Juliet Cameron, Launch

Launch names Juliet Cameron “chief operational launcher”

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Launch has promoted Juliet Cameron to chief operational launcher, making her responsible for the day-to-day running of the business.

Joining the agency as director of people and planning three years ago, Cameron has led high profile campaigns for clients including eBay, BP and Hyundai.

She has also been the figurehead for Launch’s talent management programme.

Cameron’s comms experience spans 20 years and she has worked at agencies including Octopus, Publicis and GCI.

As chief operational launcher, she will report to Johnny Pitt, Launch’s founder and creative lead, and receive support from the management team.

Pitt said:  ‘Everything we do at Launch is underpinned by our values – curiosity, bravery, drive and kindness – and Juliet displays these in bucket-loads. I’m really pleased for Juliet and the agency.”

Spanish Tourist Office appoints LOTUS

LOTUS to manage comms for Spanish Tourist Office

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The Spanish Tourist Office has appointed LOTUS to handle its PR, events and digital campaigns in the UK market following a competitive pitch.

The agency has been tasked with raising the profile of Spain’s authenticity, broadly focusing on the themes of cities, culture and gastronomy. The account will be led by associate director Kate McWilliams; supported by CEO Sarah Johnson, senior digital manager Anneka Roberts and account executives Georgie Thatcher and Isabel Luque.

The team will coordinate strategic partnerships with key events and exhibitions in the UK, social media campaigns, media analysis and tactical digital support. LOTUS will also provide a day-to-day press office function.

Javier Piñanes, director of the Spanish Tourist Office (UK), said: “We are delighted to start working with LOTUS. We felt that their comprehensive knowledge of Spain, including the current strengths, opportunities and challenges, together with their extensive experience within the travel sector ideally positioned them to help us deliver on our objectives.”

McWilliams added: “LOTUS has a long history and extensive experience of working with Spanish destinations and this win is a natural fit for the agency.

“We are once again delighted and honoured to represent the UK’s most important outbound tourism destination and look forward to raising the profile of Spain’s unique authenticity.”

Cision media briefing with CNBC

CNBC: When you have an exclusive story, come to us first

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A focus on quality over quantity is behind CNBC’s rapid digital growth this year, Cristy Garratt, CNBC’s head of social media and digital video, said at yesterday’s Cision media briefing.

The broadcaster has seen online traffic to CNBC.com increase 40% in 2017, and its social media following rise 119% since the start of the year.

“What a lot of other newsmakers are doing out there is just trying to be responsive,” she explained. “But we are finding that those videos have a very short life and instead we focus on a ‘quality not quantity’ approach.”

Noelle Murbach-Lami, CNBC’s head of news and programming, added that the network’s top quality guests and expert commentators are what set it apart from other news channels.

Together, they briefed a packed auditorium at London’s Milton Court on the best ways to secure coverage on CNBC’s digital, social and broadcast channels.

CNBC operates a ‘first and exclusive’ policy

CNBC prides itself on securing the best guests and setting the news agenda. To facilitate this, it operates a “first and exclusive” news policy.

“It means we have to be the first after a piece of breaking news, a big announcement or corporate earnings,” explained Murbach-Lami. “If you don’t come to us first, we don’t believe we can add as much value.”

She added that the CNBC team will then work collaboratively to find the best formats to tell your story and decide which news segments would suit it best.

It caters for an ‘influential’ and ‘aspirational’ audience

In Europe, CNBC reaches 8.3 million consumers every month. Murbach-Lami characterised this audience as being made of influential and aspirational business people.

“From the broadcast point of view, it is more of the influential – it’s people who are in high level jobs,” she said. “They just want to be informed about an asset class that is relevant to them, they want to be informed about a sector.”

“We also have the aspirational audience,” added Garratt. “These are people who are quickly rising in their careers and are looking for the tool set that they need to enter those C-suite or leadership positions.

“I would say our CNBC.com audience sits somewhere in the middle. Our social audience is very young, very millennial and very ambitious.”

CNBC starts broadcasting at 6am each weekday

CNBC produces four hours of live TV out of London each weekday, with three dedicated to its flagship Squawk Box Europe show.

“Broadcast is funny because there’s a very clear structure to your day,” said Murbach-Lami. “A 3am-4am start is absolutely necessary if you know you’re going to air at 6am.”

Garratt added: “The digital team does rotate, so occasionally we will have digital members of the team coming in for that 2.30am-3am shift. But generally they start getting in for 5.30am-6am to capture the opening of the market.”

CNBC.com offers users 24/7 business and financial news, covering stories that “move markets and affect peoples’ everyday lives”.

Consider the news context before pitching

CNBC is happy to receive phone and email pitches. But it’s important to consider both where and when your story might run.

“Don’t pitch when the world’s unravelling,” quipped Murbach-Lami. “Don’t pitch while we’re on air unless it’s related to something that’s just broken.”

“A lot of people that are successful at pitching to us are people we’ve worked with for a very long time and we’ve built very strong relationships with,” she added. “We know we’re very interdependent and that’s the ideal place to get to.”

Manifest appoints three creatives

Manifest adds three creatives to its senior team

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Manifest has appointed Andrew Soar, Saxony Goodwin and Woody Anderson as creative communications director, senior brand strategist and senior account director, respectively.

Soar joins Manifest from Unity, where he was a director and head of engagement. He has worked on integrated campaigns for brands including Marks & Spencer, Ben & Jerry’s and Direct Line. His work has picked up 39 industry accolades in the last five years.

Goodwin will bolster Manifest’s brand marketing team, working alongside agency founder Alex Myers and Martin Farrar-Smith, its branding and design director. Her role will combine brand consultancy and “brand manifesto” delivery, creative copywriting for above-the-line campaigns and social media content strategy.

Anderson has 15 years’ PR experience at companies including Channel 4, M&C Saatchi, Exposure, Freud Communications and John Doe. His brand experience includes BMW, Department of Health, Vodafone, Pepsico and Le Coq Sportif and ASOS.

“Andrew, Sax and Woody are some of the best creative thinkers in their respective fields, as well as amazing leaders for our junior team,” said Myers. “To capture all three at once is a creative coup that demonstrates our commitment to building an unrivalled senior team.”

Soar continued: “It was clear from my early conversations with the directors that there’s a real opportunity here to not only produce exceptional work but to drive the industry forward and invent the future of PR. I can’t wait to be a part of it.”

Goodwin added: “As an integrated agency, everything starts with the brand, so I’ll be working across all our teams to ensure our strategic work is always on point, building that bridge between brand purpose and creative communications.”

Anderson concluded: “Ever since my freelance placement at Manifest, I’ve not been able to find anywhere else that felt as much like home. There’s so much raw talent here in the junior team, and an executive committee determined to drive the industry forward.”

  • Pictured: (l-r) Andrew Soar, Saxony Goodwin and Woody Anderson
Nick Osborne Stand Agency

Stand Agency hires Nick Osborne as associate director

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Stand Agency has appointed Nick Osborne as an associate director to lead its financial and professional services division and develop its corporate and B2B accounts.

Osborne has extensive experience in developing and managing strategic communications plans for NGO, political and financial sector clients.

As head of corporate and social change at Australian agency Keep Left PR, he developed integrated campaigns for clients including Experian, Energy Australia, HERE Technologies and Airwallex.

He has also been a senior account director at M&C Saatchi PR and a senior consultant at Instinctif Partners, working on accounts including Alibaba, EE and Trustpilot.

Osborne will manage Stand’s corporate accounts, including management consultancy Oliver Wyman, private bank Arbuthnot Lathum and payments specialists Moneycorp. He will also oversee the UK Safer Internet Centre as it launches its 2018 campaign.

“I’m very excited to have joined the team at Stand,” said Osborne. “They’re flowing with creativity, have a great roster of clients and understand how our industry is changing.

“The agency has grown significantly over the past couple of years, and I’m looking forward to being part of its exciting journey.”

Laura Oliphant, Stand’s managing director, added: “We look forward to the breadth of experience Nick will bring to both our client accounts and the agency as a whole.”

National Geographic Food launch editor Maria Pieri

Meet the Journalist: National Geographic Food launch editor Maria Pieri

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Maria Pieri, National Geographic Food‘s launch editor, discusses the reasons behind the launch, its content and regular features and what she is looking for from PRs.

National Geographic Food launch editor Maria Pieri

Maria Pieri

Why are you launching the magazine?

We see a gap in the market – however slim – to bring a rather different type of food magazine to an audience with a seemingly insatiable appetite for the subject.

Our aim will be to further develop the great storytelling ethos of the National Geographic brand into the food arena, championing sustainability and exploring the culture, traditions and provenance of the food we eat and the people we meet, plus you-can-almost-taste-it photography.

While we will focus on the global, cultural, sustainable and practical elements too, our point of difference will be to focus on the people, the story, the traditions and the culture behind the dish or the ‘food’. It will ultimately be about people’s ongoing relationship with food through all these mediums.

Which aspects of food will the magazine cover? Will it focus on cooking and recipes, or will there be a wider range of subjects?

Our four main pillars will be food for thought, food for eating (and making), food for life and food for you.

We will explore this with think pieces, practical recipes and their provenance, exploring the bumpy road from farm to fork and celebrating local culture and people. Finally we will look at how food can impact you, for health, and how you can impact it too by the choices you make.

How does the magazine fit with the rest of National Geographic’s portfolio? Will it maintain the global feel of the other titles?

We will focus on the global and cultural aspect of food – through food and travel – and will continue the ethos of superb storytelling and outstanding photography. It will, however, also have a domestic angle – if we are focusing on the importance of locally sourced food and championing sustainability this is a given.

We feature reviews, and suggestions for local restaurants, markets and meet the people making a difference close to home too. We will also explore our homegrown dishes too – from roasts to pies!

Who is the magazine targeted at? What sort of demographic?

Existing food magazine buyers who are looking for more than just a recipe driven magazine, and curious individuals who are interested in food as a topic and are looking for a good ‘read’ too, to expand their knowledge and further their interest.

I would say 35+ and ABC1, but honestly, it is really a magazine for anyone who loves food and is interested in more than just a recipe-driven magazine. My team of ‘millennials’ has made me see that!

Will there be any regular sections or features?

Yes! We will have a number of regular features covering: on trend news items, columns on meat, fish and veg, a meet the pioneer profile piece, two regular reports, around five main features – the great stories we hope to become known for, including our Breaking Bread piece and a travel piece – and a reviews section too.

We will and do focus on food experts, chefs, suppliers and ‘real people’ too.

What sort of content will be featured on the magazine’s website?

Original content, including a Breaking Bread series which aims to dine with a local family and find out more about them and their national dishes and traditions, as well as their take on well known recipes.

We are also featuring the magazine content over time, while additionally running Instagram and social media campaigns too.

What types of pitch are you seeking from PRs? And what is your relationship with PRs

We’re new – we’re open to any and all. PRs know so much about their clients, they will be able to tell us the story they want to tell and more often than not, we will be able to find ours with them too.

Finally, what is your perfect meal?

The hardest question of the bunch! Dim sum, followed by a fresh seafood or prawn green Thai curry. And then, chocolate to finish it off.

Opinion: Trade show marketing must evolve to survive

Red Lorry Yellow Lorry launches German operation

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Specialist tech consultancy Red Lorry Yellow Lorry has announced that it will open an office in Berlin, headed by former Hotwire Germany head of client services and corporate communications Saskia Stolper.

The German outpost will work with the agency’s other offices in London, Boston and Los Angeles to service current and prospective technology clients across German-speaking regions.

Guy Walshingham, Red Lorry Yellow Lorry CEO, said: “The decision to establish an office in Germany was fuelled both by client demand and a desire to expand beyond our UK and US core markets. With a growing portfolio of business in Germany and in an uncertain Brexit future, it was the obvious place to locate our new office.”

He added: “With her intimate knowledge of the German technology market dealing with both international and national clients, Saskia is a fantastic addition to the lorry team.”

Stolper concluded: “Tech companies of all sizes – whether start up, DAX corporate or SME – choose Berlin as their innovation hub.

“For the lorries it provides a perfect starting-point to establish German operations – and we’re looking forward to growing the team here. I’m very excited to drive the business here in Berlin.”