Firefly, one of the PR industry’s top hi-tech agencies, is breaking away
from its roots with a new corporate PR account from the Central London
Training and Enterprise Council (CENTEC).
The largest of the UK’s 80 Government-funded TECs - in terms of the
number of businesses situated in its area - CENTEC covers six central
London boroughs including Westminster, Camden, and Kensington and
Chelsea.
CENTEC provides cash incentives for up to 63,000 local companies to
encourage business development and training, but remains largely unknown
as a corporate entity.
‘We need an agency to explain what a TEC is all about, how it operates
and what work it does,’ said marketing and corporate communications
manager Fiona Nicolson.
Firefly competed against five other agencies, including Fleishman
Hillard, Luther Pendragon and Lyons Waddell for the pounds 70,000-plus
account, which involves raising CENTEC’s profile in the national and
business press and positioning chief executive Gwynneth Flowers as its
main spokesperson.
‘It’s a significant account win for us because it’s not related to
technology at all,’ said director Annabel Abbs. ‘But in one sense it
will be similar because people find it difficult to get their heads
round what TECs actually do - a bit like hi-tech equipment.’
* Firefly has launched its own international network - Fireworks -
spanning agencies across the PR disciplines, including consumer,
business-to-business and hi-tech.
Five firms have signed up from Paris, Munich, New York, Milan and Madrid
and negotiations are under way with prospective partners in Australia,
Hong Kong, Japan, the Netherlands and Scandinavia.
