Hill+Knowlton Strategies

The agency has been a hive of activity this week, client work and pitches galore!  Here’s just a few things we have been up to….

Yesterday marked the sixth international Rare Disease Day and to celebrate this milestone, the H+K Healthcare team was busy carrying out a number of activities. Rare Disease Day is coordinated by European Rare Disease patient group, EURORDIS, and organised with rare disease national alliances in 24 European countries. The theme for this year’s Rare Disease Day is ‘Rare Diseases without Borders’ and with that in mind, the H+K team supported the launch of a new idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) community on EURORDIS’ social network platform, RareConnect. It provides a safe environment for people living with rare diseases to share stories, access quality information and communicate with people in other countries and across language barriers (owing to its translation service in five European languages). The launch marks a significant step towards forming a pan-regional coalition of IPF patient groups, a goal H+K has been helping to achieve steadily over the last two years. Please do take the time to have a look at the IPF pages and feel free to share it on Twitter and Facebook by clicking on the relevant icons: https://www.rareconnect.org/en/community/idiopathic-pulmonary-fibrosis

Members of the team have also been working to support the publication of a report on Rare Disease which featured in The Independent on Rare Disease Day. The report included an article, highlighting the new developments on the horizon for patients with IPF and included interviews with two experts in the field.

H+K’s work in support of Rare Disease Day helps to give rare diseases, such as IPF, the attention they deserve as they are often overlooked.  Good job guys!

The Belvita team in Food+Drink has been busy following up with leading experts this week, after hosting a successful round table meeting at the Savoy Hotel with five of the UK’s top media medics.  Hosted by BBC Radio 5 Live’s Dr Rob Hicks, our guests participated in a briefing on the science behind Belvita Breakfast, by the brand’s marketing and nutrition teams as well as an open discussion around modern breakfast habits.  Guests included Channel 4 Embarrassing Bodies’ Dr Dawn Harper and Dr Pixie McKenna; The Sun’s Dr Carol Cooper; This Morning’s Dr Gill Jenkins and Dr Roger Henderson who regularly appears on a number of broadcast programmes. The feedback was strong with attendees being impressed by the wealth of nutrition science behind the brand.  Nutritious and yummy!!

Our Energy + Industrial’s team hosted an event at the Royal Geographical Society for Statoil on the topic of natural gas last night.   The panel was chaired by Anthea Pitt, Executive Editor, Petroleum Economist, and included Rune Bjørnson, Senior Vice President for Natural Gas, Statoil; David Odling, Oil & Gas UK’s Energy Policy Manager; Alastair Reid, Business Analyst, IHS and Guy Newey, Head of Energy and Environment at Policy Exchange. Guy was very much the saviour of the day, having stepped in only two hours previously when Energy Minister John Hayes had to cancel due to a three line whip!

The purpose of the evening was to bring to life the conversations going on every day across the globe in Statoil’s LinkedIn group – Energy Innovation by Statoil (for which we help manage, generate content and drive membership). The group has over 27,000 members and has become one of LinkedIn’s flagship groups. With around 3,000 of those members based in the UK we decided to hold the first live debate.

And finally, our Sport’s team marked 100 days to the start of the ICC Champions Trophy this week. Working with the three grounds to create a unique 100 days image either using their scoreboard or taking the trophy out into the city centres. The images were released with regionally targeted quotes from Boris Johnson, Cllr Ian Ward – Deputy Leader of Birmingham City Council and The First Minister of Wales, Carwyn Jones AM. We also asked fans on the ICC facebook page facebook.com/cricketicc to vote for their favourite century of the tournament to date and produced a special 100 days newsletter featuring an exclusive interview with England cricketer James Anderson.

Enjoy the first weekend in March everyone, I’m hoping Spring is just around the corner now!

In the past week, there have been a number of interesting healthcare stories that have been making noise in the digital world.

As we’ve seen on this blog, the number of healthcare apps are ever increasing and now this growth has been truly cemented and recognised by none other than Apple. For a while, Apple has been creating lists of its favourite apps for specific demographics, including children, parents and film lovers. The new Healthcare Professional (HCP) list categorises apps that HCPs can use for reference, medical education, imaging, patient education, personal care and patient monitoring. Although iTunes have only made these available in the US, what’s interesting is that the list includes apps from pharmaceutical companies, including Novartis and Medtronic. Understanding and keeping track of how to get onto the list could be crucial for pharma companies to gain more visibility for their apps and help bring greater HCP engagement to mainstream attention.

Another story that garnered significant attention was that of the world’s first live-tweeted C-section. The Memorial Hermann Hospital in Houston tweeted the whole C-section surgical procedure from beginning to end, with followers able to see the process in real time. Essentially an educational procedure, this garnered a large amount of traction, with an estimated 72,000 people watching the C-section live on Twitter and an additional 11,000 viewing it in another format. This is not the first time a surgical procedure has been live-tweeted, with the same hospital carrying out a live brain surgery and live heart surgery last year. The popularity of this is a clear sign of  the educational value this type of digital format offers as well as perhaps whetting the (somewhat gory) appetite of many online.

As communicators, when creating campaigns we know how important it is to target the right audience with the right message. Previously, studies have shown women to be the influencers and decision makers in the household, and the results of recent survey have now shown that women are more likely than men to search for health information and advice online. According to a survey from the Pew Research Centre, 79% of female internet users vs 65% of male internet users went online to look for health information. These percentages overall are quite high, proving the potential reach an online campaign can have. This also demonstrates that when considering a digital campaign, it is important to think about whether it is right for your target audience, and the stats below, although US focused, provide a useful breakdown of which demographics are most likely to engage in the online space.

Last year’s BB cream is this year’s CC cream

The question on every beauty junkie’s lips at this early point in the year is what will be the biggest beauty craze of 2013?  In 2012 the Asian influx of BB (Beauty Balm) creams swept the cosmetics world and this year already we have seen its evolution with CC (Complete Correction) creams being launched by practically every large brand on the market. 

Cosmetic Surgery vs. Cosmeceuticals

In fact, the merging of science and beauty to develop ‘miracle products’ is a combination we are likely to see more of as consumers increasingly demand better results for their money.  The so-called ‘cosmeceuticals’ sector represents the fastest growing segment of today’s beauty industry, according to a recent report by GBI Research.  Savvy brands will look to attract consumers with products that contain active pharmaceutical ingredients offering an alternative to cosmetic surgical procedures at a much lower cost.   

This becomes even more pertinent in the context of the current government review that is underway to investigate the quality and safety of both surgical and non-surgical aesthetic treatments including injectables such as botox and dermal fillers, lasers and skin peels.  The outcome, due to be announced in March, could change current law on who can carry out such procedures and will undoubtedly have a huge effect on the growth of the industry moving forward.

The rise of the stay-at-home salon

The recession has had its impact on all industries and the beauty world is no exception.  Market analysts at Mintel predict the use of high-tech electrical beauty devices, such as laser hair removal, for home use is poised to become big across the globe.  As consumers become more aware of the financial savings they can make by investing their money in a one-off home-use product and having it conveniently at their disposal for long term use.  The recent Professional Beauty Show is evidence of this with hundreds of exhibitors tapping into this growing trend. 

2013 is the year of young looking hair 

Contrary to popular belief, the desire to stay looking young is more intense than ever.  Rather than embracing our age with grace as demonstrated with such elegance by the likes of Helen Mirren, the anti-aging category continues to accelerate at a rapid rate.   And the most innovative brands are rolling out tried and tested technology with ingredients normally found in age-reversing skin creams, such as Argan oil, vitamin E and panthenol across other categories such as haircare.  Anti-aging shampoos, conditioners and treatment sprays have just launched in the US so expect them to make their way across the pond later this year…

So what does this tell us?  Beauty in 2013 will be all about consumers expecting more for less and the challenge for brands will be how to make their products stand out in what is an increasingly cluttered marketplace.

By Vicky McPhail, Head of Beauty & Grooming

As the world’s most stylish people descended upon Somerset House for London Fashion Week, the past week has seen London submerged in a sea of designer talent, supermodels and fashionistas. Recognised by a global audience, London Fashion Week is renowned for its edge, individuality and inventiveness. So we thought we’d take a look into how London Fashion Week has inspired the world of Food and Drink.

Shoe Bar at The Mayfair Hotel

Image via http://bit.ly/OsKS9V

Fall head over heels for London Fashion Week with iconic shoe inspired cocktails at The Mayfair Hotel. Effortlessly combining the two loves of any fashionista; their expert mixologists have unified six classic shoes with six classic cocktails. If you see yourself as the next Anna Wintour then think of The Devil Wears Prada and go for the Red Stiletto, a frozen raspberry vodka laced with cherry liqueur and charged with champagne. Or if you’re more of a Manolo Blahnik girl think of Carrie Bradshaw and indulge in the Strappy Sandal with the girls.

The Hummingbird Bakery backstage at Matthew Williamson

Image via http://on.fb.me/XX7hyO

Fashion loves a Cupcake and these pretty little treats never miss a chance to get in front of the camera often appearing in magazines and ad campaigns. This time however, they’ve been spotted mingling backstage at Matthew Williamson’s pre show at The Royal Opera House. Opting for Mini Delights, smaller (and of course lighter) cupcakes were devoured backstage in Williamson’s signature colours whilst red velvet, fought with chocolate and vanilla for the limelight.

Reed Krakoff for Laduree

Image via http://bit.ly/XOyO4G

It wouldn’t be fashion week without a collaboration. Following in the footsteps of Marni, Christian Louboutin, Lanvin and Matthew Williamson, Reed Krakoff has created an exclusive box of black chocolate Macaroons for Paris pattieserie Laduree. These simple yet stylish, matte black indulgences are a winner this season.

Molly Bakes fashion Inspired Cake Pops

Image via http://bit.ly/15MxvZB

Fancy taking a bite out of Karl Largerfeld or Donatella Versace. Well now you can with these fashion inspired Cake Pops. The pops are made of little balls of cake mixed with icing sugar dipped in candy and come fresh out of Molly’s East London Bakery. The range includes many faces of the fashion elite such as Victoria Beckham (quite literally is a head on a stick), Vivienne Westwood, Anna Wintour and Andre Leon Tally.

This is the first in a series of nine blog posts which takes inspiration from a Cabinet Office commissioned report entitled MINDSPACE. The report sets out nine of the most robust (non-coercive) influences on our behaviour, which is captured in the simple mnemonic MINDSPACE:

MINDSPACE (Dolan et al., 2010)

The vast majority of government public policy aims to change or shape behaviour – changing or shaping behaviour and inspiring or engaging people is often a perquisite of many of the work we do for clients at H+K. “Hard” instruments such as legislation or regulation is the most effective way for policy-makers to compel us to act in certain ways. However, these instruments are not readily available, of course, to PR professionals aiming to change people’s behaviour and attitudes towards detergents, gin, football boots and the like – “hard” approaches are not appropriate. Policy-makers are increasingly turning to less coercive measures, such as incentives and sophisticated communications techniques, to change and shape behaviour. These less coercive approaches, summarised by MINDSPACE, are directly applicable to the work we do in marketing, advertising and communications. My series of posts in the coming months will work through each of the influences outlined in the MINDSPACE framework, giving examples and explaining how the framework is applicable to our industry.

+  +  +         #1  Messenger         +  +  +

The way we respond to information depends greatly on the reactions we have to the source of that information.We are heavily influenced by who communicates information. Whatever our considered judgment about the value of a message, we automatically give it more or less weight according to the messenger. For example, we are often swayed by authority that has associations of expertise: public trust in expert public sector workers like doctors and teachers is much higher than for politicians.

Brands understand the importance of ‘the messenger’ with regard to influencing consumer choices and driving sales. Celebrity brand ambassadors are effective marketing techniques, because who communicates determines the consumer response and engagement to brand messages. Marketing spends are increasing in budget for the celebrity brand ambassador - PepsiCo struck a $50 million deal with Beyonce to be Pepsi’s brand ambassador.

Beyonce - Pepsi Brand Ambassador

Of course there are plenty of notable examples in UK/global brand marketing campaigns, and include Walkers veteran Gary Linekar, Marc Jacobs and Taylor Swift for Diet Coke, and Blackberry and Alicia Keys. However, sometimes brands can get it wrong – Alexander ‘Hooray Henry’ Armstrong was dropped in 2009 after 7 years as Pimms brand ambassador, reportedly for being ‘too posh’.

Brad Pitt - Chanel No. 5

In order to quantify and qualify the use of celebrities in marketing campaigns it is important to evaluate their awareness, appeal, and relevance to a brand’s image and the celebrity’s influence on consumer buying behaviour. Advertisers are using celebrities for voice overs, and public relations + communications agencies understand the importance of influential celebrities to engage and shape behaviour. Harnessing the power of celebrities social media platforms can be a very powerful marketing tool. We saw that this week at H+K in which Ricky Gervais and Stephen Fry’s Twitter accounts generated a huge amount of consumer engagement with a hashtag campaign for our client Aviva.

Post your comments below on which celebrity brand ambassadors you think are the good, the bad and the ugly!

Follow @AndrewPCBarratt

Right, I know it’s heresy, probably even blasphemy, but I’m going to say four words that will make me very unpopular: I don’t like Barcelona.

Cue cries of anguish, disbelief, horror but it’s true – I don’t like them.

I think I only realized this fully last night when I found myself celebrating AC Milan’s opening goal in the heavyweight clash at the San Siro – they went on to win 2-0 which to me was a good result for football and for sport in general.

Why? Well, as I flicked over to the Brits to see if there was anyone decent shortlisted (that’ll be “no”) it struck me that Barcelona are the football equivalent of Coldplay – technically excellent but ultimately dull. Pass, pass, pass, pass, pass; whine, whine, whine, whine, whine. And then a bit more passing and a bit more whining.

Yes, everything is in the right place (isn’t that one of Chris Martin’s droning anthems?) and fits together beautifully but where’s the unpredictability, where’s the risk, where’s the je ne sais quoi? Isn’t that what you want in sport? And in music for that matter?

Where’s the maverick genius of a Ronaldinho, a Cantona, a Maradona or an Ian Curtis, a Jimmy Page, a David Bowie? Yes, Messi is great but we’ve seen most of his tricks and he’s got an incredible midfield around him. Chris Martin should just go back to University Challenge – with his gonk.

It’s not Barca’s fault (though I find it harder to forgive Coldplay) but what annoys me is the general public’s inability to look beyond the obvious – of course, Barcelona are the best team in football history (say millions who never saw the great AC Milan, Ajax and Bayern Munich sides) and obviously Coldplay are the best band in Britain (say millions who wouldn’t know a Foals from a donkey and think Palma Violets are only found in old sweet shops that haven’t updated their stock since 1975) but when you know what’s coming where’s the fun? Dull, dull, dull.

People should get out there and explore a bit more – they might find something interesting!

Rant Over.

This week, rather than sharing a variety of work, I am just focusing on one as I think it is for such a fantastic cause:

This weekend Norwich City FC will proudly wear the logo of charity Railway Children on their shirts for their Premier League clash with Everton at Carrow Road. The Canaries will be lending their support for club sponsor Aviva’s UK charity partner, to raise awareness of the fact that one child runs away from home every five minutes in the UK.

Along with fans, NCFC Director Stephen Fry will show his support via Twitter to help raise much-needed funds for the charity. For every tweet or re-tweet posted on Twitter on match day including the hashtag #1every5, Aviva will donate £1 to Railway Children.

H+K worked on this project from the ideas stage right through to executing the activity in conjunction with Railway Children, Norwich City and our client, Aviva. This involved planning activity with the media and, crucially, over social media with a particular focus on Twitter. In order to help promote the activity the team visited the Norwich City training ground on this week (Thursday) to oversee an interview session with the club’s manager Chris Houghton and a photo shoot with him, star striker Grant Holt and representatives of the Railway Children charity.

We will all be on Twitter this weekend to do our bit to help raise as much money for the Railway Children as possible, we hope you will be too.

Also our Pampers team worked out that parents lose up to 4 hours of sleep every night due to their baby waking up but despite this sleep deprivation the mornings are a parents most favourite time to spend with their little ones.   I must say cuddles with my boys are the best way to wake up!

Also just to note, this coming Monday Tim Luckett our Crisis and Issues head honcho will present part of a social media seminar to the Arts Law Forum in London. The Arts Law Forum is part of the alumni of the law firm Squire Sanders,  who also run the event. Guests will include representatives from the National Theatre, Tate, British Museum, Royal Opera House, English National Opera and Comic Relief.

Three main topics will be covered during the day, of which Tim will present the third:

• “Inside and outside the workplace” – how to fairly deal with employees who abuse Social Media and IT (Ramez Moussa)
• “Internet defamation” – the remedies available to commercial organisations (Simon Garbett)
• “How to crisis manage: A case study” –  Global PR and communications agency, Hill & Knowlton Strategies (part of WPP Group), will share some practical advice on how to protect your brand, manage communications and respond to incidents and negative criticism in a systematic and planned manner.

Tim will present two case studies of companies who ‘got it wrong’ and before going on to outline the lessons learned and top tips for protecting brands and mitigating reputational risk.

Have a great weekend all, wrap up warm!

As 2013 moves along, we’re seeing a wealth of articles and blogs highlighting digital and social media trends to look out for throughout the year. What is striking is the increasingly specific nature of these predictions. It is no longer enough to say social media or digital are important or that more people are using apps, these points are practically beyond debate. Now the questions being asked and the insights emerging suggest that there is a need to explore the particulars of these trends, how they might impact the industry and the opportunities and challenges they present, demonstrating how far the industry has come in the past few years.

A new report from Accenture is a case in point. The management consultancy has identified six technology trends set to influence companies over the next three to five years and they’ve now supplemented this with a report looking at how these will specifically impact the pharma and life sciences industry. The trends they’ve identified are quite technical and go beyond healthcare communications, but they certainly demonstrate the way digital is moving and how pharma companies are expected to respond to this shift:

1.       Context-based services: Essentially, the convergence of real world and digital data to draw conclusions about consumer experiences. Context based services have evolved from the rise of cloud computing, social media and increased usage of mobile devices. Crucially, the approach has already been adopted by pharma companies looking to engage directly with patients.

2.       Converging data architectures: This is about developing new ways for effectively handling data. Pharma companies have increasingly large amounts of data to contend with and are already demonstrating an appetite for exploring these new data architectures.

3.       Industrialised data services: In much the same vein as the data architectures trends, pharma companies are starting to realize the value of data as an asset that can be utilized for multiple purposes when shared more freely.

4.       Social-driven IT: As we all probably know, social media is a powerful catalyst that has changed the way customers, employees and partners use technology to interact with the world around them. While most pharma companies now accept this fact, the challenge will be to recognise its full potential and make the most of it, something we’ve mentioned numerous times on this blog.

5.       PaaS-Enabled Agility: You will probably have heard of cloud computing, even if you’re not completely clear what it is! Platform-as-a-service (PaaS) is an extension of this, which combines cloud computing with a series of software applications and allows apps to be created by users.

6.       Orchestrated analytical security: Of course, all this growth in connectivity, as well as presenting numerous opportunities, has also increased the potential security risks and pharma companies will need to show their ability to adapt to the changing environment and explore new ways of handling these risks.

There is a more detailed analysis of the insights on the PMLive website, which also provides some really good examples of pharma companies that are already adopting some of this new technology. Definitely one to bookmark.

Image from Geek and Poke

Finally, in another example of this more nuanced, specialized approach to digital insights, this thoroughly recommended article on the website Eye for Pharma looks at the role social media plays in patient adherence. The article suggests that just because a doctor recommends a new medication to a patient, it doesn’t mean that the patient will necessarily go along with it.  In fact, the article claims “…a whole universe of interactions takes place outside the medical environment that can change the direction of a patient’s care”.

Many patients will now look online to weigh up the pros and cons of a drug, and in fact 30% of the patient posts online that Eye for Pharma looked at, indicated that they decided not to take a physician recommended medication due to information they had received from their online peers.

This is a really interesting perspective on this particular part of the patient journey and a demonstrable example of the way social media is affecting the industry.

I don’t know about love being in the air over at H+K Towers this week, we have been way too busy delivering some great work for our lovely clients.   Its been a crazy one!

The H+K team had an extra spring in their step this week as they helped adidas launch its revolutionary new running shoe.  adidas BOOST™ is a groundbreaking innovation in cushioning technology, providing the most energy return in the running industry and the team supported the global launch event that took place in New York this week.  Find out more at http://youtu.be/YgMYSi-eQOc

Back by popular demand, Belvita Facebook team in Food+Drink has launched the Valentine’s Day Fruit Machine app this week, where fans play to win fantastic prizes for two weeks. Following the success of the first Fruit Machine, Belvita is spreading love by offering their 50,000 fans the chance to win Belvita Breakfast Biscuits; a Tassimo Coffee Maker; a Kindle; or the ultimate grand prize…a trip to Paris, the city of love!

The app was designed and built by the digital studio at H+K and since launching on Monday, has been played 11,821 times…and the numbers just keep going up!  Visit http://www.facebook.com/BelvitaUK to have a go yourself…good luck!

The British Army team have been working on a nationwide recruitment campaign for the Territorial Army, with over 150 separate events taking place up and down the country this month. The campaign includes taking over the city centres in London, Liverpool, Birmingham,  Cardiff, Glasgow, Newcastle and Portsmouth this Saturday 16th February. These extensive TA open events are designed to demonstrate to the public what the TA is all about, and showcase the opportunities available

The team in Food+Drink have also been busy launching Splenda’s ‘Small Steps’ campaign. The team commissioned a piece of research into women’s diets to generate newsworthy hooks that would create context and relevance to the overarching brand platform. Results were sold into key media, creating relevant dialogue with journalists and driving coverage for the brand campaign. To bolster campaign awareness, brand ambassador Nadia Sawalha conducted broadcast interviews using the research as a base from which to drive deeper messaging of the campaign and brand ethos. Results were extensive across national online and print media, and key consumer titles including The Telegraph, The Mirror, The Sun, The Express and the Mail online. Find out more at www.splenda.co.uk

And finally, with four months to go to the ICC Champions Trophy 2013, a tournament that features the world’s top 8 cricket teams and the world’s best players, the H+K team took Radio 1 DJ – DJ Nihal – on a tour of The Oval, which is one of the three host grounds for the tournament. The aim was to get some shots with DJ Nihal and the Championship Trophy and facilitate media interviews to help raise awareness of the tournament and promote the fact that fans can buy their tickets now from www.icc-cricket.com. Nihal, an avid Sri Lanka fan commented that he “hoped that he wouldn’t be the only Sri Lankan to get his hands on the ICC Champions Trophy this summer”.

Hope some of the teams have a nice romantic weekend planned to recover from the week!

There is nothing better than a well-crafted cocktail, saying that there is nothing worse than a badly made cocktail, so we thought we would share our favourite cocktail bars in Londontown with you!

Artesian Bar @ The Langham

http://www.artesian-bar.co.uk/artesian.html

Image credit: http://www.smh.com.au/travel/activity/food-and-wine/no-ordinary-pub-crawl-20120830-252t6.html

This chic and glamorous bar has been voted as one of the world’s top bars and never fails us. The service is impeccable, and if you arrive just after 6pm on any weekday you will be greeted with a buzzing atmosphere and a charming host. Once seated, you will have a fully loaded cocktail menu offering anything from your classic cocktails through to the bars own famous creations. Saying that, if you just can’t decide what you feel like, ask your host to recommend something.

Trailer Happiness

http://www.trailerhappiness.com/

Image via http://londoncocktailscholars.co.uk/trailer-happiness/

Don’t let the look from outside fool you, this place is a fantastic cocktail bar with a relaxed atmosphere in the heart of Notting Hill. We stumbled across Trailer a few months back and it was an instant winner in our books. The staff are extremely friendly and provide a calm and relaxed service. Cocktails are priced competitively, with a G+T coming in around £8.

Worship Street Whistling Shop

http://www.whistlingshop.com/

Image via: http://www.designmynight.com/london/reviews/worship-street-whistling-shop-bar-review

Has been open for a few years now, and if you are ever looking to experience a new type of cocktail, we highly recommend it. Entering through a black doorway from a quiet street (Worship Street), you head down a few steps in to a room that appears like you have gone back in time. With its Victorian gin palace concept, expect to find an array of cocktails here that come with one or two ingredients you most likely will not have tried before.

ECC

http://www.chinatownecc.com/

Image via http://www.sergetheconcierge.com/2010/12/seeing-is-believing-experimental-cocktail-club-london-now-open-in-chinatown.html

Situated in the middle of Chinatown, unless you are looking for this place you will never find it. Hidden behind a small door, you are greeted by security who asks if you are on the list! Depending on how busy it is, sometimes you need to be on that list! On entering the townhouse building, you are greeted with a few decisions – drinks at the bar being our normal choice rather a table! Now a warning, the cocktails here are amazing, but watch out as they tend to be a little strong! A classic cocktail bar, with a lively atmosphere.