The Department for Education (DfE) has unveiled a major, multichannel Skills for Life campaign, ‘It all starts with skills’, which aims to inspire young people, adults and businesses to make the most of their potential. The push was developed in partnership with M&C Saatchi. Under the overarching Skills for Life brand, the new campaign acts as a rallying cry to encourage more people and employers to take advantage of the wide range of technical qualifications and training opportunities available to progress careers and grow businesses. The DfE has partnered with M&C Saatchi to develop the multichannel campaign which, for the first time, targets three key audiences at once: young people aged 14 to 19 and their influencers (such as teachers and parents), SME employer decision-makers and employees, and adults aged 24 to 59. The push is running across TV, video-on-demand, cinema, out-of-home, social, audio, and digital channels, as well as through complementary partnership activity. Media planning is by SMRS, and media buying is by OmniGov at MGOMD. M&C Saatchi has also developed a series of innovative out-of-home and social executions, using dynamic advertising techniques to change messages according to the time of day or day of the week, prompting people to reflect on the importance of seizing the day. The campaign aims to capture hearts and minds amongst these audiences by tapping into the universal truth that we all have potential, but it will remain just that unless we do something with it.
Integrated marketing agency Jaywing has refreshed its brand proposition, supported by a unique blend of key specialists across Data Science, Media and Creative. The brand refresh, which forms part of the agency’s wider strategic growth plans, sees Dr Catherine Kelly taking on the role of Managing Director. Kelly has been with the business since 2017 and has a wealth of previous experience including a PhD in Mathematics from the University of Nottingham and senior positions at premium brands including Diageo, Kellogg’s and ASDA.
London-based diversity-marketing agency, Monumental, has appointed Dan O’Gorman as its new Chief Commercial Officer. O’Gorman joins Monumental after holding positions as EMEA Brand Partnerships Director for user-generated-content giant Bazaarvoice, Commercial Director at Gay Times Group and Commercial Director at Pride in London. O’Gorman will lead the strategic growth and expansion of Monumental across its entire client portfolio in all major markets. He will report to Monumental’s Chief Executive, Jamie Love. For the last three years, O’Gorman led SMB Brand Partnership activity in EMEA at Bazaarvoice, the world’s largest UGC platform, activating major partnerships with brands including Charlotte Tilbury, KP Snacks, Spinmaster and Tangle Teezer. Prior to Bazaarvoice, he has delivered major brand collaborations centred on highlighting LGBTQ+ issues and community voices with Coca-Cola, Southern Comfort, AbInBev and Deliveroo and experiential marketing activations with DreamWorks, Nike and WWE.
Doro, the company spearheading innovation in senior technology, has announced the appointment of Ben Crompton as Managing Director, UK and Ireland. Crompton takes over the role from Peter Marsden, who after six successful years keeping Doro as the number one senior brand in the UK and Ireland, moves to head up the new central Direct to Consumer division, where he will develop the company’s online strategy and all D2C activities. The appointments will take immediate effect. With Doro striving to meet the ever-evolving needs of seniors, Crompton is keenly aware of the challenges associated with the senior technology market. He has 20 years of experience in the industry, beginning his time at Orange and then Blackberry. Crompton joined Doro in 2019 as Senior Channel Sales Account Manager, helping to cement the company’s position as the UK market leader for senior phones. In his new role, Crompton is committed to leading Doro in its mission to become the UK market leader in providing seniors with next generation, accessible technology. Crompton will be working with suppliers, brand partners and stakeholders to drive affinity with Doro’s customer base, helping to expand the business’ product offering and maximising growth.
P&O Cruises has unveiled a new brand platform, ‘Holiday Like Never Before’, inviting holidaymakers to rethink what they believe they know of the cruise experience and expect more of their holiday, going beyond the obvious, into the extraordinary. Created with Pablo London, the new brand positioning recognises that when it comes to holidays, Brits are often creatures of habit, taking comfort in the familiar. The opportunity was therefore to challenge audiences to expect more from their holiday by presenting an alternative option. The campaign celebrates the incredible amount of must see/do experiences you can get in a single cruise. From the joy of falling asleep in Marseille and waking up in Barcelona, to the pleasure of travelling by whirlpool and experiencing the Norwegian fjords from inside the fjords. To on shore activities like snorkelling with stingrays and getting closer to Mother Nature in scenic waterfalls. Demonstrating that on a P&O Cruises holiday, you might just need a bigger bucket list.
Volt, the global real-time payments platform, has announced the appointment of Irina Chuchkina as the company’s first Chief Marketing Officer. Chuchkina joins at a significant period of growth for Volt – with ambitious plans to meet market demand for real-time payments across the globe – following the company’s $60m Series B funding round in June, appointment of ex-Stripe European CEO, Matt Henderson, as a Special Advisor, and Volt’s global expansion into Australia. Chuchkina brings over 18 years of experience in the payments space across Europe and Asia. She was most recently Chief Marketing Officer at Thunes, a Singapore-based payment infrastructure platform where she led its global marketing strategy. Prior to Thunes, Chuchkina also held senior marketing roles at Series E payments scale-up Rapyd, Southeast Asia’s super-app Grab and Visa. She has also served on the board of the Singapore FinTech Association and was named among the top 25 women leaders in financial technology in Europe by The Financial Technology Report.
Epicor, a specialist in industry-specific enterprise software to promote business growth, has announced it has promoted Joe Ayers to Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer. Over the past quarter, Ayers has served as interim CFO where he took a leading role defining company financial strategy, operations, and execution. As CFO, Ayers will continue driving the company’s fiscal strategy to build and invest in powerful technologies that deliver strong capabilities and value for the make, move, and sell industries, while focusing on profitable growth. Ayers has a focus on scaling software companies both financially and operationally. He brings more than 15 years of diverse experience across audit & accounting, SEC reporting and compliance, M&A, global business and finance operations, SaaS business models, late-stage startups, and private equity. He joined Epicor in March 2021 as Vice President of Finance leading the financial planning and analysis (FP&A) and business intelligence teams. Before joining Epicor, Ayers spent five years in the Audit practice at KPMG, specialising in private and Fortune 1000 public company audits.
Omnicom Media Group (OMG), the media services division of Omnicom Group Inc. has named Christian Byron Chief Commercial Officer, and Vicky Fox Chief Planning Officer of OMG UK; two newly created roles starting with immediate effect. In her previous role as Chief Planning Officer at OMD UK, Fox led the agency’s planning output to create competitive advantage for their clients. During her tenure, Fox oversaw the creation of the agency’s Connected Performance team (joining media planning with biddable expertise to deliver audience-first thinking) and re-built the OMD Planning Process to focus on Full Funnel Planning. In her new role, Fox will drive market-leading connected planning excellence across OMG UK, to deliver effectiveness, efficiencies and improved outcomes for clients. Byron, previously Chief Operating Officer at OMD, led the agency’s 70+ strong investment and trading team, maximising operational efficiency and commercial performance, and the agency’s market leading capabilities. In his new role, Byron will lead the group’s newly launched Business Operations function to deliver effective and efficient service offerings to OMG’s clients; bringing together the applied use of technology, automation, artificial intelligence, operational best practice, and the group’s distributed workforce, to harness and integrate OMG’s Agency as a Platform agile operating model to drive better outcomes.
The Independent has announced that it has appointed Louise Thomas as its US Editor. Thomas will be leaving her role as US Editor of MailOnline to lead the continued expansion of The Independent in a market where it has already become one of the fastest-growing news brands. She will head up an editorial team which has increased by 50% in the last year to around 45 people across its offices in New York, Washington DC and LA. Thomas will bring a wealth of experience to The Independent’s team, with more than 20 years of experience in US and British journalism, starting in local news before moving to MailOnline as News Editor in 2012, where she led the restructuring of the newsroom and launched the publication’s first dedicated politics team. Thomas moved to New York as Deputy Editor in 2016, before becoming Editor in 2019, where she set up the features department and developed the newsroom’s strategy.
PR and Communications firm 32West is expanding its team and office bases to service its growing client base. The integrated agency, which operates across the North of England and southern Scotland, has opened a new office and took on a new content creator. The firm has opened an office in Cleator Moor, Cumbria, and has strengthened its team with the recruitment of Emily Adair, who previously worked in communications at the former Copeland Borough Council. The new office, in Phase 3 of the Phoenix Enterprise Centre in Cleator Moor, brings the number of 32West operating bases – which also include Carlisle, Newcastle, Ulverston and Liverpool – to five. 32West’s client base in West Cumbria is growing with a diverse range of businesses and organisations in the nuclear, engineering, robotics and emerging technologies sectors.
Independent Creative agency, Joint has unveiled the first-ever paid advertising campaign for The Body Coach brand and app. The new campaign, ‘Uphill’, is set in the sprawling countryside and shot in one continuous take, showing Joe Wicks walking uphill, engaging with the audience and inviting them to join the thousands of people who’ve transformed their lives with his app. The idea builds on the success that Joe has created over the past 12 years through his ability to understand, motivate and empathise with his audience. The campaign will air across television, social and digital channels from Boxing Day until the end of January 2024. The agency collaborated with the talented Director, Ste Hinde, and the production team at FMLY CRTV on the campaign.
Wavemaker has been appointed by the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT) to handle all media strategy and planning. The brief is to support DSIT’s aim of ensuring the UK becomes a science and technology superpower by 2030. Wavemaker is the first media planning agency to be appointed by DSIT, which was formed in February 2023. The department’s goal is to position the UK at the forefront of global scientific and technological advancement by driving innovations that change lives and sustain economic growth. This includes delivering talent programmes, physical and digital infrastructure, and regulation to support the economy, security and public services, as well as optimising research and development (R&D) investment. Wavemaker’s remit is to support this goal through the strategic media placement of domestic and international creative campaigns to support UK science and technology talent, digital upskilling, and investment into technology and R&D.
