PR Week (UK) articles from April 2009

PR Week (UK) archives from April 2009

London's battered banking sector seeks to repair image.
April 3, 2009... Financial services industry body calls in Weber Shandwick to help rebuild reputation. The body that promotes the UK's financial services industry has called in PR help to rebuild the sector's battered reputation. In the week that...

Chelsea goes all a-Twitter.(Chelsea Football Club)(Brief article)
April 3, 2009... Chelsea FC is making a fresh effort to communicate to fans with the launch of an official Twitter account, due to go live as PRWeek went to press. Chelsea has acted in response to a number of fake Twitter accounts purporting to be from the...

PRCA acts to quash theft of pitch ideas.
April 3, 2009... The PRCA is forming a working group in an attempt to clamp down on agency ideas being stolen from pitches. PRCA director general Francis Ingham set up the group this week after discovering the vast majority of agency bosses had been...

Agencies cut more staff.
April 3, 2009... Edelman, Jackie Cooper PR and Cake Group are the latest agencies to cut staff numbers. Edelman and its Jackie Cooper consumer PR agency are making a total of five redundancies. Those to go include a director at Edelman's financial...

Ex-APCO man to join Freud.
April 3, 2009... Freud Communications has lured a former APCO strategic comms director to its corporate division. Tom Allison will join Freud as business director in the next few months He spent three years as director of strategic comms at APCO but left...

Mr Angry.(Jam PR coontracts with Armando Iannucci )(Brief article)
April 3, 2009... Jam PR is handling online comms for In The Loop, the new film by Armando Iannucci. The satirical comedy stars Peter Capaldi as foul-mouthed Downing Street communications director Malcolm Tucker. Jam PR is looking after Twitter feeds and...

The Week.(McLaren Automotive appoints Mark Harrison as PR function head)(Donald MacLeod editor of Education Guardian.co.uk resigns)(Edelman has named Roger Pereira as global vice-chairman)(Brief article)
April 3, 2009... - TNT, the Dutch firm bidding for a chunk of Royal Mail, has brought in Burson-Marsteller on a project brief to handle its involvement in the process. - McLaren Automotive, Formula 1's road vehicle manufacturer, has poached BMW corporate...

Parties respond to expenses row.
April 3, 2009... Smith's shame Conservatives gained most coverage in aftermath of Home Secretary's movie slip-up. The Conservatives reacted speedily to get their voice heard during media coverage of this week's controversy over MPs' expenses, according to...

Shine director goes it alone.
April 3, 2009... Shine Communication's creative director has set up his own agency and taken Sony PlayStation as a launch client. Rana Reeves has established John Doe to specialise in 'marrying brands with contemporary and popular culture'. Reeves has...

High-profile comms job at M&S for Fry.
April 3, 2009... Tulchan Communications consultant Dominic Fry will take on one of the highest profile comms jobs in the UK when he becomes M&S' director of comms later this month. Replacing Flic Howard- Allen, who is joining Hill & Knowlton, Fry will...

Microsoft in new review.
April 3, 2009... Microsoft is reviewing its USdollars 4m global mobile PR business, putting incumbent Weber Shandwick on alert. The pitch is the latest in a series of reviews by the software giant. In recent months it has reviewed its UK consumer business...

Travel insurer creates 'crisis comms package'.
April 3, 2009... A major travel insurer is offering crisis comms support and has called in Brighter PR to handle the work. Tour operators and travel agents who take up Arnold Fisher's new crisis management product will be able to instantly access pounds...

Healthcare: Industry strives for positive coverage.(Healthcare Communications Association )
April 3, 2009... The Healthcare Communications Association is launching a proactive campaign aimed at improving the reputation of pharma firms. The body representing both agency and in-house PROs will make a greater effort to get the industry's voice heard...

Healthcare: The Week in Healthcare.
April 3, 2009... F-H hires Edelman director - Fleishman-Hillard has appointed David Berkovitch as an associate director in its healthcare division. He joins the agency from Edelman where he was an account director, working on clients including Bayer,...

Healthcare: On the Agenda - Plans for more sexual health ads.
April 3, 2009... - In a nutshell Restrictions on condom ads could be relaxed under new proposals Pregnancy advisory services, including abortion information, could also be advertised on TV and radio for the first time as part of the proposed changes. The...

Public Affairs: Pack prepares to swap sides.
April 3, 2009... Lib Dem digital chief says companies can learn from political parties. The Liberal Democrats' digital PR chief has said he will help companies behave more like political parties when he joins Mandate Communications later this year. As...

Public Affairs: Lobbying Target - Sayeeda Warsi, shadow minister for community cohesion.
April 3, 2009... Last week, Warsi was named Britain's most powerful Muslim woman by the Equality and Human Rights Commission. TEN-SECOND BIOGRAPHY Warsi was former Conservative Party leader Michael Howard's adviser on race issues, before becoming party...

Public Affairs: The Week in Lobbying.
April 3, 2009... The CIPR has completed a draft response to the public administration select committee's report on lobbying. The select committee published its controversial report at the start of the year (PRWeek, 9 January). The CIPR's draft response says...

City & Corporate: Banks must 'rebuild public trust'.
April 3, 2009... Dunfermline has become the latest building society to fall into governmental control. Alistair Darling and Gordon Brown have told banks they have to 'rebuild public trust'. The warning came in a week when another financial institution went...

City & Corporate: The Week in City & Corporate.
April 3, 2009... Broadgate to promote NSAFS, Russian bank hires Citigate Dewe Rogerson. - Broadgate has been hired to manage the PR for the National Skills Academy for Financial Services (NSAFS), the financial services training provider, following a...

City & Corporate: In the News ... Marks & Spencer.
April 3, 2009... - Bring us up to speed Marks & Spencer this week recorded improved results after its disastrous pre-Christmas trading, but was embroiled in a fierce row with shareholders over group strategy and corporate governance. The retailer announced...

City & Corporate: Capital plans for the worst.
April 3, 2009... Capital MS&L has responded to the downturn in the financial markets by launching a dedicated special situations comms practice. The specialist business division has been formed to assist clients in communicating the increasingly diverse...

City & Corporate: Mainstream fund managers blamed.
April 3, 2009... First it was private equity that aroused the wrath of politicians and then it was hedge funds that found themselves friendless, blamed and the target of regulation. Now it looks as though the mainstream asset management industry is about to pay...

Voluntary Sector: Third sector comms plea.
April 3, 2009... Media Trust's CEO urges Government to sidestep COI and give cash to charities. The Government should give money directly to the third sector to deliver comms campaigns rather than pouring it into the Central Office for Information (COI),...

Voluntary Sector: Taking action ... Put People First vs G20 politicians.(Brief article)
April 3, 2009... Protesters: Put People First alliance Target: G20 world leaders Location: London Date: 28 March More than 35,000 people marched around London under the 'Put People First' umbrella, ahead of this week's G20 summit. The group is an...

Voluntary Sector: The Week in Charities.
April 3, 2009... Bowel Cancer UK has launched its first consumer- facing campaign with a three-year awareness and fundraising drive called 'Check It'. It will encourage its community supporters to use the campaign as a fundraising tool and will also be...

Technology: Sonos hands brief to WS.
April 3, 2009... Weber Shandwick has been selected to handle UK PR for wireless music system Sonos, stealing the account from Bite PR. Weber Shandwick's technology division will manage the account along with its sister lifestyle agency Slam PR. The...

Technology: Red aims to make MySpace 'relevant'.(MySpace contracts with The Red Consultancy )(Brief article)
April 3, 2009... MySpace has awarded a wide-ranging UK brief to The Red Consultancy following a competitive pitch. The website put the account out to pitch earlier this year, amid fears its online clout was waning owing to the rise of newer social...

Technology: Best of the tech blogs.
April 3, 2009... POLITICS AND TWITTER Posted by Dom Whitehurst interactive.hotwirepr.com 27 March Since the London mayoral elections, the British political scene has been dominated by online initiatives. Downing Street has launched online...

Technology: The Week in Technology.(Doodle.com contracts with Hatch PR)(Beam PR MD Jane Leah has been named Technology Woman of the Year by The Pressies 2009)(Brief article)
April 3, 2009... Hatch PR lands Doodle UK account - Doodle.com, the online scheduling tool, has brought in Birmingham-based Hatch PR as its UK agency. Doodle currently has 2.5 million unique users. In Switzerland, where the tool was founded, ten per cent...

Public Sector: Council publications fight back.
April 3, 2009... Councils respond to claims their free papers are killing off local journalism. Local government PR professionals are hitting back at claims that council publications are to blame for the demise of local journalism. Since last summer,...

Public Sector: The Public Sector Week.
April 3, 2009... M&C Saatchi Group launches consultancy, Edge campaign to change learning system. M&C Saatchi Group has launched Audience Communications, a PR and social marketing consultancy for organisations looking to deliver positive social change. The...

Public Sector: Campaign Breakdown - Enterprising Norwich.(Tribe contracts with Norwich City Council)(Brief article)
April 3, 2009... Agency: Tribe Client: Norwich City Council's Local Enterprise Growth Initiative (LEGI) Timescale: July 2008-July 2009 Budget: pounds 38,550 fees to end of July The 'Go For It! Enterprising Norwich' brand was created for Norwich's...

Public Sector: COI revamps comms list.(The Central Office of Information)(Brief article)
April 3, 2009... The Central Office of Information (COI) has overhauled its internal comms roster - and has ditched 21 agencies in the process. The new list sees just seven agencies remaining from the former roster, with 16 new outfits on board. New...

Public Sector: Local journalists search for blame.(Local commercial newspapers affect economically)
April 3, 2009... The recession is having unpredictable effects on the way in which councils do business and talk to residents. The latest in this war of attrition comes in the form of an attack on council newsletters from ministers and the local newspaper...

Media: Wired shakes off its tech reputation.
April 3, 2009... Whatever you do, do not use the g-word when approaching Wired. Relaunching in the UK this week, Wired will be 'more than just a gadget magazine with women in bikinis', according to editor David Rowan. Indeed, the UK version of the...

Media: Hit or Miss - Earth Hour scores pre-coverage but was it overshadowed by Put People First march?(Brief article)
April 3, 2009... Lights out Environmental charity WWF's Earth Hour took place on Saturday. The general public and iconic buildings across the world were asked to turn off their lights for one hour to raise awareness of climate change Unity PR was brought...

Media: Web barons eweekeurope.co.uk.(Brief article)
April 3, 2009... What is it? Online IT publication Staff: One and regular contributors Unique users: 100,000 Contact: pjudge@netmediaeurope.com Peter Judge is editor of this online publication, which addresses the new era of IT. Get the tone...

Media: The Editor's Desk - Arline Usden, The Lady.(Interview)(Brief article)
April 3, 2009... The mag in your own words The Lady is the UK's longest-running women's weekly, founded in 1885. We provide quality editorial content focusing on issues of interest to our readers. One thing you can be sure of in The Lady is that there will...

Profile: Damon Jones - Adviser to Obama.
April 3, 2009... P&G's external relations boss recently indulged his appetite for adventure by helping out on President Obama's campaign, discovers Arun Sudhaman. Damon Jones does not do strolling. Procter & Gamble's external relations leader is 15 minutes...

Campaigns: Food - Fight to save the British honey bee.
April 3, 2009... Campaign: Save the Honey Bee Client: Rowse Honey PR team: IncrediBull Timescale: January 2008-January 2009 Budget: Within ongoing monthly retainer of pounds 6,000 OBJECTIVES - To increase sales and market share - To...

Campaigns: Voluntary sector - Tell me why I don't like blue Monday?
April 3, 2009... Campaign: International Optimism Day Client: The Optimists Society PR Team: Amazon PR Timescale: December 2008-January 2009 Budget: c. pounds 10,000 OBJECTIVES - To build the Optimists Society's profile - To drive...

Campaigns: Fashion - Search is on for fashion's next big thing.
April 3, 2009... Campaign: Fashion Fringe at Covent Garden Client: Fashion Fringe at Covent Garden/IMG PR team: Sputnik Communications Timescale: March-September 2008 Budget: pounds 40,000 Four finalists are chosen to develop a capsule collection to...

Opinion: Stars sacrifice privacy rights.
April 3, 2009... In the looking-glass universe of celebrity, as in the real world, the circle of life spins seamlessly and without pause. No sooner had the tragedy of Jade Goody run its course than signs of new life appeared with the reported pregnancy of...

Opinion: From the Editor - Crisis comms offer is good sign for industry.(Editorial)
April 3, 2009... As Easter approaches, as temperatures rise and as this long winter finally recedes, our dreams automatically shift to this summer's holidays. The workload for those employed in travel or tourism PR consequently shifts up a gear. But...

Opinion: From our Readers - Be bold and protect your ideas from theft.
April 3, 2009... Thank you for highlighting the issue of 'thought thieves' (News, 20 March). Having your ideas stolen is incredibly frustrating for any marketing agency - be it PR, advertising or digital. It is a battle the marketing industry has been...

Opinion: From our Readers - PR needs to stake its claim in social media.
April 3, 2009... Kudos to Immediate Future for making available its guide to Twitter (prweek.co.uk, 27 March). Altruistic actions such as this are what the industry needs to help it move forward in the ever-changing and increasingly important realm of...

Opinion: From our Readers - The first duty of firms is simply to survive.
April 3, 2009... If we want a glimpse of where PR might go over the next ten years, we should examine Japan. The world's second-largest economy's property bubble burst 20 years ago Since then deflation, recession and reality have broken the country's...

Opinion: Obama is New York's 'homeboy'.
April 3, 2009... To New York where it is impossible to escape him - no, not the new husband, but Barack Obama. He is everywhere. His team is on overdrive and I have no idea when he sleeps. In 24 hours there were three major announcements, a national...

Media: How to get this man's attention.
April 3, 2009... It is easy to stereotype lads' mag writers, but what do they actually want from PR agencies? Cathy Wallace asks a selection of industry insiders what it takes to really impress them. If you want to reach thousands of 18- to 35-year-old men,...

Flack: PRWeek party, Toby Young award, Spearmint Rhino's and mystery men!(Brief article)
April 3, 2009... Around 250 of the UK's top PR people were in attendance at the PRWeek Power Book 2009 party at the exclusive Paramount club on 25 March, on a night that at least proved what powerful drinkers the PR industry has. One particularly...

Flack.
April 3, 2009... 1. Consumer firm Golden Goose PR sent out an April Fool's spoof story for client Virgin Active this week. It said the gym chain was set to open the first ever pet-only health club, 'Animal Active'. Exercise classes on offer included the Pooch...

Flack: (SAVING) on expenses - Crazy Bear, Beaconsfield, Bucks.(Brief article)
April 3, 2009... Reviewer: Kirsty Barr, director, mi-comms PR - What is it good for? Crazy Bear is a great place to take people you want to impress without breaking the bank. It has an amazing bar and lounge with elaborate decor and a relaxed...

Cadbury discards Borkowski despite Wispa relaunch hit.
April 10, 2009... The Red Consultancy steals sought-after Cadbury brief as Mars turns to Brando. Cadbury has dropped Borkowski just 18 months after the agency masterminded the hugely successful relaunch of its Wispa brand. In a surprise move, the...

Seven jobs go at Trimedia.(Brief article)
April 10, 2009... Trimedia has made seven redundancies in its UK business - amounting to six per cent of its workforce. The agency works across corporate, consumer, public sector and technology PR. It is understood the casualties were mainly mid-ranking...

Comms heads named as council big earners.
April 10, 2009... Three comms directors have made it on to a controversial list of Britain's highest-earning council employees that grabbed headlines this week. Greater London Authority comms director Guto Harri, Hertfordshire Council comms director John...

The Week.(Waitrose contracts with Blue Rubicon)(Hammerson appoints Morgan Bone as director )(Brief article)
April 10, 2009... Waitrose has picked Blue Rubicon as its retained agency, after a four-way pitch that did not include incumbent The SPA Way. Defra (The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs) has hired Andrew Whyte as comms director. He joins...

Nice work for agency staff.(Brief article)
April 10, 2009... More than 85 per cent of PR agencies offer staff flexible hours and the option to work from home, exclusive research by PRWeek has found. The research, part of the PRWeek Best Places to Work survey, looked at the benefits and incentives...

Bosses bullish despite woes.(Brief article)
April 10, 2009... Agency bosses are braced for a grim 2009 for the industry, but remain upbeat about prospects for their own firms. More than 90 per cent of respondents to the latest PRCA PR Leaders' Panel said the industry had yet to see the worst of the...

Comic turn.
April 10, 2009... Taylor Herring has been hired by The Comedy Store to launch its 30th anniversary celebrations next month. With venues in London and Manchester, The Comedy Store is known for breaking new talent and for star alumni ranging from Paul Merton to...

Vodafone scoops top CSR award.
April 10, 2009... Telecommunications giant wins reporting accolade for second year in a row. Vodafone Group has picked up a 'best corporate social responsibility' (CSR) reporting award for the second consecutive year, but companies' commitment to CSR will...

Healthcare: Almirall loss signals latest blow for HSD.(Almirall UK contracts with Signature Communications)(Brief article)
April 10, 2009... Healthcare specialist HSDCommunicate has lost a longstanding client to the agency set up by two of its former directors. Pharmaceutical firm Almirall UK has given its dermatology portfolio to rival Signature Communications, the agency set...

Healthcare: On the Agenda - Regulator slams trusts' cleanliness.
April 10, 2009... In a nutshell The Care Quality Commission (CQC), the newly launched independent regulator for healthcare, has identified 21 NHS trusts that are potentially putting patients at risk because of poor infection control The trusts were found to...

Healthcare: The week in healthcare.
April 10, 2009... Grand Union joint care win US Nutrition has called in Grand Union PR to launch its joint care supplement brand Osteo Bi-Flex. The agency is rolling out a media relations campaign featuring interviews with TV journalist Angela Rippon. ...

Public Affairs: Precise and College Hill form joint shop.
April 10, 2009... The chairman of the Association of Professional Political Consultants (APPC), Robbie MacDuff, has sold his agency to City PR firm College Hill. As revealed on prweek.com (7 April), Precise Public Affairs will be folded into College Public...

Public Affairs: Lobbying target - Angela Eagle, Exchequer Secretary to the Treasury.
April 10, 2009... Eagle's duties include competition, regulation, gambling duties and carbon trading. Her identical twin Maria is also an MP. Ten-second biography Elected in 1992 as the first ever Labour MP for Wallasey. She held a number of junior...

Public Affairs: The week in lobbying.
April 10, 2009... Prudential has appointed HSBC's UK public affairs chief Miles Celic to its top global lobbying role. Celic, a former Fishburn Hedges consultant, will join the FTSE 100 insurance giant as group public affairs and policy director. Prudential...

Public Affairs: Lobbyist fury at Obama.(Brief article)
April 10, 2009... UK lobbyists have attacked US President Barack Obama's latest crackdown on lobbyists. Obama has developed unprecedented rules that bar lobbyists from calling or meeting government employees to discuss projects related to the recent dollars...

City & Corporate: In the news ... Automotive manufacturers.
April 10, 2009... Bring us up to speed There was more grim news for auto manufacturers as figures on Monday showed UK car sales fell by over 30 per cent in a year. Just 313,912 cars were registered in March - a month that usually accounts for a fifth of...

City & Corporate: Middle East growth gathers pace.
April 10, 2009... Top agencies set up shop in region but experienced firms warn of tough task ahead. FD and Finsbury are set to become the latest financial comms firms to expand in the Middle East, but established players have warned UK agencies that the...

City & Corporate: The week in city & corporate.
April 10, 2009... Brunswick tops M&A mergermarket league tables, Pelham PR wins energy brief. Brunswick led the mergermarket Q1 global M&A league tables of PR advisers, but overall M&A has suffered the worst first quarter in six years. Brunswick worked on...

City & Corporate: Cubitt lands property brief.
April 10, 2009... Cubitt Consulting has won a multi-agency shoot-out for the retained global financial communications brief of GE Real Estate. FD was the incumbent agency and was understood to have taken part in the five- agency pitch process. Industry...

City & Corporate: Follow the trends, not just the news.
April 10, 2009... When the holiday season comes round - Christmas, Easter, the entire month of August - the normal news flow falls away because Parliament and the law courts go on holiday, thereby cutting off the source of much of what we routinely write about....

Voluntary Sector: The week in charities.
April 10, 2009... BingoLotto, the TV bingo game show, has brought in Phil Hall's agency to handle consumer PR, with a focus on promoting good causes the company will support. PHA Media will work with the National Council for Voluntary Organisations (NCVO)...

Voluntary Sector: UK chief for malaria body.
April 10, 2009... Top US-based charity signs up communications director ahead of UK launch. Well-known US charity Mal-aria No More has drafted in a senior staffer at the (RED) fundraising initiative to be its first UK comms boss. Roz Hunt is to join...

Voluntary Sector: Taking Action ... G20 Meltdown/Stop The War/Climate Camp vs G20 leaders.
April 10, 2009... Protesters: G20 Meltdown, Stop The War Coalition, Climate Camp Target: G20 leaders / banking community Location: London Date: 1-2 April What happened? G20 Meltdown led a 'Financial Fool's Day' protest where four groups of...

Technology: Travel firm in trawl for fresh assistance.
April 10, 2009... Seven agencies from the technology, corporate and travel sectors are fighting it out for a major account with travel software company Amadeus. The company, the biggest processor of travel bookings in the world, is reviewing its PR...

Technology: Best of the tech blogs.
April 10, 2009... Firms need to listen Posted by David Cushman fasterfuture.blogspot.com 6 April - Now we have tools to make everyone a publisher, a distributor and a marketer, many of us who employ those tools are raising expectations. When we...

Technology: The week in technology - Bondy Consulting wins Kublax account.(Kublax contracts with Bondy Consulting )(Sony Pictures Television International has hired online PR specialist Hot Cherry )(Brief article)
April 10, 2009... Kublax, a personal finance management website, has taken on Bondy Consulting to handle its nationwide launch. Bondy will handle the consumer and corporate communications for the free website. Kublax uses data to compare spending habits...

Technology: Twitter guru joins Wag Ed.(Brief article)
April 10, 2009... Waggener Edstrom has snapped up the man behind the much-hyped Twitter feed TheMediaIsDying. The tech agency has hired Paul Armstrong as a senior digital consultant on its EMEA digital team. At the same time, Ged Carroll, Wag Ed's EMEA lead...

Public Sector: Campaign breakdown - School Governor Crisis Campaign.(Business in the Community contracts with Clarion )(Brief article)
April 10, 2009... Agency: Clarion Client: Business in the Community (BITC) Timescale: September 2008 onwards Budget: Pro bono In the first quarter of 2008 BITC was asked to investigate the lack of school governors, especially in rural and deprived...

Public Sector: Skills body calls for agency help.(Learning and Skills Council plans to hire public relations firms)
April 10, 2009... Learning and Skills Council rethinks comms amid increased controversy over scheme. The Learning and Skills Council (LSC) has started a search for fresh PR support to help promote its controversial skills and apprenticeships scheme. ...

Public Sector: The public sector week.
April 10, 2009... Paver Smith brought in to aid Liverpool City Council, Newham Council comms drive after G20. Liverpool City Council has appointed Paver Smith to deliver the marketing and comms strategy to support Liverpool's multi-billion pound schools...

Public Sector: Sector struggles with plain English.(Viewpoint essay)
April 10, 2009... I witnessed two different elements of the public sector trying to talk to each other last week in an effort at joined-up government. They failed completely. The conversation - between a primary care trust and a council - was like watching...