Season’s greetings! Welcome to the final Compass Network newsletter for 2015.
We end the year with 32 Compass Partners and some great client wins and campaigns across the network – see some of the most recent updates below.
As always, if you have any questions or suggestions about the Compass Network, please email: Compass AT nelsonbostock.com
All the best for 2016 from Compass Network!
Nelson Bostock Group Unlimited will bid a sad farewell to its chief executive Lee Nugent at the end of January 2016 after 20 years in the business, the last eight as CEO. Following his departure, the individual agencies will continue to be led by their existing managing directors. In true Nelson Bostock style, there will be an epic farewell to thank Lee for the enormous contribution he’s made to both NBGU and the Creston Group.
This quarter, Nelson Bostock celebrated being appointed as the new PR agency for media and market intelligence company, Signal. After months of preparation, Nelson Bostock Unlimited was also super busy working on Canon’s quinquennial event, Canon EXPO, bringing an extensive press programme to life in Paris, in October. Back at home, we hosted an event for the PRCA, gathering PRs and journalists to discuss the future of tech journalism, and put on our Sunday best for Canon UK’s annual Parliamentary Reception at the House of Commons.
Fever’s final quarter in 2015 has been particularly busy, with a number of consumer campaigns launched in the run up to Christmas. Sky’s next generation television service ‘Sky Q’ was officially unveiled at a packed consumer technology press conference mid-November, and not forgetting NOW TV’s ‘Obfleshion – Eau De Walker’ project which saw us develop a fragrance to help fans ward off unwanted Walker attention in the run up to series 6 of The Walking Dead. Aside from client side news, Fever also sadly said goodbye to Joint MD Frankie Oliver, who has stepped down after 8 years with the Nelson Bostock Group, to spend more time with her son. Bruce McLachlan will continue to lead the agency.
Things Unlimited has had a busy couple of months. Our relationship with Danone continues to grow and we have been successful in picking up some new campaign work for Cow & Gate. Our content strategy for Emmi Caffe Latte is in full swing and we’re producing some great content for the brand. We’re working on 2016 plans which will include an influencer ambassador and seeding programme. For Logitech we are running a seeding programme and the team are currently working with a roster of extreme sports stars to promote the UE speakers out in the wild. We are also populating an exciting pre-roll ad project, using a surprise and delight mechanic to offer ad viewers the chance to chat with the influencer directly on Skype – straight from the ad unit.
MediaWorks celebrates its first anniversary this month. The content unit and consultancy led by former Reuters Technology Correspondent Matt Cowan has had a remarkable inaugural year, venturing as far as Kenya to make a film for the UK’s fastest growing technology company WorldRemit, while making a mark closer to home with videos for EE, Sky TV and Sony PlayStation. MediaWorks has just brought on board Alex Cooper as Head of Creative; Alex was most recently the Head of Content at Agile Films. So the stage is set an even more exciting 2016.
In December, PR Week named Bateman Group in its highly coveted listing of Best PR Places to Work in the U.S., in the Midsize Agency category for 2015. This award represents two firsts for the company: first recognition of its workplace in a nationally focused publication and first win in a midsize agency category. Bateman also welcomed a host of new clients recently, including L’Oréal USA and HackerRank.
The festive season is one of the busiest at Corporate Image, which manages PR for Africa’s largest New Year’s Eve party – New Year at the V&A Waterfront. On the brand and reputation management side, we were recently appointed to work on the newly-formed Coca-Cola Beverages Africa (CCBA), which has kept our team on its toes. Other new clients include US private investment fund One Thousand & One Voices (1K1V), which specialises in investing capital on behalf of high net worth American families in Sub-Saharan Africa.
Emerson K Partners is now working for IRONMAN Korea Organizing Committee to promote IRONMAN Triathlon sports in Korea. CEO of Emerson K Partners, Kris Park, has been appointed as the official spokesperson for IRONMAN Korea Organizing Committee. Emerson K Partners has contributed to hold 2016 Busan IRONMAN Race and 2016 Inchoen IRONMAN Race in acquisition of sponsorship and government relations. Emerson K Partners have won “BANDI”, a Smart Home Lighting Solution. With the Korean government more supportive of Smart IT-driven living environments, there is a rising need for PR in the IT innovative technology space.
Schwartz PR is proud to announce two new clients in Germany: tech startup Weebly, which enables people to easily create a unique website, blog or online store with a blink of an eye. The German PR experts are now responsible for product and corporate communications. Schwartz will also help Wrike, a SaaS-based work management and collaboration platform, to increase the level of awareness in Germany as well as to educate about the advantages of software-based and digital teamwork.
Sound Public Relations has won the Bronze PRGN Best Practice Award 2015, gaining the third position in the Consumer Products Communication category, with the campaign conceived for the launch of the new YOGA range of LENOVO products. The award has been handed in to the agency’s Managing Partner Alessandra Malvermi, during the PRGN meeting that took place last November in Dubai.
Fink & Fuchs Public Relations took the occasion of the “Back to the Future Day” on October 21, 2015 to invite customers, prospects and partners to its annual Inspiration Jam (view multimedia report). Participants were taken on a journey to the Future of Communication where they got a glimpse of intelligent cars, developments in robotics and virtual reality, as well as trying out numerous tech gadgets in the agency’s sample lab.
Insights
Buman Media released its annual survey dedicated to the Russian PR market
The agency polled more than 100 comms directors about the structure of Russian PR departments, their relationship with agencies and their changing budget policies, amid the country’s current economic crisis. It finds that creativity remains the biggest concern for Russian clients when it comes to their PR agencies, up from 53% last year to 71% this year. Other capabilities appear to be in better shape — with analytical skills (21%), social media expertise (21%), and internet marketing (18%) proving less problematic. Among those who don’t work with a PR agency, over half (52%) do not believe they need an agency for their comms needs, 19% said they do not trust outside experts, whille 13% reported budget constraints. Despite the economic slowdown, or perhaps because of their cuts in PR budget elsewhere, 22% of companies increased their communications headcount, while only 9% reduced staff. You can read survey summary here.
Corporate Image shares research on South Africa’s internet activity
Recent research has revealed an impressive 49% of South Africa uses the internet, showing fast adoption rates, while still not being as high as developed nations. SA internet users account for 8% of the continent’s internet usage, and this is shared between mobile and traditional computer-based access. Facebook is the largest social media network in SA, with 11.8 million users, or 22% of South Africans. 74% of South African Facebook users access it through their mobile phones.