News

CA Technologies CZ, global supplier of security, management and IT management software, based on global contract with Hill & Knowlton, started to locally cooperate with GCI Hill & Knowlton. GCI HK will primarily provide counseling in the field of strategic planning and increasing of brand awareness. GCI replaced the Fleishmann Hillard copany. Recently, CA Technologies has rather been cooperating on project basis.

Heads of agencies of CEE region network met at the national congress in Prague and agreed to a large potential of CEE. Marketing & Media magazine interviewed Cesare Valli, the president and CEO of Hill & Knowlton for regions CEE and Mediterranean and the director of Hill & Knowlton Italy regarding the growth of CEE region, future potential of the Czech market, the economical crisis and its impact on Hill & Knowlton worldwide and GCI Hill & Knowlton Czech Republic, and digital PR.

Cesare Valli stated:” We have big plans in the CEE region. It suffered more than other regions, all due to the crisis, but there start appearing signs of improvement and the CEE region will start growing again in the next period. Many clients have been affected by the crisis, so they could not continue to make the same amount of investment in PR as before. But still, this does not mean we cannot focus on other market opportunities - there are many. There is always something. Great potential is seen in digital PR. In individual markets it is at least 5%, most 25%. We are well developed in this area in Northern Europe, Italy, Spain and Great Britain. We are not doing so well in France and Germany. We have lately been making significant improvements in Bulgaria and Poland.”

Prizes for PR this year, were awarded only for the second time in the Cannes Lions history but it attracted more attention of the jury and the agencies. The number of entries rose by a third from last year and there was even a higher amount of awards presented. Overall, there were 575 applications and the jury awarded together 44 lions - except for the Grand Prix it was 11 gold and 32 silver ones. The bronze were not awarded this year, because there was a relatively low number of entries. Despite the promising development of "its" category, the PR agencies cannot be to happy about it. Like last year, the best performances were from advertising and full-service agencies. The main prize (Grand Prix) was received by the American advertising agency TBWA \ Chiat \ Day LA for the campaign of Replay energy drink Gatorade, which allowed a former American high school football player team to play each other after fifteen years.

"The strength of this campaign was that it was based on actual events, activating people and caused genuine conversation," justified the decision the chairman of the jury and the global head of PR agency Hill & Knowlton, Paul Taaffe. He also added: "I believe that next year, there will be more applications from PR agencies and that it will reverse this year’s loss against the advertising agencies."

Campaign of Union, Slovak insurance company, started in Czech with a teaser warning of overpopulation of bears in Slovakia.

TV: The Strategie magazine revealed who is behind the teaser campaign with the Bear Brothers. It is Union, a Slovak insurance company. It "borrowed" for its campaign, creatively prepared by Wiktor Leo Burnett and Digita.sk of Slovakia, two brothers - bearologists Evzen and Bedrich Procházka. Banners from the biggest Czech internet portals were directed to their blog warning of overpopulation of bears and their rage in Slovak cities. Rampaging bears, according to Michael Synaka from Union insurance company, is supposed to prove that there can happen same events in the Slovak Republic like in Canada for example, and thus confirms the main headline of campaign: "Do not underestimate Slovak holidays." GCI Hill & Knowlton is in charge of PR fro Union insurance company in the Czech republic.

A year ago, we were laughing at a newly opened PR category of Cannes advertising festival. This year is totally without an irony. By high quality of awarded campaigns and level of their presentation, PR Lions start to catch up with the established European and worldwide PR competitions. However, the professionals from PR agencies do not have so much trust in this above all advertising contest yet, so advertising networks were also competing with PR campaigns in Cannes this year. Even the jury members, headed by Paul Taaffe, worldwide director of Hill & Knowlton network, noticed that. "Many projects started by the sentence that the contracting authority had a low budget and and turned to PR," Paul Taaffe explained. "We threw such work out straight away," he said then. "The Cannes Festival should finally change its name. For a long time, it has not been just about advertising and people from design, PR or promo industry rightly feel underprivileged when they are put under the advertising umbrella," Taaffe says.

Good creative ideas can come from different industries and professionals from design, direct marketing, promotions and PR may according to Taaffe feel marginalized, if they are constantly put under advertising. Almost half of the competition categories at Cannes already represent other disciplines of communication than advertising. “It is indefensible that the Cannes festival should pretend everything is part of an ad, the organizers should understand this, "said Taaffe, and promised that "they will talk about it". "Rename the festival. Cannes Lions has long ceased to be the exclusive advertising competition, it is prime time to rename the festival, "said the Paul Taaffe, chairman of the PR Lions jury, the chief of one of the world's largest networks of public relations Hill & Knowlton.

Measuring the effectiveness of PR is one of the most contentious issues in the field of Public Realations. Unfortunately, the discussion of PR experts is repeatedly running in cycles.

The Association of Public Relations Agencies (APRA) has embarked on its new project PR Forum, with a seminar on measuring PR and demonstrating the effectiveness of this tool in company management. The discussion turned quickly to the AVE method (Advertising Value Equivalent) which has been used and at the same time cursed by the experts for a long time. Jindrich Lacko, the managing partner of GCI Hill & Knowlton and one of the proverbial founding fathers of PR in the Czech market, however, strongly suggested that the debate regarding AVE on the ground of a seminar makes no sense and also pointed out that AVE method has already been out of date for some time. Jindrich Lacko stated: " Already back in 1975, my colleagues from Canada were laughing at me because of the obsolescence and irrelevance of AVE. "

Vaclav Moravec and Roman Parik, Managing Director of Hill & Knowlton GCI, hosting in CT24 news program regarding British elections. The main scope of discussion was the topic of electoral TV debates as a marketing tool of election campaigns and political marketing in Britain in 2010. Roman Parik answered questions about the electoral TV debates on British television, the impact of these debates, political marketing on voters and a comparison of outcomes.

Roman Parik said: "Political marketing actually exists. Interest of audiences may point to the current decision, but in the longer term, it returns back to level, which was created before the TV debate. Real decisions and the result is a question of the whole campaign, where a political TV debate plays just a part.”

Date and time: 7.5.2010 10:40 (1:26:30 of broadcasting time)

The star of Mirek Topolanek went dark and as a politician he is likely to be definitely finished. Last night he withdrew from the position of a political leader and also withdrew from the candidacy in the South Moravian region but still remaining the chairmanship of ODS. The national elections are only two months away and the strongest political party is fighting for survival. The ODS party leaders forced Mire Topolanek to withdraw from his position due to his inadequate views and opinions on Jews, homosexuals and the church. His place was replaced by Petr Necas. This escalating political situation was commented by Jiri Pehe – political scientist, Bohumil Dolezal – political scientist and Jindrich Lacko – expert in communication GCI Hill&Knowlton.
Jindrich Lacko stated: “It is expected that the confrontational nature of the pre-election battles might be refined a little, so that the clash of the main political parties would not be that aggressive. “

Castrol Lubricants continues cooperation with the GCI Hill & Knowlton agency. GCI will carry on providing communication of the Castrol Index project, the offcial statistical system of 2010 FIFA World Cup, in the Czech market. GCI continues the cooperation from previous years 2008 and 2009.

In a few weeks, the Czech Republic will be flooded with billboard campaigns. Politicians from all parties will be promising well-being, justice and the end of corruption but also emphasizing the fact, the other parties will lead the Czech nation into despair. Despite the crisis the political parties intend to invest over 40 Million Euro.
Jindrich Lacko, GCI Hill&Knowlton communication expert stated: “Big parties will be rather losing and the small ones will end up close to the boundary of eligibility where they may be getting their critical votes for the future coalition. For sure, there will be a decrease in the traditional launch of billboards and for sure, there will not be huge brochure and direct-mail campaigns.”

In the first half of the year, PR agencies did not flourish except a few cases and the decrease of turnover for some of them moved up to tens of percent. The second half of 2009 seemed to bring improvement. But in the end, the situation regarding services in the field of public relations does not look bad at all. Since the beginning of the new year, the majority of the largest agencies polled is promising an overall recovery. The question is of how will be their conceptions fulfilled by their submitters. Roman Pařík, managing director of GCI Hill & Knowlton expects an increasing interest in PR generally and he also expech the raise of interest in other segments than the government sector and health. Roman Pařík said: "The current market situation is also an opportunity for new television channels and providers of online content or entertainment, gambling, etc.,''

Jana Zbortková from consultant agency GCI Hill&Knowlton, who also organizes company parties, was in the program broadcasting of news television Z1 "Theme Z1" of Z1, answering on questions connected with the issue of company parties and their funding in the times of crisis.
"From the last year we could see a slight change, fear from crisis became smaller, so companies are following primary plans and budgets have been slightly increased, so that is why companies make decisions easier and they are doing more parties." Jana Zbortková said. "The most savings are made on program. These costly program elements we could see in past years, where really all the clients were competing for an alien robot theme or having a real camel show-up, are over. Nowadays, clients do not organize these things. Party has, in fact, several basic elements, which is exactly as you mentioned, food and beverages, then the most often some music or, for example, some simple dance show or something similar. Parties are also often connected with presentation of particular companies."

Date and time: 8.12.2009 21:15 (14:31 – 23:35 of broadcasting time)

Roman Pařík, communication expert and managing director of GCI Hill&Knowlton, in CT 2 Tv News – “Udalosti a komentare” broadcasting answered questions connected with delicate situation about the form of party invitation of BNV Consulting company, hired by Dopravní podnik hl.m. Prahy, through which employees of Dopravní podnik feel umbraged, but also connected with re-structuralization of Dopravní podnik and labor union advance in media.

The 15th UN conference dedicated to climate changes begins in Copenhagen on December 17, 2009 concerning the principles of elements decreasing and stopping the warming of global climate. About 15 thousand people - delegations from 192 countries, commercial sector and civic association's representatives - will take part in the meeting. Huge preparations were carried on and companies renown as matadors in communications participated in media campaign, such as Hill & Knowlton, company with 80 years tradition and know-how, stating about how to overrun the public opinion. Despite the wide range of quarrels and controversial statements, the general negotiator Yvo de Boer assumes, that no agreement about emission decrease and economic obligations will be passed in Copenhagen. Mandatory agreements could be signed in June 2010 therefore.

After December 1, 2009, the Lisbon Treaty came into force and Herman Van Rompuy together with Catherine Ashton took up their duties. Herman Van Rompuy became the permanent chairman of the European Council and Catherine Ashton the high representative for foreign affairs and security policy. The commentators are debating about whose role is prominent. Many commentators argue that Herman Van Rompuy will hold a more formal role of the Presidency rather than becoming a real leader with visions. EurActiv asked several experts for their opinion.

Elaine Cruikhanks from the Hill & Knowlton Brussels' office told EurActiv: "The exact allocation of responsibilities between the two new "heads" will in future depend more on their personalities and their public awareness which will be created by them."
 

Good news: there will be company parties this year. The companies are not as frightened as last year and they are not making cuts concerning the end of the year merry making any more. Of course, there should be mainly satisfied the customers and partners, the employees are coming second. Jana Zbortkova from GCI Hill&Knowlton, who is organizing events, explains: “Companies try to satisfy above all their clients and only then they focus on events for employees. They are also more modest than before. The first area where there can be saved some money is decoration. Very often, the events are more about the eating and drinking than about a theme or entertainment.“ She also points out that if the company calls for an annual party it is usually connected with some form of company annual presentation or an annual evaluation of results.  

Shortly after the scandal broke out with "turbo-students" in Pilsen Faculty of Law, the media began to bring the facts about non-standard practices to other universities. Jan Kučmáš, senior corporate communications consultant Ami Communications and Roman Pařík, managing director GCI Hill & Knowlton comment on ways to crisis communication. Roman Pařík said: "It appears that academics have no experience with the media communication and that is why their response is so clumsy, see cases Zlín, Plzeň, Prague, etc."

Based on different surveys, the online media is already catching up the regular media regarding its influence on target groups. Worldwide, PR agencies are just getting to know the phenomena of digital communication. How far are the Czech PR agencies in the process of applying digital communication? There are different approaches and opinions of PR agencies in the Czech Republic. What do these new PR projects look like?Roman Parik, the managing director of GCI Hill & Knowlton says:” Most of them are taken from abroad and at the same time the local innovation and approach is being tried out. When an agency discovers some new tool that works, it tries to apply it on their clients. There is no need to air oneself unless there is fully exhausted the business potential of innovation or unless there is a new solution.”

Roman Pařík, communication expert and managing director of GCI Hill&Knowlton was hosting in CT 2 Tv News – “Udalosti a komentare” broadcasting and together with Slavomil Hubalek, clinical psychologist, was expressing his opinions and comments regarding questions concerning the CSSD and ODS political campaigns. The questions were including topics like new trends of positive campaigns, new features and forms of political campaigns, the current situation and the intensity of political campaigns and also the so called “big coalition”. Roman Parik said:” There is a question of how long does “the positive campaign” last. CSSD will be more utilizing their surveys whereas ODS has a tendency towards marketing tools. New features, namely the new CSSD web is perceived as a test developing into a contact campaign. Generally, I feel the campaign is being quite normal, but only time will reveal that we can probably be expecting an increased intensity and different issues. The question regarding “the Big Coalition” is a speculation, but I am convinced that people who remember the old times would like this very much.”

Date and time: 3.8.2009 22:30 (04:00 – 12:40 of broadcasting time)

Growing economical pressure, lack of qualified workers and the shift of PR into the field of digital communication. Those are some of the current world trends of PR today. Can these and many other conclusions be applied to the market developing in the Czech Republic ? Roman Parik, the managing director of GCI Hill & Knowlton commented the situation, saying:” Yes, the mentioned trends are up to date even in the Czech Republic. The biggest influence concerning the farther development of the local PR market will be the client’s budgets limited by the crisis where clients often pass decisions according to the price offered. Ironically, the current situation is convenient for the newcomers who are not burdened by high operational costs and can afford to offer significantly lower prices while keeping quite rational margins. If they are able to offer quality PR work for low prices, they become an attractive alternative besides well-established companies.”

Roman Parik, the managing director of GCI Hill&Knowlton was interviewed in the life broadcasting of CT24.  He anwered questions connected with the timing of the CSSD election campaign, the CSSD election program media audience reach and surveys as the characteristic feature of the CSSD and Jiri Paroubek strategy.

 Date and time: 3.7.2009 12:07:30 – 12:54:10 (01:30 – 48:06 of broadcasting time)

Roman Parik, managing director of GCI Hill & Knowlton was hosting in CT 24 Tv News – “Udalosti a komentare” broadcasting and was expressing his opinions regarding the topic of strategic political communication and political popularity of David Rath (CSSD). Ramona Parik stated:” He is very clean-cut person, which means that half of the people may like him and the other half may hate him. The current situation and his popularity will be mainly shown through up coming surveys.” Roman Parik was also commenting Rath’s inconsiderate and controversial behavior during the debate with MP Bendl (ODS) stating:” Mr. Rath was not stopped by anyone and started to exaggerate being a little bit too excessive which he obviously likes. And that’s where he lost a lot of points. He did not have any feed-back then. The feed-back is coming now.”

Date and time: 3.7.2009 0:29:45 – 0:36:40 (09:55 – 16:50 of broadcasting time)

The field of Public Relations “has been affected” by the crisis but compared to the advertising sector the effects were also positive. Leaders of PR agencies were answering and commenting questions concerning the key changes in the field of PR, namely the questions regarding the lowering of costs and time-span of tenders. Roman Parik, the managing director of GCI Hill & Knowlton expressed his opinions, stating: ”There is a growing demand for sophisticated services, mapping the relations and counseling. The pressure is put on maximum yield. Everything that is not measurable by results is being cut. The time-period of tender procedures is by far being dragged out which is due to the fact the PR pitch submitters linger with decisions concerning a larger amount of means.”

T-Systems company, the provider of network-oriented ICT solutions and services chose again GCI Hill & Knowlton for the cooperation concerning the field of strategic consultancy and planning.

The number of companies starting to develop the concept of social responsibility (Corporate Social Responsibility, CSR) is increasing in the Czech Republic. However, they have to think about communication. Jindrich Lacko from GCI Hill & Knowlton is commenting the question of right CSR targeting and correct communication giving the company competition advantages. Jindrich Lacko said: ” CSR serves for the image support of the submitter and is part of the company strategy. But without being well communicated it loses its effect.”

Roman Parik, the managing director of GCI Hill & Knowlton was a guest in the TV show (Vedlejsi efekty) concerning the current political campaign regarding the elections into the European Parliament. Roman Parik was commenting the current campaign from the marketing point of view describing the consequences of the egg-attacks and the aspects of the financial costs of the campaign.

 Date and time: 31.5.2009 20:35 (0:29 of broadcasting time)

Castrol Lubricants Czech Republic is once again cooperating with the GCI Hill & Knowlton PR agency. This time, the agency’s objective is to communicate the Castrol Index in the Czech Republic connected with the upcoming FIFA World Cup 2010 qualifications. Last year, GCI was providing project publicity connected with the UEFA EURO 2008.

Roman Parik, the general manager of GCI Hill & Knowlton was invited by Vaclav Moravec to a special broadcast of CT/CT24 The CSSD Congress, where he gave his opinion on the explication of M. Tvrdík (CSSD) and J. Zahradil (ODS) regarding the topic of political communication, media communication and the forms of political campaigns. Farther, he expressed his comments on the topic of the communication within the political party and the political communication in public. Roman Parik stated: „The political communication should observe its purpose that is to engage, to catch the target group by the means of a simple and clear message. The fall clearly showed what works. CSSD is in their issue communication many steps ahead of the ODS. “

Date and time: 21.3.2009 16:39 (3:34:10 of broadcasting time)

Professionals from the fields of PR and Marketing took part in the Strategie monthly magazine survey regarding the topic: “Has the case of well managed crisis communication attracted you in the recent period?”

Jindřich Lacko Chairman of GCI Hill & Knowlton stated: “Yes. The January crisis concerning the interruption of the gas supplies showed the power of communication. The way it publicized every step of the government, its operational approach and even the continuous explanation from Transgas, implied reassurance. People perceived the whole cause very rationally without panic and without unnecessary emotion. On the contrary, the communication regarding the acceptance of the health care payments by the regions had gaps in the crisis explanation, which the politicians should have come up with, but have not yet.”

A discussion between agencies regarding the company’s economical results going public. Jindrich Lacko, the chairman of GCI Hill & Knowlton stated:” GCI Hill & Knowlton is an agency which has to respect the regulations given by the parental WPP network and can not publish its results.”

http://www.strategie.cz/

General article regarding the phenomena of newsletters in the agency and client relations. The article is showing the pros and cons of the monthly regular newsletter issue with an eye on the practical consequences at both sides of the coin. The argument of the article is resulting in a compromise of irregular issuing and occasional e-mail notification. Roman Parik, the general manager of GCI Hill & Knowlton, is commenting the situation:” This is also a case of GCI Hill & Knowlton, but it may not necessarily be bad. From our experience, the clients or receivers react to this in a much better.”

An article regarding the impacts of the global financial crisis on different economical sectors including the automotive industry, pharmacy, insurance and PR sectors. Igor Walter from GCI Hill & Knowlton stated:” The clients are expecting more music for less pay. We are feeling this mostly with the supra-national companies being under the pressure of their head offices. We also cracked down on rentals, parking space and every business trip has to be justified.”

 

The Vaclav Moravec studio hosted important personalities commenting the ODS congress regarding the election of their new chairman. Among the personalities were: Jan Kubáček, political scientist; Miloslav Bednar, philosopher from the AV CR; Jindrich Sidlo head of the HN home editorial staff; Jan Bures, political scientist of Metropolitan University of Prague; Daniel Kroupa political scientist and philosopher, Ivan Pilip, former vice president of the European Investment Bank; Vaclav Lebeda, executive program director and the vice chairman of the Association of European Value, Jan Zantovsky, commentator of the JAK University; Roman Parik, managing director of GCI Hill & Knowlton; Petr Mach, executive director of the Centre for commerce and politics.

broadcast record

The German bank Commerzbank AG providing services in the corporate and private banking sector chose GCI Hill & Knowlton (GCI) as their PR agency. GCI is going to provide counseling in the field of strategic planning of the external communication including the crisis communication. GCI is already providing services for mBannk which is part of the Commerzbank group.

“Freelancers” is one of the phenomena occurring in the Czech work market. Roman Parik from GCI Hill & Knowlton company is talking about the phenomena specifics and also the reasons it evokes so much passion among agencies. He is speaking about the relation problem “Freelancers vs public relations” and global pros and cons of this specific form of entrepreneurship. At the end of the article the author is going back of the common premise, the practical application where he emphasizes the criteria of cooperation.

 

An interview with Roman Parik, the general manager of GCI Hill & Knowlton regarding the work concerning media, the work of politicians with electors, the term „spin doctor“, pre-election campaigns of the Czech political parties, the political promises and the development in the Czech Republic and Slovakia.

broadcast record

Date and time: 23.10.2008 23:05

A press release regarding the Czech television Studio Volby 2008 program regarding the scheduled broadcasts of the regional and senate elections in 2008. Roman Parik from GCI Hill & Knowlton was mentioned in the press release concerning a live discussion regarding the topic “The parties’ communication before the elections and their media strategy in last few months.”

Date and time: 18.10.2008 01:20 (2:33 of broadcasting time)

Fiskars company chose GCI Hill & Knowlton for its PR consultancy and strategic planning. The first task of GCI is to support Fiskars at the 50th annual fare of the garden technology Gafa and one of the main goals, in the second half of the year, is to strengthen Fiskars’ position as number one in the Czech market.

Algeco company chose GCI Hill & Knowlton for its PR consultancy, strategic planning and the realization of campaigns in the Czech Republic, Slovakia and the Baltics. One of the main goals of GCI. Hill & Knowlton is to strengthen the position of Algeco as number one in local markets and the other is to provide corporate communication.

Genearal article regarding the WPP, Cohn & Wolfe a GCI Group fusion in order to create a global agency called Cohn & Wolfe. GCI Hill & Knowlton is representing Hill&Knowlton a Cohn & Wolfe (GCI Group) in the Czech Republic. According to the general manager of GCI Hill & Knowlton, Roman Parik, the agency is not going to change its name.

Wacom chose GCI Hill & Knowlton for its PR consultancy, strategic planning and the realization of campaigns in the Czech Republic. The task of GCI Hill & Knowlton is to provide Wacom with the communication of the complete product line and to strengthen its position as number one in the Czech market.

Wacom chose GCI Hill & Knowlton for its PR consultancy, strategic planning and the realization of campaigns in the Czech Republic. The task of GCI Hill & Knowlton is to provide Wacom with the communication of the complete product line and to strengthen its position as number one in the Czech market.

Short message regarding the Wacom company choosing the GCI Hill & Knowlton PR agency as a provider of PR services.

Message regarding the recent changes in GCI Gray being included in the Hill & Knowlton network and the launch of new web pages www.hilland-knowlton.cz. Roman Parik, the general manager of GCI Hill & Knowlton is stating:” The Czech version is now available, the English version is still in the stage of preparations.”

An article regarding the Czech PR market and the entrance of foreign networks. Roman Parik, the general manager of GCI Hill & Knowlton is commenting the situation stating:” We can see the entry of new highly specialized agencies. Besides foreign networks, there are also established local agencies with experienced professionals leaving their current companies, unfortunately very often with their clients as well.”

The financial institution mBank has closed the PR tenders and chose GCI Hill & Knowlton PR agency providing services connected with media relations and crisis communication.

The PR agency GCI Hill & Knowlton has sustained the quality certification in the field of Public Relations: Consultancy Management Standard II.

An article concerning the world wide annual Hill & Knowlton survey regarding the quality of MBA students attending premier schools in Europe, the USA and Asia. Roman Parik, the general manager of GCI Hill & Knowlton is commenting the topic, stating:” The MBA student graduating in the post-Enron and post-WorldCom are preferred by companies with a high reputation. It is obvious that the headhunters for top talents have to offer more than generous salaries and opportunities. The leaders of tomorrow are mostly interested in getting into industrial sectors, namely the companies with a top reputation. The companies with a lower reputation will soon find out it is very difficult to keep the best and smartest people.”

The market of PR agencies has grown again and the following question rises: “Do the new coming companies have a chance to survive?” Roman Parik, the general manager of GCI Hill & Knowlton is stating:” It is a trend well known from other markets. We can generally see the market shift to a more specialized work performance of individuals in smaller agencies or to freelancers. This development is confirmed by an experience of more mature markets and other consultancy oriented sectors performing a similar past development.”

Roman Parik, the general manager of GCI Hill & Knowlton is giving an opinion on the expenses of the presidential campaigns, stating:” I believe there could be found many company either contributing to both candidates or, in case of some different relation, they would give better conditions, which is quite common.”