Media mix: Uniform wins University of British Columbia pitch; Bird’s 21’s birthday joy; and more
LIVERPOOL creative agency Uniform has won an international pitch to work with DDB Canada on a new campaign for the University of British Columbia (UBC).
The agency produced two animated films for marketing communications agency DDB Canada’s ‘start an evolution’ campaign designed to target UBC’s 260,000 alumni, donors and friends.
The ‘start an evolution’ fundraising and alumni engagement campaign will run for four years, with the two films being featured in targeted online advertising.
Uniform also collaborated with long-term music partner P&S, who compiled a composition and score to accompany the animation.
DDB Canada said it chose Uniform from a list of agencies around the world, for its insight and understanding of the project and its objectives. It approached Uniform to participate in the project after seeing one of the agency’s films, called Philosophy, which has been posted on more than 500 blog sites worldwide.
Steve Ardern, Uniform’s business development director, said: “We put a lot of time and effort into our brand repositioning earlier this year, and we‘ve had some great feedback about our philosophy film. It’s been a great tool for developing new business.
“Collaborating with other agencies is something we encourage and practice, it’s a major part of our business strategy.”
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PR guru and entrepreneur Chris Bird is celebrating the 21st birthday this week of his Manchester-based agency Bird Consultancy.
Bird, a former advertising executive with Piccadilly Radio, formed the business in October 1990. Over the year he has worked with a number of big brands and companies including; Disney On Ice; Betfred; JD Sports; World Snooker; Rileys Sports Bars; and Manchester City FC.
One of the Bird Consultancy’s first clients in 1990 was sports retail giant JD Sports, where Chris is now a non-executive director of the listed company.
Chris Bird said: “Surviving 21 years as an independent PR agency has not been easy but I’ve been very lucky to work with some fantastic clients and staff who have helped contribute to the success of the last 21 years.
“I have a team of extremely dedicated and experienced staff who I know will continue to develop and expand the business over the next few years. Under their day to day management, I’m sure there are plenty of years left in us.”
His PR work with Manchester City FC led him to an five-year executive role in the late 1990s, and his current portfolio includes acting as chief executive of Sports Tours International – a leisure business owned by his friend and long-term client Fred Done.
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THE Sharp Project is launching its Essential Debate series on October 20, with a debate on the future of intellectual property.
Experts from the media, music business, film industry and legal sector will take part in Whose Work is it Anyway? a no-holds barred discussion on the issue of intellectual property and the major changes that are on the way, which is jointly hosted by law firm Ward Hadaway.
The panel will be chaired by Ward Hadaway partner Laura Harper, law expert and head of the specialist Creative Industries team based at The Sharp Project.
On the panel will be Ben Stoney, head of digital at The Mob Film Company; Maria McGeoghan, editor of the Manchester Evening News; Greg Robinson of Connect2Media; Christian Hill, director of Project:Simply; music producer and co-founder of OGenesis Records, Jim Spencer and music producer Dave Tolan.
Laura Harper said: “Intellectual property is at the heart of the creative sector’s success so this issue is something no creative enterprise can afford to ignore.”
For enquiries and registration email events@thesharpproject.co.uk or call 0161 205 1717.
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TRAFFORD-based digital marketing company Lakestar Media has landed a deal to create a social media strategy for cosmetic surgery firm Harley Medical Group.
Lakestar Media, which also manages other digital campaigns for The Harley Medical Group, is planning a programme of activity involving brand monitoring and reputation management. It has also implemented and begun running a Facebook competition to find the new face of the brand for 2012.
Liz Dale, director of marketing at The Harley Medical Group, said: “This is an exciting time for us as we extend our online marketing channels to create the opportunity to increase interaction with an extended audience, and grow our profile with them.”
