Why every brand should be using influencers in 2018

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It’s 2012, and Erin Deering has just decided to follow her dreams and start her own swimwear company.

She packs up her life and moves to Hong Kong with Craig, her fiancé. But with limited resources to put into traditional ad campaigns, she knows she’ll have to get creative if she’s going to make her venture a success.

So, she and Craig carefully package some of their signature styles and send them as gifts to a select group of handpicked social influencers.

These influencers have three things in common. They’re active on Instagram. They look great in swimwear. And they all know Kendall Jenner – an icon among Erin’s target audience of 20-something millenials.

Her big break comes in 2013, when Kendall herself appears on Instagram wearing one of Erin’s bikinis. From there, the online buzz around her products grows and grows – and the rest is history.

Today, Erin’s company – Triangl – is worth £34 million. She’s one of the world’s wealthiest Australians, and it’s all thanks to influencer marketing.

Her story is the perfect example of what’s possible when you identify the right influencers for your brand and use smart insights to craft campaigns that drive company revenue. And this month’s Cision white paper reveals how you can harness the latest influencer marketing trends to do exactly that in 2018 and beyond. In the white paper:

  • You’ll hear from industry leaders including YouTube star Caspar Lee, W deputy MD Sophie Raine and supercar vlogger Mr JWW about the key trends facing the industry in 2018.
  • You’ll see why, in today’s media landscape, targeted partnerships with niche influencers can deliver far greater results than coverage in the mainstream press.
  • And you’ll discover how new technology is helping brands develop profitable relationships and capitalise on the biggest opportunities in influencer marketing today.

At Cision, we believe every business should be leveraging influencers to share their story with potential customers. After shooting to prominence in 2017, it’s now one of the fastest growing PR disciplines – and with success stories like Triangl’s it’s easy to see why.

But in today’s fast-changing media environment, it’s vital to stay up to date with the latest influencer marketing trends if you want to make the most of it in your comms strategy.

So, enter your details into the form below now to download Why every brand should be using influencers in 2018 – and discover how to harness the latest influencer trends and integrate them with your comms strategy today.

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MHP promotes Gemma Irvine to head of brand

MHP appoints Gemma Irvine as head of brand

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MHP Communications has promoted Gemma Irvine to head its brand practice.

Irvine, who joined the agency in 2008, will lead the team responsible for campaigns such as Missing Type for NHS Blood and Transplant with Engine, Shop Small for American Express and Chateau Peckham for Laithwaites.

The appointment continues CEO Alex Bigg’s reorganisation of the agency’s senior team, which has included the hire of Nick Barron as deputy CEO, Andy Bloxham as head of its corporate affairs practice and Ian Kirby as head of MHP’s recently-launched media unit.

Irvine said: “There’s never been a better and more exciting time to lead the brilliant brand team at MHP. PR is now at the forefront of strategic communications and our clients see us as the instigators of truly campaignable ideas which have reach across the comms mix.”

Bigg added: “Elevating Gemma to the lead role was an easy decision. Her track record of building trusted client relationships is outstanding. She understands how to stretch campaigns across the full spectrum of earned opportunities and deliver long-term brand transformation programmes.”

Beattie Communications Rachel Gladwin and Luke Bull

Beattie appoints Midlands bureau chief

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Beattie Communications has appointed Luke Bull, the former B2B director at WPR, as head of its Midlands operation.

With 25 years’ PR experience at leading Midlands agencies, Bull has directed national and international campaigns for B2B clients including materials specialist Morgan Advanced Materials, industrial maintenance firm Brammer and engineering company IMI.

Rachel Gladwin, director at Beattie North, said: “Luke’s reputation goes before him and we are delighted that he is joining our fast-growing team.”

Bull added: “The Midlands is the UK’s manufacturing and engineering hub. We see great opportunities to deliver profitable growth for businesses and their partners in the sector by promoting their offerings to key decision-makers, within the UK and beyond.”

  • Pictured: Rachel Gladwin and Luke Bull

Opinion: Why communicators must prepare for gender pay gap reporting

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Michaela Gray, senior manager at Golin, says businesses should act now to prepare their comms strategies for “toxic fallout” from the new gender pay reporting rules.

The start of compulsory gender pay gap reporting will expose the employment practices of every business with more than 250 staff. From 4 April 2018, businesses will be scrutinised and industries mocked as pay stereotypes are proven true.

In a recent Golin survey, 84% of business professionals acknowledged the reputational damage this new legislation could cause. With 76.5% of people believing businesses should be “named and shamed” for their gender pay gap, the media has been given an open invitation.

You can imagine frenzied business journalists ranking the worst performers in league tables, commentators reacting with dismay and calls to boycott backward businesses. Employees (mostly female) may even huddle around coffee machines and swap tips on recruiters to call.

The gender pay gap will eventually fall from the headlines. But the results will remain a reference point to feature in company news stories for months to come. In that time, stakeholders will consider their partnerships and shift their alliances, while better performing businesses will distance themselves from the worst offenders in their sector.

And then will come the resignations. Golin’s recent GPG corporate risk research, found that over three quarters (77%) of business professionals believe organisations will lose staff over the issue, while 73% believe the worst offenders will find it harder to recruit.

This will be a tumultuous time for UK businesses. But for communicators, getting lost in the crowd is wishful thinking.

The first step is to establish what your business’ pay gap is as soon as possible and ensure your team knows why it has come about, so they can communicate what you are doing to improve. That information will underpin both the external and internal narratives – and both will be essential to managing reputational risk and limiting the fall out.

Escaping scrutiny in the media is only half the risk. The other comes from within, as disgruntled employees sink in morale and their productivity falls. Moves to competitor businesses will also become more attractive where they offer more equal pay.

With less than five months until compulsory gender pay gap reporting and only 85 businesses declaring their results so far, the time to prepare your communications strategy is now.

PR News in Brief

This week’s PR news in brief (27 November – 1 December)

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Here’s our round-up of essential PR news stories and features from the past week, including an interview with New Scientist’s Rowan Hooper, Remarkable Group’s rebrand and new hires for WATATAWA and Cognito.

Opinion

Philip Smith, Cision’s head of content marketing and communications, EMEA, discusses the results of the 2017 Global Comms Report, published by Cision and PR Week.

Interviews

Rowan Hooper, New Scientist’s managing editor, talks about modernising the title for a digital age, its close relationship with PRs and the state of UK science reporting.

Account wins

Furniture and interiors retailer Heal’s has appointed Rewired to deliver national press office support alongside its in-house PR and marketing team.

Mongoose Sports & Entertainment has been appointed to publicise the UK launch of National Geographic Food magazine. APL Media Limited selected the agency to provide ongoing media outreach and comms support for the title because of its heritage in food PR.

Exhibitions specialist Upper Street Events has appointed Hills Balfour to manage PR for its portfolio of travel shows taking place in January, February and September next year.

BMW has appointed Issa PR to manage launch the automotive giant’s Art Guide Social Experience. The agency will produce a campaign to raise awareness of the BMW Art Guide by Independent Collectors, including sending influencers to view art collections featured in the guide.

Winchester City Council has selected PR MEDIACO to run media relations activity for Visit Winchester. The agency will promote the city as a vibrant, ancient and cultured destination to the media and public.

Spread and jams firm Jim Jams has selected Piracy Corporation to handle its consumer PR. The agency will work alongside Purple Pilchard, which manages Jim Jams’ trade PR and marketing, to promote the company’s reduced sugar products.

Fashion brand London Rebel X has appointed Bright Light PR to handle its comms. The agency will help to promote the brand’s collection of shoes.

Agency news

Remarkable Group has rebranded and will now be known as Built Environment Communications Group (becg) following its acquisition of specialist property comms agency HardHat. The company celebrated its new brand with a launch event featuring Lord Digby Jones.

Ibiza publicity experts Claire Norrish and Pandora George have launched new travel PR agency Authentic IBIZA PR. The agency will work with a select list of travel and lifestyle clients, with Atzaro Hotel and Spa one of its launch accounts.

Chanel Communications Ltd is set to rebrand to Elevate Public Relations. The name change reflects the agency’s rim to raise its clients’ profile, products and services in the media.

Allison+Partners has expanded its Asia-Pacific operations by opening new offices in Australia and India. Pranav Kumar will serve as managing director in India, while Michelle Rovere will fulfil the same role in Australia.

People news

Ketchum’s Barri Rafferty will take the helm as the agency’s CEO in 2018, making her the first woman to lead a top five global PR firm.

Financial PR consultancy Cognito has appointed Thea Parnell as a director in its London office.Parnell’s knowledge of leading integrated campaigns across a variety of sectors will complement the experience of the agency’s senior team.

WATATAWA Consulting has appointed Tim Williamson as managing director for its new FinTech and Financial Services Sector Practice. He will be based at the consultancy’s headquarters in Singapore.

Cognito has hired Darrell Wright as its regional managing director for Asia Pacific. He joins in early December and is tasked with building relationships with the agency’s client base, and looking to add clients from financial institutions, technology and professional services.

Consumer comms consultancy Aisle 8 has appointed Myfanwy Kramer as senior lifestyle PR executive. She will work across the agency’s growing portfolio of lifestyle brands and report to Vicky McPhail, director of lifestyle and beauty divisions.

Awards news

The University of Sheffield, The Right Agency and Acceleris were among the winners at last night’s CIPR Yorkshire and Lincolnshire PRide Awards.

The university won three golds, including the coveted Outstanding In-House Public Relations Team award, while its media relations officer Amy Pullan was named as Outstanding Young Communicator.

Acceleris took home two golds and three silvers and The Right Agency won three golds and two silvers, including the silver for Outstanding Public Relations Consultancy.

A full list of winners can be found here.

CIPR Yorkshire and Lincolnshire PRide Awards

The University of Sheffield team. Credit: ©Steve Pope – Fotowales

Welsh comms agencies Equinox and jamjar PR each took home four golds at the CIPR Wales PRide Awards ceremony in Cardiff’s City Hall last week. A full list of winners can be found here.

PR events

Time is running out for you to sign up to Cision’s final two events of 2017.

On Wednesday 6 December CNBC International’s Noelle Murbach-Lami, head of news and programming, and Cristy Garratt, head of social media and digital video, will reveal how the team likes to work with PRs, the best ways to pitch them ideas and exactly what stories their audience loves to hear about at Cision’s final exclusive media briefing of the year. You can reserve your place here.

Cision’s final webinar before Christmas will see Stephen Waddington, Ketchum’s chief engagement officer, make five PR predictions for 2018 and share practical tips on how you can prepare and take advantage of the opportunities. Sign up here and join Stephen and Philip Smith, Cision’s head of content marketing and communications, at 3pm on Tuesday 12 December to gain valuable PR insights for 2018.

Madano hires Sarah Park as senior associate director

Sarah Park joins Madano as senior associate director

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Madano has appointed Sarah Park as senior associate director to oversee its specialist built environment practice.

Park will oversee the practice’s continued growth, having worked across the built environment sector for over 10 years in both corporate and consumer roles.

She joins from comms consultancy Holistic, where she was an associate director specialising in property, construction and architecture. She is also a qualified journalist with eight years’ experience writing for national and regional newspapers.

Park said: “I look forward to joining Madano, whose clear focus on strategic insight and in-depth sector expertise supports my experience in creating and leading communication strategies for clients.

She added: “The need for a professional, consultative approach to communications continues to grow across the built environment as uncertainties around Brexit and global growth continue to impact on infrastructure, asset growth and development and Madano is ideally placed to respond to these challenges and opportunities.”

Michael Evans, managing partner at Madano, concluded: “Sarah’s expertise across the built environment is unrivalled and we look forward to her bringing her knowledge, experience and expertise to Madano and clients across our portfolio.”

Jessica Huie reveals why she's proud to be part of Connect Mentors

Opinion: We have a responsibility to close the PR “opportunity gap”

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Jessica Huie, director of Kaleidoscope Comms, talks about how meeting her first PR mentor changed her life – and why she’s proud to be part of Connect Mentors.

Jessica Huie Connect Mentors

Jessica Huie

We do not all begin at the starting line in life. That’s a fact.

The conversation about the disparities between us, the invisible privileges and head-starts, are now a daily feature on the news agenda.

At 17, I found myself washing hair in a local West London salon. I had no desire to be a hairdresser, but had dropped out of college intent on earning my own money so that I might have independence from my family. My parents were dismayed.

As a junior in the salon we had to make small talk with the clients. And on one particular day when I managed to avoid splashing water over my client’s face, I began speaking to an immaculately dressed customer. She said I was intelligent and should not be washing hair, and invited me to her office in Holland Park.

Figuring that an office job had to be better than sweeping hair and cleaning skirting boards, I rocked up to her office the following week where I was shown how to answer the phone.

“Connie Filippello Publicity, how can I help?” was the greeting. My first day as an office junior for the Publicist to the stars (Mariah Carey, George Michael) had begun. And my magical break into the media presented itself.

If I hadn’t accepted Connie’s invitation at the salon, I might never have discovered what public relations was – let alone have crafted a great living from PR. I thought I was just going to upgrade my job so that I could stop sweeping up hair. I never could have predicted that I was about to walk through a doorway into my career for the next 20 years.

Great mentorship shouldn’t be left to chance

On National Mentoring Day, my colleagues and I introduced Connect Mentors into the world. It’s an online mentoring platform which matches progressive businesses with marginalised talent.

Our mission goes beyond just matching business mentors from range of sectors (not just PR!) with talent from new pools. We want to change the way society views talent.

We want to dispel the idea that the “best” candidates come only from the Russell Group universities. We want to highlight the huge value people over 55 re-entering the workplace can have for a business. We want to open minds and shift perceptions and create a space for business to diversify and prosper off the back of human connection.

My first informal experience of mentoring changed my life, and I am proud of the value I’ve brought to not just my clients but the industry itself as a result of that opportunity.

To discover how you could change someone’s life by becoming a PR mentor, or to find a mentor of your own, visit www.ConnectMentors.com today.

Darren McLeod BIG Partnership

BIG Partnership appoints Darren McLeod as client strategy director

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BIG Partnership has appointed Darren McLeod as its client strategy director, bolstering its senior team in Manchester.

McLeod will support the agency’s client portfolio and work to develop new opportunities across the North West.

He joins BIG Partnership from Agent Marketing in Liverpool, where he led the agency’s strategy and planning team.

Having led high-profile projects in sport, professional services and the third sector, McLeod’s previous clients include LFC Foundation, CALM (Campaign Against Living Miserably) and Liverpool John Lennon Airport.

Sarah Lawless, Head of North West Operations at BIG Partnership said: “Darren brings with him a wealth of experience and an impressive track record.

“His appointment will further bolster the strong team we have built here in Manchester and enable us to continue delivering top-class results for all of our clients.”

McLeod added: “BIG Partnership is well-known for delivering impressive results for clients and that’s something I’m extremely passionate about too, so I know this will be a great fit.

“The agency’s vision for Manchester is extremely ambitious and exciting, and once I met the team I couldn’t say no to the opportunity!”