Building Relations PR hires new director

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Kathryn Reucroft has joined Building Relations PR as a director, working alongside former colleague Rachel Colgan.

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Kathryn Reucroft and Rachel Colgan

Reucroft and Colgan, who worked together in their first agency jobs 10 years ago, will drive growth at the agency which has a focus on property PR.

Reucroft joins BR from a director of media and communications role at The Oracle Group. Prior to that, she worked as an associate director at Four Communications.

Rachel Colgan, managing director for Building Relations PR, said: “Kathryn joining the company is great news for Building Relations and our clients. She has a vast range of excellent property experience which will not only benefit the company, but will add value to our expanding property portfolio of clients. Understanding the needs of an ever-changing property market, combined with excellent knowledge of relevant target media, together we are aiming to keep quality at the heart of everything we do.”

Building Relations has moved to a new office in Egham, Surrey.

Capture media agency appoints W

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Retail media agency Capture has appointed W as its first PR agency.

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Becky Charles

Capture was co-founded eight years ago by senior ex-dunnhumby and Procter & Gamble marketers. Its clients include Kellogg’s, Kerry Foods, Warburtons and McCain.

W has been briefed to boost Capture’s profile among its target audience of FMCG brands, retailers and media owners. The agency will use thought-leadership and a journalist engagement programme to position Capture as the “go-to expert” in shopper marketing, co-marketing partnerships and the wider retail sector.

Capture will sit within W’s growing media and corporate division, joining brands such as media agency Carat, customer science company dunnhumby and Lidl.

Becky Charles, head of media and corporate at W, said: “It was clear from the start that Capture knows more about shopper media than anyone else in the industry, so we are very excited to begin educating the media about Capture’s unique proposition, as the company seeks to make shopper media more reliable, transparent and effective. We see something of our own agency spirit reflected in Capture’s approach to business and are very excited to be working with the talented team to help grow Capture’s profile.”

Matt Lee, co-founder and director at Capture, added: “The W team impressed us with their in-depth knowledge of the shopper media space, and their integral understanding of the message we wanted to communicate.”

Henry Engleka joins Burson-Marsteller as US chair of healthcare practice

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Henry Engleka has joined comms and PR firm Burson-Marsteller as chair of its US healthcare practice, which is based in Washington DC.

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Henry Engleka

Engleka, who joins with more than 20 years of experience in healthcare communications, will be responsible for leading and growing Burson-Marsteller’s healthcare practice in the US.

Michael Law, US CEO at Burson-Marsteller, said: “Henry has an extensive background in healthcare, as a policy expert, hospital administrator and communicator across multiple industry segments. He knows how to engage stakeholders across the healthcare system and, as such, will provide enormous value to our clients. He also is dedicated to mentoring talent and developing the next generation of healthcare communicators. I am thrilled to have Henry as a colleague and partner on our US Leadership Team.”

Prior to joining Burson-Marsteller, Engleka was senior consultant and marketing steering committee member at the John Theurer Cancer Center at Hackensack University Medical Center. Before that he was executive vice president leading the New York health and wellness practice at Porter Novelli.

Engleka added: “I’m delighted to join Burson-Marsteller and contribute to its tremendous culture of ideas-driven, evidence-based communications that drive business results for clients. I look forward to growing the practice and building the firm’s expertise across the pharmaceutical, biotech, medical device, provider and policy sectors.”

Well Hello promotes Usain Bolt-backed Enertor

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Enertor, the Usain Bolt-endorsed orthotics brand, has hired Well Hello to enhance its position within the sports and fitness sectors.

Nick Woods

Usain Bolt

Enertor launched in the UK earlier this year with an integrated comms programme, which featured Usain Bolt (pictured) wearing the orthotics when competing. The Olympic champion sprinter, described as the “fastest human ever timed”, has also invested in the company.

Well Hello has been briefed to deliver editorial and social content, and will handle influencer relations, as well as develop brand partnerships.

Its team will also target people for whom various forms of foot pain is a regular problem.

The account will be led by Well Hello’s co-founder, Nick Woods.

Nick Beresford, co-founder and CEO of Enertor, said: “Nick and his team showed great understanding of our brand, audience, challenges and opportunities from the outset. We feel very confident that together we change the perception of insoles and lead a revolution in injury prevention and pain relief.”

Woods added: “Well Hello was born to work with brands who do good in the world and what could be better than helping millions end the tyranny of tendonitis and shin splints through the joy of insoles.”

Portland hires former junior equalities minister Jo Swinson

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Former junior equalities minister and Liberal Democrat MP Jo Swinson is working with Portland Communications to help the agency improve upon its workplace diversity.

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Jo Swinson

Swinson’s request to work with Portland was approved by the Advisory Committee on Business Appointments on 7 October, and was published yesterday (1 November). The letter states that the paid project will involve ‘several days’ work’.

Alexandra Farley, Portland’s chief operating officer, said: “Attracting and nurturing top talent is at the core of our business. As part of that, we want Portland to set the standard when it comes to diversity. We are delighted to be working with Jo Swinson, an acknowledged expert in the area, to gain an outside perspective and fresh ideas on how we can make Portland the best possible workplace”.

Swinson was formerly a Member of Parliament for the East Dunbartonshire constituency. From 2007 to 2008 she was the Liberal Democrats’ spokeswoman (junior shadow minister) for women and equality. She also chaired the Liberal Democrats’ campaign for gender balance since 2004.

Since losing her seat in 2015, Swinson founded her own consultancy, Equal Power Consulting, to ‘help businesses identify and deliver organisational change to enable their people to thrive, whether they are women or men.’

PR Case Study: Fiat Professional Tradesman Trials

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Fiat Professional and Performance Communications launched a campaign that reflected the affinity between football and the trades by providing one tradesman with the chance to secure a professional football contract.

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Left to right: Dean Windass, Stuart Pearce, Geoff Horsfield

Campaign name: Fiat Professional Tradesman Trials
Client: Fiat Professional
PR Team: Performance Communications
Timing: April–June 2016

Objectives
Performance Communications was tasked with finding ways of leveraging Fiat Chrysler Automobiles (FCA’s) sponsorship of the English Football League (EFL) to drive product and brand awareness, and to generate sales leads.

Strategy and implementation
Performance Communication’s research showed that football was the most talked about subject among tradesmen, and that 52% of EFL viewers came from some sort of trade background.
With those insights in mind, the agency developed ‘The Fiat Professional Tradesman Trials’; a campaign that reflected the affinity between football and the trades by providing one tradesman with the chance to secure a professional football contract.
Participants had to submit video evidence of their own footballing skills for the chance to win a one-month trial at a Football League club, as well as £2,000. For tradesmen who didn’t play football, Performance Communications ran a separate competition where a Fiat Professional van could be won.
The agency signed-up three former footballers who had been tradesmen – Stuart Pearce (electrician), Dean Windass (hod carrier) and Geoff Horsfield (brick layer) – to be ambassadors for the campaign activity.
The three-part campaign kicked off at the end of April 2016 to tap into the media build-up to Euro 2016.

Performance Communications developed a Tradesmen Challenge video where its ambassadors took on a series of challenges to see if they still had their tradesmen skills. The aim of the video was to encourage tradesmen to submit their own videos of their footballing expertise to a specially-built website.
The agency invited a range of sports and trade media to attend the challenge, and interview the ambassadors. Soccer AM attended and filmed its own content, which it then pushed out on all of its social media channels.
Performance Communications whittled-down the competition entries to a shortlist of 20 (which were promoted to relevant regional media) and invited them to attend the ‘Tradesmen Trials Day’ at Bisham Abbey.
It also developed a summary video of the day which all partners published on their channels.

The winner, St Helens plasterer, River Humphreys, was promoted to his local media and to the local media of the club he chose, Rochdale. After his trial finished, he then moved to Bangor City in the Welsh Premier League where he continues to play.

Results

Outputs:
• Pieces of coverage: 415 (70 pieces in van/trade media). Highlights include Sky Sports and a DPS in The Sun
• Video views: 848,000
• Reach: 854m
• All coverage referred to Fiat Professional and its sponsorship of the EFL

Outcomes:
• Three van sales directly linked to the campaign (x2 Ducato Maxis & x1 Scudo van) so far
• 31,000 visits to Tradesman Trials website, 5% of those then clicked-through to fiatprofessional.com

  • Got a cracking campaign with impressive results you’d like to showcase? If so, please email [email protected].

National Concert Hall calls in elephant communications

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Town Hall Symphony Hall, Birmingham (THSH) has appointed elephant communications as its national adviser on thought leadership and strategic comms.

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Jim Follett

The Birmingham venues deliver more than 600 concerts a year, spanning classical, rock, blues, comedy and the arts, and also has an education and community engagement programme for Birmingham and the surrounding area.

elephant will focus on developing the UK and international profile of Symphony Hall as a leading national destination for performance music and the arts.

Guy Bellamy, elephant MD,  and director Jim Follett (pictured) will lead the account.

Follett said: “While there has been extensive discussion as to whether London needs a new world-class concert hall, The Symphony Hall in Birmingham is widely regarded as having some of the finest acoustics in the country.

“Its geographical location in the middle of the UK places it well to broaden its appeal to new audiences and, in doing so, to re-establish Birmingham as a chosen destination for enjoying concerts by some of the world’s finest performers.”

The appointment follows elephant’s formal move into music and the arts as a practice sector. For the last five years, the consultancy has been the international adviser of record for Elephant Parade, the public art exposition, which has appeared in the UK, Brazil, Hong Kong and France.

elephant also advises the Philharmonia Orchestra, resident at the Southbank Centre, and has started work in the rock genre, something that the agency says will grow into 2017.

Down At The Social to launch first Shoryu Ramen outside of London

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Manchester-based PR and comms agency Down At The Social has been appointed by Japanese restaurant Shoryu Ramen to launch its first UK-based restaurant outside of London. 

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Shoryu Ramen

Shoryu Ramen launched in November 2012 and has been recommended in the Michelin Guide 2014, 2015 and 2016. It currently has seven venues in London, including Soho and Liverpool Street.

Its newest restaurant will be based in Manchester’s Piccadilly Gardens.

Down At The Social will work with Shoryu Ramen’s in-house PR team on a three month launch project, with activity including media relations, experiential activity and corporate engagement.

Peter Cowie, marketing manager of Shoryu Ramen, said: “With the experience Down At The Social has and the knowledge of the area, and sector, we knew they would make a great partner. Manchester has a thriving dining scene already so it made perfect sense for it to be the location of our first restaurant outside of London. We can’t wait to open the doors meet our new customers.”

Daisy Whitehouse, Down At The Social’s MD, added: ”Having launched many businesses into the Manchester food scene, we know what it takes to make a big bang. We already love the food, having visited when on various trips to London, and believe everyone else in Manchester will too! We can’t wait to work with the team and for us to show Manchester exactly what this brilliant brand has to offer.”

Speed partners with Earnie to promote London Winter Run

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Human Race, the largest mass participation events company in the UK, has appointed Speed Communications and creative agency Earnie to increase awareness of the 2017 Cancer Research UK London Winter Run, which takes place on Sunday 5 February.

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Cancer Research UK London Winter Run

The 2016 Cancer Research UK London Winter Run saw more than 15,000 runners raising over £600,000 for Cancer Research UK and Human Race is looking to make the 2017 edition of the 10km event more successful.

Following a competitive pitch, which saw Speed Communications and Earnie join forces,Earnie has developed a creative campaign to promote the winter theme of the run set against London, while Speed will deliver a PR and social media influencer campaign to drive sign up to the London run.

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2017 London Winter Run route

Dan Lipman, Human Race’s marketing director, said: “The combined proposal from Speed and Earnie was impressive and ultimately the 360 approach incorporating design and branding alongside the PR activation, made the agencies stand out during the pitch process.

“Both come with excellent reputations and the early work completed is already showing signs of driving a record year for the event. We look forward to working together to encourage thousands more runners to enter the 2017 event.”

Kate Bosomworth, MD of Speed London, said: “We are delighted to be working with Human Race and look forward to working in partnership with Earnie on the 2017 Cancer Research UK London Winter Run to help grow what is set to be another fantastic running event.”

60 Seconds with Exposure’s Tim Bourne

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Eight months after becoming the first chairman of The Marketing Agencies Association from a PR and comms background, Tim Bourne, founder and joint-chief executive at Exposure, tells Gorkana why he thinks the comms industry is “a bit confused at the moment”, which brands he’d most like to work with, and offers four key tips for PRs who want to launch their own agency.

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Tim Bourne

Describe the current state of the comms industry.

I’d say it’s a bit confused at the moment. I think comms agencies have a vital role in helping businesses define and communicate their purpose and values. The growing importance of earned media is very much in their favour, while the shift of eyeballs from traditional media to digital/social channels presents a risk for those that can’t adapt quickly enough. The competition seems to be stronger than ever with agencies of all types professing some expertise in comms and PR.

You became joint-CEO of Exposure in 1997 with Raoul Shah. 19 years on, tell us about some of your proudest moments.

The first one was when we won the European Levi’s business in 1998. We were a very small London agency at the time and we took the whole team to Brussels to pitch for the business. It meant that much to us. Raoul and I locked ourselves away in a hotel room to crack the brief. It was a wonderful experience and we were fortunate to have a very brave client who was prepared to put their faith in us and our ideas. We have done some of our best work for Levi’s over the years and I’m incredibly proud that we continue to work with them today.

There are so many fantastic moments: creating an urban music festival for Virgin. Developing Coca-Cola’s fashion platform. Creating Stella Screen (outdoor film programme), moving to our current offices in Little Portland Street in 2001 (we worked with a Belgian interior design company called Creneau. At the time it won a number of Interior Design Awards). Opening our office in New York in TriBeCa was really a dream come true. Launching 3 mobile. Winning Nike. Winning our first Cannes Lion … The list goes on.

What’s your favourite part of your job?

I do genuinely still love my job. I’ve been so lucky to work with Raoul Shah, the best business partner anyone could wish for. We’re lucky that we’ve remained very close friends as well as business partners. I think it works because we’re so different in how we approach work and where our strengths lie.

I guess the part of the work I enjoy most now is working with the people inside the business, helping them to develop. We are fierce believers in entrepreneurial culture and try to keep centrally controlled processes to a minimum, so people can develop their own entrepreneurial skill and progress at their own pace.

We have a philosophy that doesn’t sit comfortably with everyone; we want people to stay with the business for as long as we’re able to make a difference to their career. We want people to leave (or stay) feeling that Exposure made the biggest difference to their career, but we don’t expect everyone to stay forever.

Which brand do you most admire?

I am a huge admirer of people like Bill Gates, Paul Poleman and Elon Musk. Those guys seem to have recognised that business has to be about more than making money. We need a lot more of these people, otherwise our planet is heading for irreconcilable difficulties.

What’s the dream brand you’d like to work with?

I’d like us to work with an environmental business. I’m a big admirer of The Soil Association and we are talking to them about how we could collaborate with them. On a personal level, I’d love to work with Rapha, partly because I cycle a lot. I know Simon Mottram and admire what he has done with that brand. It feels part business, part religion!

What was your first job?

My first job was in advertising for an agency based in Windsor. It doesn’t exist anymore. I was lucky that I knew what I wanted to do when I was 16. I was very specific, even then I was clear I wanted to run my own agency. I decided not to go to university because I thought work experience would be more valuable to me. That proved to be a good decision.  By the time my contemporaries came out of university, I already had four years work experience under my belt.

You set up your first agency, Noble, Bourne & Lyme, aged 23. What advice would you give to comms professionals thinking of doing the same thing?

1. I have a real belief in partnerships in business. Unless you’re Richard Branson or Elon Musk, I’d recommend finding someone to work with who you trust and who has skills you don’t possess. Don’t worry about surrendering equity to the right person. The value of the business you build will be worth far more than the equity you give up.

2. Be clear on what makes you different. If you’re not sure, hold off launching until you know and can articulate it. These days there are so many companies competing for work, that includes agencies of all types, non agency businesses and clients themselves. To be successful you have to be clear on your point of difference and how to communicate it.

3. Be brave and don’t give up. Every successful business has been through tough times and I wouldn’t mind betting every owner has had moments when they thought they weren’t going to make it. The difference is they didn’t give up.

4. Use your network. Success in business these days relies on collaboration. One of Exposure’s values is that ‘we aim to give more than we get back’. This philosophy of helping others has helped us to build an incredible network of partners. Without their help, encouragement and support we simply would not have made it.

Earlier this year, you were the first PR to be named chairman of the MAA. A testament to where PR now sits in marcomms?

I don’t see myself as a PR. It’s never been a strong discipline of mine, although there are plenty of people in our business who are outstanding at PR. I was attracted to the MAA because of its progressive and diverse agenda. I joined the board initially as the chair of entrepreneurship and created Super Entrepreneur, an annual league table of blue chip business entrepreneurial performance.

What makes the MAA different and highly relevant is that it doesn’t favour any specific agency discipline. That enables us to be contemporary and progressive, combining the inputs from agencies of all types: advertising, PR, digital, social, branding, media. I think that more accurately reflects the way communication works today. It also helps us to future proof.

Tell us about the work you’ve been doing with the MAA.

The MAA had been going through a lot of positive change over the last few years to help us be more relevant and maximise the value we give to our members. Many of the trade bodies do amazing work adding real value to their members. However, the existing model is quite a reactive one. We want to be more proactive for our member agencies by anticipating some of the challenges they are likely to face and help to support and protect them.

I don’t think there has been a time when the challenges facing agencies have been greater. There is a bewildering amount of change to consumer behaviour and media consumption. We are here to help our members adapt to market changes and secure a profitable future.

  • Bourne became joint CEO of Exposure in 1997. When he and Raoul Shah started the business, they made a joint decision not to specialise in a ‘core’ discipline. They say this attracted clients which were also looking to break new ground by seeking “out-of-the-box solutions”.
  • He set up his first agency at the age of 23 – Noble, Bourne & Lyme – and has sat on the board of six different businesses, including two start-ups. Clients he has worked with include Pepsi-Cola, Disney, Procter & Gamble, GlaxoSmithKline, Red Bull, Whitbread, Diageo and more recently, EE, Coca-Cola, Microsoft and Bacardi Martini.
  • Once a keen motorcyclist – until a nasty accident took the thrill out of the sport for him – Bourne says he now cycles, swims and says he is a “very average triathlete”. He is also a fundraising board member of Great Ormond Street Hospital Children’s Charity.