IRISH PR guru John Saunders will shortly be packing his bag for Moscow having been appointed to the board of Fleishman-Hillard Vanguard. US-based Fleishman has just taken a majority stake in its Russian outpost and is planning expansion in the wider region.
Saunders sold his stake in his Irish joint venture with Fleishman to his US partners in 2001 for €7.6 million. He’s been running Fleishman’s operations in Ireland and continental Europe since 2004 and last year was appointed regional president for Europe, the UK and Africa.
Separately, pr360, the agency set up last July by ex-government advisers Dan Pender and Bernard Mallee, has added Australian energy company Tamboran to its client roster.
Tamboran hit the headlines recently by announcing plans to go fracking for gas in Leitrim.
Pender and Mallee have also added the Irish Primary Principals’ Network to their client list and expanded its remit with Aviva Ireland, which needs all the help it can get with its corporate PR.
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EASON’S newly-launched “Thank You” loyalty card is certainly proving a hit with customers.
Managing director Conor Whelan told me this week that 116,000 customers signed up since its launch just before Christmas. This is comfortably ahead of the company’s expectations. The card is aimed at generating loyalty to the brand and driving sales in store.
“It’s one of our major [new] marketing initiatives. We’re very happy with how it has gone and continue to add customers.”
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SPANISH airline Iberia, which is part of the Willie Walsh-led International Airline Group, is planning to increase its capacity by 21 per cent this summer on the Dublin-Madrid route.
The flights will be operated by its new subsidiary Iberia Express, which will be using a larger 177-seat aircraft and offer business and economy tickets. It takes over the route from Air Nostrum, an Iberia franchisee.
