AA names Splendid Communications as its consumer PR agency

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The UK’s leading breakdown service, the AA, has appointed Splendid Communications to provide content and consumer PR support for its current summer campaign, following a competitive pitch.

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The AA

Led by the agency’s new head of performance, Gavin Taylor, the Splendid team has been briefed to activate an integrated PR and content campaign to drive awareness of the British brand, with a particular focus on the benefits of being a member of the AA.

The team will also help enhance awareness of the AA’s “because anything can happen” strapline, which is part of its current ATL campaign to drive home the message that the AA always aims to ‘fix the person before fixing the car’.

Cheryl Calverley, head of group marketing at the AA, said: “The Splendid Communications team presented an impressive pitch with clear strategic thinking and creative ideas that fitted our brand personality. We look forward to working with them to accelerate the transformation of a brilliant British brand that has been part of the fabric of the nation for the past 111 years.”

Splendid Communications MD Niki Hunter-Ekins added: “We’re delighted to be working with such an iconic British brand that has stayed so true to its values since day one in 1905. It’s a great brief and we’re keen to get behind the wheel and drive the campaign forward.”

Mason Williams founder becomes president EMEA for IPREX

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John Williams, the founder and CEO of Mason Williams Communications, IPREX’s consumer partner in the UK, has been appointed president EMEA for the IPREX network.

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John Williams

Williams, who set up Mason Williams with partner Rita Rowe in 1986, will oversee the planned expansion of IPREX within Europe, the Middle East and Africa.

He said: “I am excited about the prospect of increasing our involvement with IPREX to bring business to the UK, not only for MW but for other partners in our network.

“Mason Williams has always tried to create jobs and career openings, and I am hopeful that my new role within IPREX will continue to stimulate and grow those opportunities.”

Williams, who took up his position this month (August), will make the IPREX conference, to take place in Dublin this September, his first port of call.

60 Seconds with Dan Masser, LEWIS

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Dan Masser became head of corporate at LEWIS in June, 2016. He talks to Gorkana about agency life, his idea of a productive work environment and what excites him about his new role. 

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Dan Masser

What led you to a career in corporate comms?
Honestly? Not being willing to secure qualifications in journalism after finishing university. Journalism was my first choice career, but I couldn’t face more studying – I wanted to get straight into work. PR sounded like the closest thing to journalism and I managed to land a place on the H&K grad scheme working in the crisis team. It was an excellent grounding and I was very lucky to have two fantastic mentors in Damaris O’Hanlon and Alex Woolfall. From there a sideways move into corporate comms seemed the natural thing to do, so that I could learn about good news as well as bad.

What do you like about agency life?
People talk about the variety of agency world. I think there can be great variety in-house too – I see that with some of my clients and from personal experience working at M&S – but I love agency life. Firstly, there are greater opportunities to grow a team, and build out an exciting practice. And secondly, as the agency is very slightly removed by one step, it can sometimes give you an advantage in being able to speedily and clearly analyse a situation. That’s what I enjoy doing most. You can quickly cut through to the issue and provide succinct advice that clients truly value.

How do you differentiate your agency from its competitors?
We have 26 offices around the world, with a further nine partners across EMEA, APAC and the Americas, but the agency is wholly independent. Because LEWIS is employee-owned, it can make its own decisions and move quickly. It is also better placed to retain its culture and identity as it grows. There’s a real family feel across markets that I haven’t experienced in other global agencies.

As a corporate division, campaigning is at the heart of what we do. We are big believers in the commercial value of reputation. That’s why we also have an offer that’s more similar to management consultancy than traditional comms, with reputation at its heart. We have just started working with Costa Coffee on a strategic communications project that falls under this banner.

How do you create a productive working environment within an agency?
Flipcharts. Gathering the team around a flipchart and cracking a problem together I find is often the most productive way of working. Not only that, it means everyone – no matter what their level – has the opportunity to get involved and learn from each other. I often think I should have bought shares in Blu tack.

What excites you about working at LEWIS?
We’re an agency that’s growing and going places. We have a huge skill-set under one roof with PR, digital, advertising, marketing and web-build teams all working together. We are PRCA’s most recent International Agency of the Year and most importantly for me, we are independent… meaning we are masters of our own destiny.

Where do you hope to be in five years?
Watching Leeds United back in the Premier League. I’m not sure I can wait much longer than five years for that to happen. Aside from that, I’d like to think I’ll still be at LEWIS. There are great opportunities, and an ever-expanding global network… so who knows… maybe there will be a chance for me to take corporate communications on tour.

What advice would you give to your 20-year-old self?
Have confidence in your convictions, don’t be afraid to be thrown in at the deep-end and invest in moisturiser.

  • Are you working in an interesting or unusual PR role? Do you have strong views on the industry that you want to share with the Gorkana community? If so, please contact Emily Andrews.

Clarion hires senior social strategist

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Clarion has appointed a new senior-level social strategist, Charlie Bagley, to boost the agency’s digital offering.

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Charlie Bagley

Bagley joins the comms agency from a social media manager role at travel and tour company Contiki.

His new role will require him to drive digital strategies, campaigns and measurement for the agency’s well known clients, such as Aldi, paint manufacturer Valspar and Teletext Holidays.

Amanda Meyrick, Clarion CEO, said: “We are delighted to have Charlie on board. His in-depth knowledge of both digital planning and activation will be a valuable asset to the agency, clients and new business prospects. Our aim is to significantly grow our digital output over the forthcoming months, and Charlie’s appointment will go a long way towards helping us achieve this ambition.”

Prior to Contiki, Bagley worked for digital marketing agency Wickedweb.

St Brides leads on WideCells IPO

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St Brides Partners (SBP), a financial PR and marketing consultancy for growth companies, led on the listing of WideCells Group, an integrated stem cell services company.

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WideCells Group

SBP supported WideCells Group as it successfully listed on the LSE Main Market last week, having raised £2m to roll out its stem cell insurance product, and complete the refurbishment of its first stem cell storage facility in Manchester.

The WideCells Group account is managed by SBP partners Elisabeth Cowell and Charlotte Heap and account executive Grace-Anne Marius.

Cowell said: “Companies such as WideCells Group, which has an innovative and inspirational investment case, represent why we love to work with entrepreneurs and growth companies, and we are very proud to be working with its team.

“We are pleased to have communicated the Company’s IPO effectively via an array of coverage in a range of national papers and look forward to continuing our proactive and supportive campaign as the company delivers on its targets to build a leading stem cell services company with global reach.”

Joao Andrade, CEO at WideCells Group added: “St Brides played an intrinsic role in guiding us through our IPO to the Main Market of the London Stock Exchange. They were able to identify the most effective positioning for our company and devised an integrated financial PR and communications strategy in order to secure coverage across a breadth of national publications.

“St Brides has operated like an extension of our own team and it has been a pleasure to work with them.”

Paddy Power Betfair selects Powerscourt

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Betting business Paddy Power Betfair has chosen Powerscourt as its UK financial and corporate PR agency.

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Paddy Power Betfair

Powerscourt has worked for Betfair since 2005, acting on behalf of the company during its IPO in 2010 and its merger with Paddy Power in early 2016. In addition, Powerscourt was Paddy Power’s retained corporate and financial PR adviser from 2008 to 2014.

The Powerscourt team will be overseen by agency founder Rory Godson, and led by co-head of consumer industries Rob Greening, who will be supported by consultant Simon Compton and analyst Nick Brown.

Paddy Power Betfair has also retained Drury Porter Novelli as its corporate communications and public affairs agency in Ireland.

The newly formed, FTSE 100 Paddy Power Betfair business is split into four divisions: online, Australia, US and retail.

Threepipe briefed to address gender divides in sport language

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Threepipe has been chosen by Cambridge University Press to help address gender divides in the language of sport, as athletes around the world descend on Rio for the 2016 Olympic Games this week.

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A new study of English language by Cambridge University Press reveals wide discrepancies in how the media and fans alike talk about men and women in sport.

Using the Cambridge English Corpus (CEC) and the Sports Corpus, a multi-billion word database of written and spoken English language from a range of media and social media sources, specialists at Cambridge University Press have analysed millions of words relating to men and women and how they are described in language associated with the Olympic sports.

The report found that in the CEC, ‘men’ or ‘man’ is referenced twice as much as ‘woman’ or ‘women’, and in the Sports Corpus (a sub-section of words in relation to sport) men are mentioned almost three times more often than women.

The only context where women are mentioned more is to mark their sports as ‘other’. Men’s sport is often considered the default – for example, we are more inclined to refer to women’s football, whereas men’s football is just called football. According to the Sports Corpus, the sports where this is most likely to happen are: athletics, golf, horse-riding, sprinting, football and cycling.

The publishing company has briefed Threepipe to publicise the study in the lead up to and during the Olympics.

The research will also continue throughout the 2016 Olympics, with further findings to be released at the end of the month.

Threepipe co-founder Jim Hawker said: “This is a fascinating insight into how male and female athletes are viewed and talked about differently. We will be working closely with the Cambridge team to spot emerging trends throughout the Olympics and share these with key media.”

Text100 wins PR brief for travel rewards company Avios

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Global travel rewards company Avios has chosen marketing comms agency Text100 to handle its UK PR, following a competitive pitch.

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The team at Avios

A travel rewards currency, Avios launched in 2011 and is now the currency for the British Airways Executive Club, Iberia Plus and Meridiana Club frequent flyer programme, Aer Lingus (later this year), as well as the Avios Travel Rewards Programmes in the UK and South Africa.

Text100 will be responsible for all UK comms activity, which will include creative consumer and corporate PR, events and influencer relations.

The team will report to Sarah Leaman, head of PR at Avios.

Leaman said: “We selected Text100 because of its breadth of understanding of the loyalty industry, the strength of the creative ideas to inspire our customers and its proven track record driving results. We look forward to working with our team at Text100 as we continue to build brand awareness with consumers in the UK.”

Tara O’Donnell, MD at Text100 UK, added: “Avios is a well-respected brand with big ambitions.  We are excited to partner with Avios to help grow the business in the UK through strategic communications campaigns.”

PR Apprenticeships – views from a rising star

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Jessica Kirby was one of the first to take part in the PRCA’s year-long PR Apprentice scheme back in 2012. Four years later, and now a senior account executive at Cirkle PR aged just 22, she’s gone on to be named Apprentice of the Year at the National Apprenticeship Awards, identified in PR Week’s 30 under 30 and won the Rising Star of the Year at the PRCA Dare Awards. Now, in the running for Young PR Professional of the Year at this year’s PR Week Awards, Kirby says agencies need to sit up and recognise the talent on offer through PR apprenticeships.

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Jessica Kirby

It’s safe to say that the I feel truly at home in the PR industry, yet four years ago, if it wasn’t for the PRCA launching their inaugural apprenticeship scheme and Cirkle taking a chance on me, then who knows where I’d be now.

So what’s the issue? Unfortunately PR is not one of those industries that is widely spoken about in schools, largely because I think the majority of people don’t actually know what we do! Without that early education, how are young people supposed to identify that PR could be the one for them?

Having learnt the tricks of the trade during my year as an apprentice, I was given access to the wealth of knowledge that the Cirkle team possesses, and the opportunity to do things I would have never dreamed possible.  I soaked up everything I could in my first year, learning how to master, what Cirkle coins, ‘Influence in the Round’, which contributed to me being named as Apprentice of the Year at the National Apprenticeship Awards – the first win for a PR apprentice.

I know that, at heart, I’m still an apprentice, so the quest for knowledge never stops. The apprenticeship scheme has actually enabled me to get ahead in my career, thanks to getting a foot on the career ladder earlier than a graduate would. In fact, I was lucky enough to get on to the prestigious PR Week 30 under 30, and was named Rising Star at the PRCA Dare Awards.

The apprenticeship scheme is an invaluable entry level tool for any young person wanting to get into the world of PR. It gives you the opportunity to develop, not only your PR skills, but your personal skills – something that is so important to the job. I’m sure many of you reading this have met some graduate apprentices on your PR travels, and would have been none the wiser because it genuinely does prepare you for the reality of life in PR.

So hopefully, after reading this, you’re raring to sign up to the apprenticeship scheme and if not, then take a read of my three points below.

1) As an employer investing in an apprenticeship for a bright, young enthusiastic individual, the benefits to your business will be immediately visible. I remember feeling like the sky was the limit to how many new things I could learn in a day, and was always trying to add value to the Cirkle business.

2) If you think that apprenticeships are simply for hairdressers or labourers, then wake up and get out of the 80s. Apprentices are working in some of the UK’s biggest and most successful businesses – take the Hilton group and PwC as a couple of examples.

3) University is no longer the only option, particularly for careers based on creativity – there are so many intelligent and creative young people out there raring to give something new a go. Give them a chance and you might be pleasantly surprised.

The PRs benefiting from the rise of ‘good news’

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This summer, The Guardian has become the latest publication to focus on news with a ‘positive’ spin, joining the likes of Huffington Post and the short-lived New Day, as well as Upworthy and Positive News. PR agencies Bottle, Polygon PR and PHA Media discuss how they have used the trend to get a boost for their clients and highlight the benefits of news with a happy ending.

In June, The Guardian launched its Half Full series, which focuses on ‘constructive stories, innovations and people trying to make a difference’. The title states that the decision was taken as a result of a reader survey in which ‘significant numbers’ called for more good news stories on the agenda.

As well as looking for ‘good news’, readers are also responding positively to the trend. Jessica Prois, executive editor of Huffington Post’s Good News site told the Guardian on Monday (1 August) that a ‘good news’ piece is twice as likely to be shared than the average HuffPost article.

This has spurred journalists to look for the ‘positive’ angle more frequently. Bottle’s head of editorial, Nina Sawetz, tells Gorkana: “Our work with AXA PPP healthcare can take us into some pretty grim stats and figures sometimes, especially as our campaigns centre on mental health and cancer. However, we’ve lost count of the number of times a journalist has asked for a case study with a ‘happy ending’.

“Even ten years ago, we wouldn’t have considered that a positive case study would have interested anyone, but now we’re struggling to place case studies we once thought were impactful due to their upsetting nature,” she adds.

PRs are not only seeing a change in attitude to how journalists approach news, but they are also benefiting from it.

Positivity gains more influence

Polygon PR’s creative director and founder, Mark Southern, tells Gorkana that the desire for more positive news is on the rise across audiences of all ages and when a brand or charity shares a highly optimistic message, it can inspire more action than negative news.

This was proven in the agency’s work with the New Forest Park Authority, which aimed to reduce the number of cars in the region to bring down levels of environmental damage. Southern explains: “We created the world’s first ‘Tech Creche’, which was designed to inspire families to leave their distracting tech under ‘lock and key’ for the day, and take public transport instead.”

The general positivity of the ‘connected families’ message generated a strong response from media, with 15 national and 51 regional pieces of coverage, including interviews on BBC Radio 2 and Five Live. The campaign also helped to reduce car traffic by nearly 15% year-on-year.

“It’s worth noting that it doesn’t necessarily have to be a happy story, but it can include charities finding a positive take-away message from something distressing. The key is to spread hope,” explained Southern.

A positive message can open opportunities with different outlets

PHA Media’s account executive for campaign and causes, Heather McLeod, says that a ‘positive’ campaign has the added benefit as it opens up the opportunity to disseminate information both in and out of traditional media and through social channels, blogs and company websites – which isn’t always the case with negative news stories.

The agency recently worked with the UK charity Living Streets on a campaign for National Walking Month to promote health and well-being. McLeod says: “We used various positive PR tactics to encourage people to walk more including ‘how to’ tips, inspiring case study stories and diary-style progress blogs, all of which inspired behaviour change amongst our target audience and took a constructive and actionable stance.”

PHA also worked with national publications such as Huffington Post and the Guardian as well as Elle, Red and Woman’s Own, to communicate the message.

The key to success for positive campaigns, such as those by Polygon and PHA, is that they are more memorable, according to Sawetz. She says: “There’s a reason the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge gained more awareness than anything the charity had tried before – it made people smile.

“Any brand that can take us away, even for a moment, from the constant drum beat of attacks, parliamentary sackings and health worries, has got to be on to a winner.”