Agency News

Rule 5 to Launch in London

Rob Brown - Julie Wilson - Rule 5

The agency is marking its first year in business with the announcement that we will have a London office from January.  We firmed up the decision several weeks ago and we’re announcing the news to coincide with our first birthday tomorrow – November 29.  We have also committed to a three year lease at the agency’s Manchester headquarters in MediaCityUK. 

The new office will be in Shoreditch, London, and will be run by Account Director Carolanne Bamford, who relocates in the New Year.  Recruitment for an account executive is underway.

“It has been an incredible year” said Rob Brown. “Launching a new agency in the middle of a recession has challenges but we feel that we’ve built a good brand with Rule 5, we deliver great work and are thrilled by the response we’ve had.”  Fellow agency founder Julie Wilson added: “It has always been our intention to launch a London office.  It’s a little ahead of plan but the time is right for us and there’s a great sense of creativity and innovation in Shoreditch.  We’re looking forward to being part of it.”

In our first year we were awarded Best Newcomer at the Prolific North Awards and a few weeks ago won Gold for Best Social Media campaign and Silver for Best Digital campaign in the 2013 CIPR Pride Awards.

Next month, the agency will also be providing consultancy support to the Cabinet Office with the Government’s review of its communications capability.

Rule 5 Awarded Best Social Media Campaign

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Rule 5 collected Best Social Media Campaign at the prestigious CIPR PRide North West awards.   The agency’s gold awarded work on the BMX Supercross World Cup was also recognised in the Best Digital Campaign category for which the agency was awarded silver.

The CIPR PRide Awards recognise outstanding public relations in the UK regions and nations and attract entries from the country’s leading communications agencies.

The winning entries were drawn from a shortlist of six agencies, including Weber Shandwick.

The judging panel consisting of prominent figures within the communications industry said: “Rule 5 devised a creative and engaging social media campaign, able to build a substantial social media audience reaching a quarter of a million fans and supporting the sell-out of the event.

“This included a series of Twitterviews with elite and youth team riders, which drove high levels of engagement, extending reach and influence with international riders, media and BMX fans. Good research, careful planning and appropriate evaluation are evident in this campaign.”

#SocialMedia WhatsTrending at the BBC

BBCSocial

One of the many advantages of being in MediaCityUK is our proximity to the media and anchor tenant the BBC. This happy juxtaposition occasionally throws up a real gem of an opportunity and #SocialMediaWhatsTrending was one such, in the form of a one day conference.

It brought together a series of panels and speeches that only a broadcaster of the BBC’s weight and stature could manage. It was also the first time I’ve seen Google Glass in the flesh on the face of New York based Vice Journalist Tim Pool (should that be in the ‘glass and metal’?). There were about 500 people in attendance – perhaps a quarter were BBC employees, most others by invitation. The wealth of expertise gathered on stage was truly extraordinary; BBC Radio 1 Controller Ben Cooper, Matt Cooke from Google+, Newsnight Editor Ian Katz, Football Focus presenter Dan Walker, Anna Dobbs Channel 4 Head of Online, Tim Gatt of ITV News, Luke Lewis BuzzFeed UK Editor, James Everton of Hits Radio, Alex Miller and Tim Pool of Vice. This feels like quite a list but I’ve missed out most of the talent. The full programme is here.

The day opened a window onto the ways in which many media channels and programmes are continuing to evolve in a dramatic fashion through the use of social tools and channels. This was insight from the coal face and the pace and diversity of change is extraordinary. This wasn’t just a catalogue of social strategies from programme makers, the sessions also tackled difficult questions such as the line between content and marketing. The decline in radio listening for example is widely being tackled by radio stations producing video content. So is this still radio? It was fascinating also to hear Philippa Law of The Guardian explaining how the news organisation uses the social network accounts of content suppliers to test the veracity of their stories, photography is also reverse searched to ensure it hasn’t just been grabbed from the net.

The day straddled, music, sport, hard news and more. If anything the event had more content than can be consumed in a day and there were two streams running throughout. Happily the sessions will all be shared online. Check the BBC Academy College of Journalism website, the should be uploaded next week.

Rule 5 Scores Best Newcomer Award

Prolific North Awards

Rule 5 collected the Best Newcomer at the inaugural Prolific North Awards at a dinner attended by over 600 creative and media professionals from across the north of England.  Over 150 different companies and organisations were there from small agencies (like us!) to national broadcasters.

The winner was drawn from a shortlist of eight agencies representing PR, design and digital which have all launched within the last eighteen months.  The event took place at The Point at Lancashire County Cricket Club. The judging panel drawn from prominent figures from the media and creative business community stated that the agency has “made noise and become a recognised player in the market …in four months.”  Other award winners on the night included Cheetham Bell JWT and ITV.

Rule 5 Makes National PR Awards Shortlist

CIPR Excellence

Just five months on from our launch we were thrilled to hear that we’ve made the shortlist of the prestigious Chartered Institute of Public Relations (CIPR) Excellence Awards.  These national awards are hotly contested with just under 700 entries from the UK and internationally.

Rule 5 has been selected in the Best Sporting Campaign category for our work with British Cycling on the UCI Track Cycling World Cup in Glasgow.  The agency is up against illustrious competition with Heinz, British Airways, Channel 4, iris PR and The FA and Lloyds Banking Group representing the other short-listed finalists.  Three of the five entrants involve PR campaigns featuring London 2012.

“We had already worked with the people but the agency was new, Rule 5 rose to the occasion and really delivered at the Glasgow Velodrome” said Paul Rowlands Cyclesport Marketing Manager at British Cycling. “Elevating social media engagement was a key part of the campaign and together with the agency we broke new ground at the Track World Cup reaching over 100,000 people with 4,000 people directly engaging with the event.”