PR news this week, with thanks to Early Morning Media 

Political

Government launches ‘Get Ready for Brexit’ info blitz
The Government’s Get Ready for Brexit campaign, created by design consultancy Engine, launched on Sunday, in preparation for the UK’s departure from the European Union. The slogan appeared for the first time on a giant advertising screen next to a John Lewis store at the Westfield shopping centre in Stratford, east London, looming over visitors. It is aimed at EU citizens as well as businesses, many of whom remain unsure about the certainty of Brexit. Downing Street has previously briefed that the taxpayer-funded advertising campaign will cost up to £100m.
Design Week  The Guardian  The Sun

Industry

Mental-health information 'sold to advertisers'
Sensitive personal information about mental health is routinely being traded to advertisers around the web, according to a study from Privacy International. An analysis of more than 100 mental health websites in France, Germany and the UK found many shared user data with third parties, including advertisers and large technology companies – and that the way information being sold was "neither transparent nor fair and often lacked a clear legal basis". Many of the web pages contained cookies that enabled targeted advertising from Google, Facebook and Amazon, and a number also used Hotjar, a company that provides software that allows everything users type or click on to be logged and played back. "It is exceedingly difficult for people to seek mental-health information and for example take a 'depression test' without countless third parties watching," said Frederike Kaltheuner, PI's director of corporate exploitation. We visit these sites and reveal so much about ourselves and that should not be used by companies we have never heard of to track you around the internet and use the data in an opaque advertising eco-system".
BBC News
 
LDC makes Instinctif investment
LDC, the private equity arm of Lloyds Banking Group, made a “significant investment” into PR agency Instinctif Partners. Financial details of the transaction have not been disclosed. Instinctif, formerly known as College Group, has been backed by London-based buyout house Vitruvian Partners since 2011.
Private Equity News
 
The&Partnership opens in Manchester
The&Partnership is opening an office in Manchester, at The SoapWorks building in Media City. The new office will be headed by creative director Andy Bunday, strategy director Nic Sadler, client services Carolina Gutierrez and media lead Mark Varley. Its founder client is TalkTalk.
More About Advertising
 
FINN’s acquisition of Lazar creates health PR giant
FINN Partners acquired Lazar Partners, a healthcare-focused public and investor relations agency headquartered in New York City. The addition of Lazar ranks FINN among the largest independent health agencies with more than $30m in revenues. The practice will grow to 150 staff globally and FINN to nearly 800 employees. The firm serves clients in the digital/health, health/tech, medical device and biopharma sectors.
PR Newswire
 
90TEN appoints May Baccari to senior management team
90TEN announced the appointment of May Baccari as a director in the consultancy’s communications division. Ms May joins the company from Galliard Healthcare Communications, where she was a director.
90TEN
 
Meghan Markle hires crisis management firm
Meghan Markle enlisted crisis management firm Sunshine Sachs to help improve her public image. Chief executive Shawn Sachs and Keleigh Thomas Morgan, who represented Meghan when she was an actress on the drama Suits, have been guiding her through recent high-profile incidents, including a guest edit of Vogue magazine. The company is also advising on plans for the new Susses Royal charity foundation. Sunshine Sachs’ other clients include Ben Affleck, Bon Jovi, Aerosmith, Leonardo DiCaprio, Justin Timberlake, Jennifer Lopez, Snoop Dogg and Natalie Portman.
The Sun
 
Campaigns
 
ASA bans 'misleading' Peta advert
An advert by the charity People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (Peta) has been banned by the Advertising Standards Authority for being misleading. Ten people submitted complaints to the ASA after seeing the advert, displayed on the sides of buses from February this year, which urged people to stop wearing wool products because "wool is just as cruel as fur". The ruling stated that because sheep needed to be shorn for health reasons wool could not be compared to fur in terms of cruelty. According to the ruling, Peta argued that the same abuses and suffering happened in the wool trade as in the fur trade, but the public were less informed about it. The advocacy group also claimed that some health practices carried out without painkillers could be considered cruel. A spokeswoman for Peta said the charity would continue to urge "decent people" to avoid wool and would be running a modified version of the advert, which instead said "wool = cruelty to sheep".
Third Sector
 
Reputational Risk
 
Retailer given formal warning over staff confetti discharge
Global cosmetics giantSephora was given a formal warning after staff swept confetti into Auckland's stormwater drains during the opening of a branch in the New Zealand city. The French company came under fire during its 20 July opening when staff were filmed sweeping what it said was "bio-degradable, water soluble and plant based" confetti into stormwater drains. New Zealand M?ori Council executive director Matthew Tukaki, who filmed the actions, said he saw Sephora staff sweeping paper confetti into drains, along with paper testers, used for fragrances.
New Zealand Herald
 
Technology
Bringing 3D advertising graphics to the masses
Artificial Artists, a VFX specialist firm founded by Ben Cyzer and Tim Phillips, has developed a graphics platform called 3dctrl, a browser-based tool that makes it easier, quicker, and more affordable, to create 3D animations. A variety of camera movements, animations, and text effects are available, so a user can change the background and lighting, add a filter, and slot in another 3D image of a product, without losing all the animations and camera settings, meaning a brand can quickly create videos for a whole range of products. “Five or 10 years ago, you’d sweat for a month to get something to look like that – and now we can do it instantly”, Mr Phillips said. Currently, Artificial Artists is working with brands to test out 3dctrl. It is “software as a service”, meaning that clients will be charged a subscription to use it, but the pair expect high demand from agencies and brands who want to produce content themselves.
City AM
 
And finally…

Raheem Sterling sees red over Purple
Manchester City and England football star Raheem Sterling has split with Purple, the PR company that leaked the news he was being given the captaincy to mark his 50th cap against Holland during the summer. Mr Sterling admitted he was “fuming” over the leak, and had reassured England manager Gareth Southgate that it had been done without his permission or knowledge.
The Daily Telegraph

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