Is Max Clifford the only PR expert in the UK?

May 24th, 2011

As the row over super-injunctions, footballers and reality TV stars rumbles on, the ever-familiar face of ‘PR Guru’ Max Clifford has been seen across UK news outlets, largely thanks to his role representing former Big Brother ‘star’ Imogen Thomas.

Although in this case he is representing one of the protagonists, he is often the ‘go to’ person for journalists wanting a good soundbite, particularly in the ‘new’ world of social networking.

Now, no-one doubts that Max Clifford does know his stuff, but is he the only person in the UK qualified to talk about such matters?  Just Googling his name we can see he has commented on topics such as the X Factor through to Madeleine McCann in the past couple of weeks,  offering a ready comment on everything from reputation management to media strategy.

Does the PR industry need a new ‘face’ to challenge the dominance held by Max Clifford?  We think so.  But who?  And would they want to?  Editors of trade magazines are often a good port of call – you often see Tim Danaher from Retail Week or Adam Leyland from The Grocer commenting on their industry, so perhaps Danny Rogers from PR Week should be considered as one of the voices of the PR industry. 

Personally, we think our own MD Christine Arthur would be brilliant…

Leave a comment here to have your say!

A day in the life: Ahmed Ahmed on his PR internship at McCann

May 19th, 2011

Even before I’d decided on entering public relations, McCann Erickson was a communications name I knew and admired, thanks in no small part to that famous Coca-Cola commercial. So after account manager Felicity came to give a career talk at my university, I jumped at the chance to experience work in a renowned PR agency. Here’s what I get up to on a typical day.

9:00 I pay the ground-floor vending machine a quick visit before ascending, cappuccino in hand, to the PR department. The office is housed on the top floor and home to more than twenty PR professionals. Mondays see the whole team assemble on the sofas for a round-up of last week’s highlights and an energising look at the week ahead.

09:45 Lauren, account executive, briefs me on a competition campaign for a client. She needs me to build a list of contacts for regional newspapers across the country. Luckily, there’s a handy database to help. Later on, I’ll be calling up journalists and selling in the story.

11:00 The results of a survey for a different client have come in, and make for interesting reading. Given the obvious potential for newspaper coverage, I’m put to work drafting a press release to pique editorial interest.

12:30 Lunchtime seems to roll around pretty quickly here. I head down to the Bistro, joining account executives Gemma, Katie and Zoe. As we tuck into a delicious lasagne, they share some equally satisfying titbits of career advice.

13:30 In response to an earlier email, everyone crowds into ‘The Chiller’ for a brainstorming session. The imminent launch of an innovative new food product calls for an equally attention-grabbing PR campaign. Amid much banter and many amusing associations, numerous creative ideas begin to emerge.

14:00 Selling-in time! Although fine once you get into the swing of things, the process of calling up newspapers and getting them interested in a potential story can initially be daunting. I have a theory that journalists can smell fear, even via a phone line, and so confidence and conviction is what I’m going for as the first contact on the list picks up.

15:00 Phew! Sell-ins complete, it’s time to send off the press releases. Luckily, I managed to get the journos interested, so we can hopefully expect some great coverage for the client. I spend the rest of the afternoon researching key bloggers for a new media list.

17:30 Home-time arrives, and I almost feel guilty to be leaving my desk as the rest of the office taps away busily. As I leave I hear someone call out some good news: a national radio interview is secured for one of our clients tonight. No doubt it will be the talk of the office tomorrow.

Royal Wedding – our favourite stories

May 3rd, 2011

So, the Royal Wedding is over and we’re not ashamed to admit that we got caught up in Kate (sorry, Catherine) and William fever here at Comms House.

Also, being the dedicated PR people we are, we tried to keep up-to-date with all the products and stunts brands brought out to celebrate the Royal nuptials.   So, to try and avoid the post-wedding emotional crash, we’ve had a bit of a debate on some of the more memorable stories and products we saw – here are our top five (although number 4 counts as more – there were just too many products to mention).

  1. T-mobile’s spoof video to East 17’s ‘House of Love’
  2. Easyjet’s Royal Wedding  themed advert and competition for Kate and Wills lookalikes to win flights for a year
  3. Royal Wedding sick bags
  4. Kate and Wills fridge cover, loo seat, duvet cover, cupcakes, condoms, gnomes, Oyster Card, ales…
  5. Portrait made entirely of Love Hearts

Are brands using social media correctly?

April 11th, 2011

According to new research, retailers aren’t using social media correctly.  Many, according to the research, are just using social media channels to pump out marketing material, rather than engaging with their audiences.

It seems that while many of these leading brands see the value of using social media networks, many still don’t understand what it means to be ‘social’.  While many have blogs, Twitter and Facebook pages, they’re not responding to comments.

For many businesses – consumer and B2B – social media is still a relatively new thing and we’re all still learning about its countless possibilities.  Many still don’t appreciate the resource needed to monitor social networks and then respond accordingly.  It can be a time consuming business, which is perhaps why this research highlights such low engagement levels.

Our advice?  Have a clear strategy for social media – if you don’t have the resource to manage multiple channels (Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Flickr, blogs etc) then don’t try to.  Start with one – do it well – before branching into others.

We know that social media can be a fantastic way to engage with audiences – both consumer and B2B.   However, if it’s not done well, then there’s nowhere to hide. 

‘The List’ results in new creative hire

March 21st, 2011

Following the arrival of Executive Creative Director, Vince McSweeney and the release of its controversial ‘The List’ advertising campaign, McCann Erickson Central has today announced the recruitment of new Senior Art Director, Jamie Buckingham.

Previously Creative Director at Rave Communications in Birmingham, Buckingham led on key clients Swinton, Cisco, Yamaha, Irwin Tools and Triton Showers and was responsible for pitch wins on Victory Motorcycles, Britax, Polaris ATVs, Centro and McMullen Brewery to name a few.

With an arsenal of award wins under his belt, including recognition from Cannes Lions, London International, Mobius, One Show, Caples, Roses, Cream and Fresh, Buckingham will bring new thinking to the growing Creative department at McCann Erickson Central.

Vince McSweeney, Executive Creative Director at McCann Erickson Central, said: “Jamie brings some great skills, dynamic thinking and a weighty portfolio of award-winning work to McCann and we can’t wait for him to get started!”

Beginning his career at Bray Leino before he joined McCann in Bristol, Buckingham then climbed the career ladder in Australia, taking roles at Grey Advertising and Euro RSCG in Sydney before joining Rave in 2007 as Creative Director.

Amz long walk home raises loads of money for Marie Curie

March 3rd, 2011

McCann Erickson Central chef, Amz Edwards, took a ‘Long Walk Home’ last week in memory of friend and colleague, Neil Rodgers, Group Account Director at McCann Erickson, who sadly lost his fight with cancer on Monday 14 February.

Amz took on the challenge to walk the 20 miles from McCann Erickson in Shirley to his home in Great Barr, Birmingham, taking a total of five hours. Joined by colleague Sarah Phillips, Amz tackled the rain and the cold with only a couple of pit-stops to refuel, to raise more than £1,000 for Marie Curie Cancer Care.

Amz comments: “It was truly an honour to work with such a great person as Neil. I wanted to give a final farewell to Neil and thought the best way was to help raise money for Marie Curie Cancer Care, a charity that I know meant a lot to him. I’m so pleased I was able to make this final tribute to Neil; he will be sorely missed by everyone who knew him.”

Dean Lovett, CEO at McCann Erickson who worked with Neil for over fifteen years, said:  “Amz had the whole agency behind him for his ‘Long Walk Home’ and it’s fantastic that he’s gone to such lengths to raise money in Neil’s name for such a worthwhile cause. We will always treasure the time spent with Neil, and our thoughts are with his wife Lynda and family at this time.”

Neil, who was from Wolverhampton, had worked in McCanns’ advertising division since 1997 and, prior to that, at Campaign Concepts. He specialised in all things automotive, heading up iconic campaigns for names such as Lotus, Mercedes Benz and HR Owen. He was a motorsport fanatic and became the resident car expert at Communications House.

McCanns has built and named a bar in the agency after Neil and staff will be raising a glass or two in the ‘Rodgers Return’ to remember a great friend.

We won!

December 6th, 2010

We’ve just about recovered from the Midlands CIPR PRide Awards on Friday night, and are delighted to report that as well as winning gold awards for our work with npower and Touchwood, McCann Erickson was also crowned Outstanding Agency of the Year!

It’s a real credit to all the hard work and fantastic campaigns in 2010. It’s been a challenging few years for everyone here in the Midlands communications industry, and it’s been no different for us at McCann, but this recognition is testament to just how hard we’ve worked.

We’re already looking forward to doing more great work in 2011!

i: Breathing new life into newspapers or destined to fail?

November 1st, 2010

It’s now been a week since the publishers of the Independent took what is arguably the brave step of launching a new quality newspaper i among stories of dwindling newspaper circulations and online paywalls.

According to deputy editor Adam Leigh, ‘the launch of i is the next stage in the process of innovation and reinvention.’ Certainly, The Independent has always prided itself in leading the way in the newspaper market, by shunning usual front page fodder for more in depth features.  i is designed to fill a gap in the market – those that want a quality newspaper but often don’t always have the time or inclination to read all the sections.  It aims to get ‘lapsed’ newspaper readers back into the print habit.

But, in a world where people can get their news instantly from the internet, will it work?

We hope so.  With more online versions of newspapers disappearing behind paywalls, it could be that the 20p i does fulfil a missing element in the world of newspapers.  It is less celebrity-led than the Metro and claims to be more than a London Lite style product.  We would agree – it is well put together and a good read, and initial reaction seems to be positive.

In terms of opportunities for PR firms, at the moment Leigh advises that we should target the Independent newsdesk as usual, as the copy for i is largely taken from the main paper.  However, should i prove to be a success, more opportunities may arise.

We’ll be keeping an eye on its progress.

Earning a bit on the site

October 22nd, 2010

This week the McCann team joined our client Stanley at Interbuild, the build industry’s national trade show, where companies large and small vied for the attention of visitors with deals, demonstrations and dazzle.

Along with the deals, the Stanley and Dewalt site (designed by Brand Response here at McCann) offered the opportunity to get hands-on with the core product range in a concept neatly uniting product experience with the ‘dazzle’ of live challenges.

‘Hammer time’ saw visitors nailing in four nails – and more importantly experiencing the power of the new Stanley Xtreme hammer – against the clock, with a ‘gaffer’ overseeing proceedings.

Visitors could then ‘earn a bit on the site’ by using the tools to literally help Stanley build the stand – measuring, sawing, levelling and nailing a panel to the perimeter stud wall – in exchange for discount vouchers to spend in the On Site shop.

And, with three busy days under the Stanley toolbelt, Interbuild has done exactly as we hoped for the brand – driving use of Stanley’s core product range, building brand engagement – and of course giving the PR team plenty to shout about to journalists at on-stand briefings!

And, before you ask, yes McCann did roll up our sleeves – contributing our own panel to the wall and notching up an impressive (ahem) 11 second time in the Hammer challenge. Perhaps we won’t give up the day job just yet!
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Devil will be in the detail of Spending Review

October 20th, 2010

The biggest headline of the Spending Review around public sector job losses was inadvertently (or maybe not) leaked yesterday, by Danny Alexander. This has somewhat taken the shock value out of these announcements, but they still make for pretty grim reading, with dramatic cuts to welfare, pensions and defence to name but a few of the areas that have had budgets slashed.

However, as always, the devil is in the detail and the full impact of the Spending Review will be uncovered in the coming days and weeks. With a keen eye on the sustainability agenda for a number of our clients, we noticed with interest that the much publicised Carbon Reduction Commitment Energy Efficiency Scheme (CRC) now comes with a sting in the tail. A press release from the Department of Energy and Climate Change seems to suggest that participating companies are set to lose out financially. Money that was originally planned to reward those that succeed in the scheme looks set to be re-diverted to help prop up the public purse on environmental spending.

There was some good news at least for pensioners in the spending review, with free TV licences for the over 75s protected and cold weather payments and free eye tests still intact. One pensioner who didn’t fare so well was the Queen, who will now have to look at how she can reduce the royal household’s budget by 14%, now there’s a challenge…