MJD Consultancy gets new platform for growth

COVENTRY advertising agency, MJD Consultancy, has become part of the Plattform group, the largest education-focused advertising agency in the United States.

MJD, founded in 2006, will become the face of the group’s European activities and will retain its base in Coventry but at a different location.

The consultancy, which began as a two-person team, now comprises more than 20 people and has moved to bigger premises at the city’s Electric Wharf.

Emma Ward, one of the original team, said: “When we were approached by Plattform to be part of their organisation, it was something that we didn’t need to think about. We were doing amazing things for a relatively small team and thought that with the resources of such a prestigious US company behind us, our client base would expand and we could offer more in terms of creative input.

“It was important for Marcel Dalziel, who founded MJD, and myself, to keep our operations in Coventry. This is our home city, it’s where MJD first started and we like the fact that when we grow, we are creating jobs in Coventry.”

As Plattform UK, the team is focused on the higher education sector and has clients all over the UK and in Europe.  Its work ranges from media campaigns for Coventry University and Coventry University College, to helping to recruit students to overseas universities.

Pukka test for Aston marketing students

MARKETING students at Aston Business School felt the heat after being put to the test in front of the region’s leading advertising experts.
 
A dozen teams were put under the spotlight presenting in an Apprentice-style pitch in-front of a senior team from integrated communications agency, McCann Birmingham and one of the agency’s leading clients, Pukka Pies.
 
McCann Birmingham has supported Aston’s Strategic Brand Management module for four years. The module culminates in a real marketing brief from one of McCann’s clients and this year students were given the task of developing a fictional three-year communications plan to support Pukka Pies’ range of chilled pies.
 
The students were given a month to prepare their presentations and were briefed to explore target audience, brand strategy and the creative story.  All the students involved in the project received an award to recognise their work on the project.
 

Press Club bowled over the Worcester’s new hotel

MEMBERS of the Birmingham Press Club left their usual city centre haunts to offer their support to businesses in Worcester looking to boost the area’s recovery following the devastating winter floods.

The Press Club was invited to a reception to mark the opening of the new £7.5m Premier Inn adjacent to Worcestershire County Cricket Club’s New Road ground.

The development of the 120-bed hotel has acted as a catalyst for the cricket club to invest a further £3m into new facilities and executive suites at its famous ground. The two developments have also created more than 45 new jobs.

David Leatherdale, Chief Executive of Worcestershire County Cricket Club, said “We are delighted with the transformation that our partnership with Premier Inn has brought to the ground.   

“We can now offer facilities we can be proud of 52 weeks a year – rather than just during the cricket season – and develop our plan to be a 365-day a year business providing the club with a viable and sustainable future.”
 
Central News presenter Bob Warman, who is President of Birmingham Press Club, added: “The new facilities have come at an ideal time when Worcester itself is stepping up its tourism offer after the recent devastating floods.”
 
Pictured at the event are: John Bates, Head of Acquisitions UK & Ireland, Whitbread Hotels & Restaurants (with bat), David Leatherdale, Chief Executive of Worcestershire County Cricket Club (centre) and Birmingham Press Club President Bob Warman.