PR news this week, with thanks to Early Morning Media

Industry

Political

UK advertisers block ‘Trump’ from campaigns amid fears over brand reputation
The vast majority of UK advertisers have blocked their campaigns from appearing next to references to Donald Trump amid fears the US President could damage their brand, according to Integral Ad Science. The company’s latest report showed that, on average, 87% of campaigns using keyword blocking between March and September excluded the word “Trump”; Nigel Farage was the most excluded British politician, with 59% of campaigns placing the Brexit Party leader on their proscribed lists. Prime Ministers Theresa May and Boris Johnson were excluded on just 6% and 5% of campaigns respectively, while Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn was blocked in less than 1% of cases. “Risk thresholds are unique to each brand, however it is interesting to see in the current political climate that many brands are choosing to exclude political keywords – and even more fascinating that UK brands see content aligned to ‘Trump’ as having a greater impact on their brand’s reputation, than their own country’s political turmoil,” said Nick Morley, EMEA managing director at Integral Ad Science.
City AM

Sorrell calls for regulation-light, tax-light UK economy
Martin Sorrell urged the government to pursue a "Singapore on steroids" strategy for the UK economy after Brexit arguing for a "regulation-light, tax-light economy open for business in a way we haven't seen before". The CEO of digital ad firm S4 Capital, who was a vocal supporter of the Remain campaign, said that such an approach would make the UK "much more attractive" investment destination in the long term. "It has to be the home of Google, Amazon and Facebook, not the regulatory nightmare," he said.
City AM The Independent

Industry

Edelman's Dublin office to take role in guiding new branches
Richard Edelman, CEO of the public relations firm, said its Irish office will have a new role in redesigning other sites around the world. He told the Irish Independent that: "Dublin has become an unbelievable experiment in the future of Edelman," going on to note that: "We are making Dublin the example for smaller offices in Europe.” New operations in Madrid, Milan, Vietnam and other locations will take their cue from the Dublin branch, whose clients include Irish Distillers, Novartis and Siro. The firm also represents companies such as HP, KFC, Unilever, Heineken, Linkedin and Adobe.
Irish Independent

Tips for legal PROs in new guide
Edward Fennell, writing in The Times, noted that a group within the PRCA, chaired by Gus Sellitto of Byfield, is to publish a guide for novices in the industry, created by Richard Gerrard, marketing director at Carter-Ruck. He described the latter as “a law firm with a reputation for suing the media”, and quotes advice included in the guide from Mishcon de Reya partner Elliot Moss on how to cope with media attention.
The Times

Profile: Diana Fernandes, Bloomingdale PR founder
Your Story profiled Diana Fernandes, founder of Bloomingdale, a public relations, digital marketing, and influencer marketing company with operations in India, Dubai, and Singapore. She spent 10 years at Planman Marcom in business development, client servicing, and media relations, before setting up Bloomingdale in 2013. Over the last six years, the company has catered to over 100 clients across industry verticals. “Today, PR is no more confined to articles in newspapers and magazines or some show on TV. It’s all consuming and far more exciting”, she said. “There are no defined boundaries as to what services come under PR and what doesn’t. We do whatever it takes to ensure the client’s brand is visible and highly recalled among its TG. We do cross-promotions, tie-ups, influencer collaborations, award nominations, speaker ops and much more”.
Your Story

How top health websites are sharing sensitive data with advertisers
The FT reported that many popular health websites are sharing users’ sensitive medical data with firms around the world such as Google, Amazon, Facebook and data-brokers and adtech companies.
Financial Times

Campaigns

Cancer Research UK named top charity brand of 2019
Cancer Research UK retained the top spot in Third Sector’s annual Charity Brand Index despite causing controversy earlier this year with a series of adverts linking obesity to cancer. The charity was criticised over the summer for the campaign, for running a campaign that was perceived by some as fat-shaming. However, the report suggested that the negative impact on the brand has been limited. Cancer Research UK finished ahead of Macmillan Cancer Support, outscoring it on both consideration and awareness among the public. The British Heart Foundation came third in the list, with the RSPCA finishing fourth; the top five was completed by the Royal British Legion/Poppy Appeal. The older people’s charity Age UK was among the biggest climbers, moving up 18 places to number 10 in the list. Oxfam jumped 22 places to 35th on the list as it looked to get back on track after the safeguarding crisis that engulfed the charity last year, which contributed to it falling 27 places in 2018 to 57th place.
Third Sector

Big price toupee for Virgin?
In its new advertising campaign Virgin Australia has replaced its popular air hostesses with a flying toupee named Wiggy. In the advertisement, a gust of wind blows a toupee off a man's head as he packs luggage into his car. The toupee flies in the air and soars past office buildings, along the coast and into the clouds with a flock of geese. The toupee then finally arrives back on the owner's head at the airport. Virgin chief experience officer Danielle Keighery said: “It does seem a bit crazy. And when they presented it to me at first, I was a bit like '’are you serious? A wig flying through the air?' But actually, that was the humorous side of it”. She added the campaign also aimed to show that the airline wasn't just for passengers flying in business class.
Daily Mail

Greggs profits to soar, boosted by savvy marketing
Greggs reported on Monday that profits would be higher than previously expected, fuelled by sales of vegan sausage rolls and other new initiatives. Healthier food options, savvy publicity, eat-in stores and late-night opening trials have helped Greggs shrug off the troubles of many other well-known high-street chains. The firm said earlier this year that “publicity surrounding its vegan-friendly sausage roll” had boosted sales, with media outlets sent tasters of the quorn products in iPhone-style boxes.
Yahoo Finance

Reputational risk

Branson apologises over South African entrepreneurship centre launch
Sir Richard Branson has been accused of “excluding the majority of the population” of South Africa from a picture shared by the billionaire to launch a new entrepreneurship centre in the country. “Wonderful to be in South Africa to help launch the new Branson Centre of Entrepreneurship” a statement posted to his Twitter to mark the occasion said, “We aim to become the heart of entrepreneurship for Southern Africa”. However the image he shared alongside his announcement, which has since been deleted, was criticised by a number of South Africans for not better representing the ethnic makeup of the country his new centre will operate in. Fashion designer Thula Siundi wrote in response: “Where did you find so many white people in South Africa? That must have really taken an honest effort for exclude the majority of the population which is just as skilled and talented”.
The Independent

Technology

Newsworks boss speaks on digital advertising industry
Newsworks executive chairman Tracy De Groose told the Society of Editors annual conference that “digital advertising is broken”. She claimed that newspapers should be focused on selling journalism rather than advertising space, and noted that readers are seeking trusted sources of news and information as “fake news” and misinformation proliferates. De Groose also highlighted the increasing numbers of newspaper readers reading content online, and predicted that growth will continue to come from this area. She plans to discuss the digital advertising market at the United Nations next week.
Press Gazette Hold The Front Page

This briefing has been prepared by Early Morning Media.  If you are interested in a customised bespoke news briefing for you or your client across any vertical, please contact Charles.Webster@earlymorningmedia.co.uk