Chairman of Burson-Marsteller Africa to lead Maggie Nally lecture

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Robyn De Villiers, CEO and chairman of Burson-Marsteller, Africa, is to give this year’s Maggie Nally Memorial Lecture keynote address, the Chartered Institute of Public Relations (CIPR) has announced.

Robyn De Villiers

The annual Maggie Nally lecture was set-up to commemorate the CIPR’s first female president and is held in the House of Commons.

“Out of Africa: an Insider’s Perspective”, the title of De Villiers’ address,  will draw from her experience of the changing landscape of communication in Africa and the development of the PR industry across the continent.  It will offer insight and advice to those who wish to engage with the diverse markets and cultures of the continent.

De Villiers has been engaged in PR and corporate communications both in South Africa and across the continent for over 25 years. Through Burson-Marsteller Africa, the network of consultancies she founded, the group provides clients with communications services in over 50 African markets.

She said: “Africa is an extremely diverse region with different cultures, and is at different stages of development in terms of communication and PR.  I am delighted to be speaking at this prestigious event and hope my lecture will be useful in increasing PR practitioners’ knowledge and understanding of the continent and the issues faced by the industry.”

Shirley Collyer, chair of CIPR International, added: “Africa is a fascinating continent and Robyn’s wide experience in the PR industry across the continent will provide valuable insight into communicating with diverse markets.  CIPR International is all about breaking down barriers between people, countries and cultures. This lecture will be an important milestone in our programme.”

Lord Bilimoria, the founder of Cobra Beer and the UK India Business Council, was the keynote speaker at last year’s Maggie Nally Memorial Lecture.

The event will take place on May 4 2017. For details and ticket purchases, go to: http://bit.ly/2luraiJ.

 

Winners announced at the PRCA City and Financial Awards

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At the City and Financial Awards last night, Instinctif Partners and Schroders defended their titles as best agency and best in-house team respectively.

The Instinctif team

The award ceremony was the PRCA’s second annual event celebrating the best of the financial PR and communications industry.

Winners on the night included Schroders, which successfully defended its title as In-house Team of the Year; and Instinctif Partners, which for the second time won City Agency of the Year. Instinctif also won the Best Annual Report Award for its AGCO annual report.

The Outstanding Contribution to City PR and Communications Award went to Peter Wilson-Smith, director at Meritus. The Rising Star of the Year Award went to Abigail Van-West, senior programme manager at Hotwire.

The Best City Journalist Award went to Nils Pratley, financial editor at The Guardian.

Speaking at the awards, Francis Ingham, PRCA director general, said: “It has been another fantastic year for the City PR and communications industry. The UK’s City PR industry leads the world as a creative powerhouse and example of great communications.”

Hosted by financial commentator David Buik, the City and Financial Awards was held by the PRCA at the Merchant Taylors Hall on the evening of 22 February.

Beattie opens Cornwall office

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Beattie has opened an office in Helston, Cornwall to serve the south west of England.

Laurna Woods

Associate director Amanda Fry established the new office to help win business and grow the team after serving in Beattie’s London office for 15 years.

London-headquartered Beattie now has nine offices in the UK. Its network spans Birmingham, Manchester, Leeds, Glasgow, Edinburgh, Central and the south east.

Laurna Woods, CEO at Beattie, said: “The south west is the latest piece in our nationwide jigsaw. No one has a bigger network of offices in the UK than Beattie and I’m sure Amanda will quickly grow our client base and our team.”

Beattie Group recently signed Saatchi & Saatchi global chief Kevin Roberts as chairman, and recruited Grayling CEO Alison Clarke to head up its Only Marketing range of marketing boutiques.

Hanover hires ex-BT Michael Prescott as group MD

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Michael Prescott, the former director of corporate affairs at BT, has joined Hanover in the newly-created role of group managing director, corporate and political strategy.

Michael Prescott

Prescott will provide senior counsel to Hanover’s global digital, healthcare, retail, energy and financial services clients, and will work closely with Gavin Megaw, MD corporate and brand, and Laura Swire, MD of the UK advocacy team.

During his seven years at FTSE 30 telecoms giant BT, Prescott helped deliver favourable media coverage for BT’s move into sports rights and broadcasting.

He managed issues including the transition from CEO Lord Livingston to his successor Gavin Patterson, and was part of the team which secured approval from the competition and markets authority (CMA) for BT’s acquisition of EE with no remedies.

Prior to joining BT, Prescott was managing director, corporate communications and public affairs at Weber Shandwick, where he oversaw growth in the division’s revenues and a broadening of its client base, which included Virgin Media, Balfour Beatty, British Nuclear Fuels, MasterCard and IKEA.

He had a successful career in journalism before moving to consultancy, serving for 10 years as chief political correspondent and political editor at The Sunday Times.

Hanover CEO Charles Lewington said: “I cannot think of a communications professional with a more impressive track record of providing brilliant counsel at CEO and chairman level, both in-house and agency. Mike is a fantastic client handler and a shrewd analyst of media and political trends in our rapidly changing post-truth environment.”

Prescott said: “I am delighted to be joining Hanover. To say the agency has great momentum would be an understatement.”

Hanover’s blue chip client roster includes Shire, Airbus, Goldman Sachs, Microsoft, Lucozade Ribena Suntory and the UK brewing industry.

Vigo makes trio of technology wins

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Vigo has added RedstoneConnect, CloudCall and WANdisco to its technology, media and telecom (TMT) client portfolio.

Jeremy Garcia

RedstoneConnect, a technology and services provider for smart buildings, appointed Vigo to support its financial PR and investor relations. CloudCall, a software business that integrates voice communications into CRM platforms, appointed Vigo to advise on all aspects of its capital markets communications, and WANdisco, a public software company, chose Vigo as its financial PR and investor relations agency.

Jeremy Garcia, director at Vigo, said: “Over the past two years Vigo has established a market leading practice advising high growth and ambitious technology and media companies. We are delighted to add RedstoneConnect, CloudCall and WANdisco to our client roster.”

Garcia, director Ben Simons, account director Fiona Henson, senior account executive Antonia Pollock and account executive Richard de Pencier advise across Vigo’s TMT client base.

 

Finalists named for the 2017 Suzy Spirit Awards

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Seven people have been shortlisted for the 2017 Suzy Spirit Awards, following a record-number of nominations. For the first time, there are two categories – the Suzy Spirit Inspiration Award and the Suzy Spirit Rising Star Award.

The Suzy Spirit Inspiration Award nominees (LtoR): Camilla Swain, Emma Tweedie, Claire Foster and Polly Kennedy

Gorkana, in association with LEWIS, launched the Suzy Spirit Awards four years ago in memory of  Suzy Ferguson, who worked for the PR agency and sadly passed away from bowel cancer in 2012.

They recognise those who have made a difference to others in the PR industry, and look to acknowledge individuals of exceptional character, principle and determination, rather than those who are just outstanding at their day-to-day jobs.

This year, the award introduced two new categories for 2017:

  • The Suzy Spirit Inspiration Award – aimed at established PR and comms professionals who set a shining example through mentoring and championing others.
  • The Suzy Spirit Rising Star Award, aimed at industry newcomers, who may only be at the beginning of their career, but already demonstrates Suzy’s qualities and characteristics in their everyday work.

The finalists for the 2017 Suzy Spirit Inspiration Award are:

The finalists for the 2017 Suzy Spirit Rising Star Award are:

The Suzy Spirit Rising Star Award nominees (LtoR): Euan Steedman, Connor Mahon and India Smyth

Sally O’Neill, VP at LEWIS and member of the judging panel, said: “The judges were very impressed with the quality and dedication of those nominated.

“With the introduction of two awards this year, we have seen those at the start of their career and those with more experience not only inspiring colleagues at work, but also mentoring others and doing amazing things for the community.

The winners of the 2017 Suzy Ferguson Spirit Awards will be announced at a ceremony in London on 17th March.

The official charity for the awards is Bowel Cancer UK, which aims to save lives and improve the quality of life for all those affected by bowel cancer.

Last year the award went to Henry Playfoot, founder of Pitch Doctor and former strategy director at Claremont Comms, who was chosen from a shortlist of five.

Previous winners include Nicola Green, director of comms and reputation at O2, and Rosie Warin, CEO at Kin&Co.

The Cult PR promotes London Evening Standard Food Month

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The Cult PR has been chosen to handle the PR for the London Evening Standard Food Month, which takes place in June.

London Evening Standard Food Month will take place in June

Chefs, restaurants, hotels, food trucks, cafés, bars and more will participate and celebrate the best that the London food scene has to offer.

Fay Maschler, the London Evening Standard’s longest-standing critic, will also curate a list of her 50 favourite places to eat in London in 2017.

The centrepiece of London Food Month will be the Night Market, an outdoor dining experience held at a London park over 12 summer nights from 7 June.

This culinary celebration will also raise awareness around food waste and food hunger with The Felix Project – the official charity partner for the festival.

The Cult PR, which won the account following a three-way pitch, will be responsible for both on and offline PR campaigns, as well as social media activity, for the month-long, city-wide festival.

Charli Morgan, director at The Cult PR, said: “We are thrilled to have been appointed to represent London Evening Standard’s ambitious and delicious celebration of London, the culinary capital of the world.”

The full schedule of events and official partners will be featured in the London Food Month programme that will be distributed with the London Evening Standard on 2 May. Registration runs from 21 February to 22 March.

Bromium signs six-figure retainer with Spark Communications

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Enterprise security company Bromium has selected Spark Communications to handle its UK PR brief and global strategy.

Kewal Varia

The six-figure brief will see Spark develop corporate, product and issues-based storylines for Bromium as it launches a new platform. Having worked with the agency before, Bromium approached Spark to come on board as a strategic partner and advisor.

Jennifer Carole, VP marketing at Bromium, said: “There are PR firms and then there is Spark. As soon as I landed at Bromium my leadership team and I wanted to bring them on board. It might seem strange for a US software company to have its PR led out of London, but ultimately they think strategically and globally.

“We are at an exciting juncture – our technology has matured to a point where we can change the dynamics of security forever. But technology alone won’t make us successful, we need clear and powerful communication and that’s what we get from Spark. The team has a unique mix of skills, gives clear advice and ultimately I know that they will make a difference to our business.”

Bromium uses micro-virtualisation to isolate every task a user undertakes on a computer. The company is backed by investors such as Andreessen Horowitz, Ignition Capital, Highland Capital Partners, Intel Capital and Meritech Capital.

Kewal Varia, managing director at Spark Communications, said: “We are really pleased to be working with Bromium; it’s an exciting brief with the opportunity to not only help a company grow rapidly but also develop some really creative and different campaigns.”

 

Radioactive PR promotes “the world’s first fully automated Instagram scheduler”

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Hopper, “the world’s first fully automated Instagram scheduler”, which allows social media professionals and users to automatically schedule and post on the social network, has appointed consumer PR agency Radioactive PR to launch the app and raise awareness of the service.

Hopper co-founders Mike Bandar and James Vardy

Hopper allows social media marketers and individuals to schedule posts that will be automatically posted on Instagram. The UK-based company believes it has already saved users more than 35,000 hours in the year.

So far, more than 2,000 customers have signed up to use Hopper.

Radioactive PR has been briefed to highlight the time and cost savings Hopper can generate for its customers – an estimated £32 million a year for marketing agencies, according to the agency.

Mike Bandar (pictured left), co-founder of Hopper, said: “We chose Radioactive because, with its tech start-up PR experience, it understands the market we are working in and media we want to be seen in. Hopper already has thousands of customers across the world because there’s a genuine need for it, through working with Radioactive PR, we hope to raise awareness of our service and the app so no more time is wasted!”

Radioactive PR’s founder, Rich Leigh, who legally changed his name to Mr Public Relations after losing a bet to a friend earlier this year, said: “I believe Hopper is going to make many more people’s lives easier. I know many who begrudgingly have to post out-of-hours for clients, but with Hopper that inconvenience is done away with.

“It has filled a serious gap in the market, especially as more and more brands are developing an Instagram presence. We’re looking forward to building Hopper’s brand awareness and establishing the service as a must-have social media tool.”

Yesterday, Instagram announced that users could now share multiple photos and videos in one post.

A blog post from the social media platform said: “With this update, you no longer have to choose the single best photo or video from an experience you want to remember. Now, you can combine up to 10 photos and videos in one post and swipe through to see them all.

The Romans duo wins UK’s Young PR Lions competition

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The Romans’ Ottilie Ratcliffe and Jack Davy have won the 2017 UK Young Lions PR competition for their ‘#TOMHARDYLIVE’ campaign for the British Heart Foundation. The duo will now go on to represent the UK at the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity in June.

Jack Davy and Ottilie Ratcliffe

This year’s UK competition, handled by the PRCA and supported by the ICCO, saw 69 entries from teams of two under the age of 30 respond to a brief from the British Heart Foundation, which performed as the ‘client’.

Each team then had 24 hours to create a creative and effective campaign.

The judges said Ratcliffe and Davy’s campaign idea showed clarity and that the team had terrific confidence in presenting. Judges went on to say that they handled the Q&A well and had ‘the wow factor’.

Ratcliffe said: “The British Heart Foundation’s brief was a seriously challenging one: convey the sudden devastation heart attacks cause and make people sit up and think this could happen to me, any time, anywhere.

“Our solution: a stage-managed moment with huge shock value resulting in the apparent death of a major Hollywood actor. It’s fair to say we were a little nervous about how the client would respond.”

Davy added: “The reason Ottilie and I love PR is because of the creative freedom it offers – we’d hate to be confined by the restrictions of a 30 second TV spot.

“We’re hugely grateful to the PRCA and ICCO for giving us this opportunity and honoured to be representing the UK PR industry in Cannes.”

Ratclfife and Davy will go on to represent The Romans at the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity in June to compete against representatives from more than 30 countries.

For the first time, the PRCA also awarded silver and bronze accolades. Winning silver was Weber Shandwick’s Asad Dhunna and Sarita Shah for their ‘British South Asians – Be More Randeep’ campaign. Imogen Nation and Tom Rouse from Hotwire took bronze for their ‘Dying on Stage’ campaign.

Francis Ingham, director general at the PRCA, said: “It is a great pleasure to announce Ottilie and Jack as the winners of this year’s UK Young Lions PR Competition. The team demonstrated a great amount of creativity with their campaign and should be very proud of their work. We wish them the best of luck in Cannes.”

Last year, Hotwire’s Matt Watson and Paul Stollery won the 2016 UK Young Lions PR competition for their ‘ChildLine Takeover’ campaign idea, which outlined a partnership with TFL to conduct a one day tube line takeover, rebranding the Victoria line to the Child line.