PR Week (UK) articles from July 2008

PR Week (UK) archives from July 2008

WPP to merge C&W, GCI into super-consultancy.
July 4, 2008... Marcoms giant plans consolidation of two agencies in move to achieve greater clout. WPP has drawn up secret plans to create a global super-agency in a bid to rival the likes of Edelman, Weber Shandwick and Ketchum. The new venture is...

Softer image for tennis pro.
July 4, 2008... A new PR strategy has played a key part in thawing Andy Murray's frosty relationship with the English media, according to industry insiders. Back in March PRWeek revealed the Scottish tennis star had called in Stuart Higgins Communications...

Sheehan is latest to quit Downing Street.(Portland PR)(Martin Sheehan)(Brief article)
July 4, 2008... Gordon Brown has been hit by another exit from his comms team, with head of strategic communications Martin Sheehan the latest senior figure to quit Number 10. As reported on prweek.com (1 July), Sheehan will join Portland PR as an...

Premier ends roster review.
July 4, 2008... Britain's biggest food maker, Premier Foods, has finally completed a long-running review of its pounds 2.5m consumer PR roster. Citigate Dewe Rogerson, Ketchum PR and Frank PR have been hired to work across its portfolio of 45 brands,...

News focus for BBC hire.
July 4, 2008... The BBC has appointed a senior government comms expert as part of a plan to better communicate its news-gathering prowess. John Shields, currently director of communications at the Department for Communities and Local Government, is set to...

Broadcast pitch.
July 4, 2008... Channel 4 is believed to be seeking new PR support for an undisclosed venture. The broadcaster currently uses a handful of agencies, including Henry's House. Channel 4 would neither confirm nor deny that it was looking to bring in an agency

The Week.
July 4, 2008... - The Cabinet Office has named COI chief executive Alan Bishop as interim permanent secretary for government comms following the exit of Howell James last month. - Brunswick has hired The Times property and professional services...

Shamed firms blame poor PR.(public relations)
July 4, 2008... Mining giants acknowledge that communications were not up to scratch. Multinational companies named and shamed in the media this week for their continued presence in Zimbabwe have admitted their PR campaigns were not proactive enough. ...

Think-tank suggests new guidelines for big business in Zimbabwe.(Labour and Economic Development Research Institute of Zimbabwe)(Interview)(Brief article)
July 4, 2008... Harare group links with United Nations and others to create overarching CSR strategy. It is not just UK pressure groups trying to stop big businesses profiting from the misery of Zimbabwean workers. Godfrey Kanyenze, director at...

All change at Willoughby.
July 4, 2008... Birmingham-based Willoughby PR has lost one of its biggest accounts as the agency changes leadership. Founder Julia Willoughby is changing role after nearly 16 years at the helm. She will become CEO while Jane Ainsworth will act as MD,...

eBay fights against counterfeit claims.
July 4, 2008... eBay is responding to negative headlines this week with a two-pronged PR campaign aimed at consumers and legislators. The auction giant was this week ordered to pay more than pounds 30m to Louis Vuitton parent company LVMH for allowing fake...

WS called in by Samsung.
July 4, 2008... Samsung has handed Weber Shandwick its UK electronics business following a three-way pitch. The London branch of the global agency will handle the Samsung Electronics press office in the UK as well as overseeing product launches and trade...

Borkowski clinches House of Fraser brief.
July 4, 2008... High street retailer House of Fraser has brought on board its first consumer PR support 'to leverage it to a higher plane'. Fees are believed to be in the region of pounds 250,000. Borkowski was hired to the big-money brief following a...

Agency route not for us, says Bulldog.
July 4, 2008... A men's grooming range hoping to rival Lynx and Gillette has given up on agencies and taken its PR in-house. Bulldog has used both Slice and 3 Monkeys since its launch less than a year ago. But the brand has now decided to take its PR...

Healthcare: On the Agenda - Suicide fears over weight-loss drug.
July 4, 2008... In a nutshell Government drugs watchdog the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) has approved a controversial weight-loss drug for use on the NHS. Acomplia, manufactured by Sanofi-Aventis, is licensed in the UK as...

Healthcare: Edelman overhauls team as MD leaves.
July 4, 2008... Edelman is rejigging the top tier of its healthcare team as it prepares to lose European health MD and executive vice president Kate Triggs. Triggs is leaving the agency in three months to join Abu Dhabi investment firm Mubadala...

Healthcare: The Week in healthcare.
July 4, 2008... College takes on Ruder Finn RUDER FINN has been appointed by Imperial College London to handle advocacy activity around a series of global health documentaries on BBC World. The account will be headed up by Ruder Finn London head of health...

Public Affairs: APPC to speed up complaints process.
July 4, 2008... The Association of Professional Political Consultants (APPC) is planning to overhaul the way it deals with agencies that are accused of wrongdoing. APPC board members will meet this month to decide how to speed up the complaints process....

Public Affairs: The Week in Lobbying.
July 4, 2008... ITV has brought in Marks & Spencer's government affairs manager as the broadcaster continues to transform its comms operation. Jane Hill will join ITV on 14 July as head of public affairs. The role is understood to be newly created and Hill...

Public Affairs: Airport signs Bell Pottinger.
July 4, 2008... Bell Pottinger Public Affairs has been hired by TAG Farnborough Airport to help push through controversial expansion plans. The airport wants to see the local planning process speeded up to allow its ceiling of 28,000 movements a year to be...

Public Affairs: Lobbying target Maria Miller, shadow minister for the family.
July 4, 2008... Part of the new wave of working mothers on the Conservative benches, Miller is considered one of David Cameron's rising stars and is tipped for a senior post in the next reshuffle. TEN-SECOND BIOGRAPHY Joined the Conservative Party...

City & Corporate: In the News... Lloyds TSB.
July 4, 2008... BRINGS US UP TO SPEED Lloyds TSB is under fire for giving children as young as 11-years-old debit cards without informing their parents. The cards are reportedly being sent directly to children, raising fears that they are being used to...

City & Corporate: Lawyers feel crunch effect.
July 4, 2008... The threat of a recession is leading to an increase in PR business from professional services companies and providing a boost to City and corporate PR agencies, according to industry watchers. FD managing director Jonathan Hawker said he...

City & Corporate: The week in city & corporate.
July 4, 2008... Bell Pottinger drafted in by Zabeel Properties, new director at Hogarth Partnership. Zabeel Properties, a Dubai-based property developer, has chosen Bell Pottinger Business & Brand as its global retained agency. Bell Pottinger is charged...

City & Corporate: SPA collects stamp brief.
July 4, 2008... AIM-listed collectibles and investment company Stanley Gibbons has hired The SPA Way to highlight stamp collecting as an alternative investment prospect. The company, established in 1856, caters for more than 48 million stamp collectors...

City & Corporate: Fortis tries to pull wool over eyes.
July 4, 2008... First it was the Royal Bank of Scotland and now it is Fortis of Belgium. When RBS announced that it was to raise pounds 12bn of new capital from shareholders to pay for the costs arising from its decision to acquire Dutch bank ABN Amro last...

Voluntary Sector: Barnardo's turns to ex-Lib Dem handler.(Brief article)
July 4, 2008... The press secretary to former Liberal Democrat leader Menzies Campbell has resurfaced at Barnardo's. Puja Darbari has joined the children's charity as assistant director of communications, in charge of media relations and campaigns. ...

Voluntary Sector: Music body calls in help.(Brief article)
July 4, 2008... Experiential outfit Not Actual Size has won an ongoing brief to promote children's music charity Youth Music. The campaign will be based around experiential events. The first took place at Glastonbury Festival last weekend. The agency...

Voluntary Sector: The Week in charities.
July 4, 2008... The Daily Star's deputy editor has joined War Child to head up the international charity's media output. Ben Knowles started at the beginning of the week as executive producer. Forster has won an account with the Excel Foundation to engage...

Voluntary Sector: Taking action ... Anti eco-town protesters vs UK Government.
July 4, 2008... Protesters|: Anti eco-town groups, including the influential Campaign: to Protect Rural England (CPRE), as well as some local authorities Target: The Government Date: 30 June 2008 THE LOWDOWN The Government's plans to start...

Technology: Web 'fakery' law change.(Brief article)
July 4, 2008... Many companies are unaware of recent changes to the law surrounding 'fake blogging', according to agency bosses. Practices such as 'astroturfing', where employees pose as ordinary members of the public to post favourable reviews about their...

Technology: Pooley leaves Lewis for Bite MD position.(Kath Pooley)(Bite Communications)(Brief article)
July 4, 2008... Bite Communications has plundered rival tech agency Lewis to snare its UK manager, Kath Pooley. In a surprise move, Pooley is leaving Lewis after 12 years at the tech firm. She joins Bite as MD for the EMEA region later this year. ...

Technology: Best of the tech blogs.
July 4, 2008... - Posted by Michael Hay Lewis360.com 30 June We filmed a client video podcast where a spokesperson from Salesforce.com was talking specifically about the benefits of cloud computing. People are debating the benefits of having...

Technology: The Week in Technology.(Wigadoo.com)(Voice Commerce Group.)(Rapid Mobile Media )(Brief article)
July 4, 2008... Wigadoo raises its profile, Weber goes global WIGADOO.COM has called in Incredible Ideas to raise its profile. The start-up site is a social network that aims to help organise events with friends. 'The site is designed to make life easier,...

Public Sector: Campaign Breakdown - Literacy skills.
July 4, 2008... Agency: Consolidated Communications Client: Learndirect Timescale: January 2007 - ongoing Budget: More than pounds 100,000 Consolidated's brief was to encourage adults to seek help if their maths and English skills let them down, in...

Public Sector: Police pressure.(Brief article)
July 4, 2008... The police dragged Home Secretary Jacqui Smith into an embarrassing race row last weekend, when at least 20 police forces refused to co-operate with the first audit into the treatment of Muslim and black officers. The spat threatened to damage...

Public Sector: NHS tops poll of public services.(National Health Service)(Brief article)
July 4, 2008... As it celebrates its 60th birthday, the NHS has come top in a poll looking at people's opinions of UK public services. The health service was surprisingly popular, gaining an impression score of 35. At the other end of the scale, Parliament...

Public Sector: The Week in Public Sector.
July 4, 2008... - Portsmouth plans to publish comms protocols, Essex names head of media. Portsmouth city council is seeking advice from other councils in order to bring together a set of communications protocols. It has already received advice from...

Public Sector: NICE names Gizbert as comms director.
July 4, 2008... The National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) has appointed a new director of communications from the Medical Research Council. Jane Gizbert will join the drug-rationing body in mid-September and oversee a team of 56....

Public Sector: Gangrene risk for snooping councils.
July 4, 2008... A soldier shoots himself in the foot and staggers into the medical tent bleeding profusely. The doctors have to decide whether to treat the wound by removing the bullet or leave it to fester and perhaps become gangrenous. It is an unpleasant...

Media: Business freesheet eyes second UK city.
July 4, 2008... This month has been full of negative reports on the recession and its repercussions for the press. News International freesheet thelondonpaper was rumoured to be on the verge of closing its doors, while the Telegraph Media Group has...

Media: Hit or Miss - Heinz attracts wrath of media, Labour MPs and gay rights groups for pulling 'gay kiss' ad.
July 4, 2008... Gay fuss - When condiment giant Heinz's new TV ad for its Deli Mayo brand debuted recently, more than 200 viewers complained to the Advertising Standards Authority. Why? The ad featured a quick kiss between two men. Heinz immediately...

Media: Space Barons - News of the World's Fabulous magazine.
July 4, 2008... Circulation: 3,138,815 (May 2008 ABCs) Frequency: Every Sunday Pagination: 76 Deadlines: Daily conference 10.30am; weekly Friday forward planning meeting Well-known lifestyle journalist Mandy Appleyard is the editor until 31...

Media: The Editor's Desk - Jill Burridge, BBC Radio 4 Woman's Hour.
July 4, 2008... - Who listens to Woman's Hour? The typical listener is mid- to late-fifties, articulate and intelligent. I know a fair number who work, and 42 per cent of the audience are men. A lot listen on the hoof. Of our newer listeners, there are...

Profile: Andy Coulson - Holding court with Cameron.
July 4, 2008... Andy Coulson has earned a place of trust in his first year as Conservative Party comms director, writes David Singleton. Until recently a powerful triumvirate controlled the Conservative Party Leader David Cameron, shadow chancellor George...

Campaigns: Healthcare - '12 Asks' to cut hepatitis rate.
July 4, 2008... Campaign: World Hepatitis Day 2008 Client: World Hepatitis Alliance PR team: Fleishman-Hillard London Timescale: October 2007 to May 2008 Budget: pounds 400,000 (fees and costs) plus pro bono work A further 325,000 people are living...

Campaigns: Voluntary - Church wins fight to keep water free.(Brief article)
July 4, 2008... Campaign: Making Waves over Water Charges Client: Church of Scotland PR team: Indigo Timescale: February to May 2008 Budget: pounds 2,000 Objectives To highlight the potential impact of levying water charges on churches and...

Campaigns: Food & Drink - Posh tea becomes overnight success.(Rain Communications UK)(Whittard of Chelsea)(Brief article)
July 4, 2008... Campaign: Pu Erh tea at Whittard of Chelsea Client: Whittard of Chelsea PR team: Rain Communications UK Timescale: January 2008 Budget: c. pounds 2,000 Objectives To position Whittard of Chelsea as the leading tea and coffee...

Opinion: Euro 2008 thrives without England.
July 4, 2008... The European Union, at least in football terms, is thriving while the UK sits on the touchlines watching the parade. Those who doubted either the sporting attraction or the commercial viability of a Euro 2008 without the participation of...

Opinion: From the Editor - Welcome to the age of dialogue.(Editorial)
July 4, 2008... We now live in the 'dialogue age'. That, at least, is the view of one global PR agency head with whom I was speaking yesterday. He argued the age of mass media communication, which had begun in the 1930s, had finally come to an end. It is...

Opinion: From our Readers - Primark's web strategy was a brave one.
July 4, 2008... Primark took a brave step by not talking to the BBC under severe pressure ahead of the much hyped Panorama expose (News, 27 June). 'No comment' used to be the number one no-no in a crisis, as it served only to paint a guilty picture. In...

Opinion: From our Readers - Politics and PR are now interchangeable.
July 4, 2008... So another week and another top communications job to be filled at Number 10 with speechwriter Beth Russell heading out the door (News, 27 June). Given the preoccupation with presentation in politics and the Prime Minister's reported...

Opinion: From our Readers - Pharma has a chance to save its reputation.
July 4, 2008... The past few weeks have been a period of heightened anticipation for the healthcare communications industry. This week there was the Darzi report on the NHS Next Stage Review. This past week has also seen the proposal of changes to the NICE...

Labour's Scottish contest is crucial.
July 4, 2008... Gordon Brown must think there is a special circle of hell devised just for him, made purely of parliamentary by-elections. The Crewe contest saw Labour's 'Tory Toff' campaign backfire into a drubbing of historic proportions. It went so...

Event PR: British International Motor Show - A well-oiled PR machine.
July 4, 2008... In three weeks' time the British International Motor Show kicks off at ExCel. Four PR teams have been working behind the scenes to promote it, but how have they avoided stepping on one another's toes? Patrick Dye investigates. On 23 July,...

Intermediary services: The rise of the intermediary.
July 4, 2008... Holding a pitch is daunting, while winning new business can be time-consuming. Can intermediaries ride to the rescue, asks Suzy Bashford. Typically, research has shown that PR firms are less focused on new business than other types of...

Flack: Brown on call.(Gordon Brown)(Brief article)
July 4, 2008... A certain political blog this week revealed that Gordon Brown has had to switch off his email 'auto-complete'. Apparently he mistakenly sent a missive meant for recently resigned Scottish labour leader Wendy Alexander to Wendi Deng, the...

Flack.
July 4, 2008... 1. Life in PR can leave you feeling as though you are in a bit of a bubble. Corporate and consumer shop Mantra's trip to the Psycho Buildings expo at the Hayward on Southbank proved this is probably the case... 2. The Twenty20 Cup has...

Flack: On Expenses - The Beaminster Brasserie, Dorset.
July 4, 2008... Reviewer: Sarah Thompson, head of newsroom, Watershed PR What's it good for? Escaping the horse brasses, lacy tablecloths and place mats depicting Constable's Haywain that are still at large in the restaurants of rural England, despite...

Max Clifford to help shed tennis' middle-class image.
July 11, 2008... One of the UK's best known PR men is to help bring celebrity appeal to the game. The Lawn Tennis Association's charitable arm is understood to be investing up to pounds 250,000 in a year-long PR campaign masterminded by Max Clifford....

Team Brown under attack.(Brief article)
July 11, 2008... Weber Shandwick's UK CEO Colin Byrne has launched a scathing attack on the Downing Street comms team. Byrne, a former Labour Party chief press officer, has previously refrained from public criticism of 'Team Brown'. But speaking to...

Knife crime battle turns to Facebook.(Brief article)
July 11, 2008... Government PR professionals have been urged to place a greater focus on social media in order to communicate the dangers of knives to teenagers. Former Whitehall comms chief Mike Granatt said previous Home Office tactics of knife amnesties...

Student firm seeks agency.
July 11, 2008... Student accommodation business Unite Group is reviewing its pounds 2m consumer account. Unite is looking to appoint an agency by September, with pitches planned for August. Incumbent Golley Slater is invited to repitch. FD will...

Red scoops Epson brief.
July 11, 2008... Printing giant Epson has handed its entire six-figure UK PR business to The Red Consultancy after a two-way pitch. Theaccount win follows Frank PR's decision to end its five-year relationship with the brand (PRWeek, 29 May). Red will...

The show must go on.
July 11, 2008... Joe Calzaghe, perhaps Britain's greatest ever boxer and current BBC Sports Personality of the Year, has brought in Ian Monk Associates as he winds up his career. Calzaghe sacked long-term promoter Frank Warren last month and is looking for...

The Week.
July 11, 2008... - Focus PR, the London consumer shop, has bought Trilogy Communications, a four-strong outfit specialising in consumer tech PR. - Department of Health deputy head of news Ben Lewis is to join Blue Rubicon as a senior consultant. -...

Listed agencies face staff losses.
July 11, 2008... Market Woes - Employee morale and incentives could be hit by marcoms groups' falling share prices. UK marcoms groups could be set to lose some key staff as share prices slide and incentive schemes are affected, according to industry...

Marcoms groups see shares fall by up to 51 per cent.
July 11, 2008... Share prices - Chime, Huntsworth and Next Fifteen hit by stock market jitters over the past ten months

Sainsbury's in hunt for consumer shop.
July 11, 2008... Sainsbury's is tendering a high-profile consumer account as it looks to reclaim space in customers' shopping bags. The supermarket chain, once the UK's largest and now third, wants to appoint by the end of next month. Despite the...

NFU lobbies MPs in badger cull debate.
July 11, 2008... The National Farmers' Union (NFU) is planning to join forces with eight separate UK livestock bodies to lobby the Government for a cull of badgers. The NFU will step up its campaigning following environment secretary Hilary Benn's...

Rightmove seeks image boost in housing downturn.
July 11, 2008... Rightmove.co.uk has called for agency support as the UK's housing market faces a period of uncertainty. The property website, which receives more than 29 million visits a month, has appointed 3 Monkeys Communications to handle consumer PR...

Healthcare: On the Agenda - Call for action on smoking in films.
July 11, 2008... In a nutshell Doctors are asking for tougher action to protect children from images of smoking in films and on TV. The British Medical Association (BMA) has called on the Government to introduce stern measures aimed at reducing young...

Healthcare: H&K expands with Ruder Finn director.
July 11, 2008... Hill & Knowlton has bolstered its healthcare practice with the appointment of a former Pfizer communicator. Jaimie Brown is set to take the role of director in the agency's health and wellbeing practice in the UK. He joins from his...

Healthcare: The Week in Healthcare.(Brief article)
July 11, 2008... Virgo Health PR rebrand VIRGO HEALTH PR is rebranding as Virgo Health and is splitting the agency into three businesses: Virgo Health PR, Virgo Health Education and Virgo Health Public Affairs. In addition Virgo has launched a strategy...

Public Affairs: Eurostar in agency switch.
July 11, 2008... High-speed train service gears up to face competition under incoming EU legislation. Eurostar has pulled a wide-ranging account out of Consolidated Communications and is looking to bring in an agency with greater public affairs firepower....

Public Affairs: The Week in Lobbying.
July 11, 2008... BELL POTTINGER PUBLIC AFFAIRS has lured rising star Joe Phelan from fellow Chime agency Good Relations. Phelan, currently an account director, will join Bell Pottinger as associate director. Last year, Phelan featured in PRWeek's '29 under 29'....

Public Affairs: Lobbying Target.
July 11, 2008... If the Government is on the back foot, 'bruiser McNulty' is often called upon to land a few blows on the opposition. TEN-SECOND BIOGRAPHY Straight-talking McNulty's first ministerial post was overseeing neighbourhood renewal, housing...

City & Corporate: In the news... Housebuilders.
July 11, 2008... - Bring us up to speed Housebuilding's 'big three' - Taylor Wimpey, Barratt Developments and Persimmon - have seen 80 per cent wiped off their share prices in the past year. Write-offs and job losses are being instigated and investor...

City & Corporate: High-street retailers must boost comms.
July 11, 2008... The big UK retailers, currently facing a moribund market, need to make their communications clearer than if they were performing well, according to top corporate PROs. After a week that saw Marks & Spencer and John Lewis post poor figures,...

City & Corporate: The Week in city & corporate.(Engage Group appoints Stephen Jacobs)
July 11, 2008... Hudson Sandler advises Russian consortium, Renaissance Group hires Finsbury partner. Hudson Sandler is advising a company embroiled in the BP-Russia saga. AAR is a consortium of Russian shareholders including Access Industries, Alfa...

City & Corporate: Ruthless streak in private equity.
July 11, 2008... The political battering received by private equity houses last summer made them realise that 'private' could no longer mean 'disengaged'. If they were to avoid legislation and tax changes that would impact adversely on their businesses, they...

Voluntary Sector: Chicken campaign pushes RSPCA back into top spot.
July 11, 2008... The RSPCA has climbed eight places to take the top spot in last month's NGO Watch table. The animal charity generated the highest amount of media coverage during June after celebrity chef Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall campaigned for...

Voluntary Sector: Taking action... Oxfam vs world leaders.
July 11, 2008... Protesters: Oxfam, other NGOs and Japanese activists Location: Sapporo, Hokkaido, Japan Date: 4-6 July In the run up to this week's high profile G8 meeting of world leaders, members of Oxfam and several thousand other activists took...

Voluntary Sector: The Week in Charities.
July 11, 2008... CANCER RESEARCH UK has promoted Jane Warden to PR manager. Warden was previously PR officer at the charity and before that an account manager at Bell Pottinger. She will manage a team of three, responsible for publicising the charity's national...