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Ogilvy PR London has just returned a little bleary-eyed but hugely motivated and united from its first overnight Away Day.

The setting: a beautiful collection of converted farm houses in the Kent countryside – heated swimming pool, tennis courts and rolling hills included.

The idea: to form a collective vision for the future, of best practice and team cohesion. We wanted to take a whole day out to make sure that everyone’s ideas were heard – from account executives to business partners – and to formulate a five-year plan that would see us getting bigger, stronger and better over the coming years.

The outcome: a happy bunch of campers raring to put all creative and practical insights into practice to the benefit of both the internal team, and most importantly a happy client. In summary, the whole experience was hugely rewarding and motivating, something that is perhaps scarce at this point in time in a tumultuous industry.

The day comprised of a series of team talks and group work where activities centred on our vision for the future, our strengths and weaknesses, a master class on winning new business and a thoroughly enjoyable business partners’ Q&A session. When all the serious work was done and our flip charts pushed aside, a serious amount of fun ensued…

A group of us went clay pigeon shooting – gold stars went to account directors Drennan Du Plooy and Celestine Cheong, whilst the greatest improvements came from Katie Darwin and Owen Nanlohy (think zero to hero).

Those left behind benefitted from the French Boules skills of semi-professional European champion, Senior Director Ross Cathcart. A tight competition ensued culminating with a nail-biting grand finale with Ross and Ricky Vazquez only just taking the title from brilliant newcomers Alex Clack and player-of-the-moment Lindsey Reaney.

A delicious and ample(!) Hog Roast, a highly competitive quiz, Owen’s homemade cocktails and the soundtrack from Glee ended a perfect day. No need to mention the coach ride home the next morning…

Last night the biggest names in the PR industry gathered in the  Roundhouse Theatre in Camden for one of the most important evenings in the PR awards calendar – The 2009 EMEA Sabre Awards.

Following a champagne reception in the stalls of the theatre, the agencies were invited to take their places for the start of the awards. Representing Ogilvy PR London were Clare Gibbins, Clair Whitefield, Rachael Rees, Blair Metcalfe and Lindsey Reaney. We were joined also by our colleagues from OgilvyHealth PR, SPN Ogilvy (Russia) and Ogilvy PR Czech Republic.

The night was a triumph – Ogilvy PR London alone was nominated for six awards covering the length and breadth of our PR offering from Tech to CSR, Corporate to Consumer Marketing.

The nominations celebrated work across clients from all practices including Mattel, Unilever, FremantleMedia, EMBRATUR and a special mention for our environmental product OgilvyEarth; which received particular praise in light of the very successful Hopenhagen project (below) for the COP15 climate conference in Copenhagen last year.

The consumer team were the real winners of the evening however, collecting a Sabre Award for Best Household Product for the team’s work on the Unilever Cleaner Planet Plan, an environmental initiative which launched in 2009 across the laundry category and which includes huge household names such as Persil, Surf and Comfort. The team also collected a Bronze Award for Media Placement thanks to The EMBRATUR Taste of Brazil Project which saw journalist Charles Campion complete the mean feat of touring over 20 Brazilian restaurants over 4 days and which secured coverage with London Evening Standard, the Financial Times and Guardian Unlimited.

An enjoyable evening was had by all – the team chowed down on an interesting dinner consisting of a trio of peas, vanilla and lime mash and a stuffed cabbage; excitedly tweeted from their table and had a little dance before turning in for the evening .

With a total of six awards won by the Ogilvy PR Worldwide team, the team emerged from the awards as one of the big winners of the evening alongside fellow PR giants such as Fleischman-Hillard, Frank PR and Weber Shandwick.

So who won what?

• Thinking of You – Kyivstar with SPN Ogilvy (Employee Communications category)
• The Cleaner Planet Plan - Unilever with Ogilvy PR London (Non-Corporate Charities and Not for Profits)
• Hopenhagen - United Nations with Mannov representing Ogilvy (Poster/Calendar Photography)
• Exploring the ‘truth’ behind Psoriasis - Wyeth Pharmaceuticals with OgilvyHealth PR (Website);
• Hopenhagen - United Nations with Mannov representing Ogilvy (Media Placement)
• Taste of Brazil - EMBRATUR with Ogilvy PR London (Media Placement)

This July as part of the Ogilvy Group UK’s pop up branch opening on London’s Roman Road, local community organisations will be able to benefit from Ogilvy PR’s expert advice absolutely free.

Over three days the Ogilvy Idea Shop, will serve as a free advertising and marketing clinic for local businesses, community projects, charities, arts groups and other organisations and individuals in East London and Ogilvy PR is encouraging everyone to sign up for this service.

 “Ogilvy Ideas Shop is a fantastic opportunity to pass on our knowledge and big brand experience to charities and local organisations that need marketing support but cannot afford to employ a full time communications professional. I volunteered at the first Ogilvy pop-up shop in Brixton and what was so exhilarating was meeting people and businesses with a whole range of marketing, advertising or communication issues and then seeing them walk away with tailor-made ideas and tactics that they could implement as soon as they left,” said Clair Whitefield, account manager at Ogilvy PR.

Idea Shop will be staffed by volunteers from across Ogilvy including top-notch advertising, public relations and marketing creatives, strategists and planners who ordinarily work for the agency’s big brands and will be on hand to offer advice on a variety of subjects including advertising, public relations, digital, email, social media, strategy, direct marketing, branding, design, search, SEO and copywriting.

This is the second time Ogilvy has run Idea Shop, having taken over a unit in Brixton Market in February. During the three day event Ogilvy volunteers met with 63 organisations such as Oh Sew Brixton, Artisan Carpentry, cancer care charity Macmillan and after school club Kids’ City, and gave more than 100 hours’ worth of free advice.

Anyone interested in attending the Idea Shop is invited to book in for a 90 minute session by going to www.ideashop.www.ogilvy.co.uk by 11th June
The Ogilvy Idea Shop will pop up at 430 Roman Road, London, E3 5LU from Thursday July 8 to Saturday July 10.
A dedicated website and blog is now up and running, http://ideashop.www.ogilvy.co.uk/.

You can also follow Idea Shop on Twitter @Idea_Shop.

Following the launch this week of Ogilvy PR Worldwide’s guide to Communicating Corporate Responsibility: “Building Trust and Communicating CR Effectively,” Ogilvy PR London’s senior director Ross Cathcart, comments on the news that Aviva will become the first British company to put its ethical policy to a shareholder vote today.

He said: “Aviva has to be applauded for putting stakeholder value alongside shareholder value and making corporate responsibility an issue at its AGM. By doing so it has set a benchmark that other FTSE companieswill find themselves under pressure to match.

“However despite Aviva’s pioneering act, big business in general still faces a deficit in consumer trust. A recent Ogilvy Public Relations report found that only a third of the general public trust companies to remain committed to their social and environmental promises, as they recover from the recession.  This erosion of trust matters as without trust everything about doing business becomes more difficult; brand value deflates, it becomes harder to attract talent and transaction costs rise and in many sectors companies also expose themselves to greater regulatory and compliance pressures.

“By moving CR up the agenda, Aviva has taken an important first step in rebalancing this trust deficit. I hope that other companies will follow its example.”

In the post COP15 era, the world view of the role of business has changed. The need to hardwire a commitment to sustainability into a company’s core  business activity has never been greater and the importance of communicating Corporate Responsibility (CR) in this new reality has become a business imperative.

Communicating Corporate Responsibility: “Building Trust and Communicating CR Effectively” published today by Cranfield University, School of Management and Ogilvy PR Worldwide, aims to share best practice methods via global insight and learnings on communicating CR.

With contributions drawn from across the Global Ogilvy PR network, the guide cites initiatives such as the International Advertising Association’s work on Hopenhagen- the COP15 awareness campaign, Ogilvy PR France’s digital engagement campaign for The Sustainable Development Ministry as well as case studies from global brands.

“If business is to prove itself as a responsible citizen, it must move ahead of compliance and regulation and embrace CR as a central tenet of doing business in the 21st century,” says Ogilvy PR London’s senior director Ross Cathcart.

“Regular and transparent exchanges with stakeholders which communicate CR progress and problems are key to good corporate citizenship. They are also central to good business management as if you fail to communicate your CR message correctly and truthfully, not only will you miss out on opportunities but may find yourself facing a backlash.”

To view the pdf version of the guide, please visit: http://www.ogilvypr.com/en/content/communicating-corporate-responsibility

Ogilvy PR London is delighted to have been appointed to help launch the planet’s first low carbon restaurant – Otarian. The world’s first sustainable restaurant chain opened with a star-studded bash last weekend in New York and is due to hit London in May, with outlets in Shaftesbury Avenue, Wardour and Regent Street.

Otarian, a new, boutique, fast-casual restaurant chain, is set to change the face of the London and New York food scenes this spring, becoming the first global chain to carbon footprint every menu item to internationally recognised standards.

The new concept places sustainability at its heart, fusing a passion for the environment with a passion for great food to create a mouth watering dining experience that is also good for the planet.

‘Carbon Saving Combos’ – Roasted Tomato Soup + Penne O Gratin + Choc O Mousse – saves  4.1 kg CO2e [US = 4.0]. This equation is based on the concept that Otarian will provide at least 3 kg carbon savings compared to equivalent meat based dishes.  Saving 3kg of carbon per week would offset 20% of the carbon created by a typical Brit’s daily food consumption. How deliciously responsible!

Providing communications for an ethical brand like Otarian is a challenge because today’s media is sceptical when it comes to the environment. Partnering with our sister sustainability practice OgilvyEarth, we aim to produce a communications package working alongside environmental consultancy Tomorrow’s Company that advises our clients on bringing sustainability to the core of their business.

Get yourself down there and try their delicious, healthy food. As an added bonus use a water cooler moment to boast about your environmental credentials!

Get that champagne on ice… It’s raining awards, Hallelujah! Ogilvy PR London celebrates with a record number of award nominations for the 2010 Sabre and CIPR Awards. They are a testament to the team’s unwavering hard work and commitment over a challenging period economic period. These nominations serve as a just reward.

“We received a record number of entries from a record number of consultancies and corporate PR departments in a record number of markets,” says Holmes Report editor Paul Holmes, who also serves as chair of the SABRE judges. “But more importantly, the quality was incredibly high…All of our finalists should be extremely proud.”

With nominations across a broad range of categories from trade shows to B2B marketing communications, Ogilvy PR London has done itself proud and proves its ability to produce high quality and diverse work.

Buzzing from the recent news our EMEA MD Ash Coleman-Smith comments: “It’s great to see a team that has worked so hard gain the recognition they so truly deserve. 2009 was a challenging year for PR, so it is reassuring to see such fantastic work still coming from the industry”.

Huge congratulations to everybody here at Ogilvy PR London. Now, let’s dust off the bow ties and sparkly gowns and look forward to the swanky ceremonies – fingers tightly crossed! Check out the Holmes Report article for the full list of Sabre Award finalists.

We are proud to announce the appointment of Kevin Fitzsimons as our new Social Media Director. He will head up the UK hub of Ogilvy Group’s influential and highly-acclaimed 360Digital Influence network. With a focus on digital strategy and innovation, Kevin will play a central role in delivering our UK and European social media offering.