Agency News

Rule 5 Flying out to SXSW

Our fledgling PR agency is flying to Austin, Texas to attend the annual South by Southwest (SXSW) Conference & Festival – which runs from Friday 8 March to Sunday 17 March 2013 . SXSW offers a convergence of emerging technologies and music and is celebrated as a launch pad for new creative and digital applications and content. Twitter famously caught the attention of the tech world at SXSW in 2007. Last year speakers included Al Gore, Sean Parker, Pinterest founder Ben Silbermann and Bruce Springsteen. There were over 1000 conference sessions and 25,000 attendees.

Rule 5 Managing Partner Rob Brown who will be representing the agency said “this is where the great minds in emerging technologies gather every year to think and talk. If you want to know what’s next in communications SXSW is the place you are most likely to find out”. The many hundreds of sessions will include ‘How Twitter Has Changed How We Watch TV’, ‘Advanced Social Media Monitoring’ and a meet up with Sir Tim Berners Lee.

BBC Future Media Event Part 2: The first ‘safe’ social network?

The first installment of our two-part blog on last week’s BBC Future Media Event looked at the developing technology of Perceptive Media and what this might hold for the communications industry. In this second follow-up blog, we look at two key areas of interest arising from discussions with the CBBC and Digital Sport teams, starting with the launch of what the Beeb is calling the first ‘safe, real-world’ social network…

CBBC launches the first ‘safe’ social network for children

Children under the age of five have never known a world without the iPhone and so naturally demand that their technology is slick, quick and ahead of the times. The CBBC website hosts around 1,700 games and is available on a host of different devices. In a move that breaks ground in the online social space, it is soon to launch what it is calling the first ‘real world’, safe social network for kids. Allowing children to connect with their friends online in a space named ‘Vs’, the new CBBC hosted network ensures that children trade user names in the playground rather than digitally, so it’s completely transparent as to whom they are connecting with. The development has not only benefited children and their parents; investing locally, the Beeb has awarded independent developer contracts for a number of its upcoming digital projects in pitch processes that include over 300 agencies. An example of which is Manchester-based Young , responsible for developing the new Cbeebies ‘Music Mash-Up’ game-app.

BBC Sport: Mobile browsers first

The success story of the night came from the digital sport team. Ten million people per day watched the 2012 Olympics on the BBC Sport website, which typically receives 6 million hits per day. Seven-hundred thousand people watched Bradley Wiggins race for gold on their mobile and athletes and journalists utilised the ground-breaking live stream technology to watch team mates compete while keeping abreast of all events.

Head of the sports team, Chris Condron, explained the importance of first optimising the site’s mobile browser, which receives more traffic than the Apple and Android sport apps combined. A device’s market share is the key factor in building the critical mass that warrants a bespoke app development, bringing to light the need for a fully optimised mobile browser on all devices. This is especially significant when you consider 2014’s packed sporting calendar, including World Cup, Winter Olympics and Commonwealth Games.

Want more?

Sparked your interest? You can learn more about BBC Future Media here:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/careers/what-we-do/future-media

Follow them on Twitter @InsideBBCFM

Like them on Facebook: www.facebook.com/InsideBBCFutureMedia

British Cycling Picks Rule 5 for BMX World Cup

Rule 5 picked for BMX World Cup in Manchester

The agency has been selected by British Cycling to handle PR and social media on for the UCI BMX SuperCross world championships, which will take place at the National Cycling Centre in Manchester in April.

The agency, which launched in November, also handled the social media campaign for the Track Cycling World Cup at the new Velodrome in Glasgow during its first month of operation. “We looked around for agencies with the right combination of location, cycling and social media expertise and we ended up with a very short list” said British Cycling Cyclesport and Membership Director Jonny Clay. “We were also really impressed with the programme and the results that Rule 5 delivered on our behalf in Glasgow.”

The new win follows the appointment of two new staff; Senior Account Manager Carolanne Bamford in January and Trainee Account Executive Kirsty Usher earlier this month.

Carolanne Joins Rule 5 as Senior Account Manager

Rule 5 has appointed Carolanne Bamford as Senior Account Manager.

Prior to joining the MediaCityUK agency, Bamford worked at Manchester agency, Smoking Gun, and before that was at Hill & Knowlton in London working with Robinsons, Dairylea, Tango and Bombay Sapphire.

Speaking on her appointment, Rule 5 Director, Julie Wilson, said: “It’s important that we build the right team and Carolanne boasts an impressive CV having worked with some of the UK’s leading brands.

“Her experience across FMCG; automotive; beauty; healthcare and nutrition sectors, combined with her ambitious and creative personality and knowledge of the social media landscape, presents the perfect fit with Rule 5 and further strengthens the agency’s offer. We’re delighted to have her on board.”

Rule 5 is communications agency, specialising in PR and digital communications. The agency launched in November 2012 and is anchored in MediaCityUK. It has clients in the media, food and sports sectors and was involved in the recent Track Cycling World Cup in Glasgow delivering its presence on Twitter and Facebook.

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