PR News in Brief

This week’s PR news in brief (9-13 October)

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Here’s a round-up of the essential PR news stories, people news and account wins that have been announced over the past week.

Account wins

The Media Production Show has appointed Bubble Communications to provide PR support – including exhibitor promotion, running the onsite press office at the event and providing integrated comms services to position the exhibition as the UK media and entertainment industry’s go-to event.

Yolt, a brand new mobile app, has appointed Rostrum to handle its PR and influencer relations. The ING backed app has tasked the agency with positioning it as an exciting new player in the open banking revolution, with particular focus on the UK millennial demographic.

Fintech startup SalaryFinance has selected Common Industry to deliver a corporate communications programme to increase the brand’s profile with business leaders and consumers.

Internet of Things connectivity platform provider Thingstream has appointed Jargon PR to raise the company’s profile in the UK and Europe through a content-focused campaign.

Bestway has appointed William Murray Communications to manage the company’s rebrand and comms strategy. The agency will oversee the wholesaler’s rebrand from Bestway Batleys to BB Foodservice, as well as helping it to achieve an ambitious growth strategy.

Distributed energy and heat research consultancy Delta-ee has selected Aspectus to boost its profile and expedite  brand awareness within the European energy sector.

Higgidy has chosen Kilpatrick PR to lead its campaign to promote its new range of frittatas, the company’s first non-pastry range.

New British technology brand Wileyfox has retained Manifest to manage its brand and consumer comms. The agency will handle Wileyfox’s global brand strategy through national and regional PR campaigns, content creation and social media management.

Stagecoach Performing Arts has retained Brazil to handle its brand comms and media outreach following a competitive pitch. The consultancy will work with Stagecoach to develop its “Creative Courage for Life” mantra with a series of creative campaigns.

Lifestyle and homeware brand Rory Dobner has appointed Little Red Rooster to handle its UK comms activity. The agency will manage the brand’s press office, as well as organising the brand’s upcoming events and product launches.

Polaroid Originals has appointed art and culture comms agency Margaret_ to oversee the brand’s relaunch, with the agency also managing the launch of its OneStep2 camera in the UK.

Premium boxing club 12×3 has appointed Higginson PR to raise awareness of the brand in London and beyond. Higginson will promote the Aldgate-based club with targeted TV, print and radio coverage.

Eddie Stobart Logistics has appointed Nelson Bostock Unlimited to manage its corporate PR after a competitive pitch process. The brief encompasses corporate comms, executive media management and thought leadership activity.

Cosmetics brand Cocunat has appointed Kilpatrick PR to handle its PR and comms ahead of its UK October launch.

Challenger bank CYBG has awarded its UK financial and corporate comms brief to Powerscourt after a competitive pitch process. Powerscourt will partner with Hanover on the account, with the latter managing the bank’s public affairs.

People news

Caro Communications has made four news hires to its London team. Nigel Rubenstein joins as account director, Quitterie Vallet as account manager and Alcia Yau and Gabriel Rodriguez Calderon as account executives.

Europcar Group has appointed Jehan de Thé as its public affairs director. De Thé is tasked with developing the group’s public affairs strategy, focusing on promoting its expertise in new mobility markets.

BIG Partnership has hired Colin McNab as its new client services director. McNab will work across the Scottish agency’s six office and play an integral role in its business development strategy.

Paragon PR has appointed Guy Taylor as its global director of public relations. Taylor will be responsible for client relationship management, PR strategy and execution and new business development.

Grant Ringshaw, Lloyds Banking Group

Lloyds Banking Group appoints new media relations director

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Lloyds Banking Group has appointed Grant Ringshaw, a former Citigate Dewe Rogerson executive director, as director of media relations. 

He will report to Fiona Laffan, Lloyds’ group corporate communications director, and starts next week.

At Citigate, Ringshaw advised many high profile UK and international companies in financial services and worked on M&A, IPO and special situations projects.

Before joining Citigate, he worked as a business journalist and held senior editor and commentary roles at the Sunday Times and Sunday Telegraph.

Laffan said: “Grant brings a wealth of experience in corporate communications and a strong background in journalism. I am delighted he is joining Lloyds, further strengthening the group’s communications team.”

Daniel de Belder new Hudson Sandler partner

Dan de Belder joins Hudson Sandler as a partner

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Hudson Sandler LLP has newly appointed Dan de Belder as a partner, with a remit to support the continued development of its fast growing corporate communications practice.

De Belder brings years of PR experience to the comms consultancy, with his expertise focused on capital markets comms. He specialises in strategic and financial comms for listed companies, particularly in the retail, consumer and media sectors, and has advised on a number of complex, cross-border transactions.

He previously worked at Bell Pottinger for 13 years, after starting his career as an accountant at PricewaterhouseCoopers followed by a role as corporate broker at Credit Suisse First Boston.

De Belder said: “I am very excited to be joining Hudson Sandler. With a heritage as one of the City’s longest established capital market communications agencies, today Hudson Sandler delivers a truly integrated offer comprising financial, corporate, brand and digital communications specialists.”

Andrew Hayes, managing partner of Hudson Sandler, added: “Dan is a hugely respected communications practitioner with many years’ experience and a strong city background.”

Measurement tops the agency agenda at exclusive Cision briefing

Insight tops the agency agenda at exclusive Cision breakfast

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A select group of senior communicators gathered in London yesterday to discuss how insight and measurement technology is helping agencies tackle the biggest challenges facing PR today.

Representatives from 16 agencies including Bite Global, Good Relations, Grifco and Hills Balfour met with the Cision team for an intimate roundtable breakfast in The Gherkin.

At the top of the agenda was how to accurately measure the impact of PR initiatives and convey their true value to clients.

Neil Bayley, head of corporate brands at Good Relations, said: “For consumer campaigns you can reach the audience and talk to them and you can be quite confident in your understanding of the channels and how those channels influence them.”

Alex Hunter welcomes guests to this exclusive agency briefing

Alex Hunter welcomes guests to this exclusive agency breakfast event

He continued: “If I have a client who’s got an energy efficiency proposition and they want to talk to financial directors, it’s really hard to get a sharp segmentation for that market.”

Alex Hunter, Cision’s head of relationship management for agencies, outlined how despite yielding the best results, earned media’s success has failed to translate into increase marketing investment.

Meanwhile, paid and owned media budgets have grown exponentially in recent years. In its most recent CMO spend survey, Gartner forecast that they would increase significantly in 2017.

“These industries have better ways of demonstrating ROI,” said Hunter. “We are looking at ways to help take your journey from the initial conception of your distribution, through to whether a customer is making active decisions against comms that you’ve made.”

He argued that data-driven insights hold the key to unlocking earned media’s true potential. When communicators can measure the impact of their work, they can make the case for increased investment in PR and comms.

Erica Harris, senior account director at Cision, highlighted The Stroke Association’s AMEC award-winning ‘#NewEra’ campaign as an example of what’s possible with the right measurement insights.

Having access to in-depth analysis while the campaign was running showed the charity it should adjust its strategy to target coverage with links to its campaign petition. As a result, it doubled the number of signatures its earned media coverage was generating.

Communicators from Aduro, Bite Global, Capsule Communications, Cognito Media, Cool Blue, Golley Slater, Good Relations, Grifo, Hills Balfour, Instinct PR and Kindred attended this Cision event.

Alex Purcell new Golin creative director

Golin appoints new creative director

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Golin has appointed Alex Purcell as creative director for its in-house content studio.

The agency has created the role as part of its commitment to provide high quality video, animation and design content to meet client demand.

Purcell joins from the Guardian, where he created award-winning short-form programming. He brings his vast experience in design and direction to the role, as well as knowledge of digital interactivity and virtual reality.

Bibi Hilton, Golin managing director, said: “Increasingly, brands are recognising how video and animation commands attention online.

“Alex will lead our production studio to deliver creative content. He will also work closely with our conceptual creative team to ensure digital content is at the heart of integrated campaign planning.”

Purcell added: “We are seeing more and more creative digital content from brands and I look forward to positioning the Golin motion team as a strong, creative and forward-thinking content studio.”

Steph McLeod's Kaizo wins Pure Storage

Kaizo wins Pure Storage brief

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Data solutions company Pure Storage has appointed Kaizo to support the brand’s evolution in the UK after a five-way pitch process.

Kaizo will help the all-flash data platform vendor to build its profile with senior business and technology influencers in the UK.

The company’s evolution will look to expand its 3,700-strong global customer base for its end-to-end cloud connected data platform.

Steph MacLeod, director at Kaizo, said: “It is really a dream client for us; at the forefront of innovation, with a real insight and opinion on where technology is going and an amazing business story to back it up. We are excited about what we are looking to achieve for the team.

“With a strong focus on the role Pure Storage plays in powering AI in sectors as diverse as healthcare and automotive, we’re tasked with developing the business profile outside of traditional technology channels whilst maintaining its leadership position in the industry.”

  • Pictured, Steph MacLeod
Tyrrells retains Frank PR

Tyrrells retains Frank PR

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Tyrrells Potato Crisps has appointed Frank as its retained PR agency after a competitive pitch process.

Frank will work with Tyrrells on a retained basis from January 2018, overseeing new product launches, consumer campaigns and trade media outreach.

Frank is also working with Tyrrells on a project-by-project basis throughout October and November 2017, helping the brand to launch its limited edition Black Truffle & Sea Salt crisps.

Sarah Lawson, marketing manager at Tyrrells, said: “We are constantly looking for new and innovative ways to drive awareness around the Tyrrells brand and products, and were looking for an ‘Absurdly Good’ agency to take on Tyrrells for 2018.

“Frank and Tyrrells have many synergies and, with a variety of exciting products on offer and many more to come, we look forward to working with the team at Frank to showcase our brand.”

Andrew Bloch, founder and group managing director at Frank, added: “We’re big fans of Tyrrells at Frank and can’t wait to get stuck in.”

Kethum director Ruth Yearley to speak at Cision event

Last chance to join the Cision “art vs science” comms debate

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Ruth Yearley, Ketchum‘s insight and strategy director, will give her take on how communicators should combine science and creativity at an exclusive Cision event next Thursday (19 October).

Meeting a select group of communicators in an intimate venue at London’s Courthouse Hotel, she’ll outline how she believes PRs can make the most of the data-driven insights that are transforming the industry.

Yearley will be joined by Paul Hender, Cision’s head of insight for EMEA.

Hender has been pushing the boundries of what’s possible with media intelligence since 1994. Today he’s responsible for driving development of Cision’s data analysis and social media services, providing communicators around the world with the very best data-driven insights.

Together, Yearley and Hender will examine how communicators can achieve the right balance between data and creativity to achieve the best results when planning their campaigns.

Time is running out to reserve your place. Register right away using the form below to hear some of the industry’s leading authorities outline their vision for the future of media intelligence.

Philip Smith, Cision’s head of content marketing and comms, said: “Paul and Ruth are both highly respected in their fields. So, if you work in PR or comms, I strongly recommend you reserve your place at this exclusive event right away.

“It will shine a light on what’s possible thanks to the latest advances in PR technology. And it’s sure to be packed full of actionable insights for data evangelists and sceptics alike.”

Demand is always high at these exclusive Cision thought leadership events – so reserve your place now using the form below.

Register now to secure your place

Incorrect information? Clear the form.

Please note, this event is exclusive to clients of Cision, Gorkana and PR Newswire. If you have any questions, email [email protected] and we’ll be happy to help.

MHP Andy Bloxham James Gurling Jamie Lyons

MHP appoints new heads of corporate and public affairs

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MHP Communications has appointed Andy Bloxham as head of its corporate practice and Jamie Lyons and James Gurling as joint heads of public affairs.

Bloxham joins from Bell Pottinger, where he was a founding partner of the 60-strong Engage team and ran campaigns for clients including HSBC, Sky and the United Nations.

He started his career in journalism and was on the news desk of the Daily Telegraph before he moved into strategic communications.

Lyons also joins from Bell Pottinger, where he was a partner and deputy managing director of Bell Pottinger Political, specialising in campaigning and advising clients including Centrica, TSB, TalkTalk and Waitrose.

He spent the first 15 years of his career in journalism, including six years as deputy political editor of the News of the World.

Lyons will lead the lead MHP’s public affairs practice alongside James Gurling, the agency’s current managing director.

The appointments are part of CEO Alex Bigg’s drive to better-define MHP’s offering and strengthen its position in the market. They follow recent client wins including uSwitch, Navigant, Liverpool Vision and BASF.

“I’m delighted that Jamie and Andy are joining us,” said Bigg. “They both have first-class reputations for doing work of the highest quality and will define our corporate and public affairs offering.”

Bloxham continued: “The vision that Alex has for the business, the intelligence and talent of the team and the opportunity to work closely with colleagues across MHP and Engine make this a tremendously exciting place to be.”

Lyons added: “MHP is a first-rate agency with excellent people doing outstanding work. It also has a renewed sense of ambition and dynamism which makes it a hugely exciting time to be joining.”

Gurling concluded: “Andy and Jamie are joining us at a very important moment for this country as we approach Brexit. Their experience in corporate and public affairs is a huge boost to MHP and great news for our clients.”

  • Pictured: (left to right) Andy Bloxham, James Gurling and Jamie Lyons
Brands2Life hires creative director Ollie Edwards

Brands2Life hires new creative director

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Brands2Life has appointed Ollie Edwards as creative director for its 25-strong consumer team.

He is tasked with enhancing the agency’s growing reputation for creative storytelling and delivering campaign ideas for clients and new business pitches.

Edwards’ teams at Brands2Life have been responsible for a number of award-winning campaigns, including its High Speed Selfie campaign for Virgin Media and Rentokill’s Pestaurant initiative.

After starting at the agency 10 years ago, he progressed to manage large consumer clients such as John Lewis, Candy Crush, Moonpig, Match and Gatwick Airport.

Edwards said of his appointment: “Great creative is the one thing that can make all of our jobs easier. Easier for clients to buy and benefit from. Easier for our teams to pitch successfully to media. And easier for our target consumers to see, share and enjoy.

“It is both the most fun and the most fundamental part of any agency’s output, and I can’t wait to get stuck into the new role.”

Giles Fraser, co-founder of Brands2Life, added: “Ollie’s been the creative force behind some of our best known consumer campaigns in recent years. Coming from an account-handling background means that he has an innate understanding of what ideas will sell, both to clients and to media.”