March 29, 2022
- New clients and team members
- Our 10th Birthday
- Giving back: Our pro-bono work
2022 got off to a flying start for Conscious Communications – from a flurry of new clients and team members (welcome Elle, Tegan and Emma; making it our biggest team to date!) to celebrating two award wins. It’s an exciting time at the agency. The team shares some of its personal highlights:
Sophie Baillie, PR & Marketing Director:
There’s no rest for the wicked! In January we sprang into action to support SWGfL (the South West Grid for Learning) in launching the Harmful Sexual Behaviour Support Service. The helpline provides advice to a range of professionals across England, who encounter developmentally inappropriate sexual behaviour, which may be harmful or abusive, among the children and young people they are working with. It is such an important service for education and safeguarding professionals, and one I am proud to be supporting to raise awareness and, in turn, improve child safety. From media relations to email marketing, social media and more, our launch activity meant that the Service’s landing page was the 5th busiest page in the charities 21 years!
It has also been fantastic to get out and about again, and I have had the pleasure of seeing almost all of my clients face to face once more! In February, it was brilliant to meet the senior leadership team of Nextbase in London and manage their corporate photography; a hugely important part of the company’s profile and branding work. Thanks to our trusted photographer and videographer, Richard Ecclestone, the results are brilliant!
Joanna Colley, Senior PR & Marketing Manager:
Having worked with the brilliant Whirlpool team since 2019 on its FIRST® LEGO League events, the company approached us last year to ask for our advice on creating a competition that asks school children to re-design a kitchen appliance to be more sustainable, feeding into Whirlpool’s innovative new product development. Fast forward a few months and we have Whirlpool Purposeful Innovation – a NEW competition open to students in Years 7 – 9, which will provide young people with an insight into the world of design and engineering, while putting their creativity to the test.
From competition concept development and schools’ engagement, to event delivery and media relations – this project really puts the wide range of our expertise into practice. I can’t wait to see how the competition unfolds and the ideas the students come up with later this year!
Gemma Cooper, PR & Marketing Executive:
An unexpected highlight for me has been my involvement in pitching and securing coverage for our client Connected Places Catapult, which delivers the Department of Transport’s Drone Pathfinder Catalyst Programme; promoting the commercial use case for drones. From farming, housing and energy to the eagerly-anticipated pizza delivery by drone, it has been so interesting to learn and write about the different industries that drone technology is transforming for good, as well as achieving future sustainability goals. It is exciting to say that I have played a small part in driving the UK’s drone transformation now that the technology is really taking off (pun intended!).
Zoë Scorer, Deputy Managing Director:
Following the success of our virtual FXP Festival in 2021, we have decided to run it again in 2022 AND re-launch the physical in-person event at Cambridge Regional College – we don’t like to make things easy for ourselves! We found that the virtual event last year increased access for many student teams (we welcomed over 300 students in 2021) and so we wanted to offer both options to enable schools and teachers to flexibly manage their participation within their school schedules. We’re excited to run our in-person event after a two-year break and, with the help of our new Head of Events, Elle Roberts-Nissen, we’re sure that this will be the best year yet! There is still time to get involved, please email Hanna Garrett for more information.
It still blows me away that a company of our size has its own charity, FXP Festival but, in reality, we do so much when it comes to giving back to the community. We have been proud to be offering our services pro bono for the first ever Cambridgeshire County Day over the last few months. It will take place on Thursday 23 June and activity is really ramping up. The support from businesses up and down the county, large and small, has been phenomenal, meaning the day will showcase and celebrate the very best from the Cambridgeshire business, charity, community and public sectors. Money is also being raised to support the new world-leading Cambridge-based Regional Children’s Hospital and the Cambridgeshire Community Foundation’s Lord-Lieutenant’s Fund. If you would like to be involved, please contact the team. In the meantime, we’ll be hoping for sunshine on the big day!
Elle Roberts-Nissen, Head of Events:
I was so excited to join the Conscious Communications team, not only as a new team member but to launch their specialist events division, CC Events, in February. CC Events focuses on delivering quality in-person, virtual and hybrid events, including brand and product launches and media events; conferences, ceremonies and networking events; corporate hospitality – from summer picnics to Christmas celebrations; team building and training; festivals, education and community engagement events. After delivering successful events over the last 10 years, I can now support the business in expanding a new fully-focused department by offering our existing and new clients a bespoke service that ultimately turns their event dreams into reality.
Samantha Cunningham, Junior PR & Marketing Executive:
This month, we launched the #LentGivingChallenge for Cambridge City Foodbank. The campaign highlights how much money items commonly given up for Lent cost, to encourage the Cambridge City Foodbank audience on Twitter and Facebook to donate the equivalent value in items or a money to the Foodbank via their JustGiving page. I really enjoyed creating the visuals for this campaign and highlighting to people how significant one donation to the Foodbank can be over even a short period of time.
Alison Taylor, Managing Director:
With our good friend, Jon Torrens, we have had fun in the past few weeks delivering virtual and in-person presentation coaching for 20 or so of the senior team at Costello Medical. We split the coaching into two workshops – presentation preparation and delivering with confidence – for groups of four – five team members each. The management team is based across the UK, USA, Shanghai and Singapore and it was wonderful to see the company’s collaborative and nurturing culture and values shining through their work.
Hanna Garrett, Senior PR & Marketing Executive:
One of the things I love most about working at Conscious Communications is the wide range of clients we partner with. This year, I have been working closely with our client iKVA, a deep tech AI/machine learning knowledge management software solutions company. The UK is a leader in AI technology, so it has been tremendously exciting to work with this early-stage company to help it secure coverage in globally recognised publications, such as Computer Weekly and Engineering magazine; demonstrating the team’s expertise and leadership in the sector. Big things are coming for our client and I am excited to support them during their journey!
Alan Beeson, Senior Designer:
Most recently, I have had the pleasure of adapting the Conscious Communications’ branding to celebrate our 10th Birthday – what a cause for celebration. I took inspiration from sculptor Alexander Calder’s experimentation with associated kinetic objects moving in space and time. Turning the speech bubble element of our logo into a mobile with the number 10. The new branding is about time, and I look forward to designing our 20th Birthday logo in years to come.
Tegan Matthews, Copy & Content Manager:
My first few months have absolutely sped by and I already feel like a valued member of the team. I’ve loved learning about the backgrounds of our clients, taking a deep dive into the research needed to create the content they’re looking for, and sitting down to write. It’s been really wonderful to put all of my focus on the writing in this role, ensuring each piece is carefully constructed and having the opportunity to look over the writing of my colleagues when needed. I’m excited to keep producing such varied work – I learn something new every week.
George Pickford, PR & Marketing Executive
We have recently had the pleasure of onboarding our new client, Health Enterprise East supporting with a host of activity from media relations, website design and social media management. I’ve enjoyed working with this client over the past three months helping them to achieve news coverage in target media outlets, as well as working on, and securing, thought-provoking opinion pieces in renowned trade titles. The client is wonderful to work with, and I look forward to witnessing the progress made as we continue supporting them.
Blessing Raimi, Junior Content Designer:
The past few months I have been working on graphics to highlight and raise awareness of SWGfL’s Harmful Sexual Behaviour Support Service. This has included sharing messaging on what the Service is, who it is for and how it can help professionals; designing for digital channels and print media, and aiming to have a wide reach across the intended audience. A highlight for me has been the production of an animated information video, applying a voiceover and graphic design visuals aimed at highlighting the key information. It is a vital Service, so I have ensured the information is displayed in a clear and eye-catching manner, legible across different platforms.
Emma Guise, Junior PR & Marketing Executive:
My first month at Conscious Communications has been a delight. Having finished my degree last summer and entering a world of uncertainty, especially in the job sector, I was in a slight state of despair. However, seeing the work that the agency has done was really inspiring; the company morals of thoughtful and honest public relations really stood out to me. Now, being a part of the team, that sense of inspiration has only grown. I have received the utmost support from the team, something I really appreciate as my first job in the PR world. The fact everyone is so kind and friendly is a great bonus.
I could not have asked for a better company to start off my career with than Conscious Communications.
Ali White, PR & Marketing Director:
I’ve had the privilege of working with Remote Medical International (RMI) for a couple of months now; a company dedicated to saving lives and improving the health of workers in remote, hard to reach and diverse job sites across the globe. No matter the industry, work environment or geography, companies trust RMI’s services to protect the health and wellbeing of their employees. It’s been fantastic to be able to hear about the day-to-day realities of their courageous workforce. RMI’s mission to protect the lives of workers generates truly powerful stories and it is truly fulfilling to be able to capture and share them.
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