H+K London Healthcare boosts Content+Publishing approach

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Hill + Knowlton Strategies (H+K) Chicago’s Jessi Langsen has joined the agency’s London office to lead the Content + Publishing approach for its Healthcare sector business.

Langsen was previously vice president of social at H+K Chicago, where HandKshe led digital and social media campaigns for consumer, corporate, B2B and public affairs clients.

Before H+K, she managed national social media content for the ‘Obama for America 2012’ campaign, launching @MichelleObama on both Twitter and Instagram.

In her new role, Langsen will report to Jessica Walsh, MD, healthcare at H+K London.

Walsh said: “Jessi’s role represents an exciting focus for our team. We are committed to creating modern healthcare campaigns and content that are accessible, health-literate and useful. Making sure we meet the needs of the audience, and publish in the right places in the right format is fundamental to success.

“Jessi brings fresh thinking to this effort, which will, no doubt, lead to work that will make a difference to patients and clients.”

Langsen added: “Working with a team of this calibre in a market like London is a dream. I’m excited to add whatever I can to a healthcare team that puts people at its centre and to be working alongside such accomplished peers already driving H+K content and publishing.”

Tangerine picks up telecoms security brief

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HAUD, a telecoms security business, has hired Tangerine to increase brand awareness and engage key influencers as part of a global brief.

The company works with mobile operators to increase consumer security and network efficiencies by eliminating fraud and spam traffic, maximising network performance and reducing subscriber churn.

Tangerine will drive a content-led comms strategy to increase HAUD’s profile in the tech and telecoms sectors.

Desiree Bone, head of brand and marketing at HAUD, said: “The mobile industry is constantly evolving, as are the threats that put reputation and revenue at risk, so building a level of trust with our customers is more important than ever.

“Tangerine clearly understands the importance of this and has advised us with a robust approach to increase the brand’s visibility and communication with the market, underpinned by proven expertise and in-depth industry knowledge.”

Sam Gregory, Tangerine B2B MD, added: “A solid communications strategy is one of the most effective methods of establishing trust with new and existing customers, and is central to HAUD’s success.”

Smarts Communicate opens London office

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Belfast-based Smarts Communicate has opened a new London office and brought in Good Relations’ Helen Rainford to head it up.

The PR and content agency, which currently works with clients across more than 20 countries in Europe, Asia, Africa, Europe and the Americas, has a client portfolio that includes British Airways, BT, Lidl, Johnnie Walker and Guinness.

Smarts Communicate currently employs 45 people in its Belfast base and has seen revenues rise by almost 50% in the past two years as it has grown its global consumer PR division.

Helen Rainford, managing partner, who was previously consumer creative director at Good Relations and before that, associate board director at Cake, will lead the London office.

She has worked with clients including B&Q, Sainsbury’s, Samsung, IKEA, Coca-Cola, Alton Towers Resort and Tourism Australia. Rainford was also the brains behind the award winning B&Q Fifty Shades campaign.

Pippa Arlow, joint MD at Smarts Communicate, said: “Our business has been transformed in recent years into a highly competitive international player. With 20 years of in-market experience and a decade of global PR experience behind us, we believe the time is right to extend our operational footprint into London.

Rainford added: “Smarts Communicate already has a great client portfolio and a reputation for delivering brave campaigns. Everyone in the company firmly believes that PR actually has to ‘do something’ – shift opinion, change behaviours, drive sales. I’m looking forward to growing a team in London that builds on that conviction and opens new avenues for growth.”

The opening of the new London office coincides with Smarts’ offices in Scotland (Glasgow and Edinburgh) rebranding as Smarts Communicate.

LightBrigade MD Alan Twigg joins Way to Blue

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LightBrigade MD Alan Twigg has joined global comms agency Way to Blue as head of consumer.

Twigg left Fishburn Hedges’ consumer arm, Seventy Seven, as managing partner four years ago to set up his own PR operation, LightBrigade.Alan Twigg

During his time there, LightBrigade secured clients including Dominos, Hamleys, Harper Collins, YO! Sushi, Café Rouge and Highland Park Whisky.

A trained journalist, Twigg’s other roles have included MD at Nexus Communications and head of consumer at Harrison Cowley, where he led accounts including The National Lottery, Waterstones, Bombardier Continental Airlines, Glenfiddich and several Department of Health public health campaigns.

The 100 strong agency, which has offices in London, Paris, Sydney, Los Angeles, Amsterdam, Munich, Rome and Madrid, works across film, home entertainment, TV and consumer brands. Its services include research and insight, media planning and buying, social and digital, PR and publicity.

Current Way to Blue clients include Universal Pictures, 20th Century Fox, Amazon Prime, IMAX, Mattel and Red Bull.

Adam Rubins, Way to Blue CEO,  said: “We have been growing our consumer brand work for some time and Alan will help us accelerate that growth. He brings a wealth of experience to our PR offer and his track record in working with big brands and creating award winning campaigns is formidable. This addition further enhances our paid, owned and earned offering in the consumer space.”

Twigg added: “I looked at a number of potential agency options and Way to Blue is quite simply a really impressive group of talented people experiencing significant growth with innovative work and rammed with lots of hunger and ambition. Our skills and our outlook on life complement each other beautifully and we are confident of continuing to build and deliver a truly integrated offer.”

Montfort hires TLG founder Gooderham

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Montfort Communications, the financial and strategic PR agency, has appointed TLG founder and former FTI Consulting senior MD Malcolm Gooderham to lead its new corporate and political relations offer.

Alongside Montfort unnamed (2)co-founders Nick Miles, Hugh Morrison and Gay Collins, Gooderham will deliver corporate affairs counsel and campaigns, complementing the company’s existing financial and strategic offer.

Monfort’s corporate and political relations service will focus on three areas: policy and regulatory campaigns, special counsel and reputation management.

Gooderham launched TLG in 2008 to deliver political campaigns to win advocates and policy debates for large quoted firms in the UK, India and the USA. In 2013, FTI and TLG agreed the terms of a deal and merged in 2014, with Gooderham becoming senior managing director in the London office, with responsibility for setting-up a corporate reputation offering.

Prior to TLG, Gooderham was deputy MD at Weber Shandwick and was a former press secretary for Michael Portillo.

Nick Miles, Montfort co-founder, said: “Malcolm’s arrival gives the firm a valuable additional dimension to meet client demand across corporate and public affairs issues. As a political adviser and consultant he has advised very senior figures on strategy, policy and media matters. He is a highly respected consultant.”

Gooderham added: “My vision is to grow Montfort into the ‘go to’ consultancy for insight and advice about expanding, leveraging and protecting personal and corporate levels of political capital – complementing the strategic and financial communications expertise available at the firm.”

He takes up his new role after Easter.

Behind the Headlines with Wei-UK’s Cecilia Yan

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Ruojun “Cecilia” Yan, head of PR and social at Chinese speciality consumer engagement agency Wei-UK Consulting, on aligning Western and Chinese media objectives for clients, her days working 24-hour shifts as a journalist and why she loves Wei-UK’s “We Love Cake” mantra.

wei consulting

Before I reach the office in the morning, I’ve already…
Been up working for about three hours because of the time difference between the UK and China. I’ll be responding to and chasing up China-based journalists, bloggers and publicists via email and Chinese social media instant messages on WeChat and Weibo. Once sorted, it’s a quick breakfast and then a bus ride into the office. I prefer taking the bus so I can review the latest stories and campaign coverage on both Western and Chinese social media. Love the feeling of being connected.

You’ll mostly find emails about…in my inbox.
I organize my different responsibilities into two different inboxes. One deals with my PR work for Wei Consulting and is full of emails for client projects. The other deals with my editorial duties for MINT EDITION, Wei’s Chinese fashion and lifestyle media brand.

There are so few quality Chinese media touchpoints available in Europe, which is why as an agency we decided to create our own three years ago. As for inter-office communication we try to avoid communicating via email, so for that we have direct instant messaging and messaging work groups on Slack.

I know I’ve had a good day if…
I manage to get through my daily checklist with time to spare for a really decadent hot chocolate from the Italian café across the road. Love being in Soho!

My first job was…
As a journalist for a Chinese newspaper in London. It was my first real job after finishing my postgraduate degree and I found it really challenging. Timekeeping was gruelling as we had to produce high-quality articles almost immediately.

I remember working many full 24-hour days without sleep for a live report. It was tough, but I loved developing my writing skills, interviewing and meeting new people, attending events and communicating angles. It’s because of this that I ended up shifting towards PR and comms.

I can tell a campaign is succeeding when…
The client’s Western and Chinese media objectives are aligned. There are major differences in perspectives of what is considered newsworthy content and ensuring that the client gets the message they want across in a way that is attractive to Chinese media can be a lot of hard work. So straight away, during the initial brainstorming, when both sides are in agreement on a specific angle I know that a campaign is going succeed.

I eat….when nobody is watching.
Our office mantra is “we love cake”, so someone in the office usually brings in one every week from a Chinatown bakery. Chinese cake oil instead of butter, which makes the cakes super light and airy, so I’ll eat a slice with everybody, but still have room to sneak another when no one’s watching.

The first time I pitched to a journalist…
 Was three years ago for a destination campaign with a Chinese national broadcaster, it doesn’t get any bigger than that! I had no idea how it would go, I was nervous beyond belief, but very quickly I found myself falling back on my own experience as journalist to anticipate their needs. I ended up getting national television coverage for my client and it felt great!

The worst thing anyone has said to me is…
When people say the Chinese market isn’t important. Come on! It’s one of the biggest markets in the world and the consumers account for more than 30% of many brand’s domestic UK retail sales. Only by actively and directly engaging Chinese consumers through Chinese media touchpoints is this sustainable.

The last book I read was…
Grief Grocery Store by Keigo Higashino. Japanese mystery thrillers are hugely popular in China and South Korea right now. The last English novel I read though was The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry by Gabrielle Zevin, but I cheated a little by reading the Chinese translated edition.

I’ve never really understood why…
Some UK PR professionals continue to make assumptions that because some things are the way they are for British media and consumers, they will automatically be the same for Chinese media and consumers.
Even basic things such as a press release are very different.

For instance, an English press release needs to be one to one and a half pages max, structured, concise and to the point. However, a Chinese press release needs to be on average six pages, elaborate, descriptive and captivate journalists so that they lift sections into their own coverage.

If I could go back and talk to my ten-year-old self, I’d say…
Continue being yourself, explore, open your mind and everything will work out just fine.

This time next year, I’ll be…
Twice as busy, the team is working on growing the MINT EDITION media brand with new online and social channels. So to add to my existing client work and editorial duties, I will also be working on our own campaign promotions.

Sky Betting & Gaming brings in FTI

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Sky Betting & Gaming, the independent online gambling firm, has appointed FTI Consulting as its retained corporate comms adviser, following a competitive pitch process.

FTI will support the company in developing relationships with stakeholders and raising its corporate profile. It will do this by positioning the Leeds-based company, which employs some 850 people in the region, as a commentator on the ‘Northern Powerhouse’.

Jonathon Brill, Josephine Corbett, Alex Beagley and Andrew Todd will manage the account.

Richard Flint, CEO of Sky Betting & Gaming, said: “The Consumer Industries team at FTI showed a clear understanding of our business and how we can develop engagement across all our stakeholders and we look forward to working together.”

In 2015, Sky Betting & Gaming became an independent company following the sale of its majority share, held by Sky, to CVC Capital Partners in a deal which valued it at £800 million.

Headset maker Jabra appoints LEWIS

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Jabra, which develops headsets and audio devices for use by businesses and consumers, has brought in LEWIS as lead communications agency to deliver PR services in the UK, US, France and the APAC region.

The agency will tell the Jabra story and draw attention to its range of audio products, which includes headsets and speakers.

LEWIS’ international division will manage this global account, which will target both consumer and trade audiences. The brief will include thought leadership campaigns, company profiles, event support, product launches, and news and reviews programmes.

Claus Fonnesbech, head of PR and earned media at Jabra, said: “We chose the agency because of its global reach and global hub team. This allows us to use our resources efficiently, share ideas and content across markets, and deliver a consistent message.

“An agency with equally strong competences in B2B and B2C, as well as an integrated services offering, was an obvious choice to help promote our innovation in the audio sector and achieve brand recognition in a competitive market.”

The company hired LEWIS on a retainer basis after it carried out an initial communications project in 2015.

Sally O’Neill, VP International at LEWIS, added: “With significant experience and investment in sound solutions, and growing demand for high-quality audio performance amongst individuals and businesses, Jabra has an exciting story to tell. This creates the perfect platform for us to raise its profile as a thought and market leader in the ‘hearables’ category.”

Hollins Communications supports cyber security IPO

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Osirium Limited, a cyber security solutions provider, has called upon Hollins Communications to provide support around its IPO having today announced its intention to float.

The company, which combines automation and cyber security technologies in its services, is seeking admission to AIM, London’s alternative market, and intends to raise at least £4 million to support its sales and market strategy. It expects to start trading on AIM next month.

Hollins Communications will continue to provide financial and communications advice to Osirium following the listing.

Sarah Hollins, a consultant at Yellow Jersey and former MD of Abchurch Communications, founded Hollins Communications in 2014. She has worked at agencies including Weber Shandwick, Valin Pollen and Alex McCallum & Associates in New York.

Secret Cinema briefs Unity

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Unity has been appointed by Secret Cinema to handle the launch of its nationwide show, post-apocalyptic horror film 28 Days Later.

It will deliver a wide-ranging brief, which covers strategic and creative direction for both pre-production activity and the launch itself.

The appointment comes as Secret Cinema launches its first-ever nationwide show.  The showing of Danny Boyle’s 2002 British cult classic 28 Days Later also marks a new territory for the company, with its first take on the horror genre.

In London, the 28 Days Later event will run from 14 April to 29 May 2016, with a second secret city to be revealed soon.

Katy Stolliday, Unity director, said: “Secret Cinema is an exciting venture that has grown tremendously in popularity over the last few years – it continues to excel in creativity and storytelling, an attribute we put great emphasis on at Unity. We can’t wait to get our teeth stuck into getting the news of 28 Days Later out there, whilst also helping with the pre-show creative.”