Print Futures Awards Open For Entries

The Print Futures Awards are open for entries, offering up to £1,500 for studying or training.

The Print Futures Awards were launched in 2003 to help people fund any costs associated with a relevant training course in printing, publishing or the graphic arts.
Sponsored by The Printing Charity, Unite the Union, and The British Printing Industries Federation (BPIF), the awards are open to people who:

• are aged between 16 and 30 years
• resident in the UK
• are already working in printing, publishing or the graphic arts and would like to undertake short courses or training sessions to develop their skills
• intend studying or are already studying for a job in printing, publishing or the graphic arts in the UK 

Lucky Fan Meets Heavyweight

Chis Bell (left) with Sugar Ray Leonard

Local printing heavyweight, PPD's Chris Bell, took time out from his busy schedule to greet fan Sugar Ray Leonard, recently.

Chris joked: "I cuda knocked sugar out no botha!!!"

Mr Leonard, a retired boxer from Pacific Palisades, California was said to be "thrilled".

Karol Marketing Group Appoints New Account Manager

Laura Kingston joins the Newcastle team

Laura Kingston

PR and marketing agency Karol Marketing Group, has expanded its team with the appointment of a new account manager at its Newcastle office. 

Laura Kingston joins the firm with five years’ experience in the industry, and will be overseeing the management of key clients following the company’s significant growth in 2012. 

Guerilla Give Alnwick Castle The Big Screen Treatment

Guerilla have announced that they've been appointed by the historical landmark and iconic movie setting, Alnwick Castle, as its creative agency for 2013 and their first campaign is now live across the North East.

The advertising is styled like a movie poster, capitalising on Alnwick Castle's use as a location for the Harry Potter films, among other big screen appearances.

How clients are de-skilling the UK advertising industry – Guardian

An article on the Guardian website today addresses a topic that's probably familiar to many of our readers – advertising agencies losing skilled, experienced staff due to financial pressures.

I met up with a former boss of mine recently, from back in the day when I first started working in advertising. He was suggesting to me that clients (meaning marketing people) are now "getting the agencies they deserve". And not in a good way. 

His thesis was that marketing organisations have spent the last decade squeezing creative agency fee income and margins, a trend accelerated by the rise in influence of procurement departments in such negotiations. This had achieved an undesirable and unwanted outcome; over time agencies had become de-skilled, and consequently less useful.

‘DON’T BE A STRANGER’

Opinion Piece by Ben Quigley, CEO of Different

Ben Quigley

Newcastle has always been synonymous with creative problem solvers. From George Stephenson in the first industrial revolution to Jonathan Ive in the current era, Newcastle’s creative thinkers have consistently fuelled economic growth. However, today Newcastle is the furthest IPA English city from London. It has been adversely affected by the recession and overly reliant upon public sector jobs in recent times. And unsurprisingly in the advertising sector, there are fewer agencies around now than there were 5 years ago.

Newcastle’s current IPA agencies are embracing change. The city’s IPA agencies are flying the flag for excellence, always looking forward and asking, ‘what’s next?’.

Today’s agencies locate their HQ motherships in Newcastle but don’t just serve local clients anymore. Now they partner brands including L’Oreal, Bet365 and 32Red supported by technology, transport infrastructure and satellite offices located in this country and further afield. Having your HQ in Newcastle is no longer a perceived barrier to growth.

IPA elects figureheads for major cities

The IPA has announced the appointment of four new city heads to strengthen the Around-the-UK team, and help deliver the most value to member agencies across the country. They are Peter Craven, Managing Partner, Madhouse, Ben Quigley, Chief Executive Officer, Different, Andy Reid, Managing Director, McCann Bristol and Andrew Wilson, Chief Executive Officer, WAA.

The new appointments, spanning Birmingham, Bristol, Manchester and Newcastle, will serve a two-year term and aim to help members in their area access IPA services and participate in locally-based activity. They will also act as spokesmen for their area, raising awareness of relevant issues. All four city heads will be active in meeting fellow member agencies in their regions whose feedback will form a programme of activity for 2013.

CAPITAL GAINS FOR KAROL

PR and marketing firm steps into a new era with launch of London office

Emily Conrad-Pickles, Managing Director of Karol Marketing London
and Stefan Lepkowski, Founder of Karol Marketing Group.

Award-winning PR and marketing agency, Karol Marketing Group, has opened a new office in London.

The launch represents a significant expansion for the company, which was founded in 1992 and has its headquarters on Newcastle’s Quayside.

Is this thing on?

One, two… one, two…

Well, this is embarrassing. It seems we've had some technical difficulty here: several posts have disappeared into the ether. I could see them, but it turns out that nobody else could. And now they're just… gone.

I really don't know how I managed it. Perhaps I just imagined the whole thing.

So anyway, moving on…