O COMMUNICATIONS BUILDS ON SUCCESS WITH HOUSEBUILDER WIN

A still from Miller Homes current TV campaign.

NEWCASTLE creative agency O Communications is building on its success at the recent CIPR Awards by announcing this week it has won the Miller Homes PR account in the North East.

O Communications was named the region’s Outstanding Consultancy of the Year at the CIPR Awards in November 2009.

Now Scotland-based national housebuilder Miller Homes has appointed the creative agency after a three-way pitch to handle all its press and PR activity across the North East region, where it currently has nine developments from Tees Valley up to Northumberland.

Miller Homes’ regional sales director for the North East, Debbie Dunthorne, said: “We were looking for a PR partner that could work alongside Miller Homes as we enter an exciting new phase as the market begins to move forwards, and the team at O Communications not only had many innovative new ideas but have the award-winning track record to deliver the results we are after.”

O Communications is preparing to support Miller Homes’ national PR activity in its 75th anniversary year by focussing on affordable ways to move in 2010 such as the HomeBuy Direct scheme and Miller’s part exchange options.

The win is a significant addition to the agency’s growing property sector portfolio which includes Quorum, the UK’s biggest speculative business park and Space architecture group.

O Communications managing director Kari Owers said: “We are delighted to be appointed by another national client for our on-the-ground media expertise in the region.

“Our creative energy was cited as the deciding factor to join forces, and we are very much looking forward to working with a forward-thinking and innovative company like Miller Homes.”

November marked the beginning of year-long celebrations for Miller Homes as it reaches the milestone of 75 years in business. Still a privately-owned family business since it was first established as James Miller & Partners in the East of Scotland in 1934, it has now built over 75,000 new homes and grown to be a major UK housebuilder. It is a pioneer in affordable, environmentally-friendly housing and won the ‘Best Zero Carbon Initiative’ for its Miller Zero eco-home at the Housebuilding Innovation Awards.

O Communications has an eight-strong team at its converted pottery offices in Ouseburn Valley. It offers all aspects of modern day communications from PR and media relations to social media and video production, events, design and marketing communications.

O is a golden twit!

O Communications has been awarded two gongs at the Golden Twits awards in London, for its use of Twitter.

Commended in both the business-to-business and business-to-consumer categories, O Communications was ranked in the glittering awards alongside Dragon’s Den entrepreneur Duncan Bannatyne and TV’s The Meerkat.

The inaugural year for the awards that celebrate the most effective, funny, unusual and informative Tweeters from around the world, the Golden Twits asked Twitter users for their recommendations the their favourite people to follow.

Kari Owers, MD (Twitterer in residence) at O Communications, said: “O has been into Twitter from the very beginning; we make it our business to know what social networks are emerging and use them widely for both ourselves and our clients.

“My Tweets range from what’s going on within the agency, the global media scene, our client campaigns and sometimes my own ramblings....I was quite amazed to find out we’d won at the Golden Twits and my followers have gone through the roof since. Oh the pressure to be even more interesting now...!”

Other winners at the Golden Twits included The Carphone Warehouse, Miller Homes, Channel4Homes, KeepBritainTidy and Amnesty International.

Follow Kari on www.twitter.com/ocommunications.

YOUNG BLOOD ‘O COMMUNICATIONS’ WIN CIPR PRIDE AWARDS 2009

FAST expanding PR firm O Communications is feeling proud as punch after being named Outstanding PR Consultancy of the Year at the CIPR North East PRide Awards on Friday night (Nov 6).

The four year old communications agency took away the top honour at the NewcastleGateshead Hilton, with judges praising its hard work in “talent development, their culture of innovation and enjoyment of work”.

The growing firm, based in Ouseburn, Newcastle, also came home with the Best Not-for-Profit title and a silver award for Best use of Photography and Design for Young Enterprise North East’s One Day campaign and silver for Best Use of Social Media.

The judges said: “Established in 2005, O Communications has grown rapidly, to become one of the region’s most highly respected and creative PR agencies. O’s client base is a representation of business throughout the North-East. They work hard at talent development, their culture of innovation and enjoyment of work.”

The CIPR PRide Awards are hotly contested and recognise creativity, planning and outstanding execution of PR campaigns. It is the only awards scheme which showcases the best PR work being carried out across the UK regions and nations.

O Communications is run by 36 year-old Kari Owers, and employs eight people at its converted pottery offices in the burgeoning creative quarter of Ouseburn.

O Communications managing director Kari Owers said: “To win this coveted award so early in our journey, and in a year of country-wide recession, proves that clients are seeking young, hungry and innovative PR agencies to deliver new ways of thinking and make their brands stand out.

“We are delighted to have been recognised by the CIPR for doing something different, and look forward to using the award as a basis to grow further in the next year.”

The firm represents a wide range of top north east businesses, in sectors such as retail and leisure, arts and culture, technology, process industries, skills, education and enterprise. It is known for its work for organisations such as the Entrepreneurs’ Forum and Young Enterprise North East, and was this year appointed to represent Enterprise UK in the region; promoting Global Entrepreneurship Week.

Since the appointment of former The Journal commercial property editor Rebekah Ashby to the team last year, it has also grown a strong portfolio in property and construction, including England’s biggest speculative business park, Quorum.

Innovations such as Ovolution, its social media arm, have helped the creative communications agency pioneer online PR campaign delivery, having recently won a major contract to deliver video case studies for the science industries across the UK. Its team includes two video journalists, blog writers and in-house design studio allow O’s clients to embrace the growth of media channels such as Facebook, YouTube and Twitter.

Sally Keith, Chair of CIPR North East said: “A CIPR PRide Award is a hallmark of professionalism and success – it identifies, recognises and rewards the outstanding achievements of those working in the PR industry outside of London. To win a CIPR PRide Award is a tremendous achievement and I congratulate all of this year’s winners.”

ENDS

PR FIRM HEADLINES ITS SUPPORT FOR GREEN BRITAIN DAY

Team O become Team Green for the day

A Newcastle-based PR agency is doing its bit for the first ever Green Britain Day which takes places on Friday July 10th.

To mark Green Britain Day staff at O Communications are joining ‘Team Green’ by picking one of its simple choices to make a difference; they are organising a Team-Swap of unwanted clothes and accessories.

With six girls willing to share their wardrobes, the only male member of staff design director Robin Owers is also doing his bit by picking the ‘Team A to B’ option and giving up his car to cycle a 25 mile round trip to the firm’s Ouseburn Valley offices once a week.

Green Britain Day is organised by Team Green Britain which aims to make Britain a leader in the race against climate change by 2012. A host of green events will be going on up and down the country on July 10th including Team Big Lunches, Team Swaps and Eco Teams.

Managing director Kari Owers said: “The Team Swap seemed like the ideal way for the O Communications girls to have fun, save money and highlight a ‘greener’ way of shopping. Rob, being the only man in the office didn’t have a swapping partner so he’s opted for the green commute to work.

“As a company we were already reviewing our environmental policy to aim to be more eco-friendly, so being part of Green Britain Day came at the perfect time. It is also a great community morale booster as it’s all about bringing people together.”

For further information go to: www.teamgreenbritain.org

Follow us on Twitter (where our logo will turn green for the day too) on www.twitter.com/ocommunications.

Media contact: Kari Owers or Gemma Clarke on 0191 232 5690.

SETTING A MODEL EXAMPLE

O Communications sponsored 18 year-old Meryem Hartshorn throughout the Miss Sunderland 2009 competition.

O Communications has supported an aspiring model through Miss Sunderland 2009.

After being commissioned to handle the PR to re-launch the competition, which has been absent from the region for several years, the communications agency decided to become a sponsor and back 18 year-old Meryem Hartshorn from Cramlington.

Finalist Meryem battled it out in front of a judging panel consisting of ‘Paris Hilton’s British Best Friend’ finalist Emma Beard, Amazon and Warrior from Sky 1’s Gladiators, Serenity in the City owner Jocelyn Maxfield and award winning celebrity hair stylist Neville Ramsay of Ramsay & Johnson.

The two month intensive PR campaign generated over £33,000 of press coverage as well a series of radio interviews for the Miss Sunderland contest, and secured several key sponsors, including the Sunderland Echo.

O Communications’ managing director Kari Owers said: “The Miss Sunderland campaign has been great fun and the press coverage received was fantastic.

“In addition to sponsoring the competition, we wanted to back one of the girls and support her through the competition. We thought Meryem was a great choice as she was very attractive and is an ambitious and clever local student.

“We were all there cheering her on in the final and although she didn’t win, she did us very proud.”

The winner of Miss Sunderland 2009 was Alexandra Devine from Stockton who walked away with a modelling contract and portfolio with AM Models, the use of an Audi Cabriolet for one week and beauty treatments from Serenity in the City. She will also appear on the front page of Accent magazine.

PR FIRM HASN’T WRITTEN GRADUATES OFF

GRADUATES are set to face the toughest job hunt in 20 years but O Communications is continuing its commitment to young talent. Despite reports that thousands of graduate level jobs have been cut in the last year, award winning O Communications has pledged to carry on investing in graduates.

As part of the company’s commitment to young talent, owner and managing director Kari Owers has continued to offer budding public relations professionals the opportunity to complete internships, which could lead to full graduate training programmes.

She said: “We offer internships as they are a fantastic way to prepare undergraduates for the world of work, whilst giving us a new talent stream for the business. With changes in PR such as the onset of social media, it is also often young people that are bringing new ideas into the company that can have sound commercial sense.

“I look for commitment and a passionate attitude when I recruit, and all too often a graduate leaves entering a workplace for the first time until they have their graduation cap in their hand. By opening our doors to an annual intern, and a series of short placements, I hope to be able to give some local young people the added edge on their CV when they come to job-hunting.”

Jerri Murtagh, 22, who joined O Communications full time after graduating from Sunderland University last summer, said: “I began working at O Communications after seeing a poster asking for a PR student to work part-time during the final year of their degree. It was a great opportunity to be their first intern as it is often hard to find an ongoing placement while studying.

“I was delighted when I was asked to join the agency full-time on the graduate training scheme when I graduated, which will see me fast tracked to an Account Executive position.”

Janelle Hardacre, 19, has recently joined the team part-time whilst studying for her degree at Newcastle University. She said: “I am so happy to have the opportunity of an internship at O Communications. I really want to work in PR after I graduate and seeing how far some of their team have developed their careers after leaving university is great motivation.

“I would advise every undergraduate to do some kind of work experience as you learn so much about working in a professional environment and it makes you much more employable in the future.”

O Communications was named the CIPR silver North East Outstanding Consultancy of the Year at Pride Awards 2008 and ‘One of 10 to Watch’ in the UK creative scene by The Drum magazine in January 2009. The Ouseburn-based agency specialises in PR and brand communications, social media campaigns and events.

PR COMPANY HELPS BUSINESSES O-VOLVE

O Communications, the Newcastle-based public relations agency behind some of the region’s top business profiles, has launched a range of new media packages called Ovolution.

Launching today via its social media websites, including its own YouTube channel, Ovolution is designed to help North East companies revolutionise their dialogue with customers and embrace the world of social media and Online PR.

Already in high demand with the agency’s current clients, the services range from creating a popular blog that attracts a following to creating a Facebook or MySpace page for a business. O Communications will alsodesign and populate its own YouTube channel for video news and creating entire online media rooms for businesses large or small.

Kari Owers, managing director of O Communications said: “We’ve known for some time that we wanted to integrate more new media services to our PR campaigns, as it’s clear that this is the way that the modern business world is going.

“Newspapers, TV and radio are all heading online, citing their web presence as of equal importance to their future as their offline products. Reporters are now MMJs (multi-media journalists), breaking news is more commonly watched on a computer than a telly and companies can now produce and share their own TV channels.

“Web video, VNRs (video news releases), blogging and vlogging, podcasting, vodcasting, social networking, online newsrooms and webcasts - the potential to reach your customers has never been more exciting.”

As well as its in-house capabilities that includes two highly trained video journalists, a top blog writer and in-house web design function for building social media sites, O Communications has even drafted in the help of ITV personality Kim Inglis, to provide any voiceover work on the in-house produced videos and podcasts if required and to deliver media training for camera-shy business owners.

“For business owners not sure where to start, we’re offering a free online PR training session if they feel they would like one, demonstrating how we have already helped clients branch out and reach customers online,” added Kari.

To watch the Ovolution launch video news release logo onto www.youtube.com/user/ovolutiontube -or- www.myspace.com/ocommunications from 12 noon on Monday 9th February.