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