Instinctif Partners launches risk and crisis management tool

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Instinctif Partners has launched a crisis management tool to help companies measure the resilience of their business.

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Instinctif Partners has launched a crisis readiness assessment tool

CrisisOptic is the new tool and it measures resilience in 10 key areas; from governance and risk management to operational response. It generates a business resilience score based on the examination of 112 data points.

Along with the score, Instinctif Partners will prepare a brief report to inform policies, procedures and capabilities at the business and prepare companies for a potential crisis situation.

Andrew Caines, group technical director at Cranswick plc, which was involved in the beta-testing of CrisisOptic, said: “Business leaders need to measure how well their organisation can withstand a world that is volatile, uncertain, complex and ambiguous. The Turnbull Report established standards of risk management back in 1999 and since then businesses have been crying out for a quick way to evaluate how resilient they might be in the event of a crisis.

“CrisisOptic delivers precisely such insights in a swift and straightforward way. It’s the most powerful way I have seen to measure an organisation’s ability to bounce back from setbacks, keep going in the face of adversity, and adapt to change.”

Victoria Cross, who leads Instinctif Partners’ risk, issues and crisis team, added: “CrisisOptic is a game-changer for business resilience, antifragility, and risk and crisis management. Until now it’s been impossible to quickly identify strengths and weaknesses across an organisation and comprehensively compare the results against a peer group. But this is exactly what CrisisOptic provides. It’s fast, accurate and will enable organisations to focus finite resources on the specific areas where they are most exposed.”

JFL promotes Carolyn Kirkwood to deputy MD

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Comms recruitment consultancy JFL Search & Selection has promoted Carolyn Kirkwood, who first joined the business in 2006, to deputy MD.

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Carolyn Kirkwood

Kirkwood left JFL in February 2010, but returned to the team in March 2013 as a director.

She will continue to work with UK and European PR consultancies, as well as a range of client-side organisations, to recruit positions across the comms and public affairs industry from senior to board director level.

Edwina Goldman, JFL MD,  said: “Carolyn has worked tirelessly to ensure that JFL continues to grow and prosper. Her new appointment as deputy MD will bolster her invaluable position within the company, and demonstrates perfectly how it is going from strength to strength. I look forward to continuing to work closely with her.”

Kirkwood’s promotion follows that of Helen Conde and Poppy Green, who became senior consultant and consultant, respectively, earlier this year.

Measurement Month: Sign up for final few places at PR panel event

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There’s a few places left at Gorkana‘s elite PR panel event that tackles the challenges associated with real world measurement as part of AMEC’s Measurement Month.

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Measuring Success

The ‘How you can prove success – the real world PR measurement challenge’ event, hosted by Gorkana, will consist of speakers from leading agencies; DeVries SLAM, Bell Pottinger, FleishmanHillard Fishburn and Pitch, and will focus on the practical challenges people face in the planning of their PR and communications measurement activity.

Panellists will talk about their own measurement experiences and how they’ve overcome external and internal measurement challenges.

The panel, moderated by Gorkana‘s head of news and content Philip Smith, will feature:

  • Daisy Pack, associate director, Devries SLAM
  • Julia Hipkiss, associate partner, Bell Pottinger
  • Allison Adams, director, insights & planning, FleishmanHillard Fishburn
  • Matt Hocken, account director, Pitch
  • Paul Hender, head of insight, Gorkana

On the back of the launch of AMEC’s new framework at its summit earlier this year, the panel will also examine how it can be used as a tool for integrated marketing and communications campaigns.

  • The panel event takes place tonight (28 September) at 18:00 at Tanner Warehouse, London. Please visit this page to register.

PRCA conference highlights changes in communications

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Changes in communications and diversity in the PR industry were two major themes to come out of the PRCA National Conference 2016 held at BAFTA, London last week (23 September).

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PR Week editor-in-chief Danny Rogers interviews Sir Martin Sorrell

Ex-BBC world affairs correspondent and international affairs editor for ITV, Rageh Omaar, reflected on his career, and noted the changes that have taken place within the journalism profession. He acknowledged the role that social media has played in the instant capture and distribution of news, citing the Arab Spring as an example.

He said: “News isn’t just for one channel anymore. It could end up anywhere.”

Given the nature of digital and social sharing, the potential audience for any given piece of content is potentially huge, he remarked. For brands, the outcome of this can be both positive and negative.

As advice for PR professionals dealing with a crisis communications situation, Omaar advised that the company spokesperson is key and has to be carefully chosen. “The person who has cut-through might not be the CEO,” he said.

Talent, and particularly gender diversity, was another key theme to emerge at the PRCA National Conference. Ketchum’s global corporate practice director, Rod Cartwright, said: “The future will embrace a more feminine style of leadership.”

Citing Ketchum’s own research, Cartwright said that, in addition to an increase in women taking up leadership roles, future male leaders will also adopt what is, traditionally, a more “feminine” approach to leadership.

Radio presenter Nick Ferrari, who livened up the audience with celebrity stories and funny anecdotes, stirred up controversy on Twitter by addressing a majority female audience with the phrase, “What you blokes do.” The generalisation served as a reminder that the PR industry is still working on its diversity credentials.

Group MD at Newgate Communications, Steffan Williams, chaired the conference, which began with an introduction from PRCA director general, Francis Ingham, who outlined the growth of the public relations association, as well as its ambitions for the coming year.

Other speakers on the day included Sir Martin Sorrell, CEO at WPP, and Baroness Nicholson, UK trade envoy to Iraq.

Brian MacLaurin and Anna Hodgekiss join Iredale Communications

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Anna Hodgekiss

Iredale Communications has named industry veteran Brian MacLaurin as chairman and appointed Anna Hodgekiss, MailOnline’s former health editor, as a consultant.

MacLaurin, a former journalist, launched his first PR agency, MCM, in 1992. It was then sold to a venture capital-backed management team in 2001. He went on to launch a new agency, Brian MacLaurin Associates, in 2003, which was renamed MacLaurin Media in 2009.

Iredale Communications’ founder, Will Iredale (also a former journalist), worked with MacLaurin for seven years before acquiring the corporate trade and health division of MacLaurin Media in 2013 to form his own business.

MacLaurin said: “I am delighted to team up with Will again. He has developed an exciting business over the past three years and I hope to bring my ‘big agency’ experience to the table as they look to expand their horizons.”

Alongside MacLaurin’s appointment, Anna Hodgekiss, the former health editor at MailOnline, has joined the agency as a consultant.

She has been briefed to expand the company’s healthcare division, which currently includes clients ranging from vascular surgeons to medical recruitment agencies.

Before becoming health editor at MailOnline, Hodgekiss was associate editor of the Good Health section at the Daily Mail from 2007 to 2010.

Iredale said of Hodgekiss’ appointment: “We have a fantastic track record in working with health brands, but Anna’s long standing reputation in this sector as one of the finest health editors in Fleet Street makes her a great addition to our team.”

In a final key appointment, Iredale has recruited Nicola Renshaw to take on the role of client services director.

Renshaw has 18 years in-house experience at B2B brands including BT, Dunhill, Avaya and CloudSense, heading up marketing and PR teams that delivered cross media marketing strategies and award winning creative campaigns.

“This is an exciting appointment as Nicola will be instrumental in driving the business,” Iredale added.

Creditsafe appoints Speed Communications

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Creditsafe, a company credit report supplier, has appointed Speed Communications’ Business & Corporate PR team as its retained agency.

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Kelly Pepworth

Speed Communications will increase awareness of the Creditsafe business, which delivers more than 100 million company credit reports every year to more than 200,000 users.

It will also reinforce Creditsafe’s credibility among credit management and finance professionals, as well as the wider business community.

To do this, Speed will deliver a multi-channel communications programme to proactively engage with national, business, financial and wider trade sector media.

Digital activity forms a key part of the brief and Speed will focus on driving website traffic to help build customer recruitment and support up-sell opportunities for Creditsafe’s existing customer base.

David Knowles, marketing director at Creditsafe Group, said: “We were hugely impressed by Speed’s passion, creativity and swift understanding of our business. The knowledge it showed – of the challenges we face – and identification of key traditional and digital media along with the campaign ideas it proposed put Speed well ahead of the other agencies we engaged with. We are certain that this is the start of a long term partnership with Speed.”

Kelly Pepworth, B2B managing partner at Speed Communications, added: “Creditsafe is committed to changing the way business information is used and we believe this perfectly complements our ambition to drive the business and brands we work with forward.”

LEWIS appoints digital leader for new Hamburg office

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Britta Heer

Britta Heer, former Achtung MD and chief digital officer, will lead LEWIS’ new office in Hamburg.

Heer’s experience also includes a head of digital role at Edelman in Germany.

Hamburg will be LEWIS’ fourth German office. It launched in the country in 1997, and has successfully expanded from Munich to Frankfurt and Dusseldorf.

Rafael Rahn, senior vice president Central and Eastern Europe at LEWIS, said: “We are very pleased to welcome Britta Heer to lead the new Hamburg office. Her all-round experience is a great fit for our integrated approach.

“Her pioneering spirit and excellent network in Northern Germany are a great foundation for the new office to grow from. It is great to have such a strong leader to launch LEWIS in Germany’s creative and digital capital.”

Heer added: “As an independently-owned agency with a global network, LEWIS is a compelling alternative for German companies with international ambitions. I am looking forward to using my integrated experience to benefit a new client base in Hamburg.”

Indian snacks brand Gourmosa briefs Nudge PR

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Nudge PR has been appointed to handle the UK PR for healthy Indian snacks company Gourmosa, ahead of its upcoming product launches later this year.

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Gourmosa

Gourmosa products are currently available at Asda and Tesco stores, with products hitting Ocado later this year and further UK distribution expected throughout 2017.

Nudge PR has been brought on board to raise brand awareness of Gourmosa’s products, which include a range of samosas, samosa leaves, pies and chaat pots. A “sweet offering”, Halwa, will launch later this year.

Azam Jaafri, founder of Gourmosa, said: “Nudge’s clear experience with supermarket brands and its unbridled passion for food means it is a great fit with our vision for the brand throughout 2016 and 2017.”

Kate Johns, director at Nudge PR, added: “All at Nudge are excited to be working with Gourmosa – its combination of dedication to quality, a passion for flavour and intriguing super-food recipes really captured our imagination. We can’t wait to work on propelling it to the UK’s biggest sub-continental food brand in the UK.”

Loans firm Oakam hires 2Sisters PR

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Loans firm Oakam has appointed London agency 2Sisters PR to raise the profile of the brand, with a particular focus on the UK’s Polish community.

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Justyna Krzysztofik

Oakam provides financial services for people who “find it difficult to borrow from banks”.

2Sisters, which specialises in promoting Eastern European communities in the UK and abroad, has been briefed to raise the profile of Oakam’s offering, with a particular focus on the Polish community in the UK.

The account will be led by Justyna Krzysztofik, co-founder of 2Sisters PR.

Pagefield makes two new hires

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David Leslie and Sam Barnett have joined Pagefield as consultants.

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David Leslie

Leslie joins from international corporate, financial and political comms consultancy New Century Media,  where he spent five years, while Barnett joins from Bell Pottinger’s corporate and brand team, where he spent two years.

Oliver Foster, managing partner of Pagefield, said: “In Sam and David, we’re delighted to be hiring some of the industry’s brightest talent to add yet more high quality knowledge and understanding of media and government to our growing team. Since the EU referendum, we’ve seen a significant increase in briefs coming our way and new clients appointing us, so this a really exciting time for us as an agency.”

Pagefield was founded in 2010 by Mark Gallagher, ITV’s former group corporate affairs director and chief of staff, with Oliver Foster and Sara Price. It specialises in corporate public relations and public affairs.