72Point Welcomes Back Jay Williams
72Point welcomes back Jay Williams, former Head of News at Freuds, as Director of Strategy.
72Point is a top 20 consumer agency that provides unique creative and unrivalled distribution for some of the biggest brands such as, British Airways, Virgin Media and Sky.
Williams was one our founders back in 2001, before joining PR behemoth Freuds. 72Point has enjoyed consistent 30% growth in the last two years, debuting in the PRWeek Top 150 list in 2018 at number 54.
He said: “It’s great to be back. It’s a very exciting time to be rejoining, with 72Point making its debut in the PR Week Top 150 and in the top 20 consumer agencies.
“They’ve punched above their weight for some time, but much of their work has gone under the radar. It’s good to see them where they belong – rubbing shoulders with the big players.
“We will be making more key creative hires in the coming months.”
Once synonymous with News Generation in the PR industry, we are taking huge strides to diversify its offering across Broadcast PR, Content Marketing and Social Media Outreach. Williams is one of our biggest recent hires, with Former Royal Correspondent for The Sun and owner of Zest PR, Duncan Larcombe, joining in April 2018 as Consumer PR Strategist.
As part of SWNS Media Group, which has a 40-year heritage in the UK press industry, 72Point continues to harness the power of its strong media connections with top UK national news publications including The Sun, MailOnline, Telegraph and the Independent as well as high-volume news sites UNILAD and LadBible.
Chris Pharo, Managing Director said: “We welcome Jay back to the company with open arms. His boldness, insight and clarity of thought will help us drive the strength of our creative and open up new and exhilarating opportunities for our clients, taking our offering to the next level.”
PRWeek Top 150 - Our Story
72Point has become synonymous with news generation thanks to its ability to put brands at the heart of national conversations.
It’s unique position as a PR consultancy with journalistic talent at its core has helped the agency punch above its weight.
The firm’s offering has evolved substantially which has culminated in its inaugural entry into PRWeek's Top 150 PR Consultancies list in 2018 - coming in at number 54.
At the heart of the company is a creative team of former journalists and editors with an enviable understanding of the media landscape. They are able to help brands with guidance on both campaign ideas and content copy, this has proved integral in removing the risk from earned media, with guaranteed coverage now a staple of the agency’s offering.
72Point’s dedicated and growing digital team was recently shortlisted for the PRCA’s in-house Digital Team of the Year and works to maximise the impact of client stories across online channels. Last year the team achieved 5,269 pieces of online coverage for their clients and 635,000 social shares.
Recent wins for 72Point have included a project for online parenting community Channelmum. The firm's creative handling and media distribution services boosted Channelmum’s story on the ‘gender price gap’ around the difference in price of clothes from boys to girls.
The Digital Outreach team landed 170 pieces of coverage and five top 10 national news sites, generating a public conversation around the issue of the “pink tax”.
Other wins this year included an integrated campaign for Heathrow Express. 72Point’s content marketing team created a visual puzzle that challenged the public to spot a train going in the opposite direction to the others in a busy setting. The puzzle, which achieved both print and digital coverage, provided the client with an asset that attracted people to their new site and promoted the rail link’s high-quality service and reliable 15-minute journey time. The project achieved 769 social shares and an online readership of over one billion.
For Healthspan, seeking national news coverage to support their ‘Live Long You’ campaign, 72Point conducted a survey which elevated Healthspan’s key messages centring around the idea that great health starts with good nutrition and eating well, to a national scale, landing in over four national publications and achieving both digital and print coverage.
A digital revolution
Alongside its creative and distribution work the agency has comprehensive digital and social media services. With international offices and an increased headcount, the firm is working alongside some of the biggest brands and most dynamic SMEs in the country.
72Point’s Managing Director Chris Pharo, says: "The last few years have seen a remarkable transformation at 72Point.
We have evolved from a one-stop-shop for news gen into a creative content powerhouse with several services to complement our unrivalled distribution.
"It is our sincere hope that these will continue to flourish over the next year as we work with more exciting brands and develop national campaigns that solidify our position as a market leader for compelling news generation and exposure in the media."
72Point’s biggest asset is its proven track record, according to Pharo “Our projects have a 100% success rate, delivering an average of 27 pieces of coverage, 460 social shares and 1,327,962 impressions per project.
"We have generated national media exposure for household name brands, including Sky Mobile British Airways and National Express and have advanced the reputation of some of the country’s most promising start-ups and SMEs with creative content and targeted media exposure.
"As a result, we have cultivated our offering, expanded our client base and achieved sustained growth through our sales, achieving new record figures on a consistent basis for the past two years. And as far as we’re concerned, we’re only just getting started."
72Point On Top of the World With Borne Charity
April 24 2018
72Point is proud to support the Borne Charity who took us all the way to the North Pole in their recent Arctic challenge.
Their fantastic team has raised over £750,000 for new research to prevent preterm birth.
We supported them with high-quality media exposure and interviewed Hollywood actor Alistair Petrie who shared his experience of premature birth.
To learn more about Borne Charity and their research to prevent premature birth visit their website here.
72Point Enter PRWeek's Top 150
April 23 2018
Entering PRWeek's Top 150 at an impressive #54, we demonstrate our unique offering as a PR Consultancy with an innate understanding of the news environment, able to tap into the media landscape across all platforms in a way that most traditional agencies can’t.
Start A Conversation - Christmas Campaign in support of The Silver Line
November 30 - December 31 2017
In 2017, 72Point launched it’s first Christmas Campaign with The Silver Line – the only national, free and confidential phone line dedicated to older people suffering from loneliness and part of the Jo Cox Commission on Loneliness (2016 - 2017).
We used our talents to #StartaConversation about loneliness and pledged to donate £100 from every new business project we received in December to support The Silver Line’s work.
Our supporters came forward to start a conversation about loneliness in our campaign video. Three brave people, including Luisa, appealed to anyone
watching to “keep talking to each other” – reminding us that we have the power to change someone’s day and create connections that count.
The campaign raised £1,400 and achieved national coverage for The Silver Line in The Independent, The Sun and The Evening Times as well as Scottish Sun and The London Economic, reaching over 288K coverage views and an online readership of 253million.
We also supported the charity's national #FoamAlone campaign on our social media channels, with raised £2352 in donations, as well as reaching hundreds of new supporters. The money raised helped The Silver Line to answer an additional 450 calls over the Christmas period.
Brand new website launch
January 22 2018
2017/18 was a turning point for 72Point, and this was reflected in the launch of our brand-new website. We achieved a record breaking year in 2017 by going back to basics. We have expanded into areas such as social media while solidifying our national media base with our basic principle that good stories perform well on any platform. And the proof is in the pudding. We let the numbers do the talking in our 2017 round-up
Prolific North Live 2018
February 28 - March 01 2018
Prolific North Live provided 72Point the opportunity to network with the biggest movers and shakers of the Digital industry. It also allowed us to showcase our digital content and social outreach work through the Digital Keynote Theatre, which featured talks from industry leaders from BBC, Channel4, Barclays and The Sun. It was a fantastic way to share our message up North as leading news-generation and content experts.
Download the event e-book, Prolific North Live - What Marketers Want 2018
Related blogs:
- Why PR Needs to be a Valuable Part of your 2018 Marketing Strategy
- How to Make the Most of Marketing Exhibitions
- The Future of Digital Media is in the North – Here’s Why
Watch highlights from the 72Point Digital Keynote Theatre in our exclusive video:
PRCA Digital Awards 2018
April 5 2018
72Point is thrilled to be shortlisted as In-House Digital Team of the Year at the PRCA Digital Awards 2018. Our team will be there on the night to present the Best Social Media Award category and the award for Best Digital Journalist/Blogger Award. The PRCA Digital Awards 2018 will be judged by some of the biggest names from the worlds of digital leadership, communications and journalism.
PR360 2018
April 19 - 20 2018
Head of Digital, Jack Peat, will moderate a breakout panel at this year’s PR360 Conference on “How PR’s should adapt to the new media age”. As well as heading up all of 72Point’s digital and social media outreach work, Jack is also the founder and editor of The London Economic (TLE) - which was the most shared news publication of the 2017 General Election - and also a regular contributor to the Independent online, VICE and Huffington Post.
View Jack's Keynote Address from Prolific North Live on how the North has become the digital media powerhouse of Britain.
Watch the highlights from the 72Point Digital Keynote Theatre below:
Prolific North Awards 2018
May 28 2018
72Point is proud to sponsor the Video of the Year category at the Prolific North Awards 2018. The awards recognise and reward exceptional talent in the creative and media industries across the North of England. Read why we are celebrating the rise of the Northern Digital Media Powerhouse here.