Latest News

PPR Annual Shutdown Dates
Wednesday, December 21, 2011 (347 reads)

Please refer to the below closing dates for the Australian and New Zealand offices over the Christmas and New Year period.

	*PPR Sydney (Head Office), PPR Perth, PPR Brisbane, PPR Canberra and PPR Melbourne* 22 December 2011 - 2 January 2012
	*PPR Adelaide* 26 December 2011 - 6 January 2012
	*PPR Auckland* 26 December 2011 - 6 January 2012

PPR on board with Smartraveller
Monday, November 14, 2011 (456 reads)

PPR has been appointed as the public relations agency for the third phase of the Australian Government’s Smartraveller campaign following a competitive tender pitch process.

Smartraveller, delivered by the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, is the Australian Government's travel advisory and consular information service.

The Smartraveller appointment adds to PPR’s already significant travel and tourism credentials. Current clients include Emirates Airline; Wolgan Valley Resort and Spa; South African Tourism; NRMA Tourism and Leisure; Vail Resorts and the Adelaide Hills Wine Region.

Peter O’Sullivan, National Director – Consumer at PPR, said the appointment to Smartraveller reinforced PPR’s position as a leader in both the travel and government sector.

“We are delighted to be able to work with the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade on such an exciting national project.

“Fundamentally, Australians’ attitude to travel is changing with booking patterns moving online and the idea of having a cast-iron itinerary becoming less attractive with the growth in the adventure travel market.

“All these factors have had an impact on the risk threshold of leisure and family travellers.

“Phase three of the Smartraveller campaign will aim to increase registrations on the Smartraveller website, read and subscribe to travel advice, encourage Australian travellers to take out travel insurance and promote increased understanding of the role of the Australian Consulate in helping people experiencing difficulties overseas.

“Our national footprint means we are able to work closely with the Smartraveller team to drive stories and initiatives where and when they are most relevant,” Mr O’Sullivan said.

PPR Sydney’s dedicated Travel and Tourism team, will work with PPR Canberra’s Government Relations experts to deliver a broad range of services over the 12 month implementation. Phase three of Smartraveller will build on the success of the previous phases and move stakeholders from awareness to actively engaging with the program.

PPR celebrates 40 years in Australia this year. Founded in December 1970, the agency has grown from one office in Sydney to seven offices across Australia and New Zealand, with 170 staff and relationships with agencies around the world through the WPP network.

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National Breast Cancer Foundation and PPR partner for 2011 Pink Ribbon Campaign
Tuesday, October 04, 2011 (463 reads)

The National Breast Cancer Foundation has appointed Professional Public Relations (PPR) for the 2011 Pink Ribbon Campaign.

The appointment will see PPR work closely with the National Breast Cancer Foundation in the lead up to and during the key month of October, to manage the Pink Ribbon Breakfasts, Global Illumination, Pink Ribbon Day and associated Pink fundraising events.

The 2011 campaign seeks to raise further awareness of the issue of breast cancer, the work of the National Breast Cancer Foundation and its commitment to producing high quality research into the prevention and cure of breast cancer.

Carole Renouf, National Breast Cancer Foundation CEO, said she is excited about the largely pro-bono partnership.

“With a truly national footprint and extensive consumer PR and event management experience, I’m delighted to be partnering with PPR during this year’s Pink Ribbon campaigns.

“PPR have exciting plans to further raise awareness of the Pink Ribbon campaign, drive engagement and sales and help us move one step closer to our goal of finding a cure for breast cancer.

“With one in nine Australian women expected to be diagnosed with breast cancer by the age of 85, the need for research is more critical than ever before,” said Carole.

Michael Pooley, PPR Sydney General Manager, said the agency is thrilled to be working with the National Breast Cancer Foundation.

“Pink Ribbon is one of Australia’s most iconic and respected campaigns. We are honoured to be working with the National Breast Cancer Foundation and look forward to delivering a successful campaign which will ultimately be of benefit to the Australian community and future generations,” said Michael.

About NBCF
The National Breast Cancer Foundation is the leading community-funded organisation in Australia raising money for research into the prevention and cure of breast cancer. Since NBCF was established in 1994, over $74 million has been raised and used to fund over 300 Australian-based research projects across every state and territory, to improve the health and wellbeing of those affected by breast cancer.

Australian creatives have realised their dreams
Thursday, September 29, 2011 (493 reads)

A group of talented Australian creatives have been awarded the winners of the British Council’s Realise Your Dream programme for the chance to grow their creative skills in the UK, each taking home one of five prizes up for grabs.

Patrick Clair, Tom Holloway, Briony Stewart, Ian Dixon and Gregory Sharp of Rubber House, and sisters Dominique and Danielle Angeloro of Soda Jerk, successfully beat off hundreds of talented Australians, from a wide range of creative industries to be awarded the opportunity to enter the British Council’s Realise Your Dream programme, which offers creatives the chance to be part of a professional development programme based in the UK.

Meet the winners:

Patrick Clair, NSW
Animation creative, Patrick is a motion graphics designer and documentary maker. For the past two years Patrick has been the lead graphic designer on a popular ABC series HungryBeast.

Tom Holloway, VIC
Tom most recently also won the 2011 Max Afford Award for playwriting. His plays have been performed in London, Munich and around Australia and 2011 will mark his premier debut in Denmark.

Briony Stewart, WA
Briony is a talented writer and illustrators of books for children and young adults. Most notably, Briony’s award winning book Kumiko and the Dragon, has been translated into German and Chinese, and recently became a trilogy.

Gregory Sharp and Ivan Dixon, Rubber House, VIC
The due behind Rubber House, a fresh animation studio in Melbourne with a unique and wild style. Recently, the talented pair produced animations for musician Gotye's live show, and in late 2010 founded a new animation collective, ‘The Animasons’, with an aim to strengthen the local animation industry.

Dominique and Danielle Angeloro, Soda Jerk, NSW
Sisters Dominique and Danielle Angeloro, are the duo behind the artistic collaboration Soda Jerk. The pair are well known on the contemporary art circuit for their video installations and have proudly showcased their work at various institutions across Australia, New York, India, Amsterdam and Brazil.

PPR secures key Melbourne-based events
Monday, September 12, 2011 (523 reads)

The string of client wins includes Melbourne Spring Fashion Week, Lavazza, The Australian Toy Hobby and Nursery Fair and Armageddon Multimedia Exhibition.

Bridget Marcou, General Manger, PPR Melbourne, said that the recent wins confirmed PPR’s reputation as a leader in event promotion.

“We’re delighted to be managing the communications for these major Melbourne events. The recent wins reinforce our unique offering in the marketplace where we can offer in-depth local expertise, networks and insights, supported by a truly national network,” said Ms Marcou.

For the third year running, PPR heads up the public relations for Melbourne Spring Fashion Week, one of the City of Melbourne’s premier events. Launched this week, the program includes more than 150 individual runways, workshops and exhibitions celebrating Melbourne retail and fashion design.

“The PPR team has forged a strong and successful relationship with the City of Melbourne, and enjoys working across its key events. We have already seen some amazing results for Melbourne Spring Fashion Week this year, with news of the event spreading across the country and around the globe.”

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PPR Consumer Team Wins Raft of New Business
Tuesday, July 19, 2011 (667 reads)

Professional Public Relations (PPR) Consumer team (@PPRSydney) has secured a number of new clients, bolstering the already strong portfolio of brands within the group.

PPR has been appointed as the Australian agency for international brands SOLTA Medical and findmypast.com.au. PPR has also taken on Radio Station 2MBS-FM as a client and was awarded Carhistory.com.au following a competitive four-way pitch.

PPR’s campaign for Carhistory.com.au, part of the Veda Group, will involve traditional media engagement as well as a strong social media focus for the online portal – helping position the website as a must-have tool for used car buyers.

“We were incredibly impressed by PPR’s pitch. They nailed our brief and had a clear focused strategy that we are confident will deliver results that will support our above-the-line as well as bolster our social media presence” said Julie Coffey, carhistory.com.au.

For Radio Station 2MBS-FM, PPR has embarked on a 12 month brand campaign to help re-launch the profile of Sydney’s leading fine music station, as well as ongoing awareness raising activities for the station.

PPR’s consumer health and wellness experience in the beauty sector will be bolstered following the appointment by SOLTA Medical, a global leader in the medical aesthetic market with well-known brands including Fraxel and Thermage CPT. PPR will be working on these existing brands while launching new global technologies to the market.

Finally the project for findmypast.com.au will see PPR help re-launch the site to Australian consumers interested in discovering their heritage and developing further connections with their family backgrounds.

The wins follow the appointment of consumer brand strategist Lisa Lewis as Sydney Consumer Group Director and the promotion of Peter O’Sullivan who has assumed the role of PPR National Consumer Director, tasked with utilising PPR’s unique footprint of seven owned offices in Australia and New Zealand for national consumer brands and branch networks.

"The new client additions compliment our already strong and varied consumer and lifestyle client portfolio. The team is looking forward to achieving strong results for these brands and websites, and helping grow their social media profiles,” said Peter O’Sullivan, PPR National Director – Consumer (@posull78).

PPR’s consumer portfolio includes Emirates, McDonald’s, Microsoft Xbox, Bunnings, Officeworks, Hills, Hunter Douglas and NRMA Tourism and Leisure as well as several leading FMCG, travel, home and lifestyle, retail and online brands.

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Burson-Marsteller and Professional Public Relations forge New Zealand relationship
Thursday, July 14, 2011 (711 reads)

Burson-Marsteller (B-M), a leading global public relations and communications

consultancy, today announced that Professional Public Relations New Zealand (PPRNZ) is now the firm’s exclusive affiliate in New Zealand. PPRNZ is a member of the PPR Group, Australasia’s most awarded full service PR agency with eight Australian and New Zealand offices.

In welcoming PPRNZ to the Burson-Marsteller worldwide network, B-M’s Chief Executive for Asia-Pacific, Bob Pickard, said the new relationship is timely as the world economy focuses more on Asia, with three of New Zealand’s top five trading partners now Asian countries.

“The importance of the New Zealand market is increasing for our global and regional clients,” said Pickard. “The PPR affiliation will help Burson-Marsteller meet our clients’ needs in New Zealand, while also opening new communications avenues for New Zealand companies throughout our international network.”

“The strength of PPR’s local and Trans-Tasman business capability, combined with Burson-Marsteller’s global reach, will give New Zealand companies better access and a stronger voice in global markets,” said Richard Lazar, Managing Director of the PPR Group. “

“The importance to international businesses of having experts on the ground in New Zealand cannot be under-estimated. It’s about knowing the market and understanding the political, social and business environment for effective communication,” he said.

The new relationship between PPR and B-M is effective immediately.


Left to right: Richard Lazar, Bob Pickard (Burson-Marsteller), Sally Haysom and Jonathan Tudor – in front of PPR Auckland’s offices at Westhaven Marina

PPR forms exclusive alliance with QCCN
Wednesday, July 13, 2011 (512 reads)

PPR is proud to announce an exclusive alliance with Queensland Corporate Communications Network (QCCN) which will deliver Queensland’s first whole-of-state communication network.

This significant partnership gives PPR an on the ground presence throughout Queensland with access to 10 offices from Cairns to the Gold Coast.

The collaboration strengthens both organisations providing PPR with immediate reach to almost anywhere in Queensland and QCCN with a high-level metropolitan presence reinforced through PPR’s national and international network.

QCCN provides on the ground senior specialist support to all levels of government and the resource and infrastructure sectors.

Established in 1987 QCCN is led by respected industry figure David Donohue. QCCN will work closely with PPR’s local team headed by Lee McLean, PPR Queensland General Manager and Donna Marshall, National Director of Community Engagement.

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PPR Canberra's July Mastermind Groups Discussion Topic
Tuesday, July 12, 2011 (445 reads)

Planning for word-of-mouth. When you ask people what the most effective thing has been in terms of growing their business or promoting their campaign, they’ll often answer – ‘word-of-mouth’.

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PPR Secures Consumer Brand Strategist Lisa Lewis to Lead Sydney Consumer Practice
Wednesday, June 15, 2011 (994 reads)

Professional Public Relations (PPR), Australia’s largest full service PR agency, has appointed Lisa Lewis to head up the agency’s Sydney consumer practice. Lisa joins PPR as Consumer Group Director, leading a team of 15, which counts McDonald’s, Bunnings, Microsoft Xbox 360 and Emirates as some of its key consumer accounts.

Lisa Lewis joins PPR with more than 15 years’ experience in marketing and communications in both Australia and the UK. During this time Lisa has worked on some of the most recognised brands today, including Disney Channel, Expedia.com, MTV Europe, Unilever, Activision and countless others.

Before arriving in Australia Lisa spent many years working in London for leading strategic communications agencies as well as in house at IPC media, Britain’s biggest magazine publishing house. Lisa takes over from Peter O’Sullivan who has assumed the role of PPR National Consumer Director, tasked with utilising PPR’s unique footprint of seven owned offices in Australia and New Zealand for national consumer brands and branch networks.

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PPR Canberra's April Mastermind Groups guest speaker annouced(Wednesday, April 06, 2011)

PPR boosts Sydney office with international hires(Wednesday, March 16, 2011)

PPR starts 2011 with a string of wins(Friday, March 11, 2011)

PPR Sydney 2011 internship opportunities(Wednesday, March 09, 2011)

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