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Fiona Hughes, Head of Consumer interviews Sasha Slater, Editor of aMuse Magazine, Pomp Magazine and Consultant for The Times Magazine

18 May 2012
by Fiona Hughes
Tags: aMuse Magazine, Firefly communications, interview, London, Sasha Slater

Fiona: I loved the first issue of aMuse – who is it aimed at?

Sasha: Affluent London women aged between 25 and 45 with a passion for fashion. We were overwhelmed with the response to our launch issue, so it seems there are a lot of these women out there, hungry for a magazine that talks to them.

 Fiona: aMuse is a first: a free monthly title. What’s your vision for the title? 

Sasha: I would love to see aMuse achieve a distinctive presence in the free magazine market in London. From a reader’s point of view, I want our readers to look forward to the last Monday of the month, not just for payday but because that’s when they’ll be able to pick up their copy of aMuse. I want them to love the magazine and identify with our positive view of London women and our tremendous achievements.

Fiona: What’s aMuse’s social media strategy?

Sasha: We are on Facebook and gathering friends at pace, and the office is filled with enthusiastic tweeters who use Twitter (@amuse_mag) to update our readers on events, new products and any random object of desire that catches their eye. We’re shortly to launch on Pinterest and will have an aMuse magazine app in September.

Fiona: What’s your view on free publications – what is their place in the media landscape and will we see more of them?

Sasha: As a former editor of ES Magazine, and deputy editor of The Times Magazine which are both, effectively, free publications, I absolutely think there’s a place for free publications in the media landscape. Readers now expect the highest quality from their free titles – and they are right to. And of course, where the readers go, the advertisers follow.

Fiona: You’ve been a journalist for 15 years, what’s been your best bit?

Sasha: aMuse is the first launch I’ve worked on and it’s been the most tremendously exciting, rollercoaster ride. It’s been a chance to dream up a magazine from scratch which is full of the stories, people and trends that I love. Definitely the best bit.

Fiona: And your worst?

Sasha: My first job was at Cosmopolitan Magazine and I’m struggling to decide which was the worst bit. Yes, I have it! Dressing up as a nun to run round Hyde Park on the hottest day of the year, having my photo taken for a story about nuns putting small ads in recruitment magazines.

Fiona: What’s been your proudest achievement?

Sasha: I’m deeply proud of aMuse and the team who work on the magazine, who are just so talented and brilliant with great futures. I’m also hugely proud of getting Kate Moss for the most recent cover of Pomp Magazine.

Fiona: And how can PRs best work with you across your three titles?

Sasha: I’m in the lucky position of being able to work with three totally different and very strong brands, so if a story doesn’t work for one of them, it might well work for another. I love hearing about anything new that’s happening in London, preferably via email in the first instance.

Poacher turned gamekeeper: when you have experienced both tribes, who is the jungle VIP?

by Simon Bibby
Tags: Firefly communications, in-house, PR agency, PR industry

Firefly Senior Account Manager, Simon Bibby on why to be king of the swingers you need to walk and talk on both sides of public relations.

When conversations with industry folk turns to how my career in PR has taken me to my new role at Firefly, I know my in-house background is a good conversation starter. A common question is which discipline I prefer. Having given it some serious thought (then deciding I needed to use Jungle Book metaphors to explain it), it’s an unanswerable question that ask.com could have featured in one of my favourite 2010 tactical press releases.

It’s possible to argue a case for both; however the best answer is to do both. It’s the only way to guarantee a leopard changes its spots and in doing so, ensure a PRO understands the pressures and needs of both prowls.

The established norm with agency folk is that you learn your living in agencies first, and then earn your living in-house.  Having chosen a different path already in my career, I can see obvious pit falls in their concept that you rise in an agency and then step into “semi-retirement” in your in-house home.

Now I’m back agency side (I first worked in an agency after studying PR at Uni – the merits of which is a debate for another blog), here’s what I appreciate and respect about in-house heroes:

• They know an industry and its media inside out
• They work with executive stakeholders across different disciplines
• They understand how to build relationships with non-paymasters
• They don’t just talk it – they do understand the bigger picture
• Working as a function that doesn’t directly generate revenue, they have to constantly justify their existence and importance in the company food chain

Now I’m working for a successful and driven EMEA PR agency, here’s what I understand about agency action junkies:

• We have to be meticulous, analytical and know the value of time resources and a plan of action
• The risk and rewards are greater. You can progress faster, but if you can’t deliver you will be found out
• We are constantly striving for balance; balance between content generation and execution and the desire to produce your best against the time constraints
• A valued in-house colleague can open up internal contacts and content for the agency to craft media opportunities, allowing them to fulfill their role as expert media consultants
• There are constant commercial pressures

These values are interchangeable, but unless you have played out both scenarios, it can be difficult to see that both sides are more alike than most people think. In the end it comes down to how you contribute to business growth, which at a granular level is determined by the human condition.

This is something Mowgli gets by the end of The Jungle Book and should be a bear necessity for fulfilling your PR potential.

Best of British? The opportunities that the Jubilee offers to brands and PR consultants

by Fiona Hughes
Tags: brands, British, consumer PR, Diamond Jubilee, Firefly communications

The consumer PR content calendar is full of those “natural” opportunities, that the seasoned PR professional loves and hates in equal measure. Valentines Day, Easter, Mother’s Day, Father’s Day, Back to School, Breast Cancer Awareness Month, Halloween, ‘Movember’, Christmas… the list goes on and on.

This year, adding to that mix are two extra summertime “PR opportunities” (as we and our clients love to call them).  Both neatly plug the “occasion gap” that tends to take place in the early-mid summer. The Queen’s Diamond Jubilee (5^th June) and The Olympics: London 2012 (27^th July-12^th August) – both give brands the theoretical chance to emotionally engage with their audience over a shared national occasion.

For London 2012, the chance is indeed theoretical in the most part, though… The Olympics, with all of the associated jurisdiction, means potential engagement riches for worldwide partners that include global power-brands such as Coca-Cola, McDonalds and P&G, and London 2012 partners including BMW, BT and EDF – but not for chancer brands trying to tactically “jump on the bandwagon”.

So it’s no wonder that it’s the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee instead, where we’ve already seen brands exercising their creativity to engage with their audience. It’s been fascinating from a brand perspective, to watch how brand managers and their marketing and PR teams, have embraced this seasonal opportunity for patriotism – often sprinkled with some distinctively British humour.

So, what makes Britain, British?  What makes Great Britain, Great?

The marmite sandwich of course! Or sorry, should that be the Ma’amite sandwich? And of course, it could only be on Queensmill. A very patriotic looking and sounding sandwich indeed.

And what about the traditional British cup of tea and a Kitkat at 3pm?  Or as it will be for a limited time only, a Britkat.  Or if you’d prefer a bit of variety in your chocolate, how about a box of Jubilations, perfect for sharing around at your jubilee party?

Quintessentially British too of course (much as some of us may like it not to be) is the garden gnome. Which is why B&Q was one the first brands to take the opportunity to create a patriotic limited edition. Introducing Diamond Jubilee Gnomes – B&Q’s opportunity to cash in on the “royal”ties.  Riches that will be seen in terms of PR value more than sales value, “one” suspects.

All of these limited editions are quintessentially British, all with a bit of humour (some of which makes us cringe even as we laugh).  Some could say that this sums up the Royals themselves too.

Happy Jubilee Bank Holiday Weekend from all of us at Firefly!

The Centre for Effective Dispute Resolution (CEDR) brings in Firefly for campaign support

14 May 2012
by Ana Mangahas
Tags: CEDR, CEDR Foundation, Centre for Effective Dispute Resolution, Firefly

The Centre for Effective Dispute Resolution (CEDR) has re-enlisted Firefly’s issues-based PR services following successful project collaboration in 2010.

Originally tasked with raising mainstream awareness of alternative dispute resolution (ADR) and establishing CEDR as a leading voice in the industry, the latest brief will see Firefly focus on the organisation’s not-for-profit work via the CEDR Foundation. This will include support for some of CEDR’s most ambitious undertakings to date, including UK Public Inquiry reform and corporate governance dispute resolution.

The campaign will encompass two core projects, the first being CEDR’s ‘Inquiry into Public Inquiries’, being undertaken in partnership with former Chief Justice of England and Wales, Lord Woolf of Barnes. The project will assess the role ADR can play in improving the Public Inquiries process. The second project involves CEDR’s partnership with the International Finance Corporation (IFC), forged to equip emerging market businesses with the right tools to handle board-level disputes. In both cases, Firefly is providing PR counsel and awareness-raising via top-tier media relations.

Andy Rogers, associate director at CEDR said, “From a PR perspective, our campaign focus is on topics – including board conflict and Public Inquiries – that have significant media currency. In choosing Firefly, we are re-engaging with an effective PR partner who can create the right environment to discuss CEDR’s evolution, including our pro-bono work.”

Firefly Communications nominated for a Holmes Group EMEA SABRE Award

30 April 2012
by Fiona Hughes
Tags: Firefly communications, give as you live, Holmes Group, SABRE Awards

We’re delighted to have been nominated for a Holmes Report’s EMEA SABRE Award, for our Give as you Live “All I Want for Christmas” Campaign.

The SABREs are often thought of as “Oscars” of the PR industry – and with these gorgeous golden trophies, you can see why:

Our Give as you Live “All I Want for Christmas” campaign, which we talked about in a blog post back in November 2011, also made the PR Moment Golden Hedgehog south shortlist ; making this our second award nomination of 2012, for this PR campaign.

We have been nominated in the EMEA SABRE’s “Web based Business” category.  In the nominations, we sit alongside web based brands Netmums and Totaljobs amongst others; and alongside PR agencies including Brands2Life and The Red Consultancy.

It’s great news for us – and the PR industry – that, in shortlisting us, the judges recognise the impact that well-executed PR and social media-led campaigns can have on hard web-based business results.

Our “All I Want for Christmas” campaign, saw Give as you Live’s shopper numbers increase by over 65% in the important build-up to Christmas.  That’s a lot more Give as you Live shoppers; all raising funds for the charity of their choice at no extra cost, and spreading the word with their friends and networks.

Utilising social media networks to spread words and raise funds, has now become an important success model for our client, Give as you Live.  The “All I Want for Christmas” campaign inspired a new campaign called Mums for Good, which Firefly worked with Give as you Live and its marketing agency, to bring to life.

This brand new, PR-led campaign aims to work with the large and influential BritMums community, to create 10,000 new shoppers for Give as you Live, all incorporating this new fundraising tool into their daily shopping habits, to reveal the hidden millions available to UK charities.

We’re excited about attending the 2012 SABRE Awards EMEA ceremony, at the end of May in Brussels – we shall report back!