Media Buzz: MediaCom; Acceleris; The Partners Group and more

THE Leed’s office of MediaCom, one of the world’s largest media agencies, has been appointed by Provident Financial Group to develop and implement a new media planning and buying strategy for the group’s brands that includes Satsuma Loans.

MediaCom Leeds will assume responsibility for devising and implementing an ongoing TV and print direct response focussed media strategy. With a media budget in excess of £5m for 2014, Mediacom Leeds will be tasked with raising awareness of the short term personal finance product within the highly competitive sector.

Steve Empson, board director at MediaCom Leeds, said: “In business for over 130 years, Provident Financial Group have a long held reputation as a responsible short term loan provider, with Satsuma Loans offering a fresh opportunity for the company to respond and capitalise on the fast changing nature of the marketplace. We’re delighted to have been appointed to oversee the ongoing media strategy across a portfolio of brands.”

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FUSION Unlimited has been appointed to handle the digital marketing requirements for NatWest and The Royal Bank of Scotland Business and Commercial Banking.

The agency is working closely with the client to roll out a strategy dedicated to performance targets; delivered through effective management of Pay Per Click search (PPC), affiliate marketing, aggregators, display advertising and Search Engine Optimisation (SEO).

Julia Blake, account director at Fusion Unlimited, said: “We are delighted to have the opportunity to work with NatWest and The Royal Bank of Scotland. Delivering performance-based digital strategies is at the heart of everything we do, so we are confident it will be a very successful and long standing client relationship.”

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ACCELERIS, the PR and communications agency, has further strengthened its senior team with the appointment of Nigel Charlesworth, the former head of corporate communications at Interserve, the FTSE 250 listed, international construction and development group.

He joins the Harrogate and London based agency as senior account director and, among other responsibilities, will lead the agency’s construction and property team which already works for a number of major clients in the sector, including Kier and Severfield-Rowen.
 
Previous to his senior role at Interserve, Charlesworth worked within financial services, including for Northern Rock, RBS Insurance and UK Asset Resolution, as well as for Green Flag, Royal Mail and for two NHS trusts.

Acceleris managing director Peter Davenport said: “We are delighted to have recruited someone of Nigel’s calibre and believe that his impressive range of experience and expertise will play an important role in helping the agency achieve its ambitious growth and development objectives.”

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PR and communications agency, Faith PR, has increased its client base with two new account wins.

The agency, based on the outskirts of Leeds but operating for clients across the country, has been appointed to help a Cornwall-based online business specialising in postnatal fitness to grow its profile in both the UK and the US.

The internationally recognised MuTu System programme includes online coaching, DVD’s, online support and community. Faith PR will also help raise the profile of Halifax-based leadership facilitator and business performance coach Jannine Oates and her business Inspirit Learning Partners.

Faith PR director Stefanie Hopkins said: “We’re delighted that we have been appointed to work with these two businesses who both have strong, successful women at their helm. We’re confident that we can raise their profile and meet their growing needs.”

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LEEDS-based agency, Cloudspotting,  has secured a 12-month marketing contract with Dublin business Kate Cowhig International Healthcare Recruitment (KCR), a company specialising in the recruitment of medical staff from Europe for the Irish and UK health services.  

Cloudspotting managing director Jon Swales said: “This is an important contract for us in that it is our first significant foray into the European market. We are especially pleased that having proved ourselves through an initial web build KCR have chosen us to deliver more comprehensive marketing  services on and offline. It’s an exciting project and I’m proud to say that our initial work has already seen excellent results and will provide a great springboard for future activity.”

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THE Family Mediators Association (FMA) has enlisted the help of a Yorkshire PR agency to help more separating families avoid bitter court battles.

The FMA, a membership organisation representing family mediators throughout England and Wales, has appointed The Partners Group to help build awareness of family mediation at a critical time for the profession. FMA chair, Beverley Sayers, said: “The Partners team has extensive experience of family dispute resolution, which means they are incredibly well placed to support our campaign to build awareness of the benefits of family mediation, influence policy making at the highest level and maintain the highest standards of professional practice among family mediators.

“We’re very much looking forward to working with them to communicate to a wider audience the ways in which family mediation can help separating families resolve issues constructively.”

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DIGITAL agency, Plump, has celebrated its fifth birthday by welcoming its fifth member to the team.

York-based Plump has welcomed Jon Hurrell to the team as a front-end web developer.

Hurrell has joined Plump from the University of Leeds where he worked on large scale websites and application builds.