As a result, one often resorts to the pavements where the sanctimony of a certain kind of pedestrian is boundless. But the mayhem can be wickedly enjoyable.

Which three people, living or dead, would make up your ideal dinner party?

Boris Johnson – he’s made the transition from hack to politician and is spitting distance from Number 10 and I hear his copy is immaculate when it arrives at the Telegraph copy desk. The man is clearly a thorough pro and a political phenomenon once you get past the mad hair. Frederick Forsyth is my second guest. He just finished his autobiography – and what a life; RAF jet pilot, Reuters’ man in East Berlin, a freelance in the Biafra civil war and then he wrote Day of the Jackal – not only a bestseller but the prototype for political thrillers ever since.Unlike the Come Dine With Me format I would include my wife as third – she is a seasoned media pro herself and would provide the much-needed conversational mediation and is adept at dropping the guillotine on monologues. She would give these particular guests as good as they gave. In any case, best thing about a dinner party is dissecting everyone’s – hopefully bad – behaviour once they’ve left.

If you weren’t in PR, what would you be doing?

Taxi driving in the South of France. We have a holiday flat in Villefranche-sur-Mer and it’s clear those guys have a hell of a protected lifestyle – now having seen off the Uber threat. Not sure if I would succeed in breaking into what seems a heavily self-regulated Mafia scene though. If not, would sell my children to work for Radio Riviera – a broadcast service for Anglo expats on the Cote d’Azur. That would be a return to journalism in style.

Are there qualities that you think all PRs should have? Share you thoughts in a ’60 seconds with’ piece by emailing [email protected]