The Sofitel London St James hires Clementine

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The Sofitel London St James hotel has appointed Clementine Communications as the UK PR agency for its Balcon restaurant, The St James Bar and The Rose Lounge, following a five-way pitch.

The Sofitel, which is based on Waterloo Place at the corner of London’s Pall Mall, has also briefed Clementine to launch The Balcon’s newly appointed restaurant chef, Matt Greenwood, to consumer and trade media from the beginning of February.

Clemence de Crecy, MD of Clementine Communications, said: “We are delighted to be working with the dedicated team at The Balcon at such an exciting time.

As this beautiful restaurant embarks on a new journey with an inspiring new chef and his new, innovatively crafted French-British menu in this new year, we eagerly look forward to reaching out to both consumer and trade-focused media, as well as promoting the chic St James Bar and welcoming Rose Lounge.”

Iglu chooses Hills Balfour to handle PR

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The UK’s largest independent agent for ski and cruise holidays, Iglu, has chosen travel PR and marketing consultancy Hills Balfour to handle the PR for its ski and cruise brands in the UK and Ireland.

Hills Balfour has been brought on board to grow the Iglu Ski and Iglu Cruise brands and will handle comms activity across all media, targeting both experienced skiers and cruisers, as well as ‘new to cruise’ and ‘new to ski’ holiday makers.

The account will be led by Hills Balfour’s PR account director, Amy Scott, who will be supported by PR account managers Freya Boucher and Grace Armitage.

Simone Clark, MD of Iglu, said: “It’s a really exciting time for us – Iglu Cruise is celebrating its tenth successful year, and 2016 will see Iglu Ski come of age as it hits 18. We are so proud to have developed two such iconic brands which deliver huge value and variety, as well as deep rooted product knowledge and passion for travel. We are delighted to be working with Hills Balfour who share our passion and experience, and are excited for the year ahead.”

adidas hands running and women’s performance briefs to Hope&Glory

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adidas has brought in Hope&Glory to handle the PR around its running and women’s performance categories, following a competitive pitch.

The agency has been briefed to work with the adidas London newsroom team across three main channels – the brand’s social channels, editorial activity and influencer-driven campaigns.

For running, the brief will focus on raising awareness and understanding of adidas’ BOOST franchise, helping to promote the technology across its range of performance running shoes.

For adidas women, the brief will initially focuses on enhancing the brand’s #workit exercise campaign into the January fitness season and promoting its S/S16 ranges.

The accounts will be led by Hope&Glory’s managing partner, James Gordon-MacIntosh, and associate director, Pieter Graham.

The team will report to adidas’ editor for style and women, Laura Coveney, as well as PR managers Sebastian Bell and Paul Brady.

Gordon-MacIntosh said: “adidas is a dream account for any agency so we’re over the moon to be working with them. The newsroom model adidas has adopted, with the integration of editorial, social content and influencer engagement, is the most advanced we’ve worked alongside and there are some big plans to grow in the categories we’re going to be working with them on. New client briefs don’t really get better, as far as we’re concerned.”

Six agencies gear up for The Creative Shootout

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Bottle PR, Dynamo PR, Frank PR, Mischief, PLMR and TVC Group are set to participate in a one day creativity competition, The Creative Shootout, at The China Exchange, Soho in London.

The agencies are set to participate in the competition on 21 January, 2016. The participants will receive a brief from the charity associate of the competition, Unicef UK, in the morning and pitch it back to judges and a live audience of 200 people on the same day.

The winning team’s idea will go to Unicef UK.

Johnny Pitt (pictured), founder of The Creative Shootout and Launch PR, said: “Welaunch’ve ripped up the rule book. Thursday will be a pioneering day in the creative calendar, showcasing the best of agency talent by putting creative mettle to the test, live.”

Judges of the competition will include a host of comms experts including the director of communications and brand at Unicef UK, Jane Cooper, the director of communications and reputation at O2 Telefonica, Nicola Green, and EMEA director of public affairs at Starbucks, Simon Redfern.

Agencies entered in the Autumn by giving the judges a ‘60 second’ submission (in whatever format they liked) on why they have the creative horsepower for Unicef UK.

Viewing the final is free, and all tickets, including paid-for after party tickets can be secured on The Creative Shootout website.

Case Study: Bike Moments

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Find out how Forster Communications helped raise the profile of road safety charity The Institute of Advanced Motorists by creating a series of tongue-in-cheek Facebook and Twitter “Bike Moments”.

Campaign: Bike Moments
Client: Institute of IAMAdvanced Motorists
PR Team: Forster Communications
Timing: July – September 2015
Budget: £14,000

Overview

The Institute of Advanced Motorists (IAM) is the UK’s leading independent road safety charity. Forster Communications was selected by IAM to develop a social media campaign to raise awareness and increase sign-ups to its free rider checks and safety courses amongst the motorcycle community. The win followed the success of a similar digital and online PR campaign for IAM, implemented by Forster in 2014.

Objectives

The aim of the eight week campaign was to:

  • Increase IAM’s social media engagement with riders aged 40+.
  • Raise awareness for the organisation.
  • Drive people to the IAM website.
  • Drive 330 signups to the IAM free riding tasters amongst the target audience.

Strategy

The campaign is the second project Forster Communications has worked on for IAM. Forster developed an engaging, tongue-in-cheek Facebook and Twitter campaign entitled Bike Moments, playing on audience insights around motorcyclists’ unique relationship with their bikes.

As part of the campaign, Forster created a series of images showcasing key life moments where the bike is the highlight rather than the special event.

This was supported by additional content including polls, competitions, safety tips and inspirational quotes. The campaign was seeded through biker Facebook groups, existing and potential partners and ambassadors, a campaign Facebook page as well as IAM’s existing Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn channels.

George Ames, head of Forster’s activation practice, said: “Selling safety can be tough. We knew that we’d need to find the ingredient the audience would identify with to get people to contemplate action. The humorous take on the relationship riders have with their motorbikes did just this and we’re delighted with what the campaign has achieved for IAM.”

Results

The Bike Moments content resulted in 3,843 visits to the landing page, with a conversion rate of 9.4% to signing up to a free riding sessions. The campaign exceeded its target by 16%, with 383 sign-ups for the IAM’s free tasters.

The campaign resulted in over 17,000 engagements on Facebook and Twitter, with the hashtag used almost 500 times by 262 individual users. The campaign attracted over 860 new followers on Facebook and Twitter. Key influencers also engaged with the campaign including Honda British Superbike star Jenny Tinmouth, the government road safety initiative THINK!, the Scottish Government, the Motorcycling Industry Association, The National Motorcycle Museum and female motorcycle organisation Women on Wheels.

Slavina Dimitrova, IAM’s social media executive who implemented the campaign, said: “The Bike Moments campaign was the IAM’s largest ever promotion giving motorcyclists the opportunity to get a taste of advanced riding for free. It was a social media led project building a bridge between rider safety and bikers’ emotional connection with their motorcycles.

“Bike Moments has been a huge success and Forster’s strategic and creative support has been instrumental in it. In just two months the campaign exceeded what was a three month target for free taster sign-ups by 16%, with registrations coming through even after the end of the promotion.”

Claremont boosts “purpose-driven” business strategy with Victoria Page appointment

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Claremont Communications has appointed Victoria Page, former director of CSR and sustainability at Grayling Future Planet, as a director to help grow the agency’s private sector clients.
claremont
In her role as a director at Claremont, Page will be responsible for leading and growing the agency’s private sector clients. Claremont’s existing private sector clients include Swedish challenger bank Ikano and business outsourcing firm Capita Plc.

A specialist in sustainability, issues and CSR, Page led Grayling’s 30-strong international team to deliver strategic programmes for Unilever, Sony Europe and Jaguar Land Rover.

Before Grayling, she managed pharmaceutical and FMCG strategies for clients including Pfizer Consumer Healthcare, AstraZeneca and Kellogg at Munro and Forster.

Claremont founder and MD Ben Caspersz said: “CSR is no longer an added option or a token box-tick on the annual company report. Increasingly, social purpose is at the heart of some of the world’s most successful brands.

“And so our sustainability offering is growing accordingly. We’re delighted to be welcoming a senior expert like Victoria to the team as we continue to help our clients in the public and private sector tackle some of society’s biggest issues.”

As part of its growth plans, Claremont is also looking for a senior operator to fill its head of media role.

Nursery industry manufacturer Dorel UK chooses Red Consultancy

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Dorel UK, manufacturer of baby car seat Maxi-Cosi and pushchair Quinny, has appointed Red Consultancy as its UK comms agency, following a five-way pitch.
DorelUK
Dorel is a major player in the nursery industry with a range of brands including car seats, pushchairs and learning development toys.

Red Consultancy’s remit includes product and brand comms, with the main focus on the Maxi-Cosi and Quinny brands.

The brief will cover content creation, consumer and trade PR as well as blogger and influencer outreach. The account will be managed by Red Consultancy’s consumer team, led by MD Emily Morgan.

Nikki Bhogal, head of marketing at Dorel UK, said: “Red Consultancy proved to be a clear winner. We were so impressed in the pitch, not only because they have great experience in engaging with parents, but also a proven ability to generate tangible and meaningful results through cut-through creative splashes.

“We are very excited to have Red Consultancy on board and are looking forward to taking our PR activity to the next level.”

Morgan added: “As the leading manufacturer of car-seats Dorel have a wealth of safety insights which we’ll be bringing to the nation’s parents in surprising ways for Maxi-Cosi this year. 2016 also promises to be an exciting year for Quinny with some very exciting NPD and collaborations for us to showcase.”

Luxury sex toy brand Perlesque hires Aisle 8 to handle UK launch

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Aisle 8 has been chosen to handle the launch and ongoing comms activity for new luxury sex toy brand Perlesque.

Aisle 8 has been chosen to handle the launch and ongoing comms activity for new luxury sex toy brand Perlesque.

The agency has been briefed to handle the launch of Perlesque in March, raising the profile of the sex toy collection, which is designed for both solo and couple “intimate play”.

The campaign will focus on traditional and digital media, influencer engagement, events and brand partnerships, all underpinned by social activity.

Lauren Stevenson (pictured), co-founder of Aisle 8, leads the account with support by PR manager Jade Jackman.

Stevenson said: “We are delighted to be working with the the Perlesque team to launch its brand and product range to the market this year. Our expertise is putting our brands through a fashion filter and we see a big opportunity for Perlesque among the fashion conscious consumers. We will bring the brand to life through traditional and digital PR channels, as well as some exciting brand partnerships, building a trusted and engaged social community.”

English winemaker Chapel Down calls in Wild Card

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Wild Card has been briefed to handle the UK PR for English winemaker Chapel Down, following a competitive pitch.

The agency’s drinks division has been briefed to build brand awareness of Chapel Down in consumer, trade and social media. The campaign will include support for its range of sparkling and still wines.

Mark Harvey, MD of Chapel Down, said: “We are delighted to be working with Wild Card. We were impressed with their expertise and, importantly, the passion they share for the opportunities ahead. 2016 will be an exciting year for Chapel Down.”

Wild Card MD Tessa Willmott added: “This is a hugely exciting win for us and we’re thrilled to add such an exciting name to our growing drinks portfolio. Chapel Down offers a premium range in an exciting category and we’re looking forward to activating a fully integrated communication programme to build further awareness and drive the brand forward.”

Global mobile network Truphone hires Alan Banks to lead PR function

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Global network provider Truphone hires Marketo’s Alan Banks to the newly-created chief sales and marketing officer role, with responsibility for the company’s comms function.

Reporting into Truphone‘s CEO, Ralph Steffens, Banks will also lead Truphone’s global sales and marketing teams. He is in charge of marketing Truphone’s services and products, as well as contributing to the company’s brand strategy moving forward.

Prior to this, Banks was EMEA MD for marketing software company Marketo, where he was responsible for overall business operations across the region.

Steffens said: “Alan has fantastic experience having transformed sales and marketing processes for some of the world’s biggest technology companies. As Truphone has gone from strength to strength, experiencing superb growth, we have had to restructure our business to ensure we maximise the potential from this growth. Alan will be invaluable in enabling this to happen, driving sales execution and market penetration in our core regions.”

Banks added: “I am delighted to begin my new role at Truphone, a company that I view as a true disruptor in its field with the potential to be one of the world’s great companies.

“Truphone has invested heavily in its service offering to its customers as well as its company structure. In an industry dominated by localisation, Truphone, as the first global mobile network, is now in the perfect place to becoming a dominant player in the field. I am excited to help the company realise its global potential.”