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Jupiter Asset Management has appointed Kate O’Neill as its head of corporate development, a position which includes oversight of the company’s corporate comms programme.
O’Neill will report to chief financial officer Charlotte Jones and will establish a team to work with Jupiter’s executive committee to coordinate corporate strategic planning and implementation, competitor analysis and business development opportunities.
Her role will also encompass shareholder engagement and investor relations. She joins from Maitland and has held senior roles at Brunswick, Lloyds and Henderson Global Investors.
Charlotte Jones said: “Kate has developed a deep understanding of the asset management industry across a number of different disciplines over the past 20 years. This broad experience of our industry will be critical as we seek to achieve our strategic growth ambitions and we are delighted she has chosen to join us.”
Here’s a round-up of essential PR news stories that have been announced over the past week – featuring Munch, Fusion Media and William Murray Communications.
Account wins
Non-governmental organisation BRAC has appointed UK agencies Eden Stanley and Johnson Banks to generate greater brand engagement and awareness for the Ultra Poor Graduation Initiative, a programme it has pioneered to tackle extreme poverty.
William Murray Communications will lead communications strategy for Noetic, a business performance specialist that helps hotels improve their profitability.
US fitness tech company Wahoo Fitness has selected Fusion Media to handle its UK PR brief and raise awareness of the brand’s range of fitness sensors and devices.
Champions (UK) has added the Royal Air Forces Association to its client roster, with a brief to raise awareness of the charity’s work supporting RAF personnel and their families. The brand agency also recently secured a brief to provide gel nail polish brand Semilac with creative, marketing PR, online, social and SEO services.
Agency news
Boutique PR firm Munch has launched a range of tongue-in-cheek t-shirts emblazoned with some of the UK’s most overused PR agency jargon to celebrate its first anniversary.
The range is available to purchase at www.jargontees.com and proceeds will be donated to Hackney Giving, a project that allows local businesses, corporate companies and residents to donate money to local community projects.
Munch “reached out” to PRs to compile its list of the 10 most used “agency-isms”
Sport and entertainment agency Prism has appointed a new management team and is reshaping its offering with a focus on helping brands engage their target audiences.
Dominic Grainger, CEO of the WPP Sports Practice, is now Prism’s chairman. While Jamie Copas, global client leader for Team Aston Martin Lagonda, will become group general manger. They will both also continue in their existing roles.
People news
Direct Line for Business has appointed Claire Sadler, BT’s former group brand director, as its new marketing director. She will oversee all PR and comms activity for the firm.
WA Health, the healthcare arm of WA Communications, has appointed Stan Jackson and Peter Wasson as account directors. They join the firm from the Royal College of Physicians.
Gough Bailey Wright has welcomed Mira Cowap, Mike Leonhardt and Gemma Robinson to its West Midlands based office. They will be its new account manager, account executive and junior web developer, respectively.
The acquisition will strengthen the Peppermint Soda’s digital, design and marketing proposition – adding to its experience in sectors including the public sector, healthcare, education, food and manufacturing.
Jane Hudson, Forever Creative’s managing director, will become Peppermint Soda’s client services director as part of the transaction. Her team will also join the agency at its Hale headquarters.
“We’ve long admired Forever, its management team, ethos and approach to design and creative work,” said Jean-Philippe Glaskie, managing director at Peppermint Soda. “When the opportunity arose we jumped at the opportunity to bring the two together.
“We’re delighted to be welcoming Jane and her team on board and we’re confident they will provide us with invaluable experience and expertise that will strengthen our 18-strong team.”
Hudson added: “We’ve worked alongside Peppermint for a number of years and, during that time, we have built up a strong relationship and gained mutual respect and trust.
“I’m very much looking forward to getting stuck into my new role at Peppermint, as we look to help grow the agency’s integrated marketing communications offering in new and existing sectors.”
Certas Energy, the UK’s largest fuel and lubricants distributor, has appointed No Brainer to help generate publicity for two of its divisions.
The Cheshire-based agency has been tasked with increasing the online presence and brand awareness for Gulf Aviation and Certas Marine, two of the Warrington-based distributor’s core divisions.
No Brainer director and co-founder, Lee Cullen, said: “We’re delighted to be working alongside such a well-established brand within the fuel industry. Certas has so many fantastic stories to tell and we’re really looking forward to taking them into the business to business market on social media.
Lisa Waddington, marketing manager at Certas Energy, added: “We loved the ideas that No Brainer brought to the table in terms of taking the brand to the next level and we’re confident that we have the perfect partners to help us deliver real results.”
Following Empica’s move to bigger premises just outside Bristol, managing director Martin Powell talks about why the agency has moved, his 28 years in the industry and working with the regional press.
Martin Powell
You’ve recently moved from Long Ashton to The Courtyard in Wraxall Hill. What was the thinking behind the move?
We had been in our previous offices for 15 years and quite simply we had outgrown them so we moved to bigger premises nearby. It has given us the opportunity to refresh our offering and throw out a lot of junk!
Changes like this always help you to bring into focus your methods of working and update systems, so we believe the move will be positive for us and our clients.
What advantages do you gain on having your main office in the south-west? And how different do you believe it is to being based in London?
We have a satellite office in London. There is nothing magical about London. Most of our clients have their headquarters in the South West or want campaigns in the South West.
Bristol has a fantastic media scene with the BBC Wildlife Unit producing world class television, Aardman Animations leading the world in animation and every type of business based in the area. We are very content to service businesses that are here in the southwest and get their message out across the UK and internationally.
Why did you move from journalism to PR?
I made that move in 1989, so I think I qualify as a PR person now! I loved my time as a hard news reporter and as a journalist you are basically nosey and want to know what is happening. The downside to being a news reporter is that you never really do anything in depth as you are on to the next story very quickly.
I found in PR that you could work with clients on stories and follow through campaigns over a sustained period of time, which personally I find fulfilling and satisfying. I believe we make a real difference for our clients.
You started the agency in 1989, how has it evolved to survive the changes which have taken place over those 28 years?
The main changes have all been around the internet, mobile communication and the rise of social media. Of course at the same time we have seen the role of newspapers change and diminish. Throughout the years we have invested in technology to try to keep ahead of things where possible.
Video is now a strong part of our offering as we believe that people consume so much information on screen and the natural thing is to watch something on screen rather than read on screen. Back in 1989 the technology was very expensive, now it is relatively cheap which enables us to invest in people rather than kit to ensure we provide a top quality service.
How would you describe your relationship with the regional media? And how do the changes occurring in the sector impact your work?
We have to maintain strong relationships with the regional media in order to have impact for those clients who need to be seen there. It has been sad to see so many journalist jobs disappear and those that are left have little time to look at any issues in depth.
This means we have to be even more precise in our communication with them and do more of the groundwork for them. Changes are now happening very quickly and we have to look at creative ways of working with all media and continuing to be on top of those changes.
What is the most memorable campaign you’ve worked on and why?
There have been so many over the years. Personally, I have been working closely with Louise Brown, the world’s first IVF baby and her family for the last 10 years which has involved worldwide travel.
Dealing with the media in Bulgaria, Spain and Chicago for instance, were great experiences where you see lots of differences but also realise that pretty much all reporters are the same worldwide in their hunger for a story.
Finally, the name Empica comes from print typeface measurements and signifies your desire for measurable campaigns; how important is it for you to deliver measurable results? Which measures do you use?
It has always been a criticism of PR that it is difficult to measure compared to the likes of advertising. This is changing with so many stories now going online so that you can see how many people viewed or clicked on it. If clients don’t see results there is no point in a PR campaign.
We talk to clients at the beginning of a relationship about how they want to measure success and ensure we regularly report to them using just about every tool available!
Clarion has been tasked with creating and implementing distinct campaigns across a number of the wholesaler’s trading companies, including Bibendum, Wine Rack, Bargain Booze and Matthew Clark. It will also handle the company’s media relations in the consumer and trade sectors.
James Lousada, managing director at Conviviality Trading, said: “It’s an exciting time for Conviviality and we wanted an agency partner who understood the demands and complexities of working across different trading companies and who would share our passion for growth.
“We were impressed with the Clarion team. They were knowledgeable, credible, enthusiastic and showed real creativity and passion for working with the Conviviality business.”
Shelley Wyatt, managing partner at Clarion Communications, added: “As an agency we have the right mix of creative consumer drinks experience and trade expertise to support Conviviality. We’re looking forward to working on some inspiring, creative campaigns to help build brand personality for each of the respective trading companies, highlight their strengths and expertise and position the businesses as industry thought leaders.”
Thursford, a museum in Norfolk which boasts the world’s largest collection of steam trains and organs, has signed W-owned agency House to support its “Vegas-style” festive shows.
House will shape and execute a PR campaign to drive ticket sales and increase national awareness of the museum’s annual Christmas Spectacular and Santa’s Magical Journey winter wonderland events.
The agency was appointed without a pitch on the strength of its entertainment, event management and cultural expertise.
It will position Thursford as Britain’s favourite festive show through media output across broadcast, national and regional outlets.
“Having worked with House for our 40th anniversary, we’re delighted to be working with them again,” said George Cushing, Thursford’s projects and marketing manager. “While last year our focus was very much introducing Thursford to a new audience, our aim this year will be to take Thursford to the next level, cementing it as Britain’s favourite festive show.”
David Frossman, House’s entertainment director, added: “House has a long history in supporting live events and we know how to squeeze every last bit of collateral out of a show.
“It’s a joy to be working again with such a successful event – and fantastic to be able to build on the incredible results we have previously delivered.”
At an exclusive Cision media briefing yesterday, Chris Newlands, editor of Financial News, outlined the publication’s aim to set the agenda in the City and compete with the FT’s financial services desk.
Francesco Guerrera, Financial News’ publisher and head of EMEA at Dow Jones Media Group, joined Newlands at the event in its Central London offices where the pair elaborated on what its audience of financial professionals want to read about, and new features being added to the publication.
The editorial team focuses on producing content for its website on a daily basis. Its print edition is comprised of the best online stories and around 10 unseen articles – including the front page splash.
In conversation with Cision’s head of content marketing and communications, Philip Smith, they also discussed subjects ranging from how Financial News is positioned to big ongoing financial stories.
Interesting stories are the key
Newlands emphasised how the publication looks to break stories in order to achieve its aim of setting the agenda for the City. He stressed that no story is too niche if it is interesting to its readers and that the editorial team is interested in news across asset management, hedge funds, private equity and investment banking.
“We want to break stories, we want to be interesting and we want to provide news that other publications aren’t providing,” he said. “Interesting is the key. I tell the editorial team to forget the stories which are boring so they have more time to work on the interesting ones.”
“Any pitches need to stay within the boundaries of what we do, I often see pitches which are inappropriate for the Financial News,” Guerrera added. “We are not going to write about personal finance, I don’t care about retail banks and stop pitching about mortgages.”
Launching new features
Since joining in May, Newlands has introduced new features to Financial News, with the biggest being “An Audience With”, an in-depth interview with people from finance or those with an interest in the industry. Lord Myners and Jack Bogle are among those to have been featured, with Nigel Farage and George Osborne set to appear in the next few weeks.
“We didn’t have a big interview slot, it was crazy quite frankly,” he said. “We want to serve this up to current readers but also use it to grow the readership. This is our jewel which we are coveting at the moment.”
The publication is also set to add more content on commercial property, to the extent that it is hiring a new reporter for the patch. Newlands stated: “You can’t set the agenda for the City without writing about property.”
A demanding readership
With an informed readership approximately comprised of 40% traders and bankers, 40% asset managers and 20% professional service workers, the title sits in a unique marketplace.
“Financial News is not a siloed trade publication,” Guerrera explained. “It is different from the national newspapers because it has the ability to go deeper than them, even the FT, on specific financial issues.
“The bar set is much higher because the readership’s knowledge is much higher. If we did a story stating that MIFID II could lead to fragmentation of liquidity in capital markets their response would be ‘well, duh’,” he quipped.
The title also has the rare distinction of having a younger audience skewed for its print publication rather than its online offering. Guerrera believes that this is down to younger financial services professionals using it to help them with their work, with it being used as a form of mandatory reading, a type of “homework”.
The shadow of Brexit
The overriding story affecting the financial industry is Brexit. Newlands is clear that Financial News does have a hard editorial line that Brexit is “a bad thing” which is reflected in the opinions of the demographic.
He said: “It’s a topic we’re covering day-in-day-out, we’re really interested in what companies are doing, our readers are interested in how negotiations are going, what rivals are doing and how it is going to affect the bottom line.
“Our European coverage will be determined by how much the centre ground shifts from London to the rest of the Continent,” added Guerrera. “Our coverage would only increase geographically if we see a shift away from London. Then we would have to examine whether we would put a correspondent in Frankfurt or increase our muscle in Paris.”
Corporate PR agency Pagefield has recruited 10 new members to its team, as a part of an expansion process which started last summer, writes Mario Cipriano.
The hires include former The Times reporter Philip Pank, who joins as a partner, and former MHP and Bell Pottinger senior consultant James Baker, who joins as associate partner.
Sam Postlethwaite arrives as senior executive also from Bell Pottinger and will work alongside other new arrivals Ed Brown and Ben Stetson. The agency has also recruited Kate Begg as senior consultant and Nancy Martin as a consultant.
Pagefield has also hired two new researchers, Hal Stevenson and Olivia Crawford, and Jacqui Beaumont as a finance manager – a newly created role within the London-based company.
Oliver Foster, chief executive of Pagefield, said: “It is an incredibly exciting time for our agency, and our expansion reflects the phenomenal growth we have seen as a business over the past year.
“We continue to attract the best talent at all levels and, as the Pagefield family now offers to our clients more than 60 consultants and 20 senior advisers, we are able to deliver the highest levels of service to any client of any size, from any sector.”
Comms consultancy Text100 has appointed Lee Devine and Adam Selwyn as creative directors for its Asia Pacific and North America hubs, respectively.
Devine (pictured above) will be responsible for the day-to-day leadership of Text100’s APAC creative work and building its regional creative hub, which provides clients with design, digital and film production services.
Adam Selwyn
He will be based in Text100’s Singapore office and joins the agency from APV in Hong Kong. There, he led a team of in-house creatives, writers, editors and producers, creating content for a brand portfolio that included FWD, Manulife, Prudential and Morgan Stanley.
Before that, he spent five years working under the leadership of Richard Parkinson at London-based agency IncrediBull. Parkinson is now Text100’s global creative director.
Selwyn will take creative leadership for North America and shape the region’s creative hub. Based in the company’s New York office, he will work with teams across Text100’s four US locations.
He previously worked for Golin and Olson Engage, where he devised and led programs for clients including Tylenol, Pepsi, Disney, Kraft, White Wave and Goose Island Brewing.
“Here in Asia, we’re especially excited to have Lee Devine join the team,” said Lee Nugent, APAC regional director at Text100. “Lee’s appointment is a key step towards making sure meet our agency goal of delivering inspiring work to clients time and time again.”
Ken Peters, regional director for Text100 North America, added: “We have a talented creative team and the addition of Adam as our creative director brings great cross-disciplinary insight and a creative mind that will bring energy and fresh thinking to our clients and our teams.”
