§
Whilst most were spitting feathers at the thought of another vote, and our hometown of Manchester began preparations for its new elected mayor, here at Smoking Gun we had other things to think about. Namely owning Easter and bossing National Sleep Month for two of our clients, hiring hot new talent, and welcoming another major new brand. Shall we begin?
First up, we’re delighted to combine two of our biggest professional passions- food and sport PR- to deliver bespoke press office, social media, and marketing services for Nutrabolt. One of the country’s fastest-growing nutritional life sciences companies, what the firm doesn’t know about what to put in your body to make it work harder, move faster, and generally be better, isn’t worth us talking about.
[Tweet “@SmokingGunPR now representing Nutrabolt nutritional life science brand”]
The company will join our happy fold, which already includes Silentnight and Oven Pride, two businesses we’ve scored some significant hits with during April. First up, Silentnight bagged massive coverage during National Sleep Month, helped along no end by our ongoing work to cement the name as the leading sleep expert in the UK
Meanwhile, Oven Pride is still celebrating great hits over the last long weekend, from national press and broadcast to leading blogs, based on our survey which found that 1/3 of Brits don’t know what Easter is for, and one in ten believe the EU sets the holiday date each year. Proof of our multimedia storytelling capabilities, as if it were needed, one look at our social channels from the last four weeks provides even more evidence of this. Just in case you missed us, though, we’ve collated some highlights for you…
 

 
Less shocking is the fact that we’ve gone and bagged ourselves another incredible addition to the team. Introducing our new Creative Manager, Alex Thomson. Now tasked with making our press materials and online content more aesthetically appealing than ever, whilst creating plenty of stand-alone gorgeousness with which we can showcase the ingeniousness Smoking Gun is renowned for, we’re delighted such a deft and experienced designer has joined the team.
In other news, the SGPR team also held a recruitment day for our next work placement student. A shortlist of seven students were invited to attend our offices and take part in brainstorms and presenting campaign ideas in order to impress the team and bag a year’s placement at our wonderful agency. A decision has been made so watch this space for details on our new recruit.
[Tweet “New #PR intern @SmokingGunPR chosen from student open day- great idea”]

Meanwhile, staff also took part in a live Facebook broadcast, putting the UK’s best Easter eggs through their paces with a taste test. Take a look…

As ever, it’s not been entirely about the office this month, either. Smoking Gun has just become a member of the industry body The Public Relations and Communications Association. The PRCA is a UK-based PR and communications membership body, operating in 48 countries around the world. It represents in excess of 20,000 people across the whole range of the PR and communications industry, promoting all aspects of public relations and communications work, helping teams and individuals maximise the value they deliver to clients and organisations.
The Association exists to raise standards in PR and communications, providing members with industry data, facilitating the sharing of communications best practice and creating networking opportunities.All in all it’s another sure fire marker to our clients that they’re in safe hands.
Staff were also in attendance at the Social Circle Influencer Marketing Workshop, held at Manchester’s stunning King Street Townhouse, where they learnt about the latest trends in this ever-developing field.
On a lighter note, but no less telling of our involvement in all media goings on, our team took part in the Markettiers Manchester PR Agency Pub Quiz at the broadcast specialist’s new Manchester home of Neo, on Charlotte Street. Best not to ask us exactly how we did, though a good time was had by all. Meanwhile, our copywriter Martin Hewitt was desperately trying not to get lost en route to the summit of Mt. Toubkal in Morocco, the highest peak in North Africa, raising money for charity in the process and getting notes together for a national travel feature.
[Tweet “@ABTAMembers Crisis Management #Communications workshop coming to #MCR”]
All of which brings us rather nicely to the ABTA Crisis Management In Travel Seminar we’re sponsoring in Manchester, not that we’re implying our scribe was out of his depth at 13,000ft (ahem).Taking place on Wednesday 17th May, the great and good of the north’s travel and tourism industry will be there, as we will, so follow this link if you want to join. In the meantime, we’ll be doing what we do best here on Bridge Street- garnering major media and public attention for the most deserving brands out there.

Looking for more advice on PR, social media, and marketing? Why not get in contact or submit a brief to inject a little ingeniousness into your brand.