Pitch Watch: Five agencies short-listed for McDonald’s; Uber appoints agency; Cisco reviews PR account
Mumbrella casts a regular eye over some of the media, creative and PR pitches in market.
In this (all-PR) wrap up: McDonald’s, Uber, Cisco, MyDeal, Tonic PR, Liquid Ideas, Haystac and Sling & Stone.
PR agencies battle it out for McDonald’s
Five PR agencies are thought to be in contention for the McDonald’s PR account, which the restaurant chain put out for pitch in April.
Mumbrella understands incumbents Mango and PPR are battling it out for the account against Eleven PR, One Green Bean and Ogilvy.
The local PR pitch comes as McDonald’s in the US reviews its creative agency arrangements with the view to find a single creative agency to work on its business.
The US pitch has seen WPP decline to move forward, leaving Omnicom (DDB) and Publicis (Leo Burnett) as the two remaining competitors.
All contacted agencies declined to comment.
Uber appoints PR agency
Ride-sharing app Uber has appointed One Green Bean to handle its PR account locally. Mumbrella understands the appointment follows a pitch process called back in April.
Uber is notorious for its PR-led marketing stunts including Uber Kittens and Uber Puppies.
Last year Uber appointed HM Communications as its media agency.
One Green Bean declined to comment.
Cisco reviews PR
Cisco, an IT networking solutions company, is in the process of reviewing its local PR account, Mumbrella understands.
A Cisco spokesperson told Mumbrella: “Cisco consistently reviews existing strategic suppliers in line with our global preferred supplier program. We are conducting a review to align to Cisco’s Global Corporate Communications preferred supplier and will cover PR retainer agencies within Australia and New Zealand.”
Hotwire handles the Cisco PR account in Australia and New Zealand while Text100 is Cisco’s global agency.
MyDeal.com.au appoints PR agency
Melbourne-based PR agency Icon PR has been appointed by online retailer MyDeal.com.au.
The agency will handle PR and corporate communications for the online retailer.
Icon’s group managing director, Joanne Painter, said in a statement: “We are really excited to be working with MyDeal.com.au and to add them to our growing lifestyle portfolio. The agency continues to impress with strong strategic and results-driven approaches to programs.
“MyDeal.com.au has an amazing business model and story to share. As a rapidly growing player in the online retail space, MyDeal.com.au is a perfect fit for Icon, given our experience and existing work with other lifestyle brands.”
Sean Senvirtne, founder and CEO of MyDeal.com.au, said: “We are excited to engage Icon PR and look forward to working closely with their team to share our success and story to date. The partnership with Icon PR comes at an important stage in our journey. Icon’s understanding of the media landscape and how to reach stakeholders was a key factor in our decision.”
Tonic PR expands with six new wins
Food, drink and hospitality communications specialist Tonic PR has expanded its portfolio with six new client wins.
These include: The Streets of Barangaroo, Mad Mex, East London at The London Hotel in Paddington, La Renaissance Patisserie, as well as two restaurants opening in early August – Bouche on Bridge and Tequila Mockingbird.
The Streets of Barangaroo has engaged Tonic PR to assist with media relations and influencer engagement around the phased launch of the waterfront promenade.
Mad Mex has appointed the agency for national media and influencer relations as well as strategy, content creation and community management for its social channels.
Tonic PR will also be developing and managing the communications plans for three new restaurants: newly opened Asian-inspired restaurant East London in Paddington; Bouche on Bridge, a modern European dining and bar set for an August opening in the CBD; and Latin American-inspired Tequila Mockingbird in Paddington, also opening in August.
La Renaissance Patisserie has also engaged Tonic PR to assist with the communications strategy and execution around its soon-to-open Waterloo patisserie and French-trained chef Jean Michel-Raynaud.
Liquid Ideas grows client list by six
Liquid Ideas has added six new clients to its portfolio, including: Continental Cup-A-Soup, The Paddington Inn, Kellogg’s, Drinks Association, Margan Family Wines and Produce Marketing Australia – Kanzi & Greenstar Apples.
Unilever’s Continental Cup-A-Soup has appointed Liquid Ideas to handle its content creation for the brand’s social media channels.
The agency will be handling the re-launch of The Paddington Hotel, while for Kellogg’s it has been appointed to curate the brand’s new consumer platform openforbreakfast.com.au. Liquid Ideas’ content team is creating all-video content, animations and infographics to answer consumers’ questions.
Similarly the agency is creating an animated show-reel for the Drinks Association.
For Margan Family Wines, Liquid Ideas carried out a media famil and influencer campaign to mark the brand’s 20th birthday.
Produce Marketing Australia has appointed the agency to run an influencer campaign with recipe creation to support Kanzi and Greenstar Apples.
Haystac Brisbane expands client list by five
Haystac Brisbane has added five new clients, including Subway, Youi Insurance, Sigma Pharmaceuticals, Bundaberg Brewed Drinks and Capilano Honey.
Subway was awarded the Brisbane-based agency the ongoing retainer for its PR account with the agency tasked with supporting Subway’s annual Surf Series and launching the brand’s new multigrain wrap offering to Aussie consumers.
Australian pharma company, Sigma Pharmaceuticals, has enlisted the services of the Brisbane team to help promote the professional services offering in Amcal and Guardian Pharmacies, nationwide.
Sigma Pharmaceuticals spokesperson Rachel Kosmala said the business selected Haystac as an retained agency partner based on its solid background in health PR and obvious understanding of the consumer health market.
“Haystac impressed us with their in-depth knowledge of the health landscape, highly creative thinking and sound strategic understanding where we want, and need, to position our Amcal and Guardian Pharmacy brands in the consumer marketplace,” she said.
“We’ve seen some tremendous results so far, including a highly successful campaign during Coeliac Awareness Week, and we’re excited to see what else they’ll bring to the table as 2016 progresses.”
Both Youi Insurance and Capilano Honey have appointed the agency to assist with corporate and brand strategy.
Head of Haystac Brisbane, Haylie Marchant, said: “Several of our leads have come through word-of-mouth recommendation, which is testament to the professionalism, ability and creativity of the team.
“We’re delighted to be working with some of the country’s leading brands in the health, FMCG, food and finance sectors, and we’re looking forward to seeing further successes for Haystac Brisbane throughout the rest of the year.”
Sling & Stone adds nine clients to roster
PR agency Sling & Stone has expanded its roster of clients by nine with new clients including: Guzman y Gomez, Slack, Xero, Seatfrog, Koala, Hypetap, Trov, MailGuard and FreshDesk.
The client growth comes as the agency has promoted Kasi Reynolds to the role of head of consumer and international while James Hutchison has taken on the head of business technology position. Kyda de Rome will manage operations, excellence and continued growth as general manager of Sydney.
The agency has also appointed Kerrie O’Callaghan as account director, Eva Yao as senior account manager, Kate Rolfe as senior account manager, Jonas Tobias and Christian Chelvan as account managers and Amelia Banks, Gabby Shofer and Mark Evans as account executives.
Sling & Stone founder & CEO Vuki Vujasinovic said:“We don’t take for granted that we are in a position to be able to choose the clients we partner with. Working with such interesting people and brands is infectious, exciting, and combined with how we run our business, has been vital in attracting and retaining such an awesome team.
“I didn’t think we’d still be growing at this pace six years in, but here we are. It’s challenging, rewarding, and a whole lot of fun. We’re all getting to do the best work of our careers alongside passionate, smart people and clients.
“There’s a real energy around the work we are doing, and it really feels like we’re just getting started. We know growing from 1 to 25 people is very different to growing from 25 to 50, and that will bring with it a whole new set of challenges. But we’re ready and we’re looking forward to helping every great challenger, disrupter, and entrepreneur change the world around them.”
Miranda Ward worked for Mumbrella from 2013 to 2017, eventually becoming deputy editor. Miranda joined Mumbrella in September 2013 from Sky News.
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McDonald's
One Green Bean
pitch watch
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Tonic PR
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