Six staff 'in consultation' but new work emerges from BJL
Ad agency BJL has entered into a consultation period with a 'small number' of staff which may result in redundancies, The Drum has learned. The agency has also unveiled a new 'Cotsafe' campaign after being appointed by Manchester NHS.
The agency's managing director, Nicky Unsworth, explained that the consultation process - involving six staff from a number of departments, including creative - was intended to 're-shape' the business in line with changing market conditions.
Unsworth said: "We are undertaking some re-shaping and strengthening of the agency to reflect business demand and market conditions.
"We continue to build PR, digital, planning and social marketing teams and are in consultation with a small number of people in other areas."
Meanwhile, the agency, which employs over 70 staff at its Sunlight House base, is set to launch a new social marketing campaign to reduce the statistics of cot death in Manchester this Christmas.
The ‘Be Cotsafe’ campaign – a partnership between Manchester NHS and the Foundation of the Study into Sudden Infant Death – will be unveiled to regional media at a press launch tomorrow.
The new campaign, launched on Universal Children’s Day, will look to educate Manchester parents and carers on safe sleeping practices, with a view to directly influencing the statistics. Sixty percent of the sudden infant deaths which occur in Manchester are as a direct result of a baby sleeping in a bed with parents or on the sofa.
The social marketing initiative spans a wide range of solutions through a mix of outdoor, press and ambient media and community initiatives and PR.
Ethna Dillon, vulnerable babies manager and project leader, said: "The campaign with BJL takes the connotations of Cot Death and turns it into a campaignable message we can use moving forward.”
Sarah Knight, head of PR at BJL, added: "The social marketing initiative will ensure we take the message direct to our target communities, through conversations with midwives, health visitors and GPs, backed up by targeted media awareness.
"What we all hope is that we make a real difference to the statistics in Manchester.”