Midas Public Relations

Describe your agency in five words:

Intelligent, energetic, passionate and knowledgeable.

How would you sum up 2010 for your agency?

It was a year of adapting, changing and innovating – and always staying one step ahead of industry and media changes.

What was your agency’s high point of 2010?

Winning new business in new areas....growing our arts and culture business, which included artists, arts festivals, opera, theatre and music clients. The prestigious artist, Stephen Wiltshire was an addition to our roster in 2010 whose work we are delighted to represent. 2010 was also the year of remembering Philip Larkin -- Larkin 25 was a huge national and local event that played to the UK’s arts agenda while regenerating the arts offering in Larkin’s adopted home of Hull. This year-long campaign was multi-stranded, involving, for example, a mass participation public art event with enormous decorated toads, the creation of educational resource material and the fundraising and unveiling of a statue of Larkin on his birthday in December.

What was the low point of 2010?

Feeling the effects of Borders UK going under, which was a reflection of the wider book industry going through a painful reinvention and this had repercussions for a number of our clients. I am pleased to say that the green e-shoots of recovery were a high spot of 2010 with new industries and talent emerging every day.

Please give an overview of your staffing through 2010, including significant hires and internal promotions.

Our staff numbers were pretty constant but we did make a couple of significant new hires to reflect our changing client base and objectives. We hired Dani Freeman from Spreckley Partners to work on corporate accounts and Tracey Jennings from FMcM to handle arts and culture clients.

What were your three best campaigns of 2010?

The National Trust Food and Drink range was launched to a receptive audience; from potatoes to biscuits to beer, the products brought the Trust’s brand attributes to a national market through supermarket shelves.

Still on retail promotions, the 2010 Independent Booksellers Week celebrated the independent sector with a range of activities from guided Buddhist meditation to snail racing. Bookshops across the nation participated, reporting increased footfall and sales throughout the week. The higher profile of the sector resulted in questions being raised in Westminster and Holyrood.

Lastly, we come to a digital winner: leading consumer brand and romance publisher Harlequin Mills & Boon. New Voices, the global search for new writing talent, was primarily a social media recruitment campaign run by our New Media Division. We launched it with London's largest love letter, inviting members of the public to post their love notes in the window of a one of the capital’s iconic tea shops.

What were your most exciting client wins of 2010?

We set ourselves the task of winning at least five more clients in the gallery and arts area which I’m delighted to say we exceeded. We also expanded our remit in the Middle East and extended our reach in the digital and technology sectors.

Of which achievement in 2010 are you most proud?

Steering the business strategically and successfully, against a difficult economic backdrop. We formalised our business into four core areas: consumer lifestyle, arts and culture, corporate and business and – the traditional heart of Midas – the publishing industry. Our clients were, as a result, very diverse with food and drink products rubbing shoulders with yoga videos and political forecasting. No two days are the same!

What trends did you notice throughout the year in the industry ie. Clients taking longer to sign off budgets?

It’s certainly true that clients take longer to sign off projects and expect more for their money, but on the flipside there is an increasing recognition of the importance of PR in industries where its value has frequently been overlooked. In 2010 we did more pitches and won more new clients than ever before.

How has digital changed the agency landscape in 2010?

Digital has changed the way we think, create campaigns and advise clients. It is now integrated into everything we do and the exciting opportunity for PR must be the blurring of lines between pure public relations and promotion; convergence is surely inevitable.

What are your plans for 2011?

2011 is the year when a lot of our 2010 planning will come to fruition with new client areas, new offerings and new territories. We continue to seek clients who we consider to be like-minded and with whom we can develop mutually beneficial and rewarding working relationships. Our plan is to continue to be as flexible, pro-active, creative and adaptable as ever, putting our fantastic range of knowledge, expertise and contacts to excellent use for the benefit of a wider range of clients.