Vancouver, B.C. – (October 2, 2013)– Mason Williams, a leading and independent PR agency in the UK, this week joined the global IPREX network and became the third new partner-firm IPREX has acquired in recent weeks.
Last week, two PR agencies from Brazil and Jakarta also announced their partnership with IPREX.
IPREX is a global network consisting of 60 independent PR firms that operate in 100 cities with more than 1500 professionals.
“We’re happy to welcome Mason Williams to our international network,” says Ross Sullivan, Partner at Peak Communicators. ”As IPREX continues to expand, so does our ability to better serve clients on a global scale.”
Peak Communicators (Vancouver) and The Communications Group (Toronto) represent Canada in IPREX and are linked with 125 other PR-offices globally.
Mason Williams
Mason Williams, operating out of London and Manchester with a reputation for its results-oriented creative consumer brand work in toys, hair care, luxury, automotive, wine & beer and sport, with particular expertise in hotels and hospitality.
Established in 1986, Mason Williams has expanded its international work, with companies seeking to market golf resorts, property and hotels in mainland Europe to the UK.
The agency has built a strong digital practice, covering the subject from virtual reality to media evaluation, and also works in crisis preparedness and control, including specialist training to senior executives in handling their business reputations.
Clients include Two Sisters Food Group, Radisson Edwardian Hotels, Schwarzkopf, Henkel, Marriott County Hall and Accor Hotels.
As a proud partner of IPREX, a global network of 60 independent PR firms that operate in 72 cities with more than 1000 professionals, we are happy to announce the addition of Brazilian agency, Casa Da Noticia, and Jakarta-based strategic communication agency, Inke Maris & Associates.
New IPREX partnerships such as these are exciting as they further boost our capacity to engage on a global scale and offer quality PR and communications services to international clients.
Outlined below is an overview of the two new IPREX partners.
Casa Da Noticia
Founded in 1987, Casa da Notícia has additional offices in São Vicente and Mogi das Cruzes and has gained long experience of working with international companies in a range of industry sectors, particularly construction, automotive, entertainment, industry and services – in health, finance and consultancy.
The company’s clients include Saint-Gobain, Banco Fidis (Chrysler-Fiat division), Unimed, Volkswagen Foundation, Dayco and B. Braun. Many clients have been with the agency for several years, and one for over 20 years.In addition to media relations, the agency works in relationship management, events, media training, crisis communication and content and social media management.
IPREX Americas President Renzi Stone (Saxum, Oklahoma City) welcomed the company: “This is a strong, well-established agency that has built up an enviable reputation over 25 years. The team has plenty of experience of working across borders, and their deep sector knowledge will be valuable to IPREX partners and their clients.
“We’re delighted to welcome them to the expanding IPREX Americas group which now has 71 offices from Canada to Brazil, with over a thousand professional staff.”
Vanessa Xavier, Director of Client Service at Casa da Notícia, said “Our international experience has led us naturally to a global network of communication services with the reputation of IPREX. We are looking forward to using the communication skills we have developed over the years to help our new partners’ clients tap the vast potential of the Brazilian market.”
Inke Maris & Associates
Founded in 1986, Inke Maris & Associates provide strategic communication consulting services to multinationals, national companies and public institutions in Indonesia. They work in five main areas: corporate & public affairs; issues and crisis management; financial communication; marketing communication and social marketing communication.
About IPREX
IPREX is a $200 million network of communication agencies, with 1,500 staff and 100 offices worldwide working across the spectrum of industry sectors and practice disciplines.
Strategy. Possibly one of the most overused yet incorrectly used terms in business today.
Drop the word strategy into discussions around the boardroom table and people start to listen. Not only does it sound good but it is often associated with seniority, experience and high-level thinking. All very impressive. But over the years, I’ve sat in countless business and communications meetings where the word is thrown around, prodded at, sometimes discussed but frequently avoided when you drill down into the substance of what is actually being said, or not said. Forget the elephant, strategy has become the beast in the room – the one that everyone is aware of but no-one quite knows what to do with.
So what exactly is strategy and where do we go wrong with applying this concept?
I’ve spent some time trawling the internet for the best strategy definitions, examples, videos, common pitfalls and I was surprised to see a mess of content that struggles to define what it really is. I’m not saying I have the best definition either but I do remember attending a training session in London a few years back and our strategic master told us that, every time we struggled to articulate what the strategy of a plan was, think about war. After all, the word strategy comes from the Greek, stratēgia which loosely translates as the ‘art of leadership’, particularly in relation to the military.
To put this into context, the next time you have to define the strategy of a business or communications plan, think about what your plan of action is – how are you going to achieve the goals you’ve set out to achieve? How are you going to bring about the desired future (remember the: Where are we now? Where are we going? How will we get there?)? How would you summarize that high-level thinking?
Strategic Planning
This is where having a clear idea of your company’s/client’s purpose (mission), goal (vision) and values is imperative. Defining your competitive advantage is also key (undertaking a SWOT analysis – Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats – really helps too). This is ultimately what will distinguish your business from the rest. If you don’t understand this, your strategy cannot succeed. But once you have defined these points and are confident that you have a high-level plan of action in place that will achieve your end goal, you should quite easily be able to work the other elements of a strategic communications plan out:
Long- and short-term strategic objectives
Audience
Key messages
Tactics/actions
Roles and responsibilities (accountability is key in executing any plan)
Timeline
Measurement
Next steps
Common pitfalls
Some of the most common mistakes people make when talking strategy is that they start talking about objectives or tactics instead. It’s also very easy to create a strategic communications plan and then forget about it, or not make anyone accountable. A strategic plan will only be as good as the people who execute it. So you need to ensure that someone is the overall owner of the plan and that everyone else is clear on their deliverables. Communication is vital in the strategic planning process – ideally, multiple stakeholders should have input into the plan and the final plan should be presented to all stakeholders so that everyone is aware of it and understands its importance to the growth of the company.
Equally, progress reports should be shared regularly. And strategic plans do not need to be long. I’ve seen some bibles in my time which, quite frankly, make it difficult to digest page one knowing the long journey ahead. Keep them short, sweet and accessible – they’ll be far more useful this way.
Finally, it’s important to note that strategic plans should be living documents. They should be revisited regularly and updated according to the needs of the company and the demands of external factors.
Every year, BC Living, a publication that focuses on West Coast life, polls its readers to find out what is considered ‘best in class’ in our region.
BC Living separates respondents into four regions: Vancouver & Lower Mainland, Vancouver Island, Interior BC & Northern BC.
The poll quizzes people on many aspects of West Coast living: favourite coffee shop (in my opinion 49thParallel wins hands down and I’m delighted to see the broader Vancouver population agrees), the best patio (The Boathouse Restaurant), best desserts (Thomas Haas Chocolates & Patisserie) etc. The list goes on.
The most interesting is the ‘Best Local Media Personality’ category. The results from Vancouver & Lower Mainland region – all of which are TV personalities – are listed below:
Winner: Tamara Taggart, CTV
1st Runner Up: Sophie Lui, Global BC
2nd Runner Up: Squire Barnes, Global BC
It’s great to see two female TV personalities make this list, highlighting the gender shift over the years in the news room.
I also took a peek at the results from the other three regions polled. Outside of the lower mainland, radio personalities were a much bigger hit. The ‘Best Local Media Personality’ according to the readers from Vancouver Island are listed below:
Winner: Hudson Mack, CTV Vancouver Island
1st Runner Up: Ed Bain, The Q!
2nd Runner Up: Bruce Williams, CTV Vancouver Island
The ‘Best Local Media Personality’ according to the readers from the Interior:
Winner: Brian Martin, Sun FM
1st Runner Up: Mark Jeffries, EZ Rock
2nd Runner Up: Toby Tannas, CHBC News
The ‘Best Local Media Personality’ according to readers from Northern BC:
Winner: Betsy Trumpener, CBC
1st Runner Up: Mike Benny, 101.3 The River
2nd Runner Up: Dale Taylor, 97.5 The Rush
This kind of poll is extremely valuable. As a PR, it’s important to know what personalities resonate in different regions. We often organize events and invite local personalities to host; knowing who resonates with which audience ensures we identify the best person for the job. Thank you BC Living for conducting and collating this insightful data!
According to a telephone survey conducted by NRG Research Group and Peak Communicators, twenty-seven per cent of residents in the Lower Mainland claim they will attend this year’s Honda Celebration of Light festival. The survey was conducted on July 22nd and 23rd amongst 400 participants from Vancouver and across the Lower Mainland.
Twenty-seven per cent is a significant number considering it doesn’t include tourists or residents who are planning to attend multiple shows. The survey further indicates 90 per cent awareness of the festival, with 80 per cent of participants maintaining a favourable impression of this popular Vancouver event. Furthermore, sixty-three per cent of participants stated they had attended the event at least once in the last five years.
“This shows a strong interest in the festival, which has become an iconic Vancouver tradition and one of the most popular fireworks displays in North America,” says Brian Owen, CEO of NRG Research Group. “With the high level of awareness and support indicated by the survey, this year’s event could well attract record crowds.”
The survey has a confidence interval of +/- 4.9 per cent 19 times out of 20. It is weighted to be represented by age, gender and whether the participant is from Vancouver or elsewhere in the Lower Mainland.
For further details, check out the Global BC article or listen to the News 1130 interview with Brian Owen below.
The good news story focused on a dog named Rumble who had been shot during a home break in. The owner had spent $3,500 on treatment but an expensive operation was necessary. The Vancouver based veterinary hospital agreed to donate its services, and Peak capitalized on this from a media relations perspective. Peak worked to distance its client from a former employee who had been charged with a criminal act involving an animal; it also found a good-news story to promote just after the crisis had passed.
This generated widespread positive publicity:
Led to more than $25,000 worth of public donations following the media coverage. This money was used to create a fund for other animals in need of care that would otherwise be euthanized
Created the highest website traffic to the veterinary hospital in 2012 during the week of Rumble’s surgery
Led to one concerned citizen knitting a dog sweater and then driving hundreds of kilometers to deliver it to Rumble at the veterinary hospital
We also received an ‘Honourable Mention’ for the ‘Best Fitness/Health Campaign’ for our work with Canadian Diabetes Association.
This is a great start to Peak’s second decade in business!
Peak has been announced as finalists in the 2013 Ragan PR Daily Awards. Ragan’s awards are regarded as some of the most prestigious in the PR and communications industry worldwide. They recognize excellence in employee communications, corporate, nonprofit and agency PR and marketing, social media and digital PR, executive communications, health care PR and marketing.
The Ragan PR Daily Awards have received notable recognition throughout the industry and attracted respected PR firms from around the globe. The team at Ragan has stated they are “blown away” by the number of exceptional entries put forward.
Given the volume of competition, Peak is delighted to be announced as finalists in three categories for the PR Daily Awards and the team highly anticipates the winner announcements in late June.
Peak has been declared finalists in the following two award categories, and our client, Avigilon, has been shortlisted as well;
Best Crisis Management – Traditional Media
For Canada West Veterinary Specialists (CWVS)
Best Fitness/Health Campaign – Community Relations/Special Campaigns
For the Canadian Diabetes Association (CDA)
Best Client of the Year – Talent
For Avigilon
“We’re extremely happy with our achievements so far,” says Charlotte Sherry, Account Director at Peak Communicators. ”Our team of PR specialists has worked tirelessly over the past 12 months to deliver creative campaigns. We are delighted to have made the finalist list.”
Today Business in Vancouver (BIV) released its annual list of the “Biggest public relations firms in B.C.,” ranking Peak as the largest locally-owned PR firm in the province and the overall fifth biggest PR firm in B.C. this year.
The 2013 BIV list marks Peak’s third year ranked as B.C.’s largest locally-owned firm since its founding in 2003.
“2013 has been a significant year for Peak so far with our 10 year anniversary, new international clients, expansion of our service offerings and a number of new team members,” says Managing Partner Ross Sullivan.
The “Biggest public relations firms in B.C.” list ranks firms based on the number of B.C. public relations staff in a given year. In 2013, international/national firms Edelman, NATIONAL Public Relations, Hill+Knowlton Strategies and Fleishman-Hillard were named the four biggest PR firms in B.C. with teams ranging from 18-49 members in size.
Peak hosted its annual birthday party last night but this year was juuust a little more special than years’ past. Time has flown and, incredibly, 2013 marked 10 years for Peak!
Over the last decade Peak has grown into the largest Vancouver-based PR agency and we wanted to celebrate our success together with our clients and friends, without whom the last 10 years would not have been possible.
The party was held at Coast’s O-Lounge, located just around the corner from Peak’s headquarters on Robson. Nearly 80 guests—from clients to media to partner agencies and consultants—came out to toast our next 10 years with wine, beer and delectable appies.
You can check out more photos at Peak’s Facebook page. Thank you again to everyone who joined us—here’s to the next 10 years!
Strategy. Possibly one of the most overused yet incorrectly used terms in business today.
