Coke, Vertu, GTA V and James Bond; all on ‘The Week in PR’ (Jan 6)

‘The week in PR’ is a look at all the big stories in public relations as reported by the UK media in the past seven days. This week we’ve included all the news highlights over Christmas to help bring you up-to-speed with all that’s on in the world of PR. 
To have your PR news featured here next week, please email me at [email protected].

Leading the news

The Top 10 PR stories of 2013 by Priyanka Dayal via Cision UK
From the PR frenzy surrounding the horsemeat scandal to Pope Francis being named Times Magazine’s Person of the Year, read up on the top 10 news that made, shook and shaped the UK PR industry in 2013. 

Coke suffers backlash after cutting gay marriage scene from ad by Loulla-Mae Eleftheriou-Smith via Marketing magazine
Coca-Cola has been criticised for its decision to cut a gay marriage scene from the Irish version of its new “Reasons to believe” campaign, with the soft drinks giant arguing it wasn’t “relevant” to the market.

The campaign, which launched across Europe shortly after Christmas, features a series of contrasting scenes that show both negative and positive vignettes, aiming to show Coke’s audience that there is “more good than bad in the world”.

Coke has stated that the ad appears slightly differently in each market, tailoring the footage to its different audiences, but the Irish version of the ad has cut the scene depicting a gay marriage.

GTA V and James Bond rescue UK’s entertainment retail by Priyanka Dayal via Cision UK
Grand Theft Auto V, Daniel Craig as James Bond in Skyfall and FIFA ’14 attracted enough takers in 2013 to pull the UK’s entertainment sector out of the doldrums.  According to preliminary year-end figures released by the Entertainment Retailers Association (ERA), UK’s entertainment retail grew for the first time in five years in 2013 thanks to an uptake in digital products and services. 

The music, video and games market pegged at £5.4bn in 2013, depicts a 4% rise from 2012 when it was worth £5.1bn.

Illuminate founder and Manifest London executive launch Campbell Brown by Mark Banham via PR Week
Founder of Illuminate Communications Helen Campbell and Manifest London’s Camilla Brown have joined forces to launch PR shop Campbell Brown.

The agency, forged during a “Champagne-fuelled” conversation at an awards dinner last year, will launch having worked on briefs for Thomas Cook and with clients including Sarah Beeny’s online property site Tepilo.

RGA/London tops The Drum’s most awarded agency of 2013 leader board by Jessica Davies via The Drum
RGA/London has beaten off stiff competition from the likes of AKQA, Carat, AMV BBDO, and BJL Communications to become the most awarded agency at The Drum’s awards, scooping the coveted Hatstand award. The agency came top for campaigns it entered in a variety of The Drum’s awards in 2013.

Big Communications came second in the leader board while BJL followed in third place. Stein IAS, UM London and We Are Social following in fourth, fifth and sixth place respectively. 

The Big Pitch

Vertu seeks global CRM agency by Louise Ridley via Campaignlive
Vertu, the luxury mobile phone manufacturer, has approached agencies to appoint a new shop for global CRM.

The company, which sells hand-made mobile phones, some of which use precious metals and jewels, sent out an RFP document before Christmas. It will hold chemistry meetings with agencies over the next two weeks.

The review follows the appointment of Sanjaya Shrestha, the new head of CRM and digital at Vertu. Shrestha, who replaced Antonio Silano, will take part in “working sessions” at the chemistry meetings.

Commentary

An audience with the Pope’s PR man Father Federico Lombardi by Alex Benady via PR Week
With the Catholic Church under new management and undergoing major reform, PR Week’s Alex Benady talks to the man responsible for communicating ‘the Francis effect’ to the masses.

As corporate PR plunges into digital and social media, does it still need the traditional press? by Ian Burrell via The Independent
Ian Burrell, assistant editor and media editor of the Independent, discusses the impact digital media has had on the way PRs use traditional media.