PR Week (UK) articles from September 2008

PR Week (UK) archives from September 2008

Major campaign for public to eat more frozen food.
September 5, 2008... Manufacturers push 'healthy, low-cost option' as credit crunch, food waste concerns bite. Leading frozen food manufacturers are joining forces for a concerted PR offensive as the credit crunch hits consumers. A secret consortium of...

Press critical of PR 'fluff'.
September 5, 2008... PR has failed to shed its 'ab-fab' image, according to new research into press coverage of the profession. Researchers found only 35 per cent of last month's national press coverage mentioning PR was positive. Twenty-four per cent was...

Borkowski brought in to boost Sony UK.(Borkowski PR)(Brief article)
September 5, 2008... Sony UK has handed its sought after six-figure UK consumer account to Borkowski as it looks to bolster its credentials as an entertainment brand. The firm is keen to work more closely with its sister companies, which include Sony Pictures...

Harvard nabs H&K chief.
September 5, 2008... Bell Pottinger has poached Hill & Knowlton's head of technology to become MD of Harvard PR. Lee Brooke will make the move to the tech specialist agency in November, after three years at Hill & Knowlton. He will report to Bell Pottinger...

Bauer loses comms boss.
September 5, 2008... Publishing giant Random House has hired a media PR specialist as its new group comms director. Maureen Corish joins The Random House Group on 1 October. She will lead digital plans, corporate affairs and corporate responsibility...

The Week.
September 5, 2008... - Warner Brothers Pictures UK has handed Sterling Media a contract to manage comms campaigns for its Bollywood film releases. - Bite Communications is broadening its remit into entertainment after winning accounts with new music channel...

Lords of the dance.
September 5, 2008... The English National Ballet has called for PR support as it gears up for the Christmas season. The company's 67 international dancers will perform The Nutcracker (pictured), Sleeping Beauty and new production Manon. JBPelham PR won the pitch

Clients cutting back PR budgets.
September 5, 2008... Agencies feel the pinch as a significant minority of firms slash or squeeze fee spend. PR agencies are seeing the first signs of recession fears hitting the industry - with some agencies starting to experience fee cuts. Fishburn Hedges...

Tough times for Olympics.(Visit London )(Brief article)
September 5, 2008... The comms chief at London's tourism body has spoken out about the PR challenges that the London 2012 Olympic Games will throw up. As the dust begins to settle on the Beijing spectacle, Visit London's comms director Ken Kelling said the body...

Gastric band surgery gains comms help.
September 5, 2008... Johnson & Johnson has called in agency support to promote its gastric band surgery as a cost-effective obesity treatment. GCI Health has been hired by a division of Johnson & Johnson to provide medical education and comms to support its...

PM hunts for 'attack dog'.(Gordon Brown )(Brief article)
September 5, 2008... Gordon Brown is looking to hire 'a politically motivated attack dog' as his chief of strategy Stephen Carter prepares to take on a less high profile role. Labour Party sources said that a number of MPs were clamouring for the return of...

Paper on receiving end of Ryanair attack.
September 5, 2008... Ryanair's comms chief has launched a fierce attack on The Sunday Times. Head of communications Stephen McNamara seized on a story this weekend that suggested Ryanair had forced its pilots to fly with low fuel levels. The newspaper...

Bacchus lands airline and restaurant briefs.
September 5, 2008... Indian airline Kingfisher has turned to Bacchus PR's newly created travel division to provide its first external UK comms support. At the same time, the agency has bolstered its lifestyle division by landing accounts with a number of the PR...

McCann spokesman takes on Freud role.
September 5, 2008... The McCanns' spokesman Clarence Mitchell has joined Freud Communications as a consultant. As exclusively revealed on PRWeek.com (1 September), Mitchell has signed a 12-month contract. He will specialise in issues and crisis management,...

Aviva appoints agency to boost staff performance.
September 5, 2008... Insurance giant Aviva has called in PR help as it attempts to improve the performance of its 60,000 staff globally. Aviva is launching a 'Customer Cup', which will invite staff teams of six to identify and remove barriers to good customer...

Healthcare: Athena MD leaves to set up own shop.
September 5, 2008... Healthcare specialist Athena Medical PR is losing its long-standing MD next month following 11 years at the helm. Cherry Wood is leaving the agency in October to set up her own ethical medical and healthcare public affairs agency. Wood...

Healthcare: The Week in Healthcare.
September 5, 2008... Organic win for Red Door Red Door Communications has been chosen by organic food brand Ella's Kitchen to handle consumer and corporate PR. The healthcare specialist is charged with promoting the existing product ranges, supporting product...

Healthcare: On the Agenda - Hospital bug deaths shoot up.
September 5, 2008... IN A NUTSHELL The number of deaths involving the hospital bug clostridium difficile in England and Wales rose by 28 per cent between 2006 and 2007, official figures released last week show. The Office for National Statistics data reports...

Public Affairs: The Week in Lobbying.
September 5, 2008... The Energy Retail Association has drawn up a shortlist of five agencies to fight it out for a major PR and public affairs account Fishburn Hedges and Fleishman-Hillard are believed to be among those in contention with some pitches taking place...

Public Affairs: Bottled water firms unite.
September 5, 2008... Three bottled water manufacturers mount lobbying offensive. Nestle Waters, Danone and Highland Spring have joined together to launch a new association to lobby on behalf of the bottled water industry. The Natural Hydration Council...

Public Affairs: Lobbying Target - Eric Pickles, shadow secretary for communities and local govt.
September 5, 2008... Yorkshireman Pickles is becoming increasingly popular among Tories He is also as far away from David Cameron's Notting Hill Set as it gets. - Ten-second biography Pickles joined the Conservative Party aged 16 and went on to be leader...

City & Corporate: Building giant signs Pelham.(Balfour Beatty PLC's contract with Pelham PR)
September 5, 2008... Construction leviathan Balfour Beatty has turned to Pelham PR, weeks after announcing stellar first-half figures and hiring Duncan Murray as deputy director of comms. Pelham secured the brief after a competitive pitch that also involved...

City & Corporate: In the News... Manchester City.(Abu Dhabi United Group has acquired Manchester City Football Club)(Brief article)
September 5, 2008... - Bring us up to speed Manchester City is on the brink of becoming the world's richest football club after agreeing a takeover with Arab investment firm the Abu Dhabi United Group (Adug). The new owners will hand over pounds 210bn to...

City & Corporate: The Week in City & Corporate.(Kotak Mahindra Bank Ltd's contract with Hill and Knowlton UK)(Brief article)
September 5, 2008... Kotak signs up H&K, Peregrine to work for Guinness family estate. Hill & Knowlton's corporate and financial services team has been appointed by Kotak Mahindra Group, one of India's leading financial services providers. Kotak offers a wide...

City & Corporate: Comms head for Mouchel.
September 5, 2008... FTSE 250 support services firm Mouchel has brought in Paul McKie as its head of corporate communications. McKie joins Mouchel from BT Global Services, where he worked as a senior strategy associate on the controversial pounds 2bn national...

City & Corporate: CSR now needs to earn its keep.
September 5, 2008... Getting an urge to chop down a tree every time I pass a Body Shop outlet might not make me the best person to comment on corporate social responsibility, though as a partial defence I would claim it was an antipathy to the late Anita Roddick...

Voluntary Sector: The Week in Charities.
September 5, 2008... The Remarkable Group is promoting retailer Cash Converters' partnership with children's charity Dreams Come True. The Hampshire-based agency will handle media relations, celebrity engagement and internal comms. Ex-footballer Matt Le Tissier is...

Voluntary Sector: Media charity acts amid sector losses.
September 5, 2008... A charity that provides financial support to workers in the publishing and graphic arts industries has called in agency support as the threat of job cuts looms over the industry. The Printers' Charitable Corporation (PCC) has briefed...

Voluntary Sector: Music stunts for arts NGO.
September 5, 2008... Arts and mental health charity Escape Artists is gearing up for a major PR drive in October. The charity will tell the media that expressing creativity is crucial for people's wellbeing. The campaign will centre on a series of events...

Voluntary Sector: Taking action... PETA vs Ministry of Defence.(People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals)(Brief article)
September 5, 2008... Target: Ministry of Defence (MoD) Protesters: People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) Location: Various Date: 2 September Animal activist group PETA has secured a meeting with the MoD this week, after attacking the...

Technology: Brands2Life wins 007 game.(contract with Activision (U.K.) Ltd.)(Brief article)
September 5, 2008... Agency beats off competition to land new James Bond game Quantum of Solace. Brands2Life has emerged triumphant from a keenly fought pitch to manage the UK launch of Activision's new James Bond computer game. The latest Bond film,...

Technology: The Week in Technology.
September 5, 2008... Spreckley wins five-way pitch Spreckley Partners has won a five-way pitch with data storage manufacturer Brocade. Spreckley will run media relations and awareness-building programmes for the firm, which numbers Cisco systems among its...

Technology: Best of the tech blogs.
September 5, 2008... - Say Hello to 3W PR Posted by Stephen Davies Prblogger.com 1 September - A month or two ago I began toying with the idea of setting up an online PR consultancy... I wish I could make a profound statement about my reasons for...

Public Sector: Campaign breakdown - UK Online Centres.(contract with The Red Consultancy)(Brief article)
September 5, 2008... Agency: The Red Consultancy Client: UK Online Centres Timescale: August 2008 - July 2009 Budget: Six figures UK Online Centres is a government funded network of web centres based in deprived communities across England with a remit to...

Public Sector: Soap opera.
September 5, 2008... Cambridge University's PR department hit the headlines this week for attempting to plant stories in TV soaps to make the university seem less elitist to students. Press officers had contacted story editors on EastEnders, Coronation Street and...

Public Sector: Mandate to support small firms.
September 5, 2008... Business Link London has appointed Mandate Communications to promote its services to the capital's small businesses in the wake of the credit crunch. Business Link London is one of nine regional arms helping new businesses to start up and...

Public Sector: The Public Sector Week.(Visit wiltshire's contract with Infinity Public Relations )(Brief article)
September 5, 2008... Infinity to boost visitors to Wiltshire, Fido to promote Salford as a tourist spot. Visit wiltshire has appointed Infinity Public Relations to help encourage more visitors to the region and to highlight attractions such as Swindon,...

Public Sector: COI's new approach to internal comms.(Central Office of Information)(Brief article)
September 5, 2008... The Central Office of Information (COI) is radically revising its roster of internal comms agencies. The COI plans to 'substantially reduce' the number of agencies on the roster, which was established in 2005. At the same time, it...

Public Sector: Public and private both have charms.(Viewpoint essay)
September 5, 2008... After 16 years working in communications in Whitehall, I could not imagine how any other job could match the adrenaline rush of being at the centre of government. However, after almost two years in consultancy, I have discovered that the...

Media: Toxic mag proves to be in rude health.
September 5, 2008... Indiana Jones, the latest Batman film and the recently released third title in The Mummy series have not only boosted box office figures this summer - they are also credited with increasing Toxic magazine's readership. The pre-teen boys'...

Media: Hit or Miss - Consumer report accuses supermarkets of promoting 'junk' food.
September 5, 2008... The National Consumer Council grabbed column inches this week after publishing a report accusing supermarkets of promoting fatty foods despite government obesity warnings. The council discovered that supermarkets have been pushing special...

Media: Space barons Homes & Property.(Evening Standard)(Brief article)
September 5, 2008... What is it? Evening Standard's housing supplement Circulation of the Evening Standard: 292,455 Frequency of supplement: Every Wednesday with main newspaper Who are the space barons? Janice Morley is editorial chief of the...

Media: The Editor's Desk - Niall Doherty, The Fly.(Brief article)
September 5, 2008... - Describe your editorial agenda? We try to write about bands on their first album and pride ourselves on getting hold of great new bands first. The Fly is in a unique position being a free title, so we can put whichever bands we're...

Profile: James Shelley - Courage under fire.(United Kingdom. Ministry of Defence)
September 5, 2008... The MoD's director of news is just as at home in a war zone as he is in a news room. Matt Cartmell reports. The ongoing Lords inquiry into government comms has seen departmental press officers slammed as 'puny and insignificant'. But there...

Campaigns: Online/finance - uSwitch counts the credit crunch costs.(contract with Hill and Knowlton UK)
September 5, 2008... Campaign: People's Budget Client: uSwitch PR teams: Hill & Knowlton Timescale: March 2008 Budget : Less than pounds 20,000 This is where uSwitch believes it comes in. The website is a free service, backed by telephone operators,...

Campaigns: Voluntary sector - Cost of prison calls causes concern.
September 5, 2008... Campaign: Super-complaint on the cost of telephone calls made by prisoners from British prisons Client: National Consumer Council PR Team: In-house comms team Timescale: April-June 2008 Budget: Approximately pounds 2,000 ...

Campaigns: Consumer - Emotional robots tug heart strings.
September 5, 2008... Campaign: Emotibot Robots Client: The Science Museum PR team: In-house Timescale: 21 July - 1 August Budget: Negligible Objectives - To increase visitor numbers to the museum over the summer holidays - To raise the...

Opinion: Sometimes it's right to say 'no'.
September 5, 2008... Two rousing cheers for the PR boss who parted company with his high profile client with the words: 'It would have been easy to stay and bank the money, but we don't put our name to work we don't believe in.' The third cheer is reluctantly...

Opinion: From the editor - Our sector has cause to stay optimistic.(Editorial)
September 5, 2008... The latest PRCA trends barometer, published this week, indicates that optimism among British PR agencies is finally being hit. And is it any wonder? When the Chancellor of the Exchequer lets slip that we face the worst economic period in...

Opinion: From our readers - BAA has behaved with professionalism ..
September 5, 2008... The commentators in your piece about BAA's handling of the Competition Commission's report (News, 29 August) show a lack of understanding both of the investigation and of the workings of an effective communications and public affairs team in...

Opinion: From our readers - ... and lobbying would not have helped.
September 5, 2008... I think people misunderstand the way the Competition Commission works if they feel that our provisional report reflects inadequate lobbying efforts on behalf of BAA. It may sound terribly straight-laced but the commission makes its decisions...

Opinion: From our readers - I'm not plotting with Miliband.
September 5, 2008... I've been accused of all manner of stuff in my time. Some of the most damaging allegations - listening to albums by Yes, wearing flared trousers beyond 1977 - are true. But plotting with the Foreign Secretary's 'circle of power' to install Mr...

Opinion: Who will lead Labour's dance?
September 5, 2008... Accusations of 'spin' are now common in politics, a refrain aimed at the Labour Government constantly over the past 11 years. It is a no-win; every departmental announcement draws a frenzy of faux outrage from the opposition and so, on entering...

PR and the law: Right side of the law.
September 5, 2008... High profile libel cases are rarely out of the news, but PROs need to get involved before the lawyers. Alex Blyth reports. Do you know what to do if a journalist is about to run a damaging story about one of your clients? Sometimes a...

Airlines: Ground control.
September 5, 2008... Few industries have the spotlight turned on them more than the airline business. So how are the PR teams coping? Polly Devaney investigates. It is a challenging time for airlines, to put it mildly. Firmly under the environmental spotlight...

Flack: Drink it all in.
September 5, 2008... More grist to the boozy PRO stereotype. One Hill & Knowlton employee informs Flack that the agency has laid on a bar within its hallowed Soho Square premises. Nothing so odd about that, you think? The problem is, thirsty consultants have the...

Flack.
September 5, 2008... 1. It looks like even Terry Wogan has given up on Eurovision. But fear not Eurovision aficionados, entertainment PR bods Taylor Herring bring cheery news. Cancel those Saturday night plans and strap yourself in for... the Eurovision Dance...

Flack: On Expenses - Chisou, London W1.(Restaurant review)(Brief article)
September 5, 2008... Reviewer: Bob Leaf, Chairman, Robert S Leaf Consultants What is it good for? It provides some of the best Japanese food in London. The young Japanese staff ensure a pleasant ambience. Most dishes on the menu are ideal for sharing, so...

Number 10 comms adviser quits for Hill & Knowlton.
September 12, 2008... PM's comms aide leaves after less than six months to take up PR agency role. The communications adviser brought in by Gordon Brown to target the 'commentariat' is leaving Downing Street after less than six months. Paul Sinclair, who...

Weber Shandwick wins Microsoft brief.
September 12, 2008... Microsoft has handed Weber Shandwick a wide-ranging brief to lead on all non-consumer PR across the EMEA region. Weber Shandwick will act as a 'hub' for all local markets in EMEA, while also handling pan-European publications such as the...

Mayor cuts comms fund.
September 12, 2008... London mayor Boris Johnson will restructure his comms departments in an attempt to make 20 per cent cash savings. The mayor revealed on Wednesday that he intends to group together all external comms and liaison activities as a new corporate...

Crisis work for Telford.(Telford and Wrekin Council)(Brief article)
September 12, 2008... The comms chief at Telford and Wrekin Council has blamed an unclear letter sent out by another department for a barrage of negative publicity this week. The council found itself in various national newspapers on Wednesday amid suggestions...

Jacko's back.
September 12, 2008... Entertainment specialist Neil Reading PR is working with Sony BMG on the release of a new Michael Jackson CD. The King of Pop - Deluxe will go on sale on 22 September. The agency also handled work around Jackson's 50th birthday on 29 August

The week.
September 12, 2008... - Burson-Marsteller and Smithfield have entered into a strategic partnership to provide financial PR services. - Greenpeace's comms director Ben Stewart has been cleared of causing pounds 30,000 of criminal damage by a jury at Maidstone...

Freud helps with Man City deal.
September 12, 2008... Insiders say comms challenges have only just begun for new owners of Manchester City FC. Freud Communications is understood to be advising both parties involved in the high-profile sale of Manchester City football club to billionaires from...

Getting the PR right can make or break club owners.
September 12, 2008... Many new foreign owners of English football clubs have struggled to win the PR battle. The Abu Dhabi United Group's investment in English football is the latest in a number of takeovers that have relied heavily on PR support. Eight...

Edinburgh in comms link up with Glasgow.(Brief article)
September 12, 2008... Scotland's two biggest cities are being brought together for a new PR offensive that aims to replicate the success of similar campaigns in Australia, Denmark and the US. Glasgow and Edinburgh will be promoted jointly as European and global...

Law college to give Manchester boost.
September 12, 2008... Manchester is to be promoted as the best place outside London for aspiring lawyers to study as Europe's biggest provider of legal training starts a new communications drive. The College of Law has brought in RMS PR to publicise a new a...

Tube upgrade needs agency.(Transport for London )(Brief article)
September 12, 2008... Transport for London (TfL) is expected to issue a brief for help in promoting controversial upgrades to the Tube. It was revealed this week that upgrades on the Jubilee, Northern and Piccadilly lines of the London Underground will cause a...

Loewy may swallow Mantra and Rainier.(Loewy Group's merger with Mantra Public Relations and Rainier PR)(Brief article)
September 12, 2008... Mantra PR and Rainier PR could be merged into parent company the Loewy Group within the next few weeks, under secrets plans drawn up by agency bosses. Loewy, which bought the two agencies in 2007 and 2006 respectively, would only confirm...

Macau hires tourism help.(contract with Hume Whitehead )(Brief article)
September 12, 2008... Macau has brought in fresh agency support as it aims to become known as more than a gambling haven. The Macau Government Tourist Office has appointed travel PR specialist Hume Whitehead to promote the territory, a special administrative...

Healthcare: On the Agenda - Doctors dispute pill link to cancer.
September 12, 2008... - In a nutshell Doctors have hit back at the publication of a study linking cholesterol-lowering statins to a higher cancer risk. A New England Journal of Medicine study angered doctors by linking Inegy, a combination of two drugs, to a 50...

Healthcare: Society head leaves for NHS trust post.
September 12, 2008... The Royal Pharmaceutical Society of Great Britain (RPSGB) is losing its longstanding top PRO to one of the country's biggest NHS Trust hospitals. Jean-Pierre Moser is leaving after nine years as head of corporate communications and...

Healthcare: The Week in Healthcare - Gyro expands offering.
September 12, 2008... Gyro International has created Gyro Life and Science to house its healthcare PR and advertising agencies. The division includes PR agency HSD Communications, which is rebranding as HSD Communicate, and ad shop Woolley Pau. HSD continues to be...

Public Affairs: Watchdog win for Four.
September 12, 2008... The new statutory consumer body created from the merger of the National Consumer Council, Energywatch and Postwatch has taken on its first lobbying and PR support. Consumer Focus has appointed Four Communications to handle public relations...

Public Affairs: Nestle puts Weber Shandwick on alert.(Brief article)
September 12, 2008... Weber Shandwick's public affairs division is fighting to hold on to one of its most prestigious accounts. Key client Nestle is believed to be reviewing its public affairs arrangements after more than a decade with Weber Shandwick. A number...

Public Affairs: The Week in Lobbying.
September 12, 2008... The APPC has thrown out a new complaint about the lobbying firm Morgan Allen Moore - two weeks after a similar complaint about the agency was withdrawn (PRWeek, 15 August). The latest complaint has been submitted by a body called the Sunlight...

Public Affairs: Lobbying Target - Shriti Vadera, parliamentary under secretary of state, BERR.
September 12, 2008... Vadera is one of the key members of Gordon's Brown's inner circle As such, she is one of the most powerful women in Westminster. - Ten-Second Biography Vadera was made a junior minister at the Department for Business, Enterprise and...

City & Corporate: In the news... Marks & Spencer.
September 12, 2008... Bring us up to speed Marks & Spencer has sacked an employee who leaked to the press details of its plan to reduce redundancy packages. Whistleblower Tony Goode was dismissed for gross misconduct at a disciplinary hearing, but his union is...

City & Corporate: FD, Brunswick steer German deal.
September 12, 2008... FD and Brunswick are working on opposing sides of the biggest European M&A deal in the financial services industry this year. Commerzbank's purchase of Dresdner for EUR8.8bn may be an all-German affair, but the impact of the deal highlights...

City & Corporate: The Week in City & Corporate.
September 12, 2008... Aldi turns to Weber Shandwick for corporate campaign Polhill Communications has launched a strategic communications and management consultancy. Polhill Consultants brings together a number of experienced PR executives in the financial...

City & Corporate: Danone nabs Tesco staffer.
September 12, 2008... Tesco's head of corporate media relations has moved to Danone to spearhead a renewed PR focus on UK consumers. Trevor Datson joins Danone as external communications director, with responsibility across both Danone Dairies UK and Danone...

City & Corporate: Successful PR leaves no trace.
September 12, 2008... It ought to be an article of faith that the best PR leaves no fingerprints. The reader of a story or the viewer of a television programme absorbs the information without an inkling that it was fed to the journalist, nor any understanding of how...

Voluntary Sector: The Week in Charities.
September 12, 2008... Age Concern has signed up a raft of celebrities as part of a campaign to improve nutritional standards on hospital wards. TV actor Steve Mangan is among the celebrities who took part in three viral video clips aimed at stamping out malnutrition...