The Gorkana Weekly Industry News Brief: 1 to 6 May 2016
Missed out on this week’s PR News? Get your handy round-up of the essential highlights of PR and media stories, features and events content over the last seven days on Gorkana News.
Pitch Wins
The Lifestyle Agency has been appointed to handle the PR for Roger Daltrey’s limited edition Champagne, which is being launched to celebrate 50 years of rock band The Who.
Chinese sports footwear brand 361°, an official supporter for the 2016 Olympic and Paralympic Games in Rio de Janeiro this August, has chosen Iroquois to handle its UK PR as part of the brand’s wider European expansion plans.
Hotwire has been brought in as the European PR agency for Nuance, a business providing voice and language tools for businesses and consumers.
Gong Communications has been reappointed to work on Lloyd’s insurance market’s international diversity and inclusion festival, ‘Dive In’.
Henley Royal Regatta has briefed Hanover Communications to provide PR support for the annual rowing event’s 2016 edition and help enhance its reputation for future years.
The Communications Store has been chosen by The Crown Estate as the retained comms agency for London’s Regent Street.
People News
Cambridge University Press’ former global head of PR, Adam Tuckwell, has joined specialist PR and content agency MobasEngage as head of PR.
Chime-owned Good Relations has brought in David Wiles from Shine @ The Academy as consumer director, with a brief to provide senior client advice and business development.
Portland has hired Nucleus Global’s Dr Brendan Murphy as a director to establish and grow its medical education offering.
Chloe Staniforth, a 20-year-old account executive at Cream and 2016 Suzy Spirit Award finalist, has become the youngest ever accredited member of the CIPR.
The Cannes International Festival of Creativity has announced a 21-strong jury for the PR Lions awards, chaired by Edelman’s John Clinton.
Agency News
Travel PR agency Little Black Book Creative has relaunched under the new name Traveltappers, marking a shift in focus to SEO PR, and brought in British Airways’ former consumer PR manager, Tracy Long, as a PR specialist.
PR and social media agency Wolfstar has forged a partnership with creative visual firm Seventy1 Digital to enhance its video offering for clients. Activity kicks off with content to mark the 200th anniversary of Portmeirion Group’s Spode Blue Italian design.
News Analysis
PR agency M&A activity rises by 54% in 2016
Merger and acquisition (M&A) deals in the global PR sector have risen by 54% in the first quarter of 2016, according to research by Results International. RI’s director, James Kesner, told Gorkana what this means for the industry and which specialisms are attracting investment.
How the rise in chatbots impacts digital PR
Chatbots, which brands and publishers are using more and more to engage with digital audiences, could reach up to two billion users in the next couple of years, according to Digiday. Gorkana asked agencies Diffusion, Firstlight PR, Good Relations and Threepipe what implications this trend has for PR.
Events
Negotiating the Boardroom: Panel Debate and Networking Drinks
Women in PR will be hosting a panel debate ‘Negotiating the Boardroom‘ followed by networking drinks on Tuesday 10 May from 6:30pm to 8:30pm at Golin’s office in Holborn.
Journalist News
The Press Association has appointed former BBC Sports reporter Matt Slater as its chief sports reporter.
Sophie Goodwin has been named fashion director at Tatler, having previously been style director for the same publication. She has been replaced in the latter role by Sophie Pera.
The Telegraph has appointed John Mullin as deputy head of sport.
Geoff Maynard has been promoted to head of news at the Daily Express.
Mark Broad has returned to his role as senior economics producer at BBC News. He returns from a secondment as news desk editor in Washington.
Debbie Ramsay, acting newsbeat editor for BBC Radio 1 and BBC Radio 1Xtra – Newsbeat has now been confirmed in the role.
Features
Media Briefing with BritMums
At an exclusive Gorkana media briefing with the UK’s largest parenting blogging network, BritMums, this week, co-founders Susanna Scott and Jennifer Howze shed light on the growing strength of its 8,000-strong “influencers”, why everyone should go onto Pinterest, how brands can partner with the network and why dad bloggers are seen as the “rockstars” of BritMums.
OPINION: Crisis comms and war gaming
Planning ahead is key, particularly when it comes to anticipating corporate and other crises and impact on reputation, as Gorkana’s recent White Paper on crisis communications showed. John Orme, senior partner and EMEA crisis counsellor with Porter Novelli, thinks that war gaming, Game of Thrones and the ever-resourceful Chinese warlord Sun Tzu have useful lessons for crisis communicators to heed.
Case Study: The World’s First Mankini Emoji
When hen and stag party brand Red7 Leisure wanted to enhance its market share, Red Hot Penny came up with a PR and SEO campaign to leverage the popularity of emojis by creating “The World’s First Mankini Emoji”, as well as blow-up doll and beer goggle symbols…
Future of the Press: Robert Jobson, royal editor of the London Evening Standard
In the third part of our series looking at the future of the press with board members of the London Press Club (LPC), Gorkana’s Ronan George talks to Robert Jobson, director of the LPC, joint chairman of London Press Club Ball 2016 and royal editor at the London Evening Standard, about organising the LPC ball, the importance of socialising in journalism and why the fundamental skills of a journalist will never change.
