New director for NC Creative

SOLIHULL-based marketing communications agency, NC Creative Group, has strengthened its creative team with the appointment of Paul Roberts as Creative Director.
 
Roberts joins NC Creative following a successful spell abroad working in the Middle East for leading International events and marketing company, WRG Creative Communications. He has relocated back to the UK to take up his new role.

His new position will see him work closely with the existing design team to further develop the agency’s creative direction and spearhead the company’s ongoing assignments. He also brings a strategic edge to the agency’s new business activity.
 
Roberts has worked across a wealth of industry sectors and media channels. Having started out at one of the leading ad agencies, Allen Brady and Marsh, his career has seen him hold senior roles at agencies such as Meerkat, Zinc Digital and Mulberry Advertising. During his time as Senior Art Director for Collett Dickenson and Pearce (CDP), he was not only instrumental in the agency achieving the Advertising Awards for Yoplait  and Dell, he was also key to growing the PC manufacturer’s market position from number six to number two. Another of his accolades include developing prestigious pen brand Cross’s most successful campaign ever.
 
More recently, working in Doha for WRG, he collaborated on high profile creative projects and strategic events. These included the opening ceremony of a major international event, the opening of a university, working with a leading football club and the launch of a new airliner.
 
NC Creative Group managing director Åsa Walker said: “The appointment is a significant building block in a five-year strategy plan set out to take our business onto the next level. Since the company’s inception in 2002, we have built a reputation for excellent service delivery within the B-2-B sector.”

PR Doctor in rude health

RUGBY PR consultancy, The PR Doctor, has relocated to support the growth of the business.

The agency, previously trading as RBH Salmons, has moved into offices in the town centre at 33 Albert Street.

The business was set up by managing director Claire Salmons, left, in 2002 and its clients include pharmaceutical companies across the UK as well as engineering, manufacturing and retail businesses closer to home.  
 
Ms Salmons previously handled media relations for the Inland Revenue. While has also worked  for  Barclays, first in PR, then heading up advertising, sponsorship and events for the bank before becoming head of brand positioning.  
 
Since starting her business, the agency has worked with high profile brands such as Transco, Hyundai, Central Trains, Rowlands Pharmacy, Jaguar and Brantano as well as B2B clients.

To support the expansion, the agency has recruited PR graduate Chloe McHugh (pictured right).

Birmingham creative agency still going strong 30 years on

BIRMINGHAM-based WM Creative has marked its 30th anniversary in the city.

Paul Whitehouse and Rob Mainwaring originally set up the business next to a newsagent in Kings Heath in 1984 under the name Rainbow Graphics.

It began by producing translated brochures for the likes of Land Rover and Lucas, even pasting up Serbo Croat or Arabic typesetting to match the original English brochures.

Three decades on, the business is now based in a converted Edwardian fire station in the city’s Jewellery Quarter and utilises the latest technology for its work.

“We’re still a down-to-earth bunch and we know that the best working relationships are based on trust and mutual respect. We don’t hide behind the ‘smoke and mirrors’ of communications jargon – we keep it simple, we keep it clear and get the job done,” said Whitehouse.

Director Steve Brookes said understanding the needs of clients, their business and their objectives was the basic strategy of the business.

WM Creative now works on major branding and communication projects as diverse as the design and implementation of a sign and display project for Severn Trent Water’s landmark head office, the design of marketing materials for the Government’s GREAT campaign and a total redesign and launch for the UK’s biggest electrical own brand, Newlec.

Dave Betts, WM Creative’s newest director, said: “Creating a new brand or reinventing an existing one is more than just designing a new logo. We create visual strategies that allow a brand to successfully communicate their story in the most innovative and relevant way possible.”