The Gorkana Weekly Industry News Brief: 9 – 15 July 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.
Threepipe co-founder Eddie May is heading up The Playbook, a new Hanover Group agency
People News
Golin has brought in Ogilvy’s Alex Wood as executive creative director, with a brief to “bring innovation into the agency”.
Motor Sport editor Damien Smith is departing the magazine to take up an associate director role at automotive PR specialist Influence Associates in mid-September.
Manchester PR agency Viva has hired Alan Simpson, the former deputy editor of the Lancashire Telegraph, as business development executive.
Citigate Dewe Rogerson has appointed Louise Mason as a director in its financial team, where she will be responsible for growing its existing client base and expanding upon its natural resources expertise.
Chime-owned tech PR specialist Harvard has brought in Gareth Clark from B2B tech sales and marketing agency McDonald Butler to take on the role of client services director.
Autocar has identified the top 100 British women working in the automotive sector, with Fiona Pargeter, head of global PR comms for Jaguar Land Rover, leading the comms category.
Pitch Wins
Convenience store and newsagent operator McColl’s Retail Group has hired Headland to lead on its financial and corporate communications which will include its recently announced acquisition of 298 Co-Op stores.
Tech comms agency Red Lorry Yellow Lorry has been chosen by TV content delivery specialist Edgeware to handle its global PR activity.
Japanese insurance service provider Sompo Japan Nipponkoa Holdings (Sompo) has handed Newgate Communications a combined corporate, and financial comms and public affairs brief.
TransferGo, a digital remittance solution for migrant workers based in London, has chosen 2Sisters PR to promote its brand to the UK’s Polish population.
Clementine Communications has been briefed to handle a 2016/2017 UK PR campaign for fine wine merchant Friarwood.
Agency News
Hanover Group has this week launched The Playbook, a new creative comms agency which will be led by Threepipe co-founder and former MD Eddie May (pictured above). Launch clients include the NFL and the England & Wales Cricket Board.
Threepipe has acquired performance marketing agency Spot Digital, as it looks to enhance its natural search and SEO capability.
Speed Communications, part of The Mission Marketing Group, has acquired PR and comms agency The Splash Partnership, expanding its offer into the foodservice and hospitality sectors.
UK-based MHP Communications and US-based Dukas Linden Public Relations (DLPR) have formed a strategic partnership to provide a global financial comms service.
Events
Media Briefing with NME
“Everything we’ve done from a reader perspective since going free has come back with a big thumbs up so far,” said NME’s editor-in-chief, Mike Williams. At an exclusive Gorkana media briefing, Williams, alongside deputy editor Tom Howard and NME.com editor Charlotte Gunn, revealed exciting new content plans and opportunities, explained why the music brand decided to make the momentous move to free and outlined what PRs can to to help with its broadened content remit.
Opinion
How recruitment can close the PR skills gap
Peter Cobley, MD at recruitment consultancy Found Us, explains how he thinks talent pipelining could help tackle the PR industry’s skills gap.
Keep calm and brave Brexit
In light of Brexit, Kitty Parry, CEO at financial PR consultancy Templars Communications, advises comms professionals around how they can create confidence in the wake of a shock.
News Analysis
Prime Day or Black Friday: What provides the best PR value?
Amazon launched ‘Prime Day’ offers for the second year on Tuesday. As shoppers scoped out the best deals among its ranges of tech devices, clothing, health, beauty and toys, Gorkana asked PR pros, what provides better PR value – the e-tailer’s Prime Day or the more widely used concept of Black Friday?
Journalist News
Daniel Thomas has been appointed assistant companies news editor at the Financial Times. he was previously telecoms correspondent at the national title.
Arj Singh has been named political correspondent at the Press Association. He was previously parliamentary editor at the organisation.
Jon Livesey has been promoted to online homepage editor at Daily Mirror, based in the London offices.
Sky News’ former business editor, Kirsty Good, has started her new role as campaigns editor at MoneySavingExpert.com.
Jessie Thompson has been appointed as an online arts and culture journalist at the London Evening Standard. Jessie was previously blogs editorial assistant at The Huffington Post (UK).
ITV News’ deputy news editor, Zoe Kalus, has been promoted to news editor.
Sara Schaefer Muñoz has been appointed European banking editor at The Wall Street Journal. She was previously a reporter for the Latin American bureau of the WSJ.
Features
60 seconds with CIPR president Rob Brown
Halfway through his 2016 presidential term at the CIPR (Chartered Institute of Public Relations), Rob Brown talks about the professional body, its ongoing work, and reflects on the issues and opportunities currently affecting the wider PR industry.
Gorkana meets…Computer Weekly
Bryan Glick, editor-in-chief at Computer Weekly, an online B2B publisher of IT-related news and jobs, and a TechTarget publication, talks about the publication’s shift from print to digital and describes the ideal working relationship with PRs.
60 seconds with Jaguar Land Rover’s Fiona Pargeter
Fiona Pargeter, head of global PR communications at Jaguar Land Rover, has been named as the leader in the communications category of Autocar magazine’s ‘Great British Women in the Car Industry’ list. In 2009, Pargeter joined JLR as global PR director for Land Rover after working at Ford, Volvo and Nissan. She talks to Gorkana about her experience as a woman in a male-dominated industry.
60 seconds with Murphy’s Chris Mostyn
Chris Mostyn recently joined Murphy (J. Murphy & Sons Ltd) as head of marketing and communications. He talks about his career to date, what makes a good comms team and why he loves working in PR.
