PR Week (UK) articles from July 2006

PR Week (UK) archives from July 2006

BMW sets sights on ad-weary rich.
July 7, 2006... BMW has taken on The Fish Can Sing (TFCS) to run a new style of marketing campaign targeting wealthy consumers, whom it believes are becoming 'resistant to traditional advertising'. The brief is believed to be worth around pounds 250,000....

BA faces public backlash if guilty of price-fixing.
July 7, 2006... British Airways could stand to lose almost half of its customers if it is found guilty of price-fixing, according to a poll carried out by PRWeek. Forty-eight per cent of those who already fly with BA said they would either actively...

NTL's comms in limbo as Day leaves Virgin.(NTL Group Ltd.)(Steven Day leaves Virgin Mobile Telecoms Ltd.)(Brief article)
July 7, 2006... Steven Day, corporate affairs director at Virgin Mobile since its inception seven years ago, has quit after turning down the top PR role for the NTL group. His decision coincided with the exit last week of NTL director of comms and policy...

Nike's Brooks in return to London.
July 7, 2006... Global sports brand Nike has promoted Charlie Brooks to the role of head of corporate communications for its UK operation. Brooks is currently senior PR manager for Nike Europe, based in Amsterdam, where he has worked for the past three...

Cartwright to depart Brands2Life for Harvard role.(Chris Cartwright)(Brief article)
July 7, 2006... Brands2Life director Chris Cartwright is to become the new MD of Chime-owned tech shop Harvard. He is on gardening leave with Brands2Life and departs the agency after two years. His clients included Cisco, Informa and NetSuite. ...

EC plans hire for media seminars.(European Commission)(Brief article)
July 7, 2006... The European Commission is planning to run a series of seminars and lectures briefing journalists on European Union policy. The aim is to ensure the media and public are better informed about the way the EU is run. It will spend...

Research 'proves' PR is more effective than ads.
July 7, 2006... Mark Westaby, the founder of media evaluation firm Metrica, has discovered a novel method for tackling an issue with which the PR industry has always struggled: proving why media coverage can be more effective than advertising. The answer,...

London comms chiefs call for better crisis planning.
July 7, 2006... London borough communicators have urged the Association of London Government (ALG) and the London Resilience Team (LRT) to boost councils' crisis comms preparedness. The demand comes on the first anniversary of 7/7. 'The standard of...

VisitLondon role for Blue Rubicon.(contracts of VisitLondon and Blue Rubicon)(Brief article)
July 7, 2006... VisitLondon has sought agency help to provide corporate comms advice for the first time. The body is using Blue Rubicon to maximise opportunities generated by the 2012 Olympics and to raise the profile of its CEO James Bidwell, the former...

Eden and Cancan in agency merger.(Cancan Communications merges with Eden Lifestyle)(Brief article)
July 7, 2006... Cancan Communications is to merge with celebrity specialist Eden Lifestyle this week, creating 15-strong EdenCancan. EdenCancan will be jointly headed by Eden founder Nick Ede and Cancan founder Nick Fulford. The two agencies have...

Paster resigns from WPP board.
July 7, 2006... WPP Group has announced that its executive vice-president of PR Howard Paster has resigned from its board of directors. Paster - who oversees the group's PR businesses, which include Hill & Knowlton, Cohn & Wolfe and Burson-Marsteller -...

3 lures ex-Microsoft chief to corporate job.
July 7, 2006... Mobile telecoms company 3 has snared former Microsoft UK head of PR Hugh Davies to be its director of corporate comms. Davies joined this Monday and leads a team responsible for the 3G company's corporate image and reputation. The...

PayPal prepares to stage review.
July 7, 2006... Ebay-owned secure-payment service PayPal is reviewing its agency support. Seventy Seven PR, the incumbent of almost two years as eBay's retained agency, told PRWeek this Wednesday that it had declined to repitch for the business. ...

News Brief: Padley appointed.
July 7, 2006... CORPORATE: Rentokil Initial has appointed NTL PR director Malcolm Padley as head of corporate comms. His arrival comes after the pest control to security group restructured its comms around six business units. (PRWeek, 18 May).

News Brief: Harvey Nichols split.
July 7, 2006... CONSUMER: Harvey Nichols has split with Peretti Communications - its retained food and restaurant PR agency for more than a decade - and taken PR in-house. Anna Davidson, formerly of Peretti, has been hired as food market and restaurant press...

News Brief: Boots promotes.
July 7, 2006... CONSUMER: Boots is using Weber Shandwick to promote its Health Club, a healthcare advice and information scheme. WS beat two agencies, including Hill & Knowlton, to a six-figure, six-month contract. Boots has handed H&K a separate healthcare...

News Brief: Lexis PR arm.
July 7, 2006... AGENCY: Lexis PR has launched a youth arm called SiX PR and hired Consolidated Communications account director Lucy Freeborn to head it up as group account director.

News Brief: Beam Global switches.
July 7, 2006... CONSUMER: Drinks company Beam Global has switched the accounts for its Courvoisier and Maker's Mark brands from four-year incumbent Jackie Cooper PR to Publicis Groupe-owned Manning Selvage & Lee. It named Publicis Dialog as its global ad...

News Brief: Sea Glass PR.
July 7, 2006... AGENCY: Bite Communications global strategy and business development director Bruce Dodworth is leaving to set up his own agency. As revealed on PRWeek.com on Monday, Dodworth's new Midlands-based agency will be called Sea Glass PR.

News Brief: Bell Pottinger expands.
July 7, 2006... AGENCY: Macclesfield-based Bell Pottinger North is expanding into Merseyside. It has poached October Communications director of media and campaigns Richard Clein to head up the office, opening in September, as associate director.

RNIB stalwart set to leave charity.
July 7, 2006... The RNIB's comms chief, Lynne Stockbridge, is to leave the sight charity at the end of August, after ten years. She is to join the Chartered Society of Physiotherapy to fill the role vacated by Karen Livingstone's departure to Patricia...

TNS unveils fast monitoring tool.(contracts)(Brief article)
July 7, 2006... TNS Media Intelligence has launched what it claims is the first media monitoring tool that can be used on a last-minute, project-by-project basis, without forward planning or the need to sign up to a long-term contract. The service, TNS...

Admiral Taverns hands corporate job to Citypress.(Brief article)
July 7, 2006... Pub-trade phenomenon Admiral Taverns has signed up Manchester agency Citypress to handle its corporate comms. It is the first time the pub owner has engaged a PR adviser, and comes after a period of rapid expansion, which has seen the...

MG's Chinese owner set to address Motor Show.
July 7, 2006... The Chinese firm that bought fallen British sports car marque MG has hired Automotive PR ahead of the crucial British International Motor Show. Nanjing Automobile Corporation (NAC) has briefed the automotive specialist to handle UK media...

TfL picks up gong for 7/7 response.
July 7, 2006... The CIPR's annual Excellence Awards - held on Monday - saw Transport for London's press office win a crisis comms award for work in the aftermath of 7/7. Other winners included Fishburn Hedges, which won the Outstanding PR Consultancy...

Frank plans 'fun' campaign to revitalise Slim-Fast.(Frank PR helps Unilever Group in relaunching its Slim Fast brand)(Brief article)
July 7, 2006... Unilever is to use consumer specialist Frank PR to relaunch its struggling Slim-Fast brand. The agency will promote a campaign badged 'Slim Happy', which will aim to 'put the fun into dieting'. A team of food experts will be used for media...

Public Sector: Blue Rubicon promotes support officers.
July 7, 2006... The Home Office has brought in Blue Rubicon to promote the concept of community support officers (CSOs). Blue Rubicon beat Lexis PR and Band & Brown Communications in a pitch that was organised by the Central Office of Information. It...

Public Sector: Local government guru Pirotta exits Geronimo.
July 7, 2006... Marina Pirotta - seen by many as the godmother of local government PR - has retired as board director at Geronimo Communications. She still acts as a consultant for the agency, but one year after finishing her earnout period she has left to...

Public Sector: Admiral takes up One NorthEast reins.
July 7, 2006... Regional development shop One NorthEast has dropped Newcastle-based Mitchell Halton Watson (MHW) and taken on Admiral PR and Marketing. The agency, also based in Newcastle, will handle regional image campaign 'passionate people, passionate...

Public Sector: DoH is countering 'crisis' obsession.
July 7, 2006... Is the NHS really in financial crisis? From the Whitehall perspective, it seems that some critics are so desperate that the NHS has not had a crisis since the winter of 2000 that they will seize on any excuse to proclaim one. Yet behind...

Voluntary Sector: Geronimo lands Holocaust brief.(Holocaust Memorial Day Trust takes on Geronimo Communications for public relations)(Brief article)
July 7, 2006... The Holocaust Memorial Day Trust has dropped Luther Pendragon to take on Geronimo Communications. 'We will target the general public, and young people in particular. The trust has suffered from clustering events around memorial day - 27...

Voluntary Sector: WWF readies campaign on 'feelgood' green living.(World Wildlife Fund)(Brief article)
July 7, 2006... The World Wildlife Fund (WWF) is planning a major campaign to reduce the UK's 'ecological footprint' and promote sustainable living. Falling under the One Planet Living (OPL) banner, the campaign, which will start early next year, will be...

Voluntary Sector: Radio Times PRO takes VE position.(Cat Dean joins Volunteering England )(public relations officer)(Brief article)
July 7, 2006... Volunteering England (VE) has taken on its first permanent press officer. Radio Times press and PR officer Cat Dean has taken up a post previously filled by part-timers and freelancers, as the charity seeks to promote new accreditation...

Voluntary Sector: Farm-Africa bids to reclaim 'ethical giving' crown.
July 7, 2006... Farm-Africa has created a press and PR manager role to help it raise its profile and stand out in the development charity sector. Ngaio Bowthorpe has joined the organisation after less than a year as a press and PR officer at deaf-blind...

Voluntary Sector: Young Enterprise brings in K&R.
July 7, 2006... Young Enterprise has taken on its first PR agency as part of its drive to reach a million school children a year. The business education charity has briefed Kinross & Render to raise its profile among businesses and teachers by running...

Voluntary Sector: London park deckchairs get celebrity makeover.(Brief article)
July 7, 2006... The Royal Parks Foundation is to replace its traditional green-and-white-striped deckchairs with copies of 24 celebrity-designed chairs from 10 July. The project, promoted by The Forster Company, aims to raise awareness of the charity's work in...

Public Affairs: Freuds nabs ex-Clarke aide as Latham quits govt.
July 7, 2006... Freud Communications has enlisted Hannah Pawlby, special adviser to sacked home secretary Charles Clarke, to the ranks of its public affairs team. Pawlby started at Freuds this week, working on an unspecified PA project. She was...

Public Affairs: B-M snares BT's Lewis as director.
July 7, 2006... Burson-Marsteller has lured BT lobbyist Charles Lewis to join the agency's PA practice as a director. The move reunites Lewis with his former boss, B-M public affairs MD Simon Elliott. They worked together at Hatch-Group, which was...

Public Affairs: TfL plots agency search amid recruitment drive.
July 7, 2006... Transport for London is to undertake a search for a public affairs consultancy as it beefs up its lobbying capacity in-house. The capital's transport body is recruiting for three newly created chief public affairs officer posts, covering...

Public Affairs: Chisholm in new Finsbury EU role.(new appointment and resignations)(Brief article)
July 7, 2006... The head of Finsbury's political and regulatory practice, partner Rory Chisholm, has switched focus to concentrate on EU competition and regulatory issues. The move is a response to the increase in M&A work emanating from the EU for the...

Public Affairs: Londis owner Musgrave hands account to Edelman.
July 7, 2006... Musgrave, the Ireland-based grocer that owns the Londis and Budgens retail chains, has awarded Edelman its corporate and public affairs account, ending a ten-year relationship with Fleishman-Hillard. The appointment comes amid the...

Public Affairs: Motor body hires Perry for lobbying.(new appointments)(Brief article)
July 7, 2006... The Retail Motor Industry Federation has appointed Josephine Perry as its first head of PA as it steps up its lobbying and campaigning. She oversees a four-strong policy team and reports to the RMIF's chief executive Matthew Carrington,...

Healthcare: Ex-GCI boss Smith unveils agency Minerva.(usage of Alzheimer's drugs)(Brief article)
July 7, 2006... Former GCI Healthcare UK MD Rhonda Smith has set up her own agency - Minerva PR & Communications - working for a brace of clients that she formerly represented at GCI. Smith is working for Shire Pharmaceuticals on its dementia drug...

Healthcare: UCB hands European Xyzal remit to Aurora.
July 7, 2006... Start-up agency Aurora has bagged its biggest account to date by a country mile, scooping a pan-European brief for Belgium pharma firm UCB's prescription antihistamine Xyzal. The brief will consist of consumer and medical awareness...

Healthcare: Red Apple closes months after sale.(Red Apple Corporation Ltd)(Brief article)
July 7, 2006... London healthcare boutique Red Apple PR has closed. The website of the eight-year-old agency, which was based in North London, has ceased to operate and its phone line is dead. The news comes four months after founder Tracey Carey...

Healthcare: ABPI code of practice arm fills comms post.
July 7, 2006... The Prescription Medicine Code of Practice Authority, part of the Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industry (ABPI), has hired Niamh MacMahon in the newly created role of comms manager. MacMahon moves from an interim PA head role at...

Healthcare: At a Glance - Sanofi-Aventis readies campaign for Acomplia.(Interview)
July 7, 2006... The long-awaited Anti-Obesity drug is here at last? Sanofi-Aventis prefers the term 'weight management', but yes. Now cleared for use across all 25 EU member states, Acomplia (rimonabant) launched last week with a press conference at...

City & Corporate: Wheeling out the experts won't work.(Diminishing influence of those in authority)
July 7, 2006... Talking to clients of a PR firm at a seminar last week, I made the comment that in public policy debates - in newspapers or in the campaigns that follow some accident or scandal - the public seem to have much less respect for the opinions of...

City & Corporate: BAA bid lifts agencies on both sides of pounds 10bn offer.
July 7, 2006... Brunswick regained top spot in PRWeek's latest Deal Watch, relegating Finsbury and Citigate Dewe Rogerson to second and third respectively. Airport Development and Investment's bid for the British Airports Authority (BAA) reached pounds...

City & Corporate: Younger plans to step down.
July 7, 2006... Finsbury co-founder Rupert Younger is to step back from full-time consultancy at the end of the year. The City PR grandee will then focus on teaching reputation management at a business school. Younger, who co-founded Finsbury with...

City & Corporate: Capital MS&L wins healthcare brief.
July 7, 2006... 'Interactive healthcare products' firm Ultrasis has switched its financial comms account to Capital MS&L. Ultrasis, which produces software to help combat various medical conditions, has ended an 18-month relationship with Solihull-based...

Technology: Richardson ends nine-year career at The Register.(Tim Richardson)(Brief article)
July 7, 2006... Tim Richardson, internet editor at business and tech news site The Register, is joining forces with former BT PR man Michael Wadley. Richardson left The Register last Friday after nine years to become a partner at Wadley & Co, the comms...

Technology: TFCS bags Euro launch of Apple and Nike Sport Kit.
July 7, 2006... The European launch of the much-hyped Apple and Nike joint venture, Nike+ iPod Sport Kit, is to be handled by London agency The Fish Can Sing (TFCS). Planning is under way for an 'experiential event' in London later this month, said Nike...

Technology: Band & Brown in Pulse Rated task.
July 7, 2006... Internet broadcaster Pulse Rated, which promotes unsigned bands in genres ranging from hip-hop to pop, has hired its first PR agency. It has retained Band & Brown Communications to 'target the national and music press in order to raise the...

Technology: Telecoms journo in Liberty switch.
July 7, 2006... Matt Ablott, deputy editor of Telecom Markets and Mobile Communications Europe, this week took up a PR role at Liberty Marketing Communications. Ablott started work at the London tech agency as account director this week, replacing Simon...

Technology: Agencies warn of vanished product.(Allegations against Napoleon Publications)(Brief article)
July 7, 2006... PROs have been urged to be on their guard by agencies that have found themselves chasing pounds 5,000 worth of products sent to glossy magazine Panther Style. PPR Associates told PRWeek it sent the magazine a hi-fi and speakers, at its...

Technology: Panasonic readies ToughBooks consumer drive.
July 7, 2006... Panasonic Computer Products has retained an agency to handle consumer PR for its ToughBooks laptops for the first time. The ToughBooks range has previously been sold only directly to organisations such as the British Army and BT, which need...

Media Relations: What The Papers Say - Geldof keeps up pressure on G8.(Bob Geldof)
July 7, 2006... If G8 leaders were hoping that the attention focused on the World Cup would give them licence to sunbathe, they had reckoned without Bob Geldof. A year on from Gleneagles, Geldof warned leaders not to renege on their commitments to Africa....

Media Relations: Contact Book Update.
July 7, 2006... PRESS Chris Curtis, news editor of Emap fashion trade title Drapers, has been made news editor of stablemate Broadcast. He joins next month, replacing Colin Robertson, who quit to join The Sun as TV writer (PRWeek, 10 March). Drapers...

Media Relations: 2 Minutes with... Gloria Wyse, managing editor, Engage.(Interview)(Brief article)
July 7, 2006... ENGAGE LAUNCHED LAST MONTH TO PLUG 'SUPPLIER DIVERSITY'. WHAT'S THAT? It means looking at the supply chain of a business to ensure it is working with a diverse range of people. Diversity brings big businesses new ideas, and many...

News Analysis: London's tourism revival post-7/7.
July 7, 2006... A year on from the biggest terrorist outrage London has known, Sarah Robertson assesses efforts over the past 12 months to woo visitors back to the capital. The horrific images from 7 July 2005 of the shattered bus in Tavistock Square and...

Reputation Check: How will price-fix claims affect BA?
July 7, 2006... Can BA save its reputation when its leading PR lights are on 'leave of absence'? Hannah Marriott reports. British Airways was plunged into crisis a fortnight ago, as it confirmed that it was the subject of a joint US Department of Justice...

Media Analysis: Cycling craze goes beyond bikes.
July 7, 2006... With the Tour de France now under way, David Quainton examines how cycling magazines offer a wealth of opportunities throughout the year for PR practitioners with clients in travel, insurance and gadgets. Every year Wimbledon encourages...

Profile: Upwardly mobile - Simon Matthews, chief executive, Fishburn Hedges.
July 7, 2006... Technology, says Simon Matthews, is a tremendous help in retaining a healthy work/life balance. Despite being promoted from MD last week, Fishburn Hedges' CEO says he still makes an effort to be home in time to put his four-year-old son to bed...

Opinion: Beginning of a new era for Brand Beckham.(David Beckham)
July 7, 2006... So, the country's agonising over England's lacklustre performance is over, and David - Golden Balls - Beckham has fallen on his sword. Of course, media pundits are already out in force debating what Beckham's decision to resign his...

Opinion: Cameron should rain-check the silly season.(David Cameron)
July 7, 2006... With the World Cup over for England and a heatwave gripping most of the country, our thoughts turn to a long lazy summer, and the media happily enter the silly season. PROs up and down the country will be preparing to pitch stories for the...

Editorial: Media obsession still problem for PR heads.(Editorial)
July 7, 2006... The status of the in-house PR chief is on an upward curve, but so is the level of stress. These are key findings from a new insight into the life of the modern comms director, carried out in conjunction with agency Brands2Life (page 25). ...

Opinion: Letter - Councils have begun to ditch 'jargon'.
July 7, 2006... Dominic O'Reilly is a little bit behind in the public sector jargon-busting game, especially when it comes to councils ('Why don't you say what you mean?' 23 June). The LGA has been working with trade press and political parties to come up...

Opinion: Letter - Name and shame the businesses that lie.(Letter to the editor)
July 7, 2006... I was disturbed by Anthony Hilton's thoughtful column describing how dishonesty can permeate an industry, leaving competitors apparently no option but to abandon their ethical standards in order to survive ('There is no credit for sound...

Opinion: Letter - Christians far from being a 'minority'.
July 7, 2006... Has PRWeek been hijacked by secular fundamentalists? ('How to temper religious invective,' 23 June). You ignored the richness and diversity of our spiritual landscape in favour of misinformation. One PRO's suggestion that the 'minority'...

Opinion: My Best Hire - Princess Alexandra Obolensky.
July 7, 2006... Stuart Hulse, chairman of Hulse Public Relations, on the 'down to earth' Princess Alexandra Obolensky. 'Alex, a Russian aristocrat, was introduced to my Fleet Street firm in 1980 by co-director Jane Whigham, niece of the Duchess of Argyle....

Campaign: CIPR Excellence Awards - Winner: Public Sector - Hackney persuades pupils to try harder.
July 7, 2006... Campaign: Hackney Trailblazers Client: The Learning Trust PR team: In-house, supported by Juliet Alexander Associates Timescale: March 2005-January 2006 Budget: pounds 100,000-pounds 1m The Learning Trust, a not-for-profit...

Campaign: CIPR Excellence Awards - Winner: Healthcare - UK Transplant finds an extra million donors.
July 7, 2006... Campaign: One Million Challenge Client: UK Transplant PR team: Harrison Cowley Timescale: October 2004-October 2005 Budget: pounds 100,000-pounds 1m A further investigation, into the causes of deaths in intensive care units, showed...

Campaign: CIPR Excellence Awards - Winner: International - Canon wows reporters with an African safari.
July 7, 2006... Campaign: The EOS 350D camera Client: Canon Europe PR team: In-house Timescale: February-July 2005 Budget: pounds 100,000-pounds 1m OBJECTIVES To gain more media coverage than the main competitor, Nikon, increase Canon's...

Media Relations: Finding the right corporate voice.
July 7, 2006... When big stories break, the CEO might not be the best person to satisfy the media's thirst for quotes. Claire Murphy looks at the alternatives. When Vodafone announced losses of pounds 14.9bn at the end of May, its CEO Arun Sarin was the...

Communications Directors' Survey: Juggling roles.
July 7, 2006... Communication practice has evolved, but have senior practitioners adapted accordingly, asks Suzy Bashford. Today's comms director has to manage an increasingly diverse range of responsibilities. And although the status of PR within...

Diary: C&W alumni in jolly japes on River Arun.
July 7, 2006... Twelve senior PR men have been causing a bit of a rumpus across the south of England, Diary has learned. Convened by Glasshouse Partnership founder James Thellusson last Saturday, the dirty dozen included former Cohn & Wolfe colleagues...

Diary: Ex-boxer McGuigan in Haygarth link-up.(new appointment)(Brief article)
July 7, 2006... One man used to fighting talk is former world featherweight champion Barry McGuigan, who, it emerges, has joined Haygarth's sports marketing arm as a non-executive director. 'Barry's here because there are increasing business opportunities...

Diary: Sian Lloyd toasts birthday with CIPR.
July 7, 2006... Although cleverly scheduled to avoid both World Cup semi-finals, the CIPR Excellence Awards, held in London this Monday, managed to clash with host Sian Lloyd's 47th birthday. But the TV weathergirl fixed her trademark smile and ploughed...

Diary: Shine finds kindred spirit in the church.(Shine Communications)(Father Tim Gardner )
July 7, 2006... The life of a senior account director at a PR agency has little in common with the life of a Dominican friar. No cassocks, no bible readings - and very few hymns. But Father Tim Gardner - who has just finished shadowing Shine...

Diary: Hit or Miss... Lastminute.com builds City beach.
July 7, 2006... Late-deals site Lastminute.com found media favour this week with an 'urban beach' stunt. With temperatures sky high, the firm's in-house team booked bikini-clad lovelies to parade round the beach, leaving Finsbury Square office-workers agog....

Diary: Let's Meet at... Shanghai Blues.
July 7, 2006... Reviewed by Danielle Stone, account director at Triggerfish Communications. From Monte Carlo to Hong Kong, I've been lucky enough to have eaten in some of the most amazing restaurants - places you wish were on your doorstep. That is...

CCA poaches WS healthcare duo.(Chandler Chicco Agency appoints Fiona Hall and Neil McGregor-Paterson)(Brief article)
July 14, 2006... Chandler Chicco Agency (CCA) has pulled off an audacious double-raid on Weber Shandwick, poaching European health MD Fiona Hall and strategic development director Neil McGregor-Paterson. Hall will join the US-headquartered independent...

GMC hires ex-Kennedy aide as complaints rise.(General Medical Council appoints Jackie Rowley)(Brief article)
July 14, 2006... Jackie Rowley, former press secretary to ex-Liberal Democrat leader Charles Kennedy, is to become director of comms for the General Medical Council (GMC) - the body tasked with protecting the public from rogue doctors. Joining in...