LONDON — Strategic communications agency WA Communications has hired veteran Labour Party adviser Jennifer Gerber as a senior political adviser. WA is the latest public affairs firm to ramp up its Labour Party experience in the run-up to the UK General Election and in anticipation of the first Labour government for 14 years; Grayling also announced the arrival of former Blair adviser Tanya Joseph this week to its senior advisory board. During the last Labour government, Gerber was a special adviser across three high-profile cabinet portfolios, providing strategic advice to ministers at HM Tr ..read more

In our Headliners series of conversations, we get under the skin of PR and communications leaders around the world who have made PRovoke Media headlines recently, uncovering what they see as the greatest challenges and opportunities for the industry, where they find inspiration (and how they switch off), what they’ve learned about themselves, as well as the creative campaigns they love and the work they are most proud of. In this week's Q&A, we speak to Matthew Lackie, global CEO of Axicom, which is merging with Brazil's Ideal to form an international tech agency within Burson. What are ..read more

In this episode of the PRovoke Media podcast, in partnership with Cirkle, we discuss the growing importance of B2B influencers. Maja Pawinska Sims talks to Amy Searle, B2B managing director of UK consumer, corporate and B2B agency Cirkle, and Mike Chapman, head of wholesale at PepsiCo. The conversation covers Cirkle’s latest Trading Up report on how to use influencers to boost B2B campaigns and the agency’s Retailer Inner Cirkle initiative, as well as PepsiCo’s introduction of the Extra Flamin’ Hot range across its Doritos, Walkers and Wotsits brands, as an example of a smart pre-launch partne ..read more

LONDON — Britvic has appointed Coolr as its retained social media agency, after a competitive pitch. Coolr’s remit as the drinks giant’s social agency of record covers all social media content and campaigns across Britvic brands including Tango, Mathieu Teisseire, Aqua Libra, Robinsons, J2O, Fruit Shoot and London Essence. The agency is tasked with “leaning heavily into content, innovation and driving cultural relevance” to connect the brands to their audience in new ways. Britvic’s social media work was previously handled by its in-house digital agency, Infused. Britvic’s head of digital m ..read more

LONDON — Independent UK healthcare communications specialist agency EatMoreFruit has created a network of boutique healthcare agencies across Europe to support clients across the diagnostics, med tech, life sciences and pharmaceutical sectors. The first members of the EatMoreFruit European Network are: PR-B, covering France, Italy and Spain; SER Communications covering the DACH and Benelux regions; and Agenda CPH, serving the Nordics. EatMoreFruit – which rebranded from Road Communications two years ago – works with clients including Smith & Nephew, Bausch & Lomb, American Wellness C ..read more

LONDON – Global technology agency Hotwire has launched an AI Innovation team and the first of a suite of proprietary AI tools to help clients understand how their brands and products show up in generative AI and chatbots. The agency has appointed Sven Winnefeld (pictured) as vice president, AI Innovation to lead the new team globally, advising clients on AI strategies and communications programs as well as developing further AI tools. Winnefield, who is based in Frankfurt, has been at Hotwire for more than eight years and was previously a strategy director. Hotwire’s first AI tool, GAIO.tech ..read more

LONDON — Grayling has appointed corporate and public affairs specialist Tanya Joseph to its senior advisory board in the UK, to provide counsel to clients in the run-up to the General Election and beyond. Joseph (pictured) will draw on her experience working within the Labour Government, where she worked with former prime minister Tony Blair for four years, including during his 2005 General Election campaign. The move marks a return to Grayling for Joseph, who was MD of UK public affairs at the agency between 2003 and 2010. She was also an MD at Hill & Knowlton, and has held senior posit ..read more

SINGAPORE — Despite considerable interest and optimism around generative AI, business leaders have yet to effectively articulate their AI plans. This was one of the findings of WE Communications' latest Brands in Motion study, which surveyed 2900 global technology executives across eight markets. The study, entitled Bridging the AI Expectation Gap, has revealed that 83% of business leaders are optimistic about the benefits AI will bring to their organization while 92% have at least some concerns around the greater adoption of AI in their organization. 37% of business leaders&nb ..read more

Which are the fastest-growing PR firms across the world, and by geography? Our 2024 Global Agency Rankings reveal all ..read more

LONDON — Grayling UK has launched its first design and production studio, Humble Mavericks, which will work with clients including Nestlé and Deliveroo across the agency’s offices in the UK, Singapore and Hong Kong. The studio – which will focus on branding, social media campaigns and animation – will operate round the clock, supported by Grayling’s creative, strategy, research, data and analytics teams. One of Grayling UK’s creative directors, Dom Desmond, becomes head of Humble Mavericks, and the studio has hired two new team members: senior designer Sital Mistry, who joins from Kindred, a ..read more