Business on the move: Account wins and reviews from Claremont, WPP, Geometry Global and more

Claremont

Claremont Social Communications has been appointed as the retained public affairs agency for Confor, a non-government organisation that promotes sustainable forestry and wood production, following a competitive pitch.

The agency will support the membership organisation in its ongoing aim to help build public and political support for UK forests, domestic timber and wood products.

Claremont will also be working alongside Confor’s existing Scottish public affairs agency Public Affairs Cooperative to help create the policy and political commitment to deliver more UK tree planting.

Geometry Global

Geometry Global UK has been appointed by London mayor Boris Johnson’s ‘Penny for London’ charity scheme as it looks to raise awareness and drive registrations.

The charity, run in partnership with TfL and Clear Channel, is designed to help disadvantaged young Londoners via contactless payments. People register contactless cards and make “micro-donations” of between 1p and 10p, with a daily limit of 99p, every day they travel by TfL tube or bus and every time they visit retail partners currently including Caffè Nero and Leon Restaurants.

Sarah Todd, CEO Geometry Global UK, said: “The idea that small and frequent donations can make a big difference in young people’s lives is fantastic. And as an agency inspired by transforming how people buy – we’re thrilled to partner with Penny for London to help make it easy for shoppers and travellers to donate. The growth in confidence we've seen in contactless payments at retail means Penny for London is set to make a big difference in helping young Londoners now and for the future.”

ResearchBods

Costa Coffee has chosen Leeds-based digital research agency, ResearchBods, to recruit, build and manage an insight community for the brand.

The insight community is a new research tool for Costa, and will allow the coffee company to gain instant customer feedback. It can be used to trial new products and packaging, as well as many other customer insight tools such as surveys, polls and diary studies.

Carol Welch, brand and innovation director at Costa said “We understand the importance of giving our customers a voice. The Costa community will do just that, allowing us to gain a greater understanding of what our customers want from the Costa brand and providing us with priceless insight into how we can learn and adapt to suit their tastes and needs.”

Roast

Furniture retailer Heal’s has appointed recently launched online agency, Roast as its SEO partner to drive online visibility.

Activity will start this month and marks the first time Heal’s, which was established in 1810, has enlisted an agency for on-going search engine optimisation.

Beattie

Creative communications agency Beattie has been selected by Finsbury Food Group to support the company’s new product launches.

Finsbury Food Group, which manufactures cakes and bread, will first work with Beattie for the launch of a product the company has created for Thorntons.

The agency will implement a UK wide social, PR and experiential campaign in a bid to put the product in the hands of more consumers.

Natalie Nairn, Brand Manager at Finsbury, said: “We are looking forward to the roll-out of an exciting campaign that has been expertly tailored to our brand portfolio and target audience. The creativity and efficiency that the Beattie team has demonstrated has been exceptional, and we can't wait to see the results of our partnership."

Rich Leigh & Company

Ultimate Performance Fitness, a high-end personal training studio, has appointed consumer PR agency Rich Leigh & Company to promote its premium services and fitness expertise.

Rich Leigh & Company will work to highlight the personal service the training service delivers, as well as the story behind it and its founder, celebrity trainer, Nick Mitchell.

Agency founder Rich Leigh said of the win: “When I first spoke to Nick, I asked him what made his brand stand out from all the other personal fitness businesses out there because, of course, there are a lot. I could see, for him, it was all about treating each client as an individual. Nick’s reputation as one of, if not the best trainer in the world precedes him. This excellence is obvious throughout the entire business.”

WPP

BHS has appointed Publicis UK to a retail and content brief to reinvigorate the British department store’s key events.

The agency was hired after a competitive pitch against a number of other leading agencies and will now deliver a bespoke piece of content due to launch later this year. Vivid Brand, the strategically-led shopper marketing agency acquired by Publicis UK earlier this year, will also be working with BHS on the identity for key trading events.

Victoria Hughes, senior marketing manager at BHS said the company was “really excited to be working with Publicis UK”on multiple platforms to help re-energise the brand.

Stand

Commercial Processing Centre (CPC), a UK finance broker and packager, has brought on Stand Agency to launch its communications activity targeting professional property investors.

In an integrated approach, Stand is kicking off traditional media relations activity, alongside social media, marketing and a brand and website relaunch, working with design company Jory&Co.

Building on CPC’s existing industry reputation, Stand will creatw a new look and feel for CPC and help amplify its voice in the market through targeted thought leadership.

Global

Cultural Communications

Cultural Communications has been appointed to lead the international rebrand for charity RAFT (Restoration of Appearance and Function Trust).

The diverse brief includes overseeing a consumer-facing PR campaign focusing on key UK and US markets. This will comprise business and lifestyle media relations, strategic brand partnerships and high-net influencer relations as part of the charity’s ambition to reach a £10m fundraising target by 2020.

Initial activity will include the launch of ‘The Life after Breast Cancer Fund’ campaign as part of Breast Cancer Awareness Month in October.