Media mix: Seven up for Love; Bird on the wing; Rumpus & more

CREATIVE agency Love has boosted its creative and account management teams with seven new recruits on the back of several new business wins including Virgin Atlantic and British Military Fitness, plus new projects from existing client Diageo.

 

Andy Buchan has been appointed to head of digital at the Dale Street, Manchester agency. He was previously co-founder and strategic director of the digital production company Ubiquitous, where he worked on some of the world’s most recognised brands including Bentley Motors, and Bacardi.

 

Rob Sanderson joins the creative team as a creative head, he has worked in Manchester and the Middle East and worked with design legend Peter Saville on projects including the ‘Original Modern’ City brand for Manchester.

 

New account director, Richard Attwater, was previously at gyro and before that McCann Erickson, while Andy Lafferty has joined as a senior creative. Ben Fearnley has been appointed to work on 3D design in the creative team., a previously worked at Creative Spark.

Tom Nicklin also joins the creative team from Ubiquitous where he worked on Bentley and Bacardi.  and the final recruit is senior account manager Jonathon Tahanha, who was  previously at Cube3 where he managed the Revolution Bars account and prior to that he spent time at Creative Spark and TBWAManchester. 

 

Former phones4u marketinnng director and Love chief executive Trevor Cairns said: “We hosted a jobs bonanza event back in March and the response in terms of the quantity and quality of highly-talented people that wanted to work at Love was incredible. Each new team member will be a real asset to the agency as we continue to create some of the most respected creative work in the industry.” 

 

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MANCHESTER PR agency Bird has taken flight to a new home at the digital and creative hub The Sharp Project.

The agency spent 13 years on John Dalton Street, but moved elocate to The Sharp Project to support its expanding digital offering.

Founder and chief executive Chris Bird said: “This move marks an important time for us at Bird. After 24 years in business we are very much looking to the future and putting ourselves right at the heart of the city’s growing digital culture.”

Sue Woodward, director of The Sharp Project said: “It’s great to have The Bird Consultancy, our first PR agency, join us.  They’re a perfect fit. Keen to embed themselves into our culture, we’re happy to hook them up with other tenants and the SharpFutures talent pool who can support and develop their digital offering.”

Bird has recently added a number of new accounts, including digital agencies Active Win and Degree53, and facilities management company Sercon.  The firm also acts for  Emirates Old Trafford, sportswear retailer Sporting Pro, sports brands Kukri and Canterbury, plus Disney on Ice.

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MANCHESTER PR  agency  Smoking Gun PR  is getting its teeth stuck into a campaign for food business The Flava People, to launch its Flava-it range.

Based in Manchester, The Flava People has been producing marinades, glazers, sauces and seasoning for trade customers for more than 30 years. The Flava-it range is focused on retail, with national listing in Morrisons, Tesco and Asda, targeting young male consumers.

Smoking Gun’s managing director Rick Guttridge said: “We love working with food brands, especially locally based, family owned businesses like The Flava People with such a great heritage and back story.”

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RUMPUS PR has been appointed by family-owned department store, Housing Units, which is based at Failsworth near Oldham.

The account win comes as a result of a three month trial, in which the Hale-based agency showed its mettle to the company’s bosses.

Paul Evans, director at Rumpus PR, said: “Working with Housing Units is a great opportunity for us. They are a perfect fit, from the values they hold through to the requirement for offline and online PR support. We anticipate a great working relationship with Housing Units and we look forward to seeing what the future has in store.”

Nick Fox, merchandise and marketing director at Housing Units, added: “We selected Rumpus PR because we felt the team understood the core values behind our brand, and could provide the mix of skills we need to support our growth. We look forward to seeing where Rumpus can take us over the coming months.”