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HEALTH CHARITY TO BENEFIT FROM PRO BONO PR SUPPORT

Leading London communications agency, Band & Brown Communications, has opened nominations for charities to apply to be their pro-bono cause in 2010.

The company, which includes PR, design, experiential and social media specialists has set aside two per cent of profits from 2009 to be used by the successful charity in fee time.

Previous beneficiaries from Band & Brown’s pro-bono scheme include leading education charity, BeatBullying, international aid organisation Advocates for International Development and domestic violence charity RISE.

In 2010 for the first time, Band & Brown has launched a nationwide application process to ensure fairness in the selection of its pro-bono charity.

Applications are invited from health and well-being charities which operate solely in the UK, have clear communications objectives and are open to using a whole range of channels and tactics to meet these objectives.

Head of Public Sector, Simon Francis, commented:
“Each year we take a different theme to support and, after helping education, international and community organisations previously, 2010 will see a health charity benefit from our pro-bono scheme.

“We know that many health charities can’t always easily access communications agency support, so this year we have opened the scheme up through a simple nominations process.”

Band & Brown currently works on health and well-being issues campaigns for clients including Aegate, BUPA, emedcareers, Department for Work and Pensions and LV=. The selection process is separate from the pro-bono activity Band & Brown will undertake with Action Against Hunger through the Cossette UK group of companies.

Application process -
To apply, charities can visit http://www.bbpr.com/csr.html to download a short, five-question, application form, can call 020 7419 7000 or email csr@bbpr.com to request one. Deadline for applications is 30th June 2010. A shortlist based on fair and clear assessment criteria will be put to a vote of Band & Brown staff in w/c 5th July with the successful charity informed by 10 July.

ACTION AGAINST HUNGER APPOINTS MCBD AND BAND & BROWN TO UK ACCOUNTS

Action Against Hunger, the charity committed to ending child hunger, has appointed MCBD and Band & Brown to handle its UK advertising and PR accounts, on a pro-bono basis.

The Cossette-owned agencies have been tasked with promoting the organisation, which works in over 40 countries worldwide to save the lives of malnourished children, and raising the profile of its key fundraising activity, which galvanises food lovers to fight hunger and culminates in its annual Autumn campaign in partnership with restaurant and food outlets.

The first work for the charity by MCBD and Band & Brown breaks this summer and will encourage the nation’s food lovers to turn the passion for food into an action against hunger, with the aim of turning the organisation into the most famous food-related fundraising charity in the UK.

Danny-Brooke Taylor, creative director at MCBD, says: ‘We are thrilled to be given an opportunity to make a real difference, not only for, Action Against Hunger, but also for the many hundred of thousands of severely malnourished people around the world that they help every day.’
Graz Belli, Managing Director at Band & Brown said: “Action Against Hunger is an inspiring cause that we're proud to support.   We believe that by stimulating advocacy we can get the nation’s food lovers behind the campaign.  We’re delighted to have been awarded the business and are looking forward to working closely with our sister agency MCBD to affect positive action.”

Karen Doyle, Head of Food-Related Campaigns at Action Against Hunger, says: “We would like to thank MCBD and Band & Brown for their great support. We have a long-standing relationship with the food industry and food lovers across the UK and with the help of MCBD and Band & Brown, we are looking forward to taking it to a whole new level.”

For further information or images please contact:
Collette O’Leary
Group Account Director, Band & Brown
0207 419 7319

BOOST FOR CAMERON IN NATION’S CONVERSATIONS

David Cameron takes a boost from trends in the nation’s popular conversations into the final days of election campaigning, according to new statistics.

The weekly TalkingPoint ‘positive conversation’ index saw the number of Brits having a positive conversation about the Conservative leader increase from 17 per cent last week to 21 per cent this week (+4).

While Nick Clegg remains out in front, the number of positive conversations about the Lib Dem leader continues to slide – to 27 per cent (-3) – after hitting a high after the first TV debate.

“Bigotgate” put a dampener on Gordon Brown's previously climbing ratings with the number of people having a positive conversation about the Labour leader fall slightly (14 per cent, -1).

Yet “bigotgate” and the final TV debate may have a positive impact on turnout with 71 per cent of Brits discussing the election in the last week (+7 week on week) – meaning almost as many people discussed the election as who discussed the weather (73 per cent).

TalkingPoint, is a new tool developed by Band & Brown Communications to track conversations about brands, products and people. Weekly polling of more than 2,000 people is conducted by ICM.

Commenting on the data, Fiona Longhurst, Planning Director at Band & Brown, said:
“We’ve seen positive conversations around brand Clegg define the chatter circulating this election.  But for the first time in the campaign, the totally unanticipated buzz Clegg has generated since the first leaders’ debate is no longer tracking at around double that of his rivals.
 
“Whether its talk about the latest iPad or the election, conversations are a natural precursor to decision-making. These conversations will be helping the population in their deliberations before Thursday – and will undoubtedly contribute towards their ultimate voting decision.
 
“Talking Point gives us an ear to the nation’s conversations every week giving timely insight on the brands, products and people that are driving interest and debate in all corners of the country.”