Tangerine PR Blog

Tangerine, this week crowned the UK’s best PR agency by the CIPR, has strengthened its B2B credentials with the appointment of Sam Gregory to the newly created position of MD, B2B. Sam, who joins from IAS b2b Marketing, has been tasked with developing the agency’s already successful B2B team into the UK’s leading B2B PR specialist.

Tangerine’s Group MD, Sandy Lindsay, said: “In an amazing week for Tangerine, this is another very exciting move that will broaden our offer once again.

“B2B has very quickly become a key sector for us and we are very serious about developing it, so we are thrilled that Sam has come on board to develop our B2B offering further and put Tangerine at the forefront of this specialist area.

“She has a real passion for delivering excellence in B2B PR and a tenacious enthusiasm for innovating the way that businesses communicate in an increasingly diverse and complex comms landscape. We are very much looking forward to seeing Tangerine’s offering go from strength-to-strength.”

Sam has worked in B2B PR for over 10 years and spent the last four as Director of PR at IAS b2b Marketing, where she shaped the agency’s PR offering and, among other things, helped turn the B2B sector on to the potential of digital and social media.

On her appointment, she commented: “It’s a very exciting time for B2B PR. We have now entered an era of sophisticated PR strategies that integrate off and online worlds and enable B2B brands to meet the communication needs of modern B2B influencers and decision makers, and engage them in much more interesting and meaningful ways.

“But it’s a complex challenge that requires a specialist solution, which is exactly what Tangerine’s B2B team is geared up to deliver. The agency has had a remarkable rise in recent years and is well known for its first-rate consumer capabilities, as well as its digital and social media offering through Juice, so developing a B2B offer to match is great move with huge potential and I’m incredibly excited about working with Sandy and the team to develop it.”

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Manchester-based Tangerine PR has been crowned ‘Outstanding PR Consultancy of the Year’ at the national Chartered Institute of Public Relations’ Excellence awards, beating off some of the UK’s largest and most established PR consultancies. This is the third year the agency has been shortlisted for this prestigious award, but this time the judges stipulated that Tangerine was ‘a clear winner’.

The CIPR Excellence Awards recognise and reward best practice in public relations throughout the UK and acknowledge personal and team achievement at the highest professional level. The judging procedure has two stages. Each shortlisted entry (decided on the basis of a written submission) went through to a second round of judging. This involved being interviewed by a panel of judges comprising senior PR practitioners and experts from the business, media, marketing and advertising communities.

Speaking as to their choice of Tangerine in what is the ultimate category of the top industry awards, the judges said: “Tangerine does everything well! It is clearly an inspiring consultancy – for client and employees alike – with strong values and a consistent record of success, based on clever ideas, hard work and – in the judges’ view – an exceptionally sincere relationship with its clients. The judges felt that Tangerine represented an outstanding showcase for UK PR at its very best!”

Sandy Lindsay, Tangerine’s founder and Group MD, said: “It was an amazing night. Not just winning the award – which is clearly something of which we’re immensely proud – but also the reaction from the profession. We have received so many emails, tweets, texts and phone calls of congratulation, from clients, friends, other agencies and even competitors, and this is (almost) as good as winning the award itself!

“We’ve been told that we’re the only agency outside London to have ever won this award. We’re not 100 per cent sure this is the case but no-one can remember a previous example so, even if we have a predecessor, it’s obviously been a while! National vs regional is such an old fashioned, redundant argument, but we’re certainly proud to fly the ‘Manchester flag’ as it’s a city that is home to some of the UK’s best PR consultancies (large and small) and this will obviously help the wider marketing community to see this.”

CIPR CEO Jane Wilson said: “Winning a CIPR Excellence Award can be considered the ultimate achievement in the PR profession and worthy of the warmest of congratulations. These awards are the most demanding in the industry and set the benchmark for best practice. Competition was as fierce as ever, producing an exceptional quality of entries – outstanding, considering the economic challenges of last year. The public relations world has proved not just that it is resilient but that even when budgets are tight, creativity and a focus on return on investment come to the fore.”

Tangerine PR’s sister agency, Juice Digital, fought off tough competition at last night’s How-Do Awards to be named Best Social Media Agency. The awards, which this year attracted a record number of entries from North West media and creative agencies, reflect the very best that the industry has to offer in the region.

Juice Digital demonstrated significant growth and success in terms of new business wins, job creation, campaign accolades and creativity.

Speaking about the win, Steve Downes, Juice Digital MD, said: “I’m extremely proud of the team here at Juice Digital, and it’s down to them and the continuous support we receive from our Tangerine colleagues, that we won this award. I’m very lucky to work with such a talented, dedicated and passionate bunch of individuals that live and breathe the social media world.”

Sandy Lindsay, Tangerine Group MD, continued: “This award gives testimony to all the hard work of the Juice Digital team, as well as the support everyone in the wider agency has given them in building the business over the past 18 months.”

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Following a competitive five-way pitch, leading Manchester-based PR consultancy, Tangerine PR, and sister agency, Juice Digital, have been selected by Ross Burgers to re-launch and raise the awareness of its products to its target market, using both traditional consumer and social media channels.

Under license from Heinz, the Ross Burgers brand is a division of Northallerton-based, Dalepak Foods, which is owned by Irish Food Processors (IFP), one of Europe’s largest beef processors, it has undertaken a review of its convenient and great value for money quarter pounder and 2oz burger range, with the aim to bring fun to teatime.

Tangerine and Juice will launch an ongoing press office, alongside several integrated PR and social media campaigns, designed to engage and inform the end user, as well as inject the fun personality of the brand, under the umbrella theme ‘Feed the Fun’. The programme will help build the brand’s credibility in the burger category and re-launch the burgers, which are made from only the very best ingredients, using select cuts of beef, and contain no artificial colours, flavouring or preservatives, ensuring that they are enjoyed by everyone around the dinner table.

Anne Claypole, marketing manager, Ross Burgers, explains why Tangerine and Juice Digital were selected: “Both Tangerine and Juice demonstrated that they really understood the ‘Ross mum’, and that their strategy, ideas and experience in the sector would enable them to get under the skin of our target customer. We were looking for a PR and social media partner which could take the brief and deliver quick results. Both agencies are specialists in the sector and have the skills we believe are necessary to make this campaign a success.”

Sarah Halton, director at Tangerine, added: “As soon as we met the team at Ross Burgers we felt instant chemistry, which is very important to us. We also knew our expertise in targeting young families across both traditional and social media platforms would help us build a PR plan which would help us deliver tangible results for the brand. We can’t wait to get started.”

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Cartridge World, the leading retail provider of high quality, great value refilled printer cartridges has appointed Tangerine to manage the PR around its 2011 new store roll out programme.

Initially tasked with launching the 216th store, based in Stockport, the consumer team is responsible for generating local and regional media coverage, highlighting specific business networking opportunities for store franchisees and making connections with local schools to promote the firm’s Recycle It scheme within the local area surrounding each store.

Using specifically formulated inks or toners, Cartridge World stores can refill or remanufacture all major brands of inkjet and laser cartridge, offering customers substantial savings on the cost of an original and an environmentally friendly alternative to throwing the cartridge into landfill – where it can take up to 1000 years to decompose.

Lucie Ward, marcomms manager at Cartridge World, commented: “The team at Tangerine has highly impressive retail credentials which is why we initially made contact. After the team presented a number of detailed and highly targeted proposals it was clear to us that they were the right agency to work with and support us with our new store launch plans.”

Sarah Halton, director at Tangerine PR, added: “Cartridge World is a superb UK retail brand and the team will really hit the ground running to make sure the first opening is a great success.

“Our experience with retail brands such as Wilkinsons, Wimpy, Dulux Decorator Centres and TJ Hughes makes us an ideal PR partner for Cartridge World. In 2010, our retail team launched 98 stores from Kilmarnock to Exeter and we look forward to supporting another leading retailer in its growth.”

The group welcomes PR professionals from both consultancy and in-house teams across the North-West and provides a forum for its members to discuss issues affecting the practice of PR in the area. Meetings and events are organised on a regular basis to share best practice, hear from insightful speakers and promote high standards in PR.

Sandy Lindsay said: “The PRCA is about promoting best practice among consultancy and in-house teams and this is obviously something which we firmly endorse as a business. We’re relatively recent members of the PRCA and I’m already impressed with the professionalism and drive of the team and am keen to ensure the North West can play a very real part in its ambitious future plans.”

Francis Ingham, chief executive of the PRCA, said:

“We are grateful to Martyn Best, Co-Founder of Paver Smith, for setting strong foundations through his leadership of the group over the last few years and delighted that Sandy will be taking over as chairman to further strengthen the PR community in the North-West. Sandy’s experience, insight and passion for the industry will ensure the group’s dynamism and we look forward to working with her to promote the value of PR.”

The PRCA currently has 7 regional groups, including the North-West. These span the UK and seek to provide knowledge-sharing opportunities and address concerns of PRCA members operating beyond London. Other regional groups are: Midlands, South East and East Anglia, South-West and Wales, Yorkshire & Lincolnshire, Scotland and Northern Ireland.

About Sandy Lindsay

Named Northwest Businesswoman of the Year in January 2010, Sandy started her marketing career 20 years ago, moved into PR consultancy five years later and launched Tangerine in 2002. Tangerine was formed to prove that it is possible to run a business ethically and profitably, ie those two motivations are not mutually exclusive. Now more than nine years old and with 32 people and 40 clients – many of them world-leading brands – Tangerine has never once moved away from its guiding principles of: ‘honesty, courtesy and respect.’

Tangerine offers PR consultancy, Public Affairs consultancy, event management, crisis/issues management and social media. In 2009 it acquired social media marketing agency, Juice Digital. Tangerine supports a wide range of clients across the UK including ICI AkzoNobel, Mars Drinks, Atkins, Wilkinsons, Dulux Decorator Centres, Turtle Wax and Soreen.

Sandy also heads up two job creation programmes in Manchester: Manchester Masters (a graduate retention and job creation programme) and Creative Break (a programme to encourage creative agencies and marketing departments to take apprentices). She is also Vice Chair of the Community Foundation for Greater Manchester and an Ambassador for the National Apprenticeship Service.

About the PRCA

Who we are: Founded in 1969, the PRCA is the professional body that represents UK PR consultancies, in-house communications teams and PR freelancers. The PRCA promotes all aspects of public relations and internal communications work, helping teams and individuals maximise the value they deliver to clients and organisations.

What we do: The Association exists to raise standards in PR and communications, providing members with industry data, facilitating the sharing of communications best practice and creating networking opportunities.

How we do it and make a difference: All PRCA members are bound by a professional charter and codes of conduct, and benefit from exceptional training. The Association also works for the greater benefit of the industry, sharing best practice and lobbying on the industry’s behalf e.g. fighting the NLA’s digital licence.

Who we represent: The PRCA represents many of the major consultancies in the UK, and currently has more than 230 agency members from around the world including the majority of the top 100 UK consultancies. We also represent around 60 in-house communications teams from multinationals, UK charities and leading UK public sector organisations.

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Leading Manchester-based PR consultancy, Tangerine PR, and its sister agency, Juice Digital, have been selected to promote two of this year’s leading northern sporting events – the Great Day of Sport and the Great North Swim.

The Great Day of Sport (15th May) incorporates the Bupa Great Manchester Run, the British Gas Great Salford Swim and the Powerade ION4 Great City Games.

Paula Radcliffe will begin her emotional bid for Olympic glory in an event which will see Britain’s long distance running queen mark her return to competitive racing after 15 months out. Over 38,000 amateur athletes – all competing for extraordinary reasons and aiming to raise huge sums for charity – will join the professionals, as well as myriad celebrities including Nell McAndrew, former Corrie favourite Suranne Jones and the stars of Strictly Come Dancing and Dancing on Ice.

The British Gas Great Salford Swim will see British medalists from Beijing join 2010 hopefuls Cassie Patten and Kerri-anne Payne and 2,000 amateur swimmers – along with celebrity faces – in this one mile open water swim.

And the day will culminate in the Powerade ION4 Great City Games, a series of head to head sprint competitions featuring the world’s fastest athletes including Britain’s Jessica Ennis, the World Heptathlon Champion.

Tangerine will be responsible for maximising media coverage around the events, ensuring people support the programme, either via a visit to the city or by watching the 5-hour long, live BBC broadcast on the day. Juice will engage with runners and encourage them to maximise noise around the event.

Tangerine will also support the British Gas Great North Swim (17th – 19th June) which will take place on Lake Windermere and is expected to attract nearly 10,000 participants in 2011.
“Nova International invented the genre of mass community runs, walks and swims which is now almost universal and the company really knows its way around not only the running of the events, but how to maximise them via media and celebrity involvement,” said Tangerine group MD, Sandy Lindsay. “It’s an absolute honour to be working with David and his team to make sure the events and their participants receive the recognition they deserve.”

David Hart, communications director for Nova International, explained why he selected Tangerine to be part of his team: “We needed a PR partner which really understands not only the world of sport but also the national lifestyle and mainstream media, and ideally they’d be Manchester-based, for obvious reasons! Tangerine more than ticks all these boxes and I didn’t need to meet anyone else once I’d met the team and experienced their enthusiasm first hand.”

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Diamond jeweller, Phillip Stoner, has appointed Tangerine PR to raise the profile of the brand and recently opened Manchester store, located on The Avenue in Spinningfields, within Greater Manchester and Cheshire.

The stunning new store is the fourth in the portfolio for the family run business, which is already well established in West Yorkshire, with two sites in Leeds and one in Halifax. The beautifully ‘in-house’ designed pieces and high quality diamonds are not only exquisite but also exceptionally competitively priced.

The store, which specialises in bespoke wedding, engagement and eternity rings, opened on 1st December 2010, and sits well beside other stylish lifestyle brands on The Avenue such as Mulberry, Flannels and Emporio Armani. Tangerine PR has been tasked with raising the store’s profile, its bespoke diamond ring offering, as well as the exclusively designed ‘Lila’ range, named after the granddaughter of founder, Phillip Stoner.

Son of Phillip Stoner and now owner of the business, Jonathan Stoner, commented: “It was essential that we selected the best agency in Manchester to help us build the brand within Greater Manchester and Cheshire. Tangerine PR has great credentials and the consumer team’s media contacts in the region and knowledge of the jewellery and retail industry are second to none.”

Marie Carter, consumer account director at Tangerine PR, commented: “The team is very experienced in raising the profile of retailers both on a regional and national level, and it is great to be working with such a passionate, dedicated and family run brand with a store right on our doorstep.”

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Tangerine PR is celebrating after being shortlisted for the national CIPR Outstanding PR Consultancy of the Year at this year’s CIPR Excellence Awards. This is the third consecutive year Tangerine PR has been up for the prestigious accolade, which recognises the achievements, performance and excellent work of consultancies across the UK. Tangerine PR is also the only agency outside London to have been shortlisted in the category. The winner will be announced at a gala dinner held at the Park Plaza Westminster Bridge Hotel in London on the evening of Wednesday 1st June.

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Tangerine PR and sister agency, Juice Digital, are celebrating after being shortlisted in the Best PR Agency category and Best Social Media Agency category (respectively) in this year’s How-Do Awards 2011. The awards, which this year attracted a record number of entries from North West media and creative agencies, reflect the very best that the industry has to offer in the region. The winners will be announced at a gala dinner at The Point, Lancashire County Cricket Club, on the evening of Thursday 26 May 2011.

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