The Zombie Collective chose a group of very talented up and coming illustrators and designers including Anthony Peters, Chryso Haralambous, Calm & Collected, Jason Munro, El Famoso, Alan Dalby, Laura Bird, Patrick Schmidt & Nick Hayes as well as new work from Zombie that have come together and successfully turned the space into a nautical spectacular.

The collection was selling fast on the night which comprises all sorts of sea- fairing paraphernalia including prints, cards and deck chairs, with prices ranging from a pound up to a limited edition work at £150.

The atmosphere was buzzing with a great crowd, drinks a plenty and the tunes of skiffle band The Severed Limb. El Famoso was hand drawing a large seaside attraction whilst those in the crowd could get their own temporary nautical tattoos.

‘Fathoms Deep’ is running till June 3^rd and if you want to get involved:

- There is a selection of water inspired workshops with Zombie Collective for budding artists (age 6+) every weekend of the residency. Details and tickets for these events are available on Southbank Centre‘s website

- Every Saturday in the shop there will be a selection of things to do for all ages. The Bowyer Press will be showing how to letterpress your own cards, there will be custom maritime badge making and you can get yourself kitted out with temporary nautical tattoos created especially for Fathoms Deep

For further information on Southbank Centre and to visit the online shop visit www.southbankcentre.co.uk.

So begins this awesome piece from Fast Company and their annual 100 Most Creative People in Business.
http://www.fastcompany.com/most-creative-people/2012/sarah-robb-ohagan

It covers Gatorade’s President Sarah Robb O’Hagan’s quest to rediscover the core purpose of the Gatorade brand.

From a marketing budget 90% dedicated to TV, to a more balanced schedule where 30% goes to digital and who knows how much money to develop “Gatorade Edge, which athletes can use to track their performance, learn how to improve, and compare themselves to athletes around the country. “If even 100 athletes do it in the first year,” she says, “if those athletes are changing the culture of sport, that’s the beginning of, 10 years from now, a huge influence.”

It takes brave decisions to turn your back on the demands of major multiples and a mass consumer audience.

The numbers speak for themselves … sales over $3billion for 2011, up 9% YOY.

Inspiring, brave stuff. Have a read of the full article

^Chris

To really get the press excited about the awards, we invited a group of 8 media including Daily Express, Stylist online and Sainsbury’s magazine, to take part in an Italian masterclass, by chef Giancarlo Caldesi at his kitchen in Marylebone.

Our students whipped up five delicious recipes, including Strawberry Risotto, an original recipe by Gennaro himself, all using Bertolli Spread. And the results were delicious. The reviews have already started rolling in at London is Cool and Utterly Scrummy.

We’ve already been overwhelmed with the number of votes we’ve received, so head to bbcgoodfood.com/bertolli to register your vote and ensure that your favourite Italian eaterie gets the recognition it deserves.

The voting will close on the 6th June, after which a list of the top 10 delis and top 10 trattorias in the UK will be announced!

Gem, Nat, Chris and Jules headed up to Scotland to handle the relaunch of the Sheraton Grand Hotel & Spa – with a jam-packed schedule of events, media interviews, VIP dinners and, er, hula hooping…

After checking in, and checking out the new hotel, it all kicked off with a media drinks reception at the World’s First Living Guestbook. A concept which takes the tradition of guests documenting their stories in a guestbook, our version brings their experiences to life in a physical exhibition.

We then headed off with the media to the The Royal Yacht Britannia for a special tour. Former holiday ship of the Royal family, we loved checking out the decks that Wills and Kate graced on their travels last year.

The next day, it was ‘launch day’. To kick off the celebrations we started off with a record breaking hula hoop attempt in front of the hotel… we can proudly say that we smashed the Word Record for the World’s Biggest Hula Hoop Workout. One hula hoop expert, one radio DJ compere and 232 hula hoopers. And no rain. Phew! Record broken, all in the name of raising awareness of Sheraton Fitness at the hotel. We’re so grateful to everyone that took part, and the Edinburgh Evening News for featuring the picture on Page 2 the next day. Nice!

The launch party welcomed over 1,000 guests to experience the new hotel – ‘the great and the good’ of Edinburgh, the Starwood team and media.

Thanks to our friends from Business Traveller, GT, Style Bible, Ryan Air, Newcastle Evening Chronicle, Reveal and The Style King for joining us. Hope the Spa helped you all recover the next day too…

As the main sponsor of The Olivier Awards, a couple of our MasterCard team took media including The Daily Mail, Liberty London Girl and Marketing Week to the awards as part of MasterCard’s Priceless London programme.

Our highlights of the star studded event were: Brian May opening the awards with the cast of We Will Rock You, Four very cute Matildas collecting the Best Actress Award, and jumping for joy at the after party in celebration, and The Lion King spectacular that closed the evening.

All in all a great night!

Yep, we’ve been asked not to shout about it, but it’s true. Initially a project, we’re helping MasterCard drive awareness and engagement with the Priceless London platform. It’s an amazing consumer loyalty programme where any MasterCard holder can access a number of exclusive discounts, tickets and money can’t buy experiences.

We’re delighted to have won a global megabrand, and are already enjoying being part of an all agency team with McCann and Big Group.

Full PR Week Story here: http://www.prweek.com/uk/news/1122770/mastercard-calls-kaper-consumer-pr-brief/

MasterCard's Priceless London

Hugh Hefner bagged the top position (and tweeted about it!) thanks to his success with his Playboy empire, the pg3 model Holly McGuire was hot on his tail at number two and TOWIE favourite Amy Childs made it to number eight.

We did a shoot last week with some of the winners with their awards and had a great response from media with pieces including The People, TheSun.co.uk and the MailOnline.

The Fairtrade Foundation are aiming to reach 1.5m steps in 2012. It can be something as small as trying a new Fairtrade product like tea or bananas, but the consequences for farmers and workers can be huge!

Coverage includes:

The Sun: http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/video/tv-biz/4155818/Sun-Comedy-man-in-Fairtrade-ad.html

Digital Spy: http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/showbiz/news/a367639/alistair-mcgowan-takes-a-step-for-fairtrade-video.html

Heatworld: http://www.heatworld.com/Fun-Stuff/2012/02/What-on-earth-is-Made-In-Chelseas-Cheska-Hull-doing-here/

Get stepping at www.fairtrade.org.uk/step

Tweet using the hashtag #takeastep

We have vacancies across the whole business, from AE to AD, and are looking for talented, curious and ambitious people who would love to join us as we evolve the PR model.

You may not have heard of us before now. We won Best New Consultancy at the PR Week Awards last October, and in the last year have grown 400%. New business wins in that time include Pot Noodle, WWF, Fairtrade, Starwood Hotels – their Aloft and Sheraton hotel brands and Clear Channel.

Last week we won our first global mega brand, but we’re not allowed to talk about it just yet.

We’re still a small group of 10 and have created a talented team of people whose experience is drawn from the likes of Fever, Frank, 3 Monkeys, Immediate Future and Shine.

We’d love to hear from more talented people who are ready for an exciting new challenge in their career, and want to play a big part in an agency that’s growing fast and evolving the industry.

If that’s you, do get in touch: info@kaper.uk.com @kaperlondon

(Currently we’re located in Olympia, but we’re moving to a new office in Farringdon in a couple of months to be with our sister agencies Karmarama, Kream and Crayon.)

Kaper wins PR Week Best New Consultancy

We’ve been working with Pot Noodle to help spread the word about the aphrodisiac flavour they are exploring for Valentine’s Day 2013: http://lifestyle.aol.co.uk/2012/02/08/do-you-fancy-sharing-a-pot-kanoodle-on-valentines-day/

What better way to spoil your lady (or tramp)?