Agency News

Rule 5 and the Virgin Money Cyclone

Beaumont Trophy

This weekend saw the return of one of the UK’s most respected cycling events, the Virgin Money Cyclone Festival of Cycling.

Staged in beautiful Northumberland, the Cyclone caters for cyclists of all abilities, with leisure rides, Challenge rides and elite racing all packed into three days.  It is the second year that Rule 5 has been involved, driving and delivering the pre-event and live weekend communications campaign on behalf of Virgin Money.

Event activity opened on the evening of Friday 19th June with over 300 friends, families and solo riders soaking up the festival atmosphere and embracing the Tyne Six Bridges leisure rides.

On Saturday it was the turn of the more experienced rider, with over 2,300 cycling enthusiasts getting into the saddle to test their stamina in the Virgin Money Cyclone Challenge rides.  Weather conditions were variable but nothing could dampen the spirits of the riders as they embraced the 34, 64 and 106 mile routes, many in aid of charity.

Sunday’s elite races, the Curlew Cup and UCI Beaumont Trophy, saw some of the world’s best riders descend on the picturesque Northumberland village of Stamfordham.

Taking the trophy in the National Women’s Road Race, the Curlew Cup, was team IKON-Mazda cyclist, Laura Massey, with Christopher Latham of the Great Britain National Team powering to victory in the UCI Beaumont Trophy.

Spectators gathered in Stamfordham were treated to glimpses of one of the strongest fields of riders to date including: Olympic gold medallist and Team WIGGINS cyclist, Andy Tennant; 2014 Elite Road Race Series winner and One Pro Cycling rider, Yanto Barker; and British Road Race Champion, JLT Condor cyclist, and defending champion, Kristian House.

We were thrilled to be at the heart of all of the action, managing the media, realising the potential of every opportunity and activating the event’s social channels.

For further information visit: https://virginmoneycyclone.co.uk/

K-State Comes To MediaCityUK

Kansas State

Rule 5 played host to a visit by student from Kansas State University earlier this month. A group of communications and public relations students were in the UK to broaden their international experience. The students were accompanied by Dr Barbara DeSanto, Assistant Professor in Public Relations at the University.

As part of their itinerary, the party of ten visited the agency at its MediaCityUK offices. They learnt about some of the innovations taking place in digital communications and the use of social media in a public relations context. The students were taken through the award winning case study on use of video at the UCI Track Cycling World Cup in London last December. The social media campaign incorporated video content, edited and shared in near real-time ahead of TV highlights. The campaign delivered close to 130 million impacts through social media channels. Rule 5 was selected to be part of the Kansas State Univesrity summer programme on the advice of Dr. Danny Moss at the University of Chester.

Rob Brown on BBC Ten O’Clock News

RB on BBC

Alton Towers re-opened to the public yesterday following the tragic incident on the Smiler ride, which crashed into an empty carriage, seriously injuring the passengers at the front of the vehicle.  BBC News turned to agency Managing Partner Rob Brown to provide expert comment on the impact on the reputation of the parent company Merlin Entertainments; “It’s inevitable there will be a degree of trust lost” said Rob, but he added  “they’ve taken the incident exceptionally seriously and have shown proper concern for the impact on the victims.”

The item was broadcast on the Six O’Clock and Ten O’Clock News on BBC1 and is available on-line here.

Building Bridges in Translational Medicine

EATRIS bridges

Yesterday (27 May 2015) marked the first day of the EATRIS Building Bridges in Translational Medicine conference, and we were delighted to be in attendance providing PR and social media support.

The conference, attended by leading experts, called for closer industry-academia collaboration.

Speakers discussed the importance of increasing collaboration in the field of translational medicine to ensure new drug developments are cost efficient, get to the market more quickly, and are more effective in treating and preventing leading health issues.

The event, which continues today at The Zuiderkerk in Amsterdam, will see over 250 delegates and key international translational research stakeholders meet to discuss the main opportunities and challenges in the field. Topics include de-risking projects and increasing R&D productivity with the aim of achieving better patient outcomes, new developments within the EATRIS-ERIC consortium, and discussions about how translational research infrastructures contribute to the overall field of translational research.

Speaking at the conference, Giovanni Migliaccio, Scientific Director of EATRIS, comments: “As genuine medical needs remain unmet, it has become increasingly important for our industry to bridge the innovation gap, coming together to work towards a common goal – developing new innovative, cost-effective technologies, products and treatment options for patients.”

He continues: “The theme of the conference reflects our mission: to bring the world’s leading thinkers in translational medicine together in order to foster collaboration and share thoughts and developments face-to-face.”

The Building Bridges in Translational Medicine conference is organised by EATRIS (The European Infrastructure for Translational Medicine) – the permanent academic translational research infrastructure supporting researchers and funders in mitigating risk and adding value to high potential products in biomedical development. It provides industry and academia with access to leading translational research facilities and key expertise across Europe.

The second EATRIS conference follows the successful inaugural event in 2013 and brings together the world’s leading minds in the field of translational medicine.

For further details about EATRIS, visit www.eatris.eu

Photo caption: Jan Langermans, Ph.D. Chairman Animal Science Department, Biomedical Primate Research Centre (BPRC), The Netherlands

Biz Stone Awarded CIPR President’s Medal

IMG_0323 crop

The agency’s Managing Partner and CIPR President 2016, Rob Brown, was delighted to present entrepreneur, Biz Stone, with the CIPR President’s Medal at the SXSW Music, Film, and Interactive Festival in Austin, Texas, this week.

The presentation was made on behalf of Stephen Waddington CIPR President 2014, who awarded the founder and CEO of Super.Me, co-founder of Twitter and contributor to Jelly, Medium, The Obvious Corporation, and Odeo the coveted title.

Biz received the CIPR’s most prestigious accolade for his leadership as an entrepreneur at the forefront of developing new forms of media, networks and applications, modernising the business of public relations by enabling genuine two-way engagement between organisations and their publics.

Commenting on receiving the award, Biz Stone said: “We built Twitter to be readable and writable on every mobile phone on the planet because SMS is ubiquitous. Our goal was to provide the infrastructure to support the creativity and engagement that emerged. That ambition has meant that it has become a platform for public engagement and is part of the changing nature of communication between individuals and organizations.”

Speaking at the festival, Rob said: “Biz Stone is a true innovator who has played a fundamental role in how communications has changed, something that in turn has altered the way we practise PR, he’s also a very down to earth guy.”