More shameless self promotion...

Well done to everyone at swiftcover.com and Brazil for pulling together yet another fab story yesterday! Following a Metro front page in November and the successful Digital Britain story (check it out in the Sun here), the guys did it again by hitting seven nationals including the Daily Telegraph, the Daily Mirror and the Daily Star.

The threat of drunk drivers is well documented so the team turned the ‘drunk’ story on its head and investigated the effect of drunk passengers on the concentration levels of drivers and whether they have been the direct result of accidents. The results were shocking and showed that drunk passengers are causing thousands of accidents and hundreds of thousands of near misses. On a serious note, we all want everyone to have a good Christmas and New Year so please take note of the story!

Furthermore, have a great Christmas everyone! A few nationals is always a nice way to wrap-up the year – although we will be doing at least one other story for swiftcover.com before the year’s out.

Feliz Natal! (‘Happy Christmas!’ in Brazilian/Portuguese)

Whisky's new world order

Ten years ago, whisky was something old men sipped by fires, made almost exclusively in Scotland by people who claimed to have been making whisky the same way for 20 generations.

Flash forward to 2010 and the whisky industry has been invigorated by a host of whisky distilleries springing up in the most unlikely places. Much to the chagrin of the Scots, a surprising number of these whiskies are extremely good, and we should know - we’ve been working with one of the most established brands, Penderyn, for a good few years now. We never get bored of seeing someone’s face light up when they take their first sip of Aur Cymru – that’s ‘Welsh Gold’ to you and me.

However, for all the good things the experts say about Penderyn, we still find people need to taste it for themselves. To make this easier, we’ve been putting free bottles of whisky behind some of London’s best bars to keep Londoners warm, but we recognise that there’s still a mistrust of world whisky in general, which is why we decided to put on an event with the best whiskies from around the world to challenge those perceptions.

Firstly, we invited renowned whisky expert and author of The Whisky Bible, Jim Murray to host the event. As someone who takes a truly unprejudiced view of the whisky world, Jim is ideally placed to extol the virtues of our guest whisky brands. When it came to the guest whiskies, we made sure that the invited brands were not only exceptional in their own right, but also held in high regard by Jim Murray. Amrut, from India, presented their ‘Fusion’ expression, a whisky that has been awarded 97 points in The Whisky Bible; and we were also joined by the Belgian Owl, whose Single Malt Spirit aged 44 Months expression, with 95.5 points, is everything you’d expect of the finest scotch but comes in modern, cool packaging.

When someone’s really passionate about something, people watching can’t help but become enthusiastic themselves, and the lucky journalists and bloggers (including writers from Imbibe Magazine, Bar, Love Food Love Drink and The Arbiturian) were captivated by Jim, and, of course, the whisky. Despite Jim’s insistence that we spit the first few we tried to really appreciate the flavours, I doubt anyone left completely sober at the end of the evening...

So, it went very well. So well in fact that there’s already talk of us doing one next year. If you want to come along, drop an email to luke@welsh-whisky.co.uk and we’ll see what we can do...

A day at the races...

As a massive petrol head and a fan of the Honda brand long before taking on the task of managing their lifestyle comms, news of the opportunity to visit the Team Dynamics Honda BTCC racing team had me running round like a kid who had been told he was being given the keys to a sweetshop.

However, I had to remind myself that this was actually for work purposes, so I had to look out for every intricacy and detail in the team in order to carve out the stories that would generate publicity for the team. And what detail there was – truly a comms professional’s dream.

The day started with us being driven around Silverstone’s BTCC circuit by veteran racer and 2010 runner-up, Matt Neal. The vehicle was a totally road-standard Civic Type-R - Honda’s outgoing flagship performance car that puts out 197 of their finest horses. The experience was special to say the least and really highlighted both the mind-blowing skill of the driver and the engineering excellence that Honda puts into its road going vehicles. I could have been chasing the menacing black Civic in a Ferrari with twice the power and not come close to overtaking it.

Fun over, it was time to get under the skin of the 2010 BTCC Manufacturers Championship-winning team to find those little nuggets of information that keep me in my job. And what an operation it is. Forget the mega-budget F1 teams, with hundreds of staff and flash offices – this is where true hard work and teamwork pays the biggest dividend. With just 8 permanent staff, some of whom have been there for over 15 years, the all-British Team Dynamics Honda team is one of the largest, most talented and longest serving in the pitlane. Not too dissimilar to Honda’s Civic factory in Swindon then, albeit on a smaller scale.

The similarities don’t end there. Despite sharing little in terms of actual components, the race car and road car clearly share the same ethos. Both are renowned for their bullet-proof reliability (Honda was recently voted the UK’s most reliable manufacturer in a survey of 1.5m cars in Fleet News). Both cars are also renowned for providing class-leading handling as opposed to headline power figures – and we all know the former is far more important for safe and fun real world driving than crazy horsepower.

Want to know more? Well watch this space to find out how Brazil creates exceptional publicity around an exceptional team...

Brazil Launches Graduate Trainee Programme

Brazil has launched its new graduate trainee programme and is currently searching for a graduate to fill a permanent roll as a PR trainee. Every year Brazil will take on a minimum of one trainee to be based in its central London office.

The ideal candidate will be passionate about current affairs and the media (both traditional and online) and should be looking for a career where he or she can be genuinely creative and develop existing writing and communication skills.

Is this job for you?

· Do you have strong writing and excellent communication skills?

· Can you come up with creative and exciting ideas?

· Are you keen to learn more about how both traditional and social media informs, creates awareness and influences people?

About Brazil

Established in 2003, Brazil is a vibrant and successful PR consultancy with a broad client base. Our award-winning work covers the full range of services including media relations, social media, crisis management, message development and internal communications.

Our clients range from multi-national businesses through to ambitious start-ups, covering sectors including financial services, consumer goods, property, professional services, automotive, retail, healthcare and food & drink.

About the position

You will provide account-handling support on a wide range of clients, experiencing different skills, ideas, approaches and markets. Your time will be split between writing, research, media relations, social media work, account and general administration. For those who demonstrate a keen interest and aptitude, there is the opportunity to be fast tracked within the agency and to work on complex PR accounts and issues.

What are we looking for in our trainees?

We are looking for bright, career-orientated graduates with excellent written and oral communication skills. A keen interest in business, the media (including social media) politics and consumer trends is important, and some relevant work experience is a benefit. A good academic degree is essential, as is a thirst for knowledge. You should be intelligent, confident in written and spoken English and a good team player.

Applications

Please send through your CV accompanied by a cover letter outlining why you’re interested in this job to sean@agencybrazil.com. Deadline is Monday, 13th December 2010.

Welsh Whisky Wednesday

Penderyn asked us to get more novice whisky drinkers to try Penderyn whisky – no mean feat, when you consider the fact that, as a small, independent distiller, Penderyn puts its money into making some of the best whisky around rather than expensive marketing campaigns.

So, we came up with an offer drinkers couldn’t refuse – free whisky. With Brazil’s help, Penderyn teamed up with some of London’s coolest bars to offer free warming whisky every Wednesday, all winter long.

We started last week by putting bottles of ‘Welsh Gold’ behind the bar of The Albannach, traditionally a scotch fortress, and Mint Leaf Lounge, one of the City’s most classiest hangouts. How did it go? Well, in our experience, free whisky never fails to draw a crowd, and we warmed many Londoners’ hearts that night.

Just as importantly, London’s most important bloggers got in on the act too: Dwink, Hot-Dinners, Whisky for Everyone, Love Food Love Drink and Foodepedia to name but a few, loved the idea, and showed their support by telling their readers about it. It was also a huge hit on Twitter, and the #WelshWhiskyWednesday hashtag was used to get even more people involved. We’ll be running it all winter long, and who knows – if it continues to do so well, maybe we’ll be taking it further afield...

Meanwhile, check out www.twitter.com/penderynwhisky to find out where we’ll be serving up free Welsh gold this week – hope to see you there!

Brazil launches Oxford University Rugby Community event

Earlier this week, Brazil worked with the Oxford University Rugby Club to engage with the city’s public and generate interest in the oldest rugby club in England. The event saw Blues players showing off their skills on the streets of Oxford and engaging with local children to promote the grassroots game using a series of skills exercises.

Hundreds of tickets to the London Wasps match were given away to people who had never seen a rugby match before, and the club recorded bumper crowds for the match, attended by many from the next generation of rugby players.

SMO vs. SEO

Recently, we’ve heard commentators say that social media optimisation (SMO) is now becoming more important than traditional SEO. We think that’s untrue for the majority of markets and brands because, like it or not, Google still holds the key to their direct sales, leads and awareness on the internet.

Of course, it’s true that certain brands are moving more resources into social media and away from SEO, and you could make the case that ‘word of mouth’ is more trusted as a source of information than any other. Therefore it makes sense for brands to pay extremely close attention to what’s being said about them online and interact at the appropriate time, in an appropriate fashion – something we practice day in, day out here at Brazil for most of our clients (for an example of this, check out some of our work on social media with swiftcover.com).

Our opinion? Social media optimisation should not be seen as the be all and end all, neither should it be dismissed. The key thing to bear in mind is that all media is integrated, and as a result, there are very few successful online campaigns that don't utilize the unique and important values of other marketing disciplines such as advertising and public relations. Well, maybe a couple.

Brazil makes two new signings...

Brazil has taken on two new recruits at associate and account director levels following the company’s move to London.

Sean Williams joins as associate director from Consolidated PR to lead the financial services division and build the social media offering. Meanwhile, Pritesh Mody joins Brazil from Ketchum and will lead the Honda account as well as head up the FMCG arm.

The appointments coincide with Brazil’s relocation to Soho, London and the launch of a new website (www.agencybrazil.com) – moves designed to increase Brazil’s proximity to clients and expand the firm’s social media offering.

Contact Sean and/or Pritesh by calling 020 7785 7383 or email them direct:

sean@agencybrazil.com

pritesh@agencybrazil.com

Brazil wins Genactis brief in four way pitch

Brazil has been appointed as the retained PR agency for Genactis, an international healthcare research firm.

Genactis, which has offices in the USA, the UK, Germany, Italy and France, appointed Brazil after a competitive four way pitch. Brazil is the first PR agency to have been appointed by Genactis.

Brazil was called in to change the perception of Genactis from a market research agency to a life sciences provider, and the brief includes both online and offline work. Richard Kenyon, who recently joined Brazil from Fleishman-Hillard’s healthcare agency will lead the account, and will work closely with Brazil MD Joshua Van Raalte.

New Soho office and website

Brazil has moved to 10/11 Archer Street, which is now our main office. We’ve also got new website up at www.agencybrazil.com, and a new contact number to boot: 020 7785 7383.

Let us know what you think.

Brazil

500 ways to do great business

The Swift Awards, a national scheme recognising great local businesses, sponsored by swiftcover.com and run by Brazil, has just given its 500th award. It’s a significant milestone, and in the time that it’s taken us to identify and celebrate 500 exceptional British businesses, swiftcover.com has grown from the new kid in the insurance market to one of the UK’s most recognised brands.

When Brazil won the swiftcover.com account in 2008, the insurer needed a campaign that would appeal to consumers and influencers, whilst also driving brand awareness by generating media coverage outside of the personal finance pages, and in particular in local and regional media.

So, we created the Swift Awards; a PR campaign with, at its heart, a business awards scheme designed to recognise, support and reward local businesses that deliver quick, reliable and hassle-free service, mirroring swiftcover.com’s values.

The business categories reflect swiftcover.com’s insurance products, so we search for the best garages, automotive business, travel firms and pet-related companies across the UK. The awards are judged by a swiftcover.com panel of mystery shoppers, with the award winners featuring on a business directory on the unique Swift Relief website (www.swiftrelief.co.uk), developed to showcase winning firms and allow members of the public and swiftcover.com’s own policyholders to find a great award-winning business in their area.

It’s been a huge success: we’ve visited 60 cities and spoken to thousands of businesses over the last two years to find 500 businesses; but the search continues. It’s helped swiftcover.com establish itself as a household name, so far generating more than 600 pieces of newspaper, online and radio coverage, in addition to the coverage swiftcover.com gets on its own.

To find out more about the awards, visit www.swiftrelief.co.uk

Brazil drives swiftcover.com car insurance to insurance marketing initiative of the year!

swiftcover.com has won ‘Marketing Initiative of the Year’ at the British Insurance Awards – beating off competition from the likes of Direct Line, Aviva and Churchill – for a multi-strand strategy that included an innovative social media and PR company created by Brazil.

The insurance market is saturated, so as a new entrant swiftcover.com had to stand out. As it was also the UK’s first fully internet only insurer, Brazil harnessed online to raise awareness of the company and engage with customers and influencers alike.

To support the launch of the Iggy Pop fronted campaign, which have now clocked up over 80,000 views, Brazil embarked on a social media campaign that used a Facebook page featuring great content based on the ‘Get A Life’ theme, plus a Twitter feed to seed online content and engage with customers.

Brazil also created The Swift Awards, a national campaign to find great local businesses, which was supported by Swift Relief, a hub of unique content including hints and tips, vox pop videos, an insurance jargonbuster and even a viral game, Dance Like A Rockstar, all of which generated online interest and supported traditional media relations.

Brazil’s work, along with traditional offline PR, marketing and advertising, helped boost swiftcover.com’s sales by 38.5% in 2009 and increase brand awareness by 90%.