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An ‘Oscar’ winning event – Scottish style – March 2008

Kestrel was asked to organise and run an employee of the year awards ceremony for 480 employees of InterContinental Hotels Group to celebrate and recognise outstanding employee practices and hotels achieving excellent results.

The Crowne Plaza Glasgow was the chosen venue.  “In line with the Scottish location, we created a spectacular awards ceremony which included a performance from Scottish bagpipe band ‘The Pokey Hats’, Piper Ian MacDonald addressing the Haggis and Scottish themed party goods on the tables,” explained event director Naomi van Moppes.

The evening also included a champagne reception and a raffle with luxury prizes. Employees attended from 64 hotels across the UK and Ireland and their images were projected via a PowerPoint presentation onto large screens around the room. This culminated in an ‘Oscars’ style awards ceremony which was broadcast live onto the same screens.

Kestrel followed-up the event by distributing press releases about the winners to local papers and trade magazines in their area generating lots of positive coverage for the company.

“We achieved what we set out to do,” said Naomi.  “All attendees were made to feel special and honoured to have attended and enjoyed a glamorous evening of food, drink and recognition.”

Events – all under one roof – March 2008

When Norbert Dentressangle, one of Europe’s leading logistics companies, decided to hold a prestigious event to announce its collaboration with Carbon View, a company specialising in carbon footprint management, they turned to Kestrel to manage the whole thing for them.

The event needed to be held at a central location that reflected both the prestigious nature of the event and the ‘green’ subject matter and Kestrel came up trumps on both scores.

Our event team, headed by Naomi van Moppes, suggested the Kensington Roof Gardens – a choice that was heartily endorsed by the client. After the venue was booked Kestrel then managed the entirety of the event significantly reducing the workload for the client.

These activities included the design, production and distribution of invites; the management of the guest list, name badges and seating plans; the editing and collation of presentation material; the briefing and rehearsal of speakers and the organisation of refreshments for speakers and guests which included 60 of Norbert Dentressangle’s most valued customers.

Kestrel even managed the media element of the event, organising the attendance of several leading editors from the logistic industry trade press and arranging several successful interviews between them and Norbert Dentressangle management at the event!

According to Naomi, “The event was a great success. Norbert Dentressangle were very happy with how the day went and so were their customers who learnt a lot about how the business is managing its carbon impact. While we did not exceed the client’s budget we certainly surpassed their expectations.”

Communicating with customers – February 2008

Keeping customers informed is a vital part of any marketing campaign.

For waste management giant Biffa, research had also confirmed that customers valued regular contact.

Working with Biffa’s in-house sales team Kestrel created, designed and edited a new customer magazine, now being produced every two months. It’s distributed to over 15,000 customers and is also reproduced, with additional information links, on Biffa’s website.

Content includes news on new and existing services, plus information and guidance on current and forthcoming legislation.

Initial reaction was very encouraging. Customers appreciated the contact and sales leads are increasing. 

Building Brands – January 2008

Kestrel has been appointed to oversee a rebranding exercise for Stuart Spindler & Associates who specialise in the recruitment of senior executives and managers.

As well as developing a revised image, Kestrel will also be responsible for the production of a new and improved website and all supporting collaterals.

“We are very pleased for the opportunity to work with Stuart Spindler to develop and then promote their new brand,” said Kestrel Director Niall Dologhan.

No smoking Claus – December 2007

As part of our work on the EU’s ‘HELP – For a life without tobacco’ campaign Kestrel collaborates with Worldcom partners across Europe. A good example of this occurred in December when we worked with our Finnish partner WPR Finland to promote an interesting seasonal story.

WPR had succeeded in gaining Santa Claus’ support of the HELP campaign so they visited his home near the Arctic Circle in Finland and got his endorsement on tape.

Kestrel was tasked with raising awareness of this event in the UK so we uploaded the videos to YouTube and publicised them to journalists via an online news centre linked to Google News. This resulted in many enquiries and requests for images from journalists keen to use this festive story.

You can view the video here.

National Coverage For Waste Client - November 2007

One of Kestrel’s main specialities is media relations and our skills were put to good use recently when we achieved substantial coverage for our waste management client Biffa Waste Services. Coverage included a ‘magazine’ piece on the internationally recognised BBC News Online website.

As well as providing background information and ensuring the communication of key recycling messages, Kestrel arranged for a journalist and photographer to accompany a 20 tonne waste collection and recycling vehicle and crew as they went about clearing up refuse from central London on a busy Friday night.

The resulting coverage helped maintain Biffa's position as a leading provider of recycling services and helped communicate to the public the difficult task that Biffa crews have to perform in often-imperfect conditions and circumstances.

You can view the article here.

Kestrel also secured coverage for Biffa on the BBC's widely regarded 'The Politics Show' when we arranged for a BBC journalist to visit Biffa's flagship recycling centre in Leicester. The resulting programme endorsed Biffa's model for municipal waste recycling and waste-to-energy as a sound alternative to mass burn incineration.

Thousands tune in to HELP message – October 2007

As part of its work for the 'HELP - For a life without tobacco' campaign Kestrel recently organised 15 live and recorded radio interviews to mark the launch of a key report. These interviews resulted in 22 items of on-air coverage and a total of 4.5 hours of continuous airtime.

The report highlighted the results of a study of over 120,000 smokers and non-smokers across the 27 EU member states - one of the largest such studies ever carried out. The findings demonstrated a clear link between levels of smoking and dangerous levels of carbon monoxide pollution in both smokers' and non-smokers' lungs.

Kestrel used the report to open the door and our spokespeople (a British professor, who had endorsed the research and an expert from QUIT, the leading anti-smoking charity) took the opportunity to provide listeners with valuable information on the dangers of smoking, advice on how to quit and further information about the HELP campaign.

"Over 300,000 people listened in across the country and we were very pleased with the geographic spread of interviews as the coverage reached areas that we have not reached before," said Kestrel account director, Naomi van Moppes.

Palma Partners– October 2007

Five new agencies became members of the Worldcom EMEA network at the recent 2007 conference in Majorca. This move increases the ability of the network and its members, such as Kestrel, to offer their clients top quality public relations and marketing support in key business capitals.

The new Worldcom agencies are: Gellis Communications (Brussels), Coxit Public Relations (Oslo), LF Channel (Barcelona), Catevo Group (Dubai) and Majlis PR & Communications (Dubai). The new members were recruited to expand the network's geographic coverage and to provide additional specialisations in locations where Worldcom is already represented.

In addition to adding new members, the annual EMEA conference gives member agencies the opportunity to get to know their Worldcom partners better, as well as providing opportunities to share knowledge, experience and examples of best practice within the group. A number of member agencies were also scrutinised by their peers during the conference, as part of the stringent Worldcom Management Standards process. The Worldcom Management Standards
were adopted to ensure that Worldcom agencies offer consistently high levels of service across the network.

"We are delighted to welcome these new partners. Their addition increases the choice available to us and our clients in some of the region's key markets," said Kestrel MD John Dresser.

Four Kestrel staff attended the conference.

Convincing consultations – October 2007

Kestrel has been utilising its community affairs experience to help leading waste management client, Biffa Waste Services, to obtain planning permission for a major new recycling and landfill facility in South Warwickshire. As part of this process Kestrel recently completed a major public consultation exercise for the scheme.

Kestrel Account Director Barry Walton said, "Addressing the concerns and fears of local residents, to avoid protest and opposition to the construction of new projects, is at the heart of public consultation work we undertake on Biffa's behalf."

Two public exhibitions were organised to present plans to local councillors and the general public. Information was also distributed in a newssheet distributed to local homes and through news released to the local media. The objective was to inform the local population before rumour and
misinformation was allowed to circulate and influence public opinion in a negative way.

"By concerning ourselves with the views of local people and decision makers and making every effort to take their opinions on-board, we find that opposition to difficult planning applications can largely be avoided, to the benefit of our clients."

MyFax – August 2007

We are pleased to announce that we have been appointed to undertake work for MyFax thanks to an introduction from our Worldcom partners at Tech Image in Chicago.

MyFax is the world's fastest growing internet fax service and Kestrel have been taken on for an initial period of three months to promote the product in the UK. Tech Image have already been doing a great job for MyFax in the US and we hope to repeat that success in the UK.

Logistical triumph – July 2007

Kestrel has just gained the Christian Salvesen trade and corporate public relations account following a highly competitive five-way pitch.

Christian Salvesen is one of the UK's largest transport and logistics companies and we are very excited by this opportunity. We will be assisting Christian Salvesen across all UK divisions as well as coordinating PR activities in their main European markets.

A number of Worldcom partners assisted us in winning this business including B&S in Belgium, Wisse Kommunikatie in the Netherlands, Yucatan in Paris and Grupo Albion in Spain.

A 'well-executed' event – June 2007

As part of its work for the European Commission's HELP - 'For a life without tobacco' campaign Kestrel recently organised an interesting press event in central London.

To mark the 1st July introduction of the UK public smoking ban we arranged a public execution of a cigarette opposite the Tower of London. The spot was chosen because the Tower of London is the location where historically ‘enemies of the state’ met their grisly end!

Passer-by’s and tourists cheered as the cigarette got the chop from an actor dressed as traditional English executioner.

In addition to the ‘execution’, representatives from Kestrel, B&S Brussels and UK charity QUIT were on hand to provide the public with help and advice on how to give up smoking as well as offering free carbon monoxide tests and handing out a variety of HELP promotional items including t-shirts, key rings, bags, frisbees, pens and lanyards.

Following the photocall a press release was distributed to all our Worldcom partners who work on the HELP campaign throughout Europe and this has generated significant coverage for the campaign and the approach has been emulated in other European countries.

Fly me to the moon, or Paris – June 2007

For the second year running Kestrel has conducted a successful project for Admiralty Partners. Admiralty Partners is an aerospace and defence investment business based in Los Angeles. Kestrel were introduced to Admiralty by Stefan Pollack at Pollack PR & Marketing.

Kestrel worked with Stefan to generate media interviews for Jon Kutler, the company's CEO and owner, during this year's Paris Airshow. This activity resulted in interviews and meetings for Jon with the BBC, CNN, CNBC, Associated Press, Bloomberg, Reuters and Dow Jones.

‘Oscars’ glitz and glamour hits London – March 2007

650 employees attended the recent UK & Ireland InterContinental Employee of the Year Awards held at the prestigious InterContinental Park Lane, London. This event was organised by Kestrel.

We arranged the event from concept to finish.  The evening commenced with champagne reception, followed by a gala dinner and raffle and culminated in an ‘Oscars’ style awards ceremony with live camera action. Employees attended from 65 hotels across the UK and Ireland and their images were projected via a PowerPoint presentation onto six large screens around the room.

The evening was a great success and Kestrel followed-up the event by distributing press releases about the winners to local papers and trade magazines in their respective areas.

Quinton Scott – November 2006

We have built (forgive the pun) on our property portfolio, with the addition of Quinton Scott to our client line-up. Quinton Scott is a leading real estate consultancy based in South London. They are heavily involved in commercial property but also have substantial residential, lettings and new homes interests.

Kestrel is promoting Quinton Scott’s property expertise to the local, trade and national media as well as writing and producing a regular newsletter aimed at current and prospective customers, highlighting changes and opportunities in the property market.

The Wombles of Wimbledon – October 2006

Any fans of 1970’s children’s TV may remember the British series ‘The Wombles’.

The Wombles were famous for their environmental work collecting rubbish on Wimbledon Common.

Well the Wombles gained some new neighbours when Kestrel recently moved to some plush new offices overlooking the famous common.

The new offices are located conveniently close to Wimbledon, Kingston and Wandsworth and the nearby A3 provides us with swift access to both central London and the M25, linking us to the rest of the UK’s motorway network.

Community action – September 2006

Kestrel has undertaken two community campaigns for waste management client Biffa.

The first was to support an application for a major waste treatment plant in England.  This involved setting up a public exhibition, presenting plans to local councils, gaining coverage in the local press, TV and radio and producing an information paper for distribution to all local homes.

Over 500 people attended the exhibition and the objective, to let local people know the facts – rather than fiction – about the planned treatment plant, was achieved.  Most residents said they would not object.

The second activity was to mark the opening of a large landfill site in Northern Ireland.  Again the campaign centred on getting factual information to the local community.  In addition to an exhibition, the campaign included tours of the site so that residents could see for themselves exactly what was being done.

“The key thing is to let people have the facts,” said Kestrel’s John Dresser. “So often objections are based on misinformation.” 

Cognita Group – September 2005

A new magazine is keeping parents and teachers up to date with the latest developments at Cognita schools.

Cognita is the brainchild of the former Chief Inspector of Schools, Chris Woodhead. Formed in November 2004, the company is already the largest privately owned independent schools group in the UK.

The new magazine, entitled ‘Schooldays’ is edited, written and produced by Kestrel. It is one of two magazines that the agency is producing for the company, as well as handling its national and regional media relations.

Schooldays informs parents and staff about Cognita’s schools along with news about investment, improvements and acquisitions.  The staff magazine will also contain a variety of challenging educational features with the aim of stimulating useful feedback, which can then be shared with teachers throughout the group. 

more about Cognita

Asquith Nurseries Ltd. – summer 2005

Jamie Oliver undoubtedly takes the credit for bringing the nutrition of the nation’s school children under the microscope, but Asquith also had a great deal to say about the importance of encouraging healthy eating habits way before they even start school. 

They believe in training young taste buds to eat healthily right from the start and has always prided itself on providing excellent nutrition for the children in their care.  They are continually developing their healthy eating menus and were preparing to launch the latest range of menus into the nurseries from September.  1,500 of their pre-school children also took part in a survey about their eating preferences.

Kestrel was briefed to help Asquith capitalise on the media attention being focused on school food to promote Asquith’s own work on child nutrition.  Kestrel proposed that Asquith should team up with a celebrity chef to support and endorse the new menus and also assist with interpreting the results of their children’s eating survey. 

Annabel Karmel, the country’s best-selling children’s cookery author, was a very obvious first choice having written 15 books on the subject of cooking for children. Kestrel negotiated a twelvemonth contract with Annabel who is enthusiastically working alongside Asquith chefs testing the new recipes.  She also held demonstration days for some of their chefs which served to involve and excite the Asquith staff.  Thanks to Annabel’s high profile, Kestrel have gained valuable coverage for Asquith, resulting in greater brand recognition and increased enquiries. 

The results of the eating survey came as a real surprise!  Curry topped the children’s ‘yummy’ list and proved to be a story with national interest.  As a result it achieved substantial coverage with over 80 items of coverage on the first day, including national press and radio coverage!

more about Asquith Nurseries

EU AntiTobacco Campaign – July 2005

With a budget of €72 million the Europe wide ‘HELP – for a life without tobacco’ campaign is the largest ever public health campaign organised by the European Commission.

Thanks to Kestrel’s membership of the Worldcom network, we had the opportunity to work on the campaign in conjunction with 24 other PR consultancies across Europe.

Our responsibility was to organise the UK launch of the campaign, which is aimed at adolescents (15 to 18 year olds) and young adults (18 to 30 years old).

To mark the launch of the campaign a huge promotional module was touring Europe. Kestrel were briefed to find a high visibility location for this module during its five-day visit to London and obtain all the necessary permissions.  We also had to find a good location for a press conference.

We managed to secure Trafalgar Square - one of London’s most iconic landmarks and visited by thousands of Londoners and tourists every single day – for one day, and Covent Garden for three days.

Very sadly, the launch on July 7th coincided with the terrorist bombings in London. As a result the press conference had to be cancelled at the last minute because journalists and speakers could not travel. However, this was quickly replaced by a photo call with the ‘HELP’ module in Trafalgar Square three days later.  Approximately 258,000 people had the opportunity to see the module during its stay in London.  The programme continues.

CuisinArt Resort & Spa – spring/summer 2005

Kestrel have helped CuisinArt Resort and Spa in the British West Indies achieve a 25% increase in UK bookings year on year thanks to well targeted marketing and sales training.

Kestrel recommended marketing and sales training to the front line UK tour operators to help establish CuisinArt Resort and Spa as a leading five star luxury Caribbean hotel.

A series of programmes were designed which include regular visits to the tour operators, training presentations, hosted educational trips to the resort giving the top sellers an experience of the resort at first hand and incentive schemes to encourage low season sales. 

The programme not only resulted in a significant sales increase but Kestrel have also developed strong relationships with the leading UK tour operators.

more about CuisinArt Resort & Spa

Kidsunlimited – March 2005

National Employer of the Year is something to shout about and that’s just what we helped kidsunlimited nurseries do.  News of their award featured in local press across the UK as well as several feature length articles in the industry press thanks to some well-managed media relations by Kestrel.

more about Kidsunlimited