Ogilvy PR Australia appointed to support Veda PR activities in 2012

Sydney, December 16, 2011:  Ogilvy Public Relations Australia, a joint venture between Ogilvy Public Relations Worldwide and STW Group, has been appointed by Australasia’s leading data intelligence and insights firm Veda, following a competitive pitch.

The appointment from January next year, will see specialists from Ogilvy PR’s business-to-business consultancy Howorth and sister consumer and brand agency, Pulse work together to develop and implement a national PR campaign for Veda.

Howorth and Pulse will be supported by Ogilvy’s 360 Digital Influence teams to ensure social and traditional media integration. Ogilvy PR will also work closely with Veda’s communications team to grow brand awareness of the company, with a particular focus on its Commercial Credit Risk and Consumer Credit Risk (B2C fraud identity and credit file) markets.

A leader in credit reporting, analytical tools and marketing services, Veda serves a diverse range of markets including large financial institutions, small to medium sized enterprises, and consumers.  It provides services in Consumer Credit Risk, Commercial Credit Risk, Credit Analytics, Data Solutions, Fraud and Electronic Verification, Insurance, Automotive, Customer Location Services and Commercial Information Brokerage.

Kieran Moore, Ogilvy PR Australia’s Chief Executive Officer, said the win reaffirms Ogilvy PR Australia’s ability to offer highly specialised services tailored specifically to meet a client’s business needs.

“The grouping of expertise from multiple agencies and practices is a key strength within the Ogilvy PR offering in Australia and one which enables us to meet the diversity of client’s requirements   within very specialised areas,” she explained.  “We are also finding the demand for this approach is increasing within the current climate and having our deep expertise under one roof facilitates a tailored response that can address complex requirements.  We are excited about the prospect of putting this deep specialisation to work for an outstanding market leader such as Veda.”

Veda’s Marketing Communications Manager, Katherine Craig, said: “Veda is undergoing an exciting period of growth and change and we needed a PR agency with a track record in delivering successful campaigns. We were very impressed by Ogilvy PR’s understanding of the challenges and opportunities in our market, and in their ability to offer a depth and breadth of expertise. Ogilvy PR’s approach and philosophy matched well with ours, and we look forward to working with the team to make 2012 a successful year.”

Ogilvy PR Australia is a joint venture between Ogilvy PR Worldwide and STW Group, Australia’s leading marketing content and communications services group.  Veda is Australasia’s leading provider of commercial and consumer data intelligence and insights and has been at the forefront of the information services industry for many decades.

Ends.  For more information contact Rebecca Tilly, STW Group, Ph: +61 410 501 043

A new look for Pulse

December 5, 2011: 2011 was a big year for Pulse Communications and what better way to end the year than with a fresh new start.

Following eight very successful years, Pulse has reinvigorated its visual identity to reflect its offering and essence, helping the brand to continue to lead the rapidly-changing consumer PR landscape. 2011 has been our most successful year to date with some of the biggest consumer PR account wins in the industry including Activision, Mattel, Malaysia Kitchen and Milo. We’ve also received recognition for some of our best work with two Asia Pacific Sabre Award wins, a NSW and national PRIA Golden Target award win and we were a finalist for the PR Agency of the Year in the 2011 B&T Awards.

Managing Director, Matt Buchanan, said “Our new logo is the visual representation of a much wider piece of work to craft an agency which will deliver to the needs of clients, media and consumers in a rapidly shifting market. The new identity expresses the brand’s new mantra to ‘be curious’ – a rallying cry to ensure that we are consistently producing both strategically and creatively excellent work.”

Curious? We’d love to chat some more, please get in touch with Matt Buchanan matt@pulsecom.com.au

Kieran Moore named a media leader

Kieran Moore, Ogilvy Public Relations Australia’s CEO, has been named one of Australia’s top ten most influential women in media. Female leaders shaping the landscape featured in The Australian newspaper, broadsheet and online, on August 29, and looked at 50 of Australia’s female leaders working in the media.

The top 50 included women from industries including magazines, newspapers, digital, marketing and advertising, radio, television, production and film and related industries and bodies.

Ogilvy PR is the only public relations company mentioned and Kieran the only public relations practitioner. The article states “Moore believes the Ogilvy PR concept of having a number of specialist agencies under the one banner allows deeper specialisation”.

The Australian newspaper is one of only two national newspapers with a readership of 432,000. It is recognised as a leader in the media.

Read the article here.

Ogilvy PR welcomes students from the University of Wollongong

Ogilvy PR Australia, as part of its commitment in developing stronger relationships with the Australian academic community, has spent the last week working with public relations students from the University of Wollongong.

The consultancy hosted 20 students in our offices in Sydney giving them a whistlestop tour of the company and what we do. Students heard from the CEO, Kieran Moore, as well as senior representatives across the organisation, giving them an insight in to our practices at Ogilvy PR, trends we’re seeing in the industry and some of the fantastic work delivered by our teams. They were also given the opportunity to meet one of our clients and participate in a question and answer session to understand the differences between in-house communication teams and agency life.

This open day follows a guest lecture delivered last week by Lex Deasley, Creative Director for Ogilvy’s consumer and brand agency, Pulse Communications.  Lex visited Wollongong University to present a guest lecture to public relations students, entitled Creativity in PR. It was designed to give a broad overview of a topic that many people seem to find confusing, and reinforce the point that creativity is defined by the process rather than the result.

Starting with challenging perceptions on what defines creativity generally, the topic shifted to examine why now, more than ever, creativity is essential to the PR industry by looking at real-life examples of how the market place is changing.

Focusing on the influencers of creativity, students were then taken through ‘the triumvirate of doom’, the three dominant factors preventing us from being more creative in our everyday lives, and shown things we can do to turn ourselves in to creative superstars.

The lecture was designed to engage the students and help them to prove many points which were being made through games and tests. Lex ran an interactive and entertaining session, which held students attention for a full hour, in a dark room, while the sun shone outside.

We’d like to wish the students the best of luck with the rest of their studies, and look forward to welcoming them in to our internship program, and the public relations industry.

Blockbuster bites back!

Blockbuster Australia approached Howorth in 2010 to develop a public relations campaign as part of the planned roll out of a $3.5 million brand repositioning campaign – their biggest in ten years.

Despite being wholly owned by Franchise Entertainment Group and maintaining strong business performance, Blockbuster Australia was perceived to be affected by the financial challenges faced by Blockbuster Inc in the US –fuelling misconceptions around the viability of the business domestically.

Howorth set out to:

• Address the immediate challenges resulting from the coverage of Blockbuster Inc.;
• Use the launch of the brand repositioning as a platform to generate positive stories around Blockbuster Australia’s market position and the health of the industry in Australia;
• Engage the franchisees in the brand repositioning campaign and communicate the role franchisees play in driving the success of the company.

To tackle the misconceptions resulting from the US, Howorth developed key messages around the independence of Blockbuster Australia from its US counterpart and the stability of the local business. Statements were distributed to domestic media in response to further developments in the US and media that had previously covered the issue.

Howorth recognised the importance of incorporating the franchisees in the public relations strategy as it is they who drive the business and owner operated model which makes the local industry unique. Howorth worked directly with franchisees to seek potential local media opportunities to change perceptions at a grass roots level and support local business objectives.

Finally, in preparation for the brand repositioning launch pre-briefings with top-tier media were arranged to: create buzz around the evolution of the brand; explain the rationale behind the repositioning and its role within Blockbuster’s long-term business objectives; and share Blockbuster Australia’s point-of-view on the future of the industry.

As a result of the PR launch of the brand repositioning in October 2010, the US challenges had been disassociated, the business’ health was reinforced and pre-conceived perceptions on the industry and future of the business had begun to shift.

Over the months of July to November 2010, the PR campaign reached 7,278,413 online readers, 224,089 TV viewers and radio listeners and 991,255 newspaper readers – a total of 8,493,757 Australians.  Key messages were prevalent in prominent headlines, such as:

• Blockbuster adopts social hub strategy, The Australian
• Blockbuster invests in rebranding campaign, Franchising
• Blockbuster Australia leaves bankrupt US chain’s woes behind, Dynamic Business
• Blockbuster Australia gets a makeover, Retail Biz
• Blockbuster Repositioning Campaign, Sky News

Going like Blockbusters, Australian Financial Review

Square Kilometre Array – the world’s biggest telescope

Issue: Ogilvy Public Relations was engaged by the Department of Innovation Industry, Science and Research (DIISR)  to get the Australia and New Zealand (ANZ) public behind the Square Kilometre Array (SKA) bid to bring the world’s biggest telescope to Australia. With the bid element of the project nearing crunch time (early 2012), it was time to ramp up public awareness, build excitement and most importantly gain the public’s support.

Challenges: Ogilvy PR had to overcome several challenges in order to successfully execute the campaign objectives:

• Creating the news hook: Given there were no new bid milestones during the campaign activity period, Ogilvy PR had no timely news hook to engage media around.
• Making a complex message relevant and engaging for the public: The SKA is a technical scientific feat had previously only received interest from the science community. The radio astronomy jargon had to be broken down and the question “why should I care about a telescope?” had to be answered before gaining the support of the ‘man on the street’ for the project.
• Overcoming negative perceptions such as the project cost and environmental impact:  The SKA will cost the international community over $2 billion to build – to some, a perceived waste of tax payers’ money. Many Australians were also feeling uneasy about the way in which 3,000 dishes would change and impact the Australian landscape.

Public Relations Strategy: To create mass awareness and gain the support of the Australian public, Ogilvy PR developed a number of media opportunities to feed to the media over the three month campaign period. In order to build these opportunities, Ogilvy PR:

• Put a personal face to the story: Science commentator, author and radio presenter, Dr Karl Kruszelnicki was engaged as the campaign ambassador; a spokesperson which the Australian public could relate to and who transcends the science community, taking the story out of the “geek” world and into the everyday. Dr Karl took part in a media tour supported by additional spokespeople relevant to different audiences and media outlets

• Created a unique media experience: To provide media with new and exclusive content, Ogilvy PR coordinated a media visit to the proposed SKA site in Western Australia. TV, online and print journalists attended capturing photographs and footage of the site coupled with interviews with various key spokespeople

• Generated tailored stories that would spark interest with the different audience groups:Ogilvy PR created a number of different angles to bring to life the bid for different media. This ensured the SKA message reached everyone from school children to young males, from the working professional to the tech savvy individual.

Outcome: Ogilvy PR achieved 50 pieces of coverage, exceeding the KPIs by 185%, with a campaign reach of over 38 million Australians. Coverage highlights included: The Sydney Morning Herald, The Daily Telegraph, ninemsn, News.com.au, Sunday Times, The Age online, Herald Sun online and Today Tonight. The overall return on investment for the DIISR came in at 6:1. Having successfully brought the message of the SKA to the Australian public, Ogilvy PR look forward to the SKA bid announcement, due to take place in February 2012.

Ogilvy PR Melbourne Boosts Team

Melbourne, June 22, 2011: Ogilvy Public Relations Australia, a joint venture between Ogilvy PR Worldwide and STW Group, has appointed James Cameron as Senior Account Manager as part of its growth plan for Melbourne.

James has corporate, B2B and financial services PR experience across both Australian and European markets.   Prior to joining Ogilvy PR Melbourne, James was with N2N in Sydney and in London, James honed his communications skills at Consolidated PR, supporting the PR activity for international companies including HSBC and American Express.

James will work across Ogilvy PR Melbourne’s government, B2B and financial services clients.

Lelde McCoy, Managing Director, Ogilvy PR Melbourne, said: “We are really excited about James joining our award-winning team. He has strong skills and as we look to grow the business in Melbourne, his experience across the public and corporate sectors will prove invaluable.”

Commenting on his appointment, James said: “I am very happy to be joining Ogilvy PR Australia, and supporting its growth in Melbourne. I look forward to working with the agency’s high-calibre team and excellent client base.”

ENDS

For more information contact:

Rebecca Tilly, STW Group

Ph: +61 410 501 043

Global entertainment leader, Activision, appoints Pulse Communications

Pulse Communications has boosted its youth and entertainment portfolio with its appointment by Activision, the world’s leading interactive entertainment and video games publisher.

The agency will work closely with Activision and its partner agencies to create a strategic and creative communications plan, incorporating all elements of traditional media plus social media stakeholder engagement, ambassador programmes and high-profile experiential activations.

Pulse won the Activision account in a competitive pitch and will work in tandem with Activision’s in-house PR and marketing team across the Activision portfolio including games releases, downloadable content and new entertainment IPs.

Activision Senior Vice President, Ben Graetz, said: “We are thrilled to be working with an agency of Pulse’s calibre and know they will be a great partner in what will be one of the biggest years ever for our fans and for Activision.”

The first campaign for Pulse will be the launch of the innovative new kid’s property, Skylanders Spyro’s Adventure. This will be followed closely by the launch of Call of Duty Modern Warfare 3, which is widely expected to be the biggest entertainment product of the year.

The win further boosts the youth and entertainment portfolio at Pulse, which includes leading brands such as Twentieth Century Fox, Hot Wheels, LG, Monster High and Disney and adds to a string of recent business wins including Kimberley-Clark, Mattel, and Carnival Cruise Lines Australia.

Pulse Communications Managing Director, Matt Buchanan, said: “Gaming now dominates the entertainment industry and Activision is the best in class, so this is definitely an exciting win for Pulse.

“As the company who launched Xbox in Australia, we have the perfect skill set to hit the ground running and plenty of keen gamers among the team, raring to get started. With properties such as Call of Duty, the most successful entertainment property in history, Activision is an amazing addition to our youth and entertainment portfolio.”

Pulse Communications is part of Ogilvy PR, the largest and most awarded public relations agency in Australia. Ogilvy PR Australia is a joint venture between Ogilvy PR Worldwide and STW Group, Australia’s leading marketing content and communications services group.

Ends.

For more information contact:

Rebecca Tilly

STW Group

Ph: +61 410 501 043

Lex Deasley to speak at Mumbrella 360 conference

Pulse Communications Creative Director, Lex Deasley, will be speaking at the upcoming Mumbrella 360 conference. The topic for discussion is ‘The six things that are wrong with PR and how to fix them’. The conference will be held on June 7 at the Hilton Hotel in Sydney.

Take a look at the line up and register to attend the conference here.

Telstra Productivity Indicator 2011

In 2009, Telstra Enterprise & Government (Telstra’s largest sales and service division, which provides services to more than 1,500 large organisations) launched a three-year thought leadership campaign to re-position the brand from transactional supplier to trusted advisor and differentiate it from its competitors.

For the third year, Howorth worked with Telstra Enterprise & Government to launch the “Telstra Productivity Indicator” – a commissioned research report

surveying more than 300 directors, senior executives and managers around their attitudes and behaviours to productivity.  This year, the research focused on traits that successful businesses had in realising productivity improvements, a group Telstra labeled ‘Productivity Leaders’. Over the last three years the campaign has successfully been integrated into TEG’s sales and marketing initiatives, meaning that besides media relations activity, Howorth has been integral in developing internal collateral including sales materials, customer brochures and website copy.

The challenge in 2011 was in launching findings that would still continue to be relevant and interesting to Telstra’s target audiences and the media. As has worked well in previous years, embargoed media briefings were conducted with tier one business and technology media to maximise the amount of quality media coverage. Following the briefings, a general news release was distributed.

PR drove positive results with more than 40 pieces of traditional print and online media coverage achieved, with 31 articles appearing on launch day.

Key highlights so far this year have included:

• Paul Geason, TE&G Group Managing Director, was interviewed under embargo by eight national newspapers, news wires and business television programs including The Australian, AAP, Business Spectator, Sky Business News and ABC Lateline Business;

• 23 articles appeared in Telstra’s core media list (The Australian, iTWire, Business Spectator, BNET, Communications Day, Exchange, Sky Business News, BRW), doubling 2010’s day-one coverage;

• The Telstra Productivity Indicator continues its influence and reach to TEG’s key audiences – in April, the 2010 report was referenced in the Federal Government’s draft paper on its information and communications technology (ICT) strategy. Previous reports have also been referenced by Australian public policy think tank The Grattan Institute and in a speech by former Prime Minister Kevin Rudd.

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