The PR Report September 2012 issue

the monthly newsletter for the Australian PR industry SEPTEMBER 2012

1. Cubit Media launch new media monitoring service; (pic right; Warren Weeks, CEO, and Randal Killip, Director) 2. CPR appoint Nat Sevim (pic, below left) 3. Sister agency to Text100, Bite Communications (pic, below right) wins the Vodafone B2B account

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Opinion

Is media monitoring worth $250m in Australia?

Last month we covered the launch of ClickView’s broadcast media monitoring service. In that article, we stated the Australian media monitoring market is worth $250m per year. Transparency in the media monitoring market is non‐existent, with the major player, Sentia Media, refusing to publish their revenue statistics. The PR Report undertook our own research.

After speaking to a number of industry sources in Australia, the US, and the UK, we are publishing the breakdown of the $250m figure we believe is the value of media monitoring in Australia.

Cubit Media will shake up the media monitoring market

Competition benefits consumers, and a new provider is always welcome in a market dominated by one company. Cubit Media launches a media monitoring service this month, which they claim offers a better service at a better price than the largest player in the market, Media Monitors (owned by Sentia Media). Given Sentia Media’s history of buying up their competition, the big question is: will Sentia buy Cubit, just like they bought Rehame, Slice, Buzz et al?

The PRIA’s monopoly is over

Consumer PR agencies left the PRIA en masse and joined rival association, The Communications Council’s new specially created sub‐group for consumer PR agencies, The PR Council. It’s very difficult for an organisation to keep all the members happy all the time; just ask the ALP and LNP. The political parties manage it by doing deals; running associations is very similar; deals need to be done, and compromises made, to keep members inside the tent. It’s bad news for the PRIA; at least 26 agencies have left. This is a big loss. Less members equals less revenue, and less influence. It means the PRIA doesn’t speak for the entire PR industry anymore. The PRIA’s CEO, Jon Bisset, who previously ran the canoe, and then the netball association, may want to re‐evaluate his growth strategy.

Where are the PR jobs?

The PR agency sector is growing. That’s partly due to new companies coming to Australia, and specific sectors expanding, especially health & wellbeing and technology & digital. Sadly, this isn’t true for in‐house PR jobs. There are less in‐house jobs, especially in sectors hit by the strong exchange rate, such as retail, or CEOs looking for savings, such as banking. The efficiency dividend is cutting communications roles at the Federal level, and State Government Departments are cutting roles and budgets as Liberal Governments in NSW, Victoria and Queensland cut back public sector expenditure. Cutting in‐ house PR and communications staff often means the work is out‐sourced to agencies.

Is creeping regulation the slow death of Facebook?

Facebook’s share price has fallen by 50% since the IPO, and many investors and analysts are unhappy; "... Mark Zuckerberg, talented though he may be, is in over his hoodie as CEO of a multibillion‐dollar public company," said Sam Hamadeh, from US research firm PrivCo.

Headlining the Facebook IPO document, prospective investors would have read a letter from Zuckerberg which clearly stated his/Facebook’s first priority is to change the world. Earnings, profits, dividends and all those other things that (normal) investors look for, is to come second.

Zuckerberg’s open letter to prospective investors in the IPO document stated: “Facebook was not originally created to be a company. It was built to accomplish a social mission — to make the world more open and connected... We’ve always cared primarily about our social mission, the services we’re building and the people who use them.”

Zuckerberg has an unwavering belief that one social network can change the world, and as a by‐product, make some money.

Is he right? Yes, on both counts. Will Facebook continue to grow? The jury is out on this.

Facebook is a 900+ million person global media powerhouse, and so it could be argued it has already changed the world.

Facebook is influential because 900+m users are connected and share content on one platform. However, there is a big contradiction. Facebook owns all the content yet declines editorial control. They benefit from the upside (selling eyeballs to advertisers) but don’t care about the downside (cyber bulling is your problem). That worries many people in Australia, especially Federal and State Governments and various regulators, such as the ASB and the ACCC, who are in the process of curbing Facebook’s influence, albeit in very subtle ways.

The idea that Facebook is a conversation where people openly share content, ideas and comments is over.

Organisations/brands must now treat an Australian managed Facebook page as advertising (and not free speech as Zuckerberg intended), and be responsible for all the content on the company’s page; including comments made by other people.

For this editorial, we are concerned at the impact of this regulation in Australia, and the issues for corporate communicators. This matters because communications practitioners need to plan and budget; in particular, how much to spend on developing content, and how many staff or agencies to engage for social media communication (of which Facebook is a large part).

It is reasonable to ask this question: why would anyone visit a boring (regulated) Facebook page and leave a comment that might be deleted?

This presents Aussie companies with a dilemma; ask yourself: “how do I control our Facebook page, yet keep it social and meaningful?”

What is the answer for Australian brands?

1. Given the Facebook platform offers communicators unprecedented social engagement opportunities, there is still a very good reason to be on Facebook (ie and continue to invest time and money in creating content).

2. Given PRs initiate stories and create conversations, so they understand brand conversations are two‐way, as opposed to the uni‐directional nature of advertising. Therefore, in our view, Australian organisations having PR practitioners manage the Facebook conversation is the best solution to ensure a vibrant, social, yet legal, presence.

A note of caution

Social networks benefit from “the network effect” where size is important; the bigger the network, the greater the benefits.

But they are like nightclubs to teenagers; there may be a better one just up the road, and when entrance is free, it is easy to switch. If we see Facebook’s Aussie teenage users decline, we will know they’ve found a better club. If Tumblr becomes the cool online social network with teenagers trying to avoid their parents, and grandparents, following their every move on Facebook, then Facebook may simply be a place where older family members share photos.

The Advertising Standards Bureau comments on social media, and link to TCC’s code of conduct http://blog.adstandards.com.au/2012/08/the‐social‐media‐conundrum/

I hope you find this expanded issue of The PR Report of interest. Your comments and feedback are welcome.

Best Regards Glen Frost

Editor, The PR Report glen@theprreport.com Tel: 02 9476 3333

Cubit launches print, broadcast & online media monitoring

By Glen Frost, Editor

Cubit Media Research is to take on the market dominance of Media Monitors (Sentia Media) with their new NewsDesk‐Plus service.

Australian media analysis firm Cubit Media Research is partnering with global news specialists Moreover Technologies, to release a new media monitoring service in Australia. Moreover Technologies supplies approximately 65% of the global media monitoring companies with media clippings. Companies like Sentia Media (Media Monitors) and the BBC use Moreover Technologies for large volume media monitoring.

Moreover Technologies offers access to 2.5 million news articles and social media posts from 3 million editorially vetted sources across 100+ countries, 75+ languages and 800+ searchable industry categories. The Moveover service took home two top honours in the CODiE 2012 Awards; winning the "Best Content Aggregation Solution" Award, and the "Best Information Solution" SuperCategory Award (these awards are presented by the Software & Information Industry Association (SIIA), principal trade group for the software and digital content industry).

Cubit is already servicing 14 organisations with the new platform and claims Australian clients can expect to save upwards of 40% on their current annual monitoring bill. The PR Report has analysed Cubit’s pricing and compared this to Media Monitors pricing (as supplied to The PR Report by Sentia Media) to test the veracity of this claim; the results are listed below.

Cubit’s service, dubbed NewsDesk‐Plus, uses proprietary search and delivery technologies to increase the accuracy of the monitoring function, and give clients greater control over their expenditure. Cubit says that the more accurate a search can be, the less off‐brief content is delivered, and the lower the monthly bill. In addition, NewsDesk‐Plus promises to lower the per‐piece costs of print and broadcast media pieces, when compared to its major competitor.

What is also interesting for PRs is Cubit’s “simple offer” – one daily email with all the media mentions listed and where clients only pay if they click and download the content. According to Cubit’s founder and CEO, Warren Weeks: “Our click‐to‐ buy model will save people money”

Weeks suggests the “click to buy” email newsletter service works very well with broad search terms that may turn up hundreds or thousands of results, many of which are repeats or not relevant to the client. “An incorrect, or broad brief, can easily blow the media monitoring budget,” says Weeks, adding “our service avoids bill shock.”

Cubit will also manage newsletters for a client’s internal stakeholders. Cubit expects to sell the service to their existing client base, and to multinational companies with offices in Australia. Weeks believes customers will initially be in global sectors of banking, energy, defence, as well as automotive, FMCG and telecommunications/IT.

“We’re looking forward to bringing a whole new value proposition to the market” says Weeks.

“The barriers to entry here are very substantial. But both Cubit and Moreover strongly believe that widespread benefits will come from providing clients with a real alternative ‐‐ and that makes all the effort worthwhile.”

According to Weeks, the Australian market has been a “near monopoly for many years” and “Economic teaching is that wherever market power is concentrated, you’ll often find higher prices, poorer service levels, and a lack of innovation.”

Weeks says the NewsDesk‐Plus service enables the integration of its analysis products right into the monitoring platform, adding “the current crop if so‐called ‘integrated’ monitoring and analysis offerings, are often little more than a collection of separate products, acquired and bolted together in a pretty haphazard way”‐ “We’ve chosen a more considered approach; we design all our systems to form an integral form part of a client’s solution. Nothing is an afterthought.”

Weeks views the emergence of a fresh competitor in the Australian media monitoring market as being good for publishers.

“Between the collection and distribution of copyright fees, the sharing of revenues with publishers, and driving additional traffic to key news websites, Moreover globally makes a significant contribution to the ongoing prosperity of content creators... after all, without healthy publishers and broadcasters, there can be no monitoring or analysis businesses” said Weeks.

Many PRs would appreciate that today’s media landscape is just so complicated there is an absolute need for media monitoring companies. However, there is also a need for PRs to analyse service quality and pricing. Weeks says Cubit will serve PR agencies as long as the end user understands the pricing model, especially for CAL payments.

NewsDesk‐Plus Pricing

To simplify the comparison against other media monitors, The PR Report has taken three client examples from Cubit’s customer base; we’ve looked at a small, medium and large company. We’ve done this to ensure we’re comparing “apples with apples” as media monitoring companies do not have exactly comparable pricing. However, The PR Report has listed how Cubit compares with the industry’s major player, Media Monitors, and we have used pricing supplied by Media Monitors.

In these examples, The PR Report has used a Cubit subscription fee of $650 pcm; this is based on two users (the first at $500, the second at $150. Cubit says subscription prices for users 2‐20 are at $150). Example below is for a medium sized company. All examples are included in a PDF attachment to the September email.

Cubit was founded in 1995 by Warren Weeks. Clients include organizations like Microsoft, IBM, GlaxoSmithKline, Volkswagen and Boeing, as well as Australian Federal and State Government departments, and instrumentalities.

According to Weeks, the most common uses for analytics are: • To inform strategic planning; often by mapping a client’s complex competitive landscapes to determine the best opportunities for new product or organizational differentiation • Tracking promotional or corporate and investor relations campaigns (message cut‐through to key audiences) • Identifying and tracking key protagonists, their arguments, and messages ‐ with regard to crisis management • Measuring organizational communication success versus competitors – anywhere in the world • Showing the link between communication efforts and business outcomes such as revenue generation, share price activity and even regulatory decision‐making.

Weeks is an alumnus of the Melbourne Business School, a Fellow of the Australian Institute of Management, and a Member of the Australian Institute of Company Directors.

Cubit’s director sales and monitoring is Randal Killip. Killip has worked in the media information industry for over 10 years, working his way from an Account Manager through to the National Sales Manager, at Australia's then second largest media monitoring organisation Rehame. After the Rehame acquisition by Media Monitors, Killip worked as a consultatant with a variety of businesses, charities and political organisations, before joining Cubit in 2009 as Media Research's Director of Sales.

Killip’s experience is reflected in Cubit's range of media monitoring products, and was influential in creating Cubit’s NewsDesk Plus media monitoring product, which Killip says is “a product that will for the first time allows users to access a searchable database in real‐time, across all media, both domestically and globally.”

Randal Killip can be contacted on email randalk@cubitresearch.com

Is media monitoring worth $250m in Australia?

Last month we covered the media monitoring market and the launch of ClickView’s broadcast media monitoring service. In that article, we stated the Australian media monitoring market is worth $250m per year. The figures below were obtained from industry sources as none of the suppliers listed would confirm revenue or market share data.

These figures are for Australian media monitoring in print, broadcast, online and social media (figures in Australian $)

Organisation

Amount Notes/exclusions

Sentia Media revenue: $155 m Includes BuzzNumbers. Excludes revenue paid to copyright owners

Excludes revenue from Sentia NZ & Asia operations

Excludes Sentia marketing budget (eg sponsorships with Crikey etc)

AAP revenue:

$21 m Excludes revenue paid to copyright owners

Other companies:

$19 m Factiva, Radian6, SR7, Alterian, Meltwater, ClickView, Lithium etc

Fees to copyright owners: $18 m Fees paid to Publishers and Broadcasters

Media monitoring services provided by: PR Agencies, in‐house PR: $37 m PR Agencies marginal revenue, agency fees net of costs, excludes license fees paid by PR agency to platform provider In‐house PR: staff and platform (ie when monitoring is not out‐sourced to an agency); excludes license fee paid to platform provider

Consumer PR association launches; PR Council

The Communications Council (TCC) has launched a new division to cater for consumer PR agencies, called the Public Relations Council. The PR Council will compete with the PRIA to attract membership from Australian consumer PR agencies.

The Communications Council is the peak body representing agencies in the marketing communications industry, and representing their interests to the media, to government and the public.

The move has been a long time coming according to TCC CEO Margaret Zabel. The move to create a specific PR association for consumer PR agencies doesn’t bode well for the PRIA, indicating that consumer PR agencies didn’t find the PRIA of value.

TCC has 200 member firms representing 4500 people, and the PRIA has 160 member firms and 3000 individual members.

Consumer PR agencies can be members of both the PR Council and the PRIA.

The PR Report spoke to a number of consumer PR practitioners about their concerns with the PRIA; many stated a lack of specific training, networking and outreach to clients/brands and other associations servicing brands.

The PR Report also understands that Zabel and others kept the formation of the PR Council a closely guarded secret, only discussing the move with the consumer PR agency CEOs involved in the PR Council.

PRIA loses monopoly on PR Practitioners may view the formation of the PR Council as the end of the PRIA’s monopoly on the PR industry in Australia.

Countries with mature PR sectors, such as UK and USA, have numerous PR associations to support the variety of member interests.

The PRIA seem (publically) relaxed about the move, with Jon Bisset, PRIA’s CEO saying: “...their [the PRC] focus will be on consumer PR Firms and while there are obviously overlapping interests between the PRIA and the proposed group it is important to reflect on the fact that members of the PRIA work with a wide range of industries and interests – consumer PR is just one of many. The PRIA represents many excellent consumer PR professionals, and I am sure will continue to do so.”

PRIA member’s interests have often been at odds with each other; for example, the needs of agency owners (as employers) versus needs of staff (employees) on the topic of wages and award rates. In 2010, the Media Entertainment and Arts Alliance (MEAA, a union) took action with AIRC to secure award rates for PR practitioners, with the PRIA campaigning against the move (see FWA ruling AM2010/3), and eventually winning the case.

The MEAA and PRIA submissions can be read here: http://www.airc.gov.au/awardmod/fullbench/modernawards/matters_documents.cfm?number=AM2010/3 The decision (ruling) by FWA is here: http://www.fwa.gov.au/documents/awardmod/decs/2010fwafb3795.htm

A key issue for TCC is the trend for consumer brands to demand integrated PR and marketing campaigns where PR, advertising, experiential (events), activation, social media and digital all sit round the table. Consumer PR agencies see this trend as a huge revenue opportunity as integrated consumer brand marketing campaigns have historically had a much larger budgets than “pure PR” campaigns, and PR wants in on that budget. Often complicating the integration process is the feeling

by PR practitioners that their marketing colleagues lack direct PR experience (as opposed to managing consumer PR agencies).

Zabel suggests that the PRIA’s strength is corporate PR (ie public affairs, crisis comms, corporate comms etc). This perhaps leaves consumer PR agencies feeling their issues aren’t being addressed by the industry’s peak body.

The Communications Council’s core focus is in servicing agencies in the marketing communications sectors, offering members a large variety of professional development services, networking and awards – the move to set up a PR Council would inevitably follow this business model.

The PR Council has 26 founding consumer PR agencies, with the CEOs of 7 agencies forming the leadership committee, led

by Stuart Gregor, MD of Liquid Ideas. Zabel was unable to confirm how many other PR agencies would join the initial 26.

Zabel confirmed that membership of the PR Council is currently only open to consumer PR agencies, not individuals, although she said that may change in the future. The Communications Council’s website states that firms AND individuals can join, suggesting that the PR Council will eventually open up membership to individuals. Individual membership for TCC costs $99 (compared to the PRIA at $350)

Zabel’s background is in‐house marketing, most recently with Lion Nathan, the Japanese owned food and drinks company, and prior to Lion Nathan, she was with Frito‐Lay, a division of PepsiCo that sells chips and other processed snack foods.

The creation of the PR Council creates a key issue for PR agencies: should they pay a membership fee to two PR associations?

Zabel wouldn’t disclose the cost for consumer PR agencies to join the PR Council, although she did confirm membership cost was a sliding scale based on the size of the agency, and was in line with the amount other agencies (eg advertising and media) pay to join TCC. However, Zabel confirmed that consumer PR agencies would be offered a very low joining fee in the first year, perhaps as a consumer marketing tactic to encourage prospective consumer PR agencies to join the PR Council.

Interested consumer PR agencies can quiz Zabel and other committee members at the following information sessions:

Sydney: 19th September Melbourne: 24th September

To attend these sessions, email Linde Wolters on linde@communicationscouncil.org.au

(Note that TCC have banned media from attending these sessions)

Snippets

Fortescue Metals Group, chaired by Andrew “Twiggy” Forrest, retrenched key senior level comms people: Rod Campbell, head of investor relations and Julian Tapp, head of external affairs.

Sentia Media has bought BuzzNumbers, a social media monitoring company

Boxing Clever, run by Anne Wickham, has won the Football Federal Australia (soccer Australia’s peak industry body) PR account. The brief is to raise the profile of women’s soccer in Australia. Boxing Clever wins the account from incumbent PR agency, Frank PR.

Kerry Parkin, currently Global PR & Partnerships Manager, Premium Wine Brands at Pernod Ricard moves to the new role of Global Head of Communications for Premium Wine Brands, Pernod Ricard, starting in October.

Liam Walsh is Facebook’s new Australian chief. Walsh is ex Microsoft and Fairfax.

PRIA NSW awards: http://www.pria.com.au/blog/id/1228

Pulse won award for Malaysian kitchen campaign (although their CEO has now left) http://www.ogilvypr.com.au/news/pulses‐8700‐wins‐pria‐awards

Radio talkback presenter, Alan Jones, said women are “destroying the joint” (as reported in news.com.au) http://www.news.com.au/national/alan‐jones‐women‐are‐destroying‐the‐joint/story‐fndo4eg9‐1226462326339 (Editors note: Mr Jones may be interested in the new “women only city” in Saudi Arabia, Hofuf, built to ensure that men and women in business don’t mix; i.e. gender segregation to ensure compliance with sharia law)

German owned Bauer Media Group set to buy ACP Magazines, the Nine Entertainment owned magazine business, for A$500m.

Cato Purnell Partners wins account to “re‐brand” South Australia.

Media monitoring: Cyberalert offers online media monitoring; CyberAlert monitors all online news in Australia. On the social side, they monitor blogs, message boards & forums, online video sharing sites, Twitter and Facebook, and has a major Australian university as their foundation client. Watch this space. website is www.cyberalert.com.

Government relations: the new series of Rake on ABC TV follows the trials and tribulations of a Sydney lawyer, who has an affair with the Premier of NSW; Rake describes right wing female politicians as being “hotter” than the left wing ones.

There’s some great scenes with various politicians discussing options and media issues for those GR practitioners out there.

Topics covered in our Top 20 PR Trends 2012 report have been prominent in the media recently: 1. CEOs making sure they don’t look greedy, by declining bonuses or having bonuses reduced (Trend #1) 2. China’s economy wobbles and Australians lobbying for Chinese companies (Trend #2) 3. The need to understand social media (Trend #4) 4. For a high res copy of our 2012 Top 20 PR Trends Report, see http://issuu.com/glenfrosttheprreport

Agency news

Burson‐Marsteller Australia wins Stevie Awards

Burson‐Marsteller Australia won a Gold Stevie Award for the Best Community Program and a Silver award in the Creative Marketing category in The 9th Annual International Business Awards.

The Gold award was won for a campaign for the Australian Lung Foundation (ALF) to encourage more Australians to take greater notice of their lung health. B‐M created the Show Us Your Lungs campaign, which included viral marketing and social media activation, as well as a mainstream media campaign with serious health messages about the need for Australians to take their lung health seriously. The project engaged millions of Australians and helped to put lung health on the agenda in the media, through word of mouth and among key decision makers and influencers.

The Silver Stevie was awarded for the integrated PR campaign supporting Beam Australia’s Boonie’s Over Beer?! through‐ the‐line project. The strategic use of beer enthusiast David Boon as the face of the campaign provided Beam with a creative hook for communicating the “Over Beer?” messaging.

B‐M implemented a three‐phase approach, firstly igniting interest with a paparazzi‐style campaign, then increasing credibility with statistics from a national survey and ABS findings supporting the campaign’s key messages, and amplifying these with a national media outreach and targeted interviews.

Nicknamed the Stevies for the Greek word for “crowned,” the awards will be presented to winners at a gala awards banquet at the Ritz‐Carlton Hotel in Seoul, South Korea on 15 October.

Hill+Knowlton launches Air NZ tourism campaign with Laura Bingle

The Hill+Knowlton Strategies team launched Air New Zealand’s fifth instalment of ‘Air New Zealand presents: The Kiwi Sceptics’ to media. Set in Queenstown, the launch featured Lara Bingle, a self‐confessed Kiwi Sceptic, sample the best of Queenstown and its surrounding ski areas. Available to view at kiwisceptics.com, Lara’s episode garnered media attention within the first 24 hours of its launch and has almost 85,000 views on YouTube.

Hill+Knowlton launches Subway’s Training Restaurant campaign

Hill+Knowlton Strategies coordinated a media launch featuring newly recruited ‘famous fans’ Olympic Swimmer James Magnussen, Olympic Hockeroo Casey Eastham and and winter Olympian Torah Bright, for sandwich outlet Subway.

It was a press conference with a twist, as media were invited to join the athletes in a sub‐making competition judged by Australian Champion Subjammer, Ashley Knight. Team James Magnussen, featuring journalists from Cleo and Woman’s Day, were the winners on the day with the greatest quantity and quality of Turkey subs.

Photo: Matt Suleau, Channel 10, Casey Eastham and Martin Henry, Fitness Magazine

Dig launches video stories for King Island Diary

Dig Marketing Group has created ‘The King Island Dairy Story – the island, the people, the dairy’, a short film that interviews the people behind the label.

King Island Dairy, renowned for its desserts and cheese, peels back the packaging for the first time to reveal the personalities behind the dairy and the community that underpins it.

Youtube Channel https://www.youtube.com/user/KingIDairy

UK employee comms firm, Able & How, to set up Sydney office

Able and How specialises in planning and communicating complex change, including strategy roll outs, mergers and acquisitions, operational effectiveness and IT system implementations.

The company has been actively involved in some of the largest global change communication programs in recent years including Rio Tinto, Shell and American Express. For more information www.ableandhow.com

Account wins

Cox Inall wins Fruit Juice Australia and Sanden Pumps

Sydney‐based corporate public relations firm Cox Inall Communications has secured two new clients – peak industry body Fruit Juice Australia (FJA) and Sanden Hot Water Heat Pumps.

For FJA, Cox Inall’s Consumer and Corporate Practice will undertake a three‐ year integrated communication campaign to address consumer perceptions about fruit juice. Cox Inall is working with social media partners Lucre on the education campaign.

For Sanden International, Cox Inall has devised a 12‐month communication program to introduce Sanden Hot Water Heat Pumps to Australian consumers and develop its brand profile. The campaign will include consumer activity and support for Sanden’s dealer network across Australia.

Cox Inall Communications consumer team: Abby, Alyce Sally, Angela and Penny.

Jameson PR wins EROS PR account

Jameson PR has won the PR account for the 2nd annual EROS Shine Awards, which celebrate the achievements of the adult industry.

Supported by the adult industry’s peak lobby Group, EROS Association and put on with the industry’s trade show, S*xpo, the EROS Shine Awards 2012 will showcase the people and businesses of the adult industry, including retailers of adult media and toys, online dating sites, burlesque and pole dancing schools, erotic dance and music performers, gentlemen’s clubs, fetish and fantasy costumes, lingerie, adult party plans and events and online adult retail businesses.

Award categories include, amongst many others: Best Adult Toy Product, Best Lotion or Potion, Best Condom (Brand), Best Australian Adult Retail Website, Best Australian Adult Store Manager, Best Australian Brothel – Metropolitan, Best Australian Brothel – Non‐Metropolitan, Best Australian Escort Agency, Best Australian Sex Educator...

Word‐of‐mouth from the inaugural awards led to interest from the public to attend the Awards, and so this year the general public can purchase tickets as well as participate in the voting process.

Jameson PR were engaged in July and have been working with the organisers on developing their marketing materials as well as the media and industry communications strategy for the event.

Jameson PR CEO, Erin Jameson (photo, right), says “I’m suddenly getting some rather interesting Twitter followers.”

Editors note: we add an asterisk (*) to some words as we know some corporate IT software will block documents containing certain words; so replace the asterisk with an “e” in S*xpo. We don’t judge people’s lifestyle choices; if an agency wins an account, we’ll report that. The PR Report does not cover your business per se, or your client’s services if you’re an agency, we focus on the people in PR.

Agent99 PR wins Australian Geographic shops

Independent agency Agent99 Public Relations has won a pitch for Australian Geographic Retail shop to launch a revolutionary new app and collectable cards game.

Exposure PR wins Bistro One Eleven

Lifestyle consumer PR agency, Exposure PR, has won the account to launch award‐winning top chef Philip Johnson's new restaurant, Bistro One Eleven, in Brisbane's new $700 million commercial building.

Dawn til Dusk Publicity launches Mums & Bubs Big Day Out

Dawn til Dusk Publicity in conjunction with their client The Amazing Baby Company and Victoria Gardens have held the first ever Mums & Bubs Big Day Out.

The day provided an opportunity for the different brands to communicate directly with their consumers on a grass roots level. The Amazing Baby Company (Australian distributor of Babymoov and Baby Jogger) provided both an educational and fun experience for their target market.

Lifestyle guru and, more importantly new mum, Suzie Wilks hosted the event while Briony Goldsmith from Candice Health demonstrated a couple of favourite recipes when making your own baby food that are quick and easy using the Babymoov Bébédelice.

Beyond The Square Communication wins 2 new clients

Beyond The Square Communication has won two new clients to its portfolio ‐ Australia’s most comprehensive consumer review and opinion site, ProductReview.com.au and Singapore’s largest owner‐operator of hotels and serviced residences, Far East Hospitality, which includes Singapore’s first all‐inclusive hotel the Quincy.

Photo:

Top Row: Charmaine Tanti ‐ Account Executive, Eliza Guevara ‐ Account Executive (recently left), Georgia Branch ‐ Account Manager, Melissa Wilson ‐ Senior Account Manager

Bottom row: Sophie Meere ‐ General Manager, Monique Cerreto ‐ Director, Maria Garigliano ‐ Office Manager, Nicole Dickson – Director, Teresa Lane ‐ Senior Account Manager

Client seeks agency

C‐date is looking for its Australian PR agency

“We have currently started a tender process in our search for a new PR company B2C. We are looking for an eclectic, eccentric but serious, long term PR partner who can buy into our company philosophy, understand our ambitions and deliver great PR results on a consistent basis which helps grow our business, raise our profile and reinforce our brand’s positioning.” Email catharina.jaschke@insparx.com if you want your company to be involved in this tender process.

C‐date in brief: Founded in 2008 C‐date an international online dating webiste (www.c‐date.au.com) .With almost 12 Million registered members over 35 countries, C‐date is probably the largest casual dating site in Europe and Brazil. It is certainly one of the best established and most experienced being present on the casual dating market from the beginning of the trend 4 years ago. Casual dating could be defined as having relationships without the ties, but however we define it, one thing is for sure: casual dating is becoming more and more popular.

Max Australia wins 4 new clients

Lexmark and WorkVentures have recently joined Max Australia’s client portfolio, along with client wins from earlier in the year of N‐able Technologies and Navman Wireless. Max Australia has been appointed by all four companies to manage their public relations campaigns across Australia and New Zealand (Australia only for WorkVentures and Navman Wireless).

The client wins are supported by new additions to the team ‐ Petah Brooks, Lauren Mason and Aaron Crowther.

Aaron Crowther joins Max as the new Account Director bringing over a decade of PR and tech experience to the company.

Prior to Max, Crowther was running his own PR consultancy – ASCommunications. Petah Brooks joins Max as an Account Executive working across enterprise and consumer clients and Lauren Mason joins as Account Executive.

Watterson wins four new clients

Watterson Marketing Communications, a Sydney‐based strategic communications consultancy, has strengthened its place in the technology and book publicity space with four new clients. They are: Westcon Group, a leading global IT distributor; Avaya, a global provider of business collaboration and communications solutions; Aptira, a managed service private and public cloud provider; and through WBook, its book communications division, Larissa Behrendt, well‐known public intellectual and author, a NSW Australian of the Year winner and one of only three Australians chosen for Telstra’s nationwide “Clever” Australia campaign.

Write Away wins C.R. Kennedy account

Write Away Communication + Events has been appointed to manage public relations for C.R. Kennedy, the Australian distributor of photographic brands including Pentax, Ricoh and Sigma.

Ongoing work will include strategy development, product launches, media engagement and product review program management to raise awareness of new release cameras, lenses and other photographic equipment through print, broadcast, online and social media.

C.R. Kennedy joins such brands as Uniden, Fuji Xerox Printers, Buffalo and Eye‐Fi within Write Away’s technology practice.

DEC PR wins 5 new accounts

DEC Public Relations (DEC PR) has added five new accounts to its diverse portfolio including Rolls‐Royce Motor Cars, Bay Leather Republic, Merrell, Hanrob Pet Hotels and BIG W.

• Rolls‐Royce Motor Cars engaged DEC PR to launch the Ghost Extended Wheelbase, the sixth new Rolls‐Royce model, in Australia – coinciding with the opening of its brand new, extended showroom in Alexandria, Sydney; • RCG Brands and Merrell Shoes have tasked DEC PR to host a large‐scale stakeholder event celebrating its two‐year milestone in Australia; • Bay Leather Republic has appointed DEC PR on a retained basis, • BIG W appointed DEC PR to launch its Giant Toy Spectacular and new BIG W Shopping App; • Hanrob Pet Hotels engaged DEC PR to launch PetSkype, Australia's first pet Skype service for owners to keep in touch with their furry friends during their stay at the hotel.

DEC PR has hired Kirsty McRae who joins as Client Services Director and Head of Consumer. McRae has more than 10 years industry experience across consumer and corporate PR, and has expertise in global and domestic market initiatives. Her client track record includes P&G, Unilever, Nike, Bacardi, Billabong, Danone, Premier Foods, BMW Mini and Intercontinental Hotel Group. Previously, Kirsty worked at Ketchum in London as Associate Director on global Olympic campaigns for Head&Shoulders, and European campaigns for Ariel.

Keep Left wins Tassal account

Australian salmon producer, Tassal, has appointed Keep Left as its public relations agency in Australia, managing all consumer and trade communications for the brand.

Keep Left will implement an ongoing public relations, publicity and blogger outreach program to promote Tassal salmon as a healthy and versatile protein option as well as highlight Tassal’s sustainability credentials.

In March 2012, Tassal embarked on a sustainability partnership with global conservation organisation WWF to achieve the highest standard for responsibly produced seafood and the business was recently benchmarked as one of the top three salmon companies in the world for their corporate social environmental reporting by SeafoodIntelligence.com (up from 21st place the previous year).

Keep Left CEO Caroline Siler: “Tassal is an impressive company that absolutely walks the talk in its commitment to consumer health, the community and the environment. They have a great story to tell.”

“Having recently toured their farms and facilities in Tasmania, we saw first‐hand their best‐practice approach to production and the commitment of their entire business to sustainability.”

The Tassal account will be led by Keep Left Group Account Director Ben Handberg, who joined the agency in May. He will be supported by Account Manager Natalie Arnull and Account Coordinator Erin Roy.

Photo: Tassal’s Marine Pens at Kettering, Tasmania

Bite secures Vodafone b2b account

Bite Communications (as part of the Next Fifteen group – holding company of Text, Bite and several other PR and research brands) , will handle the Vodafone enterprise remit in Australia as Text 100, who won the work in the UK, already has a long standing relationship with Optus here.

P4 Group wins 2012 Kellogg’s Nutri‐Grain IronMan & IronWoman Series

The Kellogg’s Nutri‐Grain IronMan Series and IronWoman Series is a major event on the Surf Life Saving calendar. The series has been running for almost 30 years; P4 Group will manage the marketing, media, publicity and events for this year’s series.

Photo: From left to right

Rear row – Troy Turner, Donna McDowall, Adrian Basile, Tracy Stephenson, Miranda Grace

Front row – Carly Cadogan, Amity Harrold, Sarah McCreesh, Julie Byth, Natalie Blake, Scott Cobine

Taurus Marketing wins three new clients

Sydney based agency Taurus Marketing has signed three new clients ‐ Academic UTS pathway provider UTS:Insearch, document solutions company Kyocera Document Solutions and a not for profit The Sydney Adventist Hospital.

Maxted Thomas PR wins new accounts

Following a competitive pitch, Maxted Thomas PR has won the PR accounts for Salon Melbourne in April 2013 and Sydney International Spa and Beauty Expo in August 2013.

Having managed PR for Hair Expo, the largest hairdressing event in the southern hemisphere, for the past 9 years, this means they will now look after PR for Reed Exhibitions’ entire hair and beauty portfolio.

Campaigns

ACCC film a PR hit

ACCC launches anti‐cartels short film ‘The Marker’ and achieves huge media coverage.

Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC), the corporate watchdog, launched the next part of an integrated strategy to prevent cartel involvement – releasing The Marker, a short film that shows the devastating effects involvement in a cartel can have on individuals and businesses. The film got a great run in the Australian media, especially in key business publication The Australian Financial Review; party due to great production quality, but also the story very eerily real.

“The ACCC’s approach to stamping out cartels is to partner education with enforcement,” said ACCC Commissioner Rod Sims, adding, “The Marker shows how cartel activity can ruin relationships, careers, reputations and long term financial security, and may ultimately land guilty parties in jail.”

The film follows the challenges faced by “Martin” (above), an employee of a mythical company called “Cartwall”, and the collusion and price fixing he engages in, to win tenders. In the real world, the ACCC’s highest profile case of prosecuting a cartel was the price collusion between packaging companies VISY and Amcor, which also resulted in a successful class action against both companies, and a criminal case against VISY founder Richard Pratt (which was dropped before Pratt died in 2009). Pratt also handed back his Australian honours, an AC and an AO.

The film is supported by a Video News Release featuring Rod Sims, Qantas CEO Alan Joyce and University of Melbourne Associate Professor Caron Beaton‐Wells. Joyce highlights the destruction cartels cause to business and employees, speaking directly to Qantas’ involvement in an international air cargo cartel (before his time as Qantas CEO of course).

You can see The Marker (16 minutes) here www.accc.gov.au/cartels

Handy tips: a key message in the film is to avoid men with open neck shirts and lots of gold jewelry, which will no doubt impact many businesspeople on the Gold Coast. Other top tips are that bad guys drive black Audi cars (no doubt after watching the Transporter films), and Melbourne has some awesome bars and cafes where people meet to do business... but you knew all that.

Immigration launches multi‐language campaign targeting asylum seekers and their families

The “No advantage” strategy was researched, created and executed entirely in‐house at The Department of Immigration & Citizenship (DIAC). DIAC used translators to translate and to voice the adverts, however most of the translators were in‐house Immigration staff [Editors note: full marks for efficiency to DIAC]

DIAC are running the campaign adverts in (what is referred to in Australia as) “ethnic media” throughout September and October this year. The advertising is targeted at the diaspora communities in Australia.

Any overseas advertising will be managed and placed by Customs (a different Government department), which has responsibility, and funding, from the Federal Government for the offshore elements.

All the videos, posters and adverts are listed on the DIAC website in every language.

Editor’s comment: it is interesting to see DIAC use three, clear, simple messages to support the headline message in their communication. Why can’t all Government Departments use a similar “1 key message, 3 supporting points” strategy for their communication on complex issues?

Check out: http://www.immi.gov.au/managing‐australias‐borders/border‐security/irregular‐entry/no‐people‐smuggling/

Red Agency launches Foodbank's 'End Hunger Report' at Parliament House

Red Agency came up with the creative concept, which included the 'Hidden Faces of Hunger Gallery', a collection of 20 A0 boards on easels set up outside Parliament House displaying the faces of real people who receive help from Foodbank charities, as well as some facts from the report.

Red Agency appointed and accompanied a photographer to take the photos at various charities that receive Foodbank assistance, then went on to select the images for the Gallery and have them professionally printed.

Red Agency also managed all of the media relations for the launch of the report, which included the organisation of a press conference in the Mural Hall of Parliament House.

Res Publica manages Priceline tour

ResPublica has managed a mobile event launch for Priceline in Victoria. The hub was debuted as part of Priceline’s sponsorship of ACP’s 30 Days of Fashion & Beauty. Catriona Rowntree, Priceline’s Spokesperson for 30 Days, attended the launch along with API and Priceline CEO, Stephen Roche.

The hub will act as a mobile pamper parlour during 30 Days but will be converted to health check hub. The hub is a converted trailer, dubbed ‘Pinky’ – that was developed by Res Publica Public Relations in partnership with activation consultancy, Thirdeye Australia. Res Publica is also responsible for the event activations, overseeing the event management and staffing when Pinky is on tour.

During September, Pinky will act as ‘The Sister Clubhouse’ where women will be treated to free mini makeovers, gift bags and beauty demonstrations hosted by beauty editors from magazines such as Cosmopolitan, madison, The Australian Woman’s Weekly and CLEO.

Res Publica consultants, Nicole Leftwick and Alicia Ford with the Priceline trailer.

PN helps ACT tourism with social media campaign: The Human Brochure

Australian Capital Tourism has launched ‘The Human Brochure’ – a campaign aimed at increasing visitation to the Nation’s capital by getting social‐media savvy Aussies to share their experience of Canberra via social media. The vast amount of content produced (stories, photos, videos) will literally form the world’s first Human Brochure.

This innovative and unique campaign is a government first , not only for Australian Capital Tourism but all Australian Tourism bodies.

• The Human Brochure campaign is aimed at promoting Canberra as a short break destination by building a community of advocates for Canberra and increasing the volume of sentiment and social chat about it as a destination.

• It provides an interesting and unique channel to challenge perceptions and change the way Australians traditionally think about the ACT; rather than telling Australians what to think, we’re letting them decide for themselves.

• The idea behind it is a simple one based on the best marketing tool in the business – word of mouth from a trusted source. This is particularly relevant for travel, with research proving people seek peer recommendations when booking travel and that bragability is key, particularly on social media.

HOW IT WORKS:

• Participants will be selected from all over Australia to travel to Canberra for the weekend – the first group in October 2012, and the second group in February 2013.

• The initial entry phase of the campaign will run until Friday 21 September 2012, with people driven to enter campaign via 500humans.com.au, as well as a facebook and mobile app. Winners will be announced on Monday 1 October.

• In return for their weekend, participants will share their experiences with family, friends, networks and peers using their own words, pictures and videos on social media such as Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest and Instagram.

WHO’S BEHIND THE CAMPAIGN:

The Human Brochure was developed in collaboration with Australian Capital Tourism’s media agency Maxus and associated agency, The Works Sydney. Porter Novelli Sydney are involved in the national PR campaign.

Porter Novelli is executing all PR for the campaign, working with the PR and Media team at Australian Capital Tourism. There are a number of different social elements of the campaign – we’re working with TheWorks Sydney, who are building the platform prior the two weekends happening, which we’ll then leverage and provide communications counsel.

CPR campaigns for #ProtectTheAstor

A social media campaign by issues management firm Communications & Public Relations (CPR) produced a dramatic outcome for the endangered Melbourne art deco cinema The Astor.

The building’s owner, St Michael’s Grammar, planned to close the public cinema from 2015 to create a performing arts centre for students. Community coalition Friends of the Astor engaged CPR to galvanise opposition to the proposal and, in an unexpectedly turn, the building was sold to art‐house cinema entrepreneur Ralph Taranto.

CPR Chief Executive Jayne Dullard said the issue was a sensitive one in inner‐Melbourne and that accepting the brief meant the firm had to tread carefully around stakeholders’ competing ambitions.

“Our digital media strategist Jack Herbert and the team put together a high‐impact, fast turnaround campaign that was planned down to the smallest detail before the first tweet went out,” she said.

Campaign facts:

1. 10,500‐plus petition signatures in 5 days (one of change.org’s fastest Australian petitions) 2. Finished with 13,702 signatures 3. 217 per cent increase in Facebook likes 4. 97 Twitter mentions and 209 retweets in three days 5. Significant mainstream media coverage (national daily newspapers, ABC and commercial radio, online and magazines)

Grand Brands anti‐homophobia PR campaign wins award

Brand communication agency Grand Brands was recognised for its public relations work on the anti‐homophobia campaign Embrace Acceptance by the Public Relations Institute of Australia at its Queensland State Awards for Excellence.

The Brisbane‐based agency took out the award in the Low Cost / Pro Bono category.

The goal of the Embrace Acceptance campaign was to create attitudinal change among the Australian community to accept (not just tolerate) same sex relationships, by putting the issue on the agenda and encouraging the sharing of stories.

The day it launched, Embrace Acceptance was the second highest trending topic on Twitter in Sydney. The Facebook page was in the top seven in Australia the week it launched.

Waterhouse hosts social (media) lunch for @JuliaGillard

Prime Minister Julia Gillard attended a tweetup at Rockpool Restaurant in Sydney organised and hosted by Tom Waterhouse, the online bookmaker.

PM Gillard, whose official Twitter account has more than 250,000 followers and who signs off her personal tweets JG, and her Director of Communications, John McTernan, attended the Twitter‐organised luncheon.

In attendance were three Australians with more than 100,000 Twitter followers – Wallabies back James O’Connor, video blogger Natalie Tran and media personality Ruby Rose.

Also there were web entrepreneur William Chen, Hollywood actor Lincoln Lewis, Jesinta Campbell, TV presenter Lauren Phillips and many famous names from sport, including Olympic gold medallists Matthew Mitcham and Stephanie Rice, world surfing champion Stephanie Gilmore, Wallabies winger Drew Mitchell and NRL superstars Robbie Farah and Jarryd Hayne.

Appointments

SenateSHJ makes Healthcare and Corporate appointments

SenateSHJ has added four new team members to its Healthcare and Corporate practices in Sydney. Associate Partners James Walker (Corporate) and Claire Pope (Healthcare) join the SenateSHJ Sydney team, while Becky Roberts and Geri Wright join as Consultants.

ABF appoints Gray

The Australian Baseball Federation has decided to raise its profile and give the sport a bigger voice across the nation, appointing Yasmine Gray, Director of top Brisbane public relations and marketing firm Gray Media Services, as Director of Marketing and Communications, with the aim of making the sport of baseball a favourite with families throughout Australia.

CPR appoints Sevim

National public affairs and issues management firm Communications & Public Relations (CPR) has appointed former Head of Partnerships at the Australia‐Israel Chamber of Commerce, Nathalie Sevim, to its Sydney office.

“The ability to expose clients to new networks is an invaluable tool in the public relations and lobbying sector, and look forward to utilising my skills,” Sevim said.

Hill + Knowlton hires McClusky for food and nutrition

Hill+Knowlton Strategies has hired Emily McCluskey as Nutrition Communications Manager.

McClusky has over five years’ experience in nutrition and health promotion, as well as health journalism and digital communications expertise. McClusky will work alongside consumer lifestyle and other specialist public relations consultants to provide a unique offering to organisations in the food and nutrition sector. Prior to joining H+K, McClusky held the position of Communications Officer at NSW Health where she helped introduce social media into the health system, as well as building and managing health websites, writing policies, copy writing, editing, event management and writing social marketing campaigns.

Evergreen hires Ross for PR role

Melbourne agency Evergreen Advertising and Marketing, specialists in communicating to the 50+ audience, have boosted their services by recruiting Dina Ross as Public Relations Director.

Dina is a PR specialist, editor, journalist, author and broadcaster, and has worked in London, New York and Australia. Her book ‘Surviving the Media Jungle’, one of the UK’s best‐selling PR guides, examines how public relations works best when part of an integrated communications offering.

Evergreen offers in‐house PRs free briefing on reaching 50+ market

The first 20 in‐house PROs to contact Evergreen will be offered a free briefing on: “MEDIA SECRETS: HOW TO COMMUNICATE TO THE 50 + AUDIENCE”.

Based on the latest Roy Morgan research data, the briefing will ensure PR practitioners reach this influential target audience through the right channels, with the right message.

Contact Gill Walker on tel: direct (03)‐9413‐9913 or email gill@evergreenam.com.au

Weber Shandwick appoints Smith as VP Digital in Asia Pac

Weber Shandwick has promoted Jye Smith to vice president, digital, Asia Pacific. Smith’s role brings him from Sydney to Hong Kong, as he joins the firm’s Centre of Digital Excellence. He reports to Jon Wade, head of digital, Asia Pacific.

Smith comes to the role after leading Weber Shandwick’s digital strategy and social media engagement for major brands across a wide range of industries in Australia.

Ozsale hires blogger Kathy Sheeran as spokesperson

Online retail website Ozsale.com.au has hired blogger Kathy Sheeran as their Online Shopping Expert for the brand. Kathy will work with the Australian retailer to provide consumers with tips on how to get the most out of their online shopping experience and how to bag a bargain.

Sheeran currently has her own column and blog on the topic in a leading Sunday newspaper, plus she has also published a book titled ‘Shopping Confessions’.

The appointment raises the issue of brands sponsoring bloggers/writers/journalists. Does a sponsorship like this blur the line between independent journalism and PR?

How will Kathy manage the potential conflict of interest of being both a paid spokesperson and a paid blogger, writer and journalist on the same sector?

According to Kathy: “I have been a devoted long‐time member of OZSALE who are a ‘flash sale website’. As an online shopping expert, I report my personal experiences and recommendations on my favourite sites. In the case of ‘Flash sale website’ I am happy to endorse OZSALE as they are my favourite flash sale website. Contractually, I am under no obligation to recommend/mention OZSALE in any of my column/media unless I feel it is appropriate and relevant to a ‘Flash sales’ website based article/recommendation.”

Sheeran is managed by talent management agency, Chic Celebrity Management.

Google and Oracle ordered to name bloggers they pay

The recent Google vs Oracle lawsuit threw up a few journalistic surprises, especially when the Judge ordered parties to supply a list of the organisations, journalists and bloggers that they pay.

See the commentary and list here (and link below) http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2409070,00.asp

http://www.gizmodo.com.au/2012/08/the‐list‐of‐googles‐paid‐bloggers‐is‐way‐less‐fun‐than‐we‐wanted‐it‐to‐be/

Articles

VIVA! infographic communicates obesity issue

GLOBALHealthPR, with their exclusive Australian partner, VIVA! Communications, have released an infographic revealing the shortcomings of the childhood obesity conversation online, despite its global health impact. (The inforgraphic is attached to the September issue email)

Through a social media listening program, GLOBALHealthPR digital strategists world‐wide uncovered that while obesity rates of many nations are quite comparable, the bulk of conversation on childhood obesity still occurs in the USA. According to Kirsten Bruce, Principal of VIVA! Communications, the social media initiative provides healthcare providers, communicators, industry and public health advocates the opportunity to shift dialogue in the online space via targeted disease awareness and education campaigns.

“The listening program revealed that while one‐in‐10 children world‐wide is obese, there were only 15,189 global online conversations on the topic in one month – equating to one per 23,440 obese children,” said Bruce.

Media news

NRMA expands publishing business; launches daily news website

Maverick PR provides event marketing and media relations for the launch of NRMA’s online lifestyle news website, called Live4 at www.live4.com.au

The NRMA is the publisher of Open Road, a print magazine with monthly sales of around 1 million (free to NRMA members).

Member owned motoring services provider NRMA has launched live4.com.au, a new lifestyle news website that aims to provide the under‐40 demographic with daily content.

Live4.com.au has a range of content, celebrity blogs, features and interviews covering six channels ‐ sport, travel, entertainment, technology, lifestyle and car reviews.

The news website has 6 featured blogs including those by Charlie Brown, the technology editor for breakfast program the Today Show; Tom Williams, the host of the Seven Network's Great Outdoors program; Tim Ross, currently a contributor to Men’s Style Australia, Rolling Stone and writes a monthly column ‐ Rosso’s Sydney ‐ for The (Sydney) Magazine, plus breakfast radio at Sydney's Mix 106.5; Zoe Foster, author of three novels, contributing editor at Mamamia, and the dating columnist for Cosmopolitan magazine.

The non‐journalist bloggers include racing car driver, Mark Winterbottom, who has signed on for Ford’s factory‐supported V8 Supercar team, Ford Performance Racing (FPR) since 2006; and cricketer Stuart MacGill.

The NRMA Live4 website also sells products, as well as activities. The content and the site have been developed in conjunction with King Content. The website is run on a platform created by Community Engine. Community Engine offers customers a hosted website platform with templates offering news, information, products and services.

B&T appoints Hayes as new editor

Reed Business Information is promoting B&T news editor Alex Hayes to the role of editor of the marketing, advertising and media title

Current Editor, Tim Addington, who has been editor for four years, is leaving next month to become communications director at advertising agency The Works. As regards the editorial direction Hayes says: "B&T is the longest‐established media publication in Australia and I'm honoured to be asked to lead this market leading title at this exciting time in the media market. We will continue to build on our reputation for informative, cutting edge and entertaining content, and to stimulate conversation in the industry both online with our daily newsletters and in the magazine."

Ninemsn celebrates 15 years

The Joint Venture agreement was signed by Bill Gates and Kerry Packer in June 1997, and the first test homepage went live in September 1997. The idea was simple; take Australia's commercial TV network, Channel Nine, and PBL's Australian Consolidated Press (ACP), the biggest publisher of magazines in the country. Put them together with the software expertise of Microsoft. Put the whole thing onto the Internet, to provide popular content underpinned by top‐ranking software and transaction capabilities, to make the content easy to use.

Neil Breen has resigned as editor of The Sunday Telegraph. Breen was Editor for six‐and‐a‐half years and more than 20 years with News Ltd.

Former journalist with The Age Simon Mann get the Editor’s job at The Citizen; an online publication funded by The University of Melbourne

How journalists view PR

Project PR founder, Alicia Hall, was previously a reporter with Seven News; she made the move to PR; in this blog post she talks about the highs and lows of life in media relations. http://www.melbournepressclub.com/news/shedding‐light‐dark‐side_29_08_2012

Lowy Institute gets $4m from Govt for G20 Studies Centre

Lowy Institute for International Policy, gets a a $4M funding grant from the Treasury for the establishment of a G20 Studies Centre at the Lowy Institute.

The new Centre will analyse the changing landscape for global economic governance and the G20's role in the international economy. It will complement the existing International Economy program at the Lowy Institute. In addition to publishing original research papers on G20‐related issues, the program will produce a 'G20 monitor', develop pre‐ and post‐ summit analysis of major G20 meetings, build a domestic and international network of G20 researchers, and host a series of major international meetings and conferences.

Events & Awards

VIVA! Communications co‐hosts 2012 Digital Pharma Seminar

In recognition of the rapidly expanding role of digital and social media in health and wellness PR and marketing, VIVA! Communications teamed with Princeton Digital to host the inaugural 2012 Digital Pharma Seminar in Sydney on Wednesday, August 8, 2012 and in Melbourne on Thursday, August 16.

Attracting delegates from diverse health and pharmaceutical backgrounds, the one‐day, innovative and dynamic seminar presented a unique opportunity for industry marketers and communicators to cultivate their digital skills and walk away with the building blocks to coordinating a successful digital pharma campaign.

Callidus PR wins PRIA NSW Public Affairs award

Callidus PR won for their campaign with Chartered Secretaries Australia (CSA) in campaigning to restore shareholder’s rights to vote on executive remuneration. This campaign actually changed legislation and is an incredible example of how a PR campaign can make a material difference.

Espresso Communications moves growing team to new office

Boutique communications consultancy, Espresso Communications, has launched its new offices in Ultimo ‐ throwing open its ‘wool store’ doors to clients and media alike.

Previously based in Cremorne, Espresso’s Managing Director Corrie McLeod made the decision to move the team into a large office space in Ultimo, with space for 20 consultants and featuring the Espresso Café. The Espresso Café will also function as a product review lab ‐ a high‐tech space that is readily available for clients to host media events and demo new products.

According to Corrie McLeod: “We are now four times the size that we were two years ago and we needed a larger space that would accommodate our growing communications team, and provide an energetic, collaborative space where we can host events and training sessions.”

Prior to setting up her own agency, McLeod was a senior consultant at Howorth, an Ogilvy agency specialising in tech PR.

Espresso’s launch party used the theme of the Seven Deadly Sins and saw over 100 guests revel in the delights of lust, gluttony and their five sinful friends.

Espresso employees: Left to right Laura Fireman and ReAnn Daniel‐Taylor

RMIT PR students event offers industry insights

The RMIT PR Society’s Industry Secrets event attracted 100+ students mixing with senior practitioners in the communications industry.

Guest speaker Peter Kent, Managing Director at Porter Novelli Melbourne, spoke about the importance of language, listening and curiosity, giving students valuable insight into life beyond university.

Retail PR ramps up for spring

WINK Management, an Australian agency for models & promotional talent, has seen business boom in the past couple of months as retail PRs ramp up the events and marketing spend. WINK provides leading models and promotional talent for advertising campaigns, experiential marketing, PR/Media stunts, and product launches.

Founded by Taryn Williams, WINK models specialise in on‐set shooting for commercials or working the catwalks. The past month has seen WINK work on national and international campaigns for Qantas, David Jones and Tourism Australia, Sydney International Spa & Beauty Expo, Coles Mix Fashion launch, Spring Racing cocktail event, Aveda Catwalk, Audi Charity Fashion Parade, Miss World 2012, Westfield Miranda Catwalk show, Hair Expo, and Salon Melbourne 2012.

Williams will expand her business with imminent plans for the launch of WINK Make‐Up, a one‐stop shop for sourcing the best hair & make‐up artists.

PRIA run social media event

While social media networking sites are an exciting way for businesses to connect with their customers, hashtags are also swiftly turning into ‘bashtags’, and it is becoming more and more possible to say or post the wrong thing and end up in court.

To help businesses and communication staff identify and avoid the legal pitfalls of social media, the Public Relations Institute of Australia (PRIA) seminar at Bond University featured Professor Mark Pearson, Professor of Journalism at Bond University and author of the highly acclaimed book ‘Blogging and Tweeting Without Getting Sued’ and Associate Professor of Public Relations, Dr Jane Johnston, who have both seen many spectacular failures in social media recently, and believe it is crucial for everyone involved to better understand this ever‐ growing medium.

Voiceless announces animal rights prize

Professor Clive Phillips of University of Queensland last night won the $10,000 Voiceless Eureka Prize for Scientific Research that Contributes to Animal Protection as part of the Australian Museum Eureka Prizes.

Sponsored by Voiceless, the animal protection institute, the prize was awarded to Professor Phillips for his body of scientific research in animal protection. His work has identified welfare problems in live export ships, in zoo enclosures for captive wild animals and in cat shelters.

Job of the Month

Senior Account Director (Consumer) – MELBOURNE $$ Negotiable • • •

Major Australian Brands Stable and growing business Brilliant culture

Our client, a highly regarded locally based consultancy is rapidly growing its presence and brand in the Melbourne market on the back of some outstanding execution for its impressive portfolio of high profile, major brand clients. With ongoing growth the consultancy requires a gun Senior AD to further support its impressive consumer practice offer.

You will bring insights and proven experience working with leading brands, where particular expertise or experience in the general lifestyle space, and an interest in arts, sports and social responsibility would be beneficial. You should have natural creative flair and proven ability to lead and execute highly successful campaigns on behalf of your clients.

You should have well developed relationship management skills, and have an established and trusted network of influential local market contacts and have significant experience in managing a diverse client portfolio of high profile brands. You have proven ability to communicate at all levels, a sharp strategic mindset, sound social media and digital expertise, and clearly demonstrable track record of first class results.

You are a team player and desire to work in a cohesive, friendly, down to earth and supportive culture.

The successful candidate should have at least 7 years experience, ideally within a PR agency environment.

Continued growth means that this role must be filled quickly.

For more information regarding this role contact:

Jeremy Wrench at Capstone Hill Search, Sydney on (02) 8249 4636 or email: jobs@capstonehillsearch.com

To learn more about similar roles or about Capstone Hill Search go to: W: www.capstonehillsearch.com Twitter: @prjobsaust

Capstone Hill Search (CHS) provides specialist permanent recruitment services to the Public Relations, Corporate Affairs and Marketing Communications industry. CHS is led by Jeremy Wrench, MPRIA, and guided by his 16 years of experience in international PR consulting and senior management. With offices in Sydney, Melbourne and London CHS, takes a truly international approach. Below is a few of the roles we have currently available:

Account Manager Consumer x 3!! SYDNEY, $Negotiable

SYDNEY ROLES: We currently have three consumer AM roles available, each with very well known Sydney agencies. Each role represents a chance to set up if you are a high performing SAE/Junior AM, and would deliver you an opportunity to work with (in each case) major household brands. You must have strong writing and media relations skills and the ability to think on your feet and a hunger for success.

Senior Account Manager, Consumer (Sports focused), SYDNEY, $75k‐$85k If you love major sporting events, and have always dreamed of working with some of the highest profile sports organisations in the country, this role is for you. This brilliant local, independent consultancy with an enviable client list and equally impressive track record for results is looking for an insightful, mature and level headed SAM to join their growing business. Proven experience in managing and/or leading major clients, down to earth attitude and natural relationships skills required.

Senior Account Manager, Corporate Affairs, SYDNEY, $80‐$95k This very highly regarded, strategic and boutique Sydney consultancy is looking to appoint a senior practitioner further strengthen its offer in the corporate comms/issues management space. You will have a proven track record of proving senior counsel and insights at the highest level and sound ability to strategically navigate difficult and challenging issues.

Senior Account Manager, Corporate & Financial Services, SYDNEY, $85‐$95k Outstanding opportunity to join one of the world’s most recognised and trusted consultancies. Strengthening an already impressive corporate offer you will support a diverse, exciting and high profile client portfolio with the backing of a highly supportive team.

Account Director (Consumer), SYDNEY, $110k ‐ $120+ This rapidly growing, envied and very successful independent Sydney agency requires a highly experienced and capable consumer Account Director to support and harness ongoing growth and manage an outstanding team and mouth watering client list. You should have considerable consumer/lifestyle agency experience and 8+ years overall experience as a minimum.

Account Manager, (Consumer), MELBOURNE, $50k‐$60k+

MELBOURNE ROLES An exciting and challenging AM role in a local consultancy with national presence. Ideal for a gun SAE, this is a genuine opportunity to transition set up into a true AM role if you have proven client management experience. You should have proven experience in consultancy, and be looking for a clear path to leadership, local market experience and contacts required.

Senior Account Director (Consumer/Lifestyle), MELBOURNE, $110k ‐ $120+ This fast growing, and very successful independent local agency requires a highly experienced and capable consumer/lifestyle Senior Account Director to support a fabulous young team and help drive further growth. If successful you will lead a stable and very high profile client portfolio, and enjoy supporting, updating and leveraging existing highly successful and creative programs. You should have considerable consumer/lifestyle agency experience with the balance of which being from within consultancy.

Group Account Director, Consumer, MELBOURNE, $130k Negotiable Package A rare and exciting opportunity to lead this high performing independent consumer practice. Leading a stable, happy and supportive team you will bring significant consultancy experience and solid local market networks to help drive the next stage of growth for this very highly respected agency. Charged with leading a portfolio of very high profile brands you will have proven ability to create and execute world class campaigns and deliver genuine creative flair. You pride yourself on your team management and relationship skills.

Global Account Director, Digital, LONDON, £40,000 – £50,000

LONDON ROLES This is a once‐in‐a‐lifetime role, to join an incredible agency that has been responsible for some of the most high profile global communications campaigns this decade. The company whilst small, packs an international punch and has the most enviable client list you can imagine. Spanning international pop stars, multinational consumer facing corporates and the most worthy not‐for‐profits.

Lead Account Director, Financial Services, LONDON, £35,000 – £45,000 You are looking for a position and agency that will unleash your potential. You want to work in an environment where only the best is accepted and where big brands and cutting edge PR campaigns are the norm.If you want to be at the heart of a cutting edge, Financial Services focused agency, working with household names renowned for excellence, this is for you. This Consultancy is both established and pioneering. The dynamic communications team has won awards for its inventive approach to PR .

Enquiries and applications should be directed to: E: jobs@capstonehillsearch.com T: Melbourne: +61 (0) 3 9827 7277 / Sydney +61 (0) 2 8249 4636 / London: +44 0207 887 6526 Twitter: @prjobsaust

Associate Director, Corporate and Financial Services  Great opportunity to join a fast growing IR and corporate comms team  Work on complex projects for listed companies  Manage a few direct report and lead client projects  Thrive in quite a corporate culture

Ike Levick 0405 218 626 ilevick@saltshein.com.au

“I was impressed with the help I received from Salt & Shein. I felt positive that my best interests were at heart … I had someone friendly to advise me through the daunting process of job hunting … and secured an ideal job through them …”

“Their service is honest, fast, and on-brief every time ...

They know our company culture well and take the time to fully understand our requirements … Plus, they’re just straight up nice people to work with.”

Senior Account Manager, Corporate and Professional Services - CONTRACT  2 – 6 month contract, with view to perm  Work on mostly professional services clients  Use your excellent writing skills to develop thought leadership pieces  Develop your career Mining & Resources - Corporate Communications Specialist  A senior role designed for someone with sector expertise  Must be able to run accounts and help win new business  You’ll be experienced in communicating company news and performance in order to enhance reputations  An understanding of key business terms in the coal or gold sectors – and related technical terms – is ideal Senior Account Director – Consumer  Join the senior management team of this seriously impressive independent  Work on a range of leading consumer brands  Hone your team, budget and client management skills  Develop your career Account manager, Financial Services  Great chance to join a leading FS boutique  Work within a well-respected team  Work across corporate, financial services and wealth mgt clients  Local market knowledge and agency background essential All levels, Healthcare - LONDON  Want to move to London and develop your healthcare PR consulting career?  This leading global PR agency is seeking Australian healthcare talent  Contact me to find out more …

AE, AM, SAM, Consumer  Do you love media and understand it and its changing landscape?  Join a lovely consumer PR agency and work inhouse for some or most of your time  Must have really strong consumer news media contacts  A love and understanding of social media is also ideal.

Level 3, 20 Bond Street, Sydney www.saltshein.com.au

Calling senior corporate communications/ Public Affairs experts!!  Do you have 10+ years’ experience?  Have you recently worked in government?  Do you have a background in corporate comms?  Are you up for a career-changing challenge?  Please contact me to find out more!

Head of PR – Integrated/Brand $150K incl.

• Exceptional opportunity for senior PR/comms expert to join premium integrated advertising agency to head up PR offering

• Work with standout practitioners across creative, strategy and digital • Must have proven integrated experience and understanding and be able to hold your own on digital comms and experiential

Group Account Director/SAD – Retail/Alcohol/Lifestyle $120K - 150K incl.

• We have a number of positions at the senior end for strong consultants at GAD/SAD level • These roles are in leading agencies and provide the chance to work on iconic brands • They are Sydney based • Ideally the successful applicants will have blue chip agency experience behind them or a mix of agency and client-side

• Must be social media savvy and have a proven track record of managing large brands and leading teams

Account Director – Consumer Tech/Telco $100K incl.

• Sensational position at award winning agency – newly created to support new business wins • Enjoy the unique culture of this non-hierarchical agency with an emphasis on work/life balance • You must be a top tier consultant with approx 6 years relevant experience working on compatible brands.

Part-time Account Director – Healthcare $100K incl. (pro-rated) • Our client is seeking a 3 day a week Account Director to bring their healthcare expertise into a successful boutique healthcare agency

• Lovely culture and working conditions with reasonable hours and great clients Marketing Communications Specialist (Sydney) – Healthcare $85K incl.

• Leading healthcare company is looking for a Marketing Communications Specialist to join the team

• You will be a mid-level communications professional, potentially coming from an agency background

• You will be very detail orientated, happy to hit the ground running and deal with multiple stakeholders

• You will be a confident articulate individual with a professional nature Senior Account Manager (Melbourne) – Consumer/Retail $70K incl.

• Global agency looking for a senior team member to work on consumer and retail clients • You will be a highly energized and enthusiastic individual, who is brimming with creativity • You will be in charge of the day to day running of clients, whilst also providing strategic counsel to more junior team members

• Ideally you will have at least five years agency experience, a huge amount of media knowledge and a solid grounding in social media

Account Manager (Sydney) – Retail/Consumer/Fashion

$70K incl.

• Opportunity to join a thriving large agency working predominately on one large brand • You must be happy to juggle various projects and deal with media on a daily basis • Ideally you will come from an agency background, with at least two years’ experience • You will be confident in your own work that you are happy to work quite autonomously

Senior Account Executive (Sydney) – Consumer $60K incl.

• Fast growing agency both in reputation and staff numbers is looking for a SAE • You will be a passionate and enthusiastic individual looking for your next step in your PR career • This agency prides itself on staff retention and culture • Feel free to apply if you have only 12 months PR agency experience

Our business is TALENT PLACEMENT Our recruitment MODEL is unique We are COMMUNICATION specialists TALENT PLACEMENT PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT

CAREER COACHING

RESUME REVIEW MEDIA TRAINING CRISIS COMMUNICATIONS www.briggscommunications.com.au

Talent | Training | Crisis Suite 5, Level 10, 118 Queen Street, Melbourne, VIC 3000 T: 03 9602 4310: W: briggscommunications.com.au

GLOBAL PR MANAGER, PREMIUM WINE BRANDS COME WORK FOR THE WORLD’S MOST FAMOUS WINE BRANDS Exciting global opportunity based in Sydney

• • •

Leading FMCG, World’s Co‐leader in the Wine and Spirits Industry North Ryde location, On‐site parking available / close to public transport Great Team and Culture with excellent career progression opportunities

Introducing a fantastic opportunity to demonstrate your energy, passion and PR expertise for some of the world’s most notable wine brands.

Premium Wine Brands is part of the Global Pernod Ricard Group – the World’s Co‐leader in the Wine and Spirits Industry with an unrivalled collection of iconic brands, including Absolut® Vodka, Chivas Regal®, Jameson®, Jacobs Creek® and more. Premium Wine Brands, the wine division of Pernod Ricard, is looking to appoint a new Global PR Manager. Reporting to the Head of Communications this role is responsible for the global consumer and wine trade PR for the premium wine portfolio including household names such as Jacob’s Creek, Wyndham Estate, Brancott Estate, Stoneleigh, Campo Viejo and Graffigna.

Working closely with the global brand marketing teams you will develop and execute key PR strategies, communicating to a wide audience including wine media, consumer media, bloggers and more. No day will ever be the same as you work across multiple brands, endorser activities, sponsorships and events ‐ globally.

The perfect candidate can herald from either an in‐house or agency background, circa 8 years plus experience. However you MUST have a demonstrable working knowledge and passion for the wine industry. Multi‐market experience and language skills would be an advantage.

In this role key responsibilities include:

Managing Consumer PR Strategies: • Proactively develop PR territories, ideas and strategies for dissemination and activation in key markets • Manage the brand public relations plans through to execution and deployment • Assist in the management of global PR agencies in the briefing, sign off and execution of PR strategies

Media programmes • Manage the story generation and material generation to service three key global media audiences including: Wine Media, Bloggers and Travel media

Administration responsibilities • Work diligently with our key markets globally including reporting, information distribution and wips • Monthly, six monthly and annual reporting, measurement and evaluation • Media material drafting, collation and dissemination • Budget management and reporting; Manage external suppliers as necessary

If you want to step up to the international level, join our small but exciting, diverse and energetic team and apply now by submitting your covering letter and resume.

For further information, please visit our career website: www.premium‐wine‐brands.com/people/career‐development/

Deadline for applications: Friday 21st September

Late news:

Liquid Ideas wins new clients, team now 30+ people

After several years working across the portfolio of Carlton & United Breweries specialist beers and ciders, Liquid Ideas has been appointed as the retained agency for several brands including Victoria Bitter and Carlton Draught. Liquid Ideas have also won new business with Citibank, and a competitive pitch to promote tomatoes Kumatoes and the Delight potato, both on behalf of the Moraitis family business. Other new business includes ice cream, Connoisseur.

Liquid Ideas have also been appointed to manage the PR for the “Voice of Super” ‐ the Association of Superannuation Funds of Australia (ASFA). Lastly, Liquid Ideas have won the NSW Wine Industry Association annual Citibank NSW Wine Awards and the Dan Murphy’s National Wine Show in Canberra this November.

Speaking of the impact of new MD, Samantha Allen, Liquid Ideas founder Stuart Gregor said: “It’s become pretty clear that the new broom sweeping through Liquid Ideas is cleaning up all my old hackneyed ideas and replacing them with really shiny, better new ones.”

Agent99 PR adds staff Agent99 Public Relations is happy to welcome two new agents to its growing PR family. Milly Davey will join the agency as PR Account Executive while Michelle Simmonds comes on board as PR & Digital Account Coordinator.

Online Circle wins 2 new clients Online Circle have had two new wins with accounts for HEARINGLife Australia and Jacaranda, the Australian School division of global publisher, Wiley.

Hotwire hires Hewiit from UK as new MD Suzanne Hewitt is the new managing director of Hotwire Australia, having transferred to Sydney from the firm’s London office. Hotwires sister agency, 33 Digital, are also moving into the Australian market, and have appointed Phil Sheard (again from UK) to run the Australian business.

Whitehead to run MarComms for Fairfax Media Fairfax Media has appointed Sydney Morning Herald editor Robert Whitehead to be Head of Marketing & Communication

PR for ACP, Deborah Thomas, wins seat on Woolahra Council Deborah Thomas, currently Director of Media, PR and Brand Development at ACP Magazines has won a seat on Woollahra Council in Sydney. Thomas stood as a Liberal candidate

Corrections: The Burson‐Marsteller Socialympics article and research in the last issue was undertaken by Carly Yanco, not Steve Bowen.

Daily Telegraph launch anti Twitter Troll campaign

Journalists launched campaign against social media trolls with front page splash, and followed the Twitter troll escapades of various sports celebrities and politicians.

However, proving the value a PR agency can add to a media campaign, social media bright spark at Text100, Karalee Evans, who’s a Digital Strategist with the agency, uncovered an old tweet from Robbie Farrah re the #stopthetrolls issue, proving that even deleted tweets can live on somewhere.

Evans used website Topsy to search out the old tweet: http://topsy.com

According to the records, Farah tweeted about buying the PM a noose… (see text in red circle, below)

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10151026778547651&set=a.10150287162062651.330484.58679727650&type =1&relevant_count=1

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