As a young company, we appreciate this industry nod, as it shows we’re making waves. Our good reputation is growing (thank you to everyone who has been recommending us!) and we can’t wait to see ourselves on the Top 40 outside London list.

CubanEight was tasked by longstanding client Northamptonshire Enterprise Partnership to raise awareness of the museum amongst national audiences, and highlight the world-renowned shoe-making and leather heritage that exists in Northamptonshire, together with the modern-day industry that continues to thrive. The county is home to some of the most well-respected shoe and footwear brands in the world, including Church’s Shoes and Dr Martens.

Visitors to the museum can trace the history of shoemaking in the area, as well as see some of the collection’s best-known pairs of shoes, which include Vivienne Westwood’s Super Elevated Ghillies (the style that caused Naomi Campbell’s downfall in 1994) as well as the shoes Queen Victoria wore on her wedding day and the stilts made for Elton John to wear in the Pinball Wizard sequence in the film of ‘Tommy, A Rock Opera’.

The campaign secured widespread awareness of the reopening of the museum through a series of national and fashion-focused media placements, including a feature on BBC Breakfast and articles in The Independent on Sunday, The Daily Mail, The Daily Telegraph and BBC online, some of which you can view below.

By Rachel on 27^th April

CubanEight has been shortlisted for the Outstanding Small Consultancy in the CIPR Excellence Awards 2012, chosen for their impressive growth track record, client retention and international campaign work. The category is set to be hotly contested, with just six agencies shortlisted nationwide.

This shortlisting follows last week’s news that CubanEight was named Best Small Consultancy at the Golden Hedgehog awards, as well as winning the Gold Award at the CIPR PRide awards for Outstanding Small Consultancy in November last year.

The CIPR released the full list of finalists for the Excellence Awards, which has more than 150 entries in 28 categories. The companies and individuals drawn from 700 entries will now be put through their paces via a series of one-to-one interviews by an expert judging panel, before the winners are finally chosen and announced at the Excellence Awards black tie dinner in central London on 28 May. The awards dinner, now in its 27^th year, is the most prestigious annual celebration of the public relations profession with up to 900 guests attending from across the industry.

Commenting, Jane Wilson, CEO of the CIPR, said: “To make the CIPR Excellence Awards shortlist is a statement of achievement for any individual or organisation. The sheer number of high quality entries received this year, especially when things are still pretty tough out there economically, is testament to a thriving industry. There really is no greater recognition of professionalism, creativity and hard work than to reach the final stages of the Excellence Awards.”

We are extremely pleased to have made the shortlist for the CIPR Excellence awards.  It is such a boost to the team to receive this industry recognition, and is real testament to our approach and the standard of work we do for our clients. The whole team is really proud and we are looking forward to the night itself

By Sian 2nd April 2012

9.00am – The first thing I do every morning after a quick check of emails is look through the national papers with the rest of the team. It is not only important to maintain a wider understanding of the industries our clients are operating in, but it also allows me to keep up to date with what journalists are writing about, the issues and trends.

9.30am – The next job of the day is to collate a news round-up for specific clients. This is a summary of the last 24 hours’ media coverage, plus any news that we have spotted that morning which is relevant to that client. I also manage the press cuttings for CubanEight – you may have recently seen our great First Utility campaign in PR Week!

10am – After catching up with the team on specific news and plans for the day, a typical morning might involve contacting or following up with media contacts regarding a client announcement or briefing.

12.30pm – Lunch – I try and grab some fresh air and go for a quick walk, but otherwise I’ll check out social media channels and catch up on the latest online news.

1.30pm – In the afternoon I tend to research potential features, speaking and award opportunities as well as working on things like client & media briefing documents, as well as updating media lists with new contacts.

4.30pm – Towards the end of the day tends to be when thoughts turn to reporting and thinking ahead to the next day’s plans. A key part of my planning work is focused on managing international agencies and their activities, whether they are in America or Australia, so although it might be the end of my day, it’s always the start of another person I may be dealing with!

CoPilot Live is an app that transforms an iPhone, iPad or Android device into a satnav to rival any standalone device, at a much more affordable price. CubanEight’s campaign is focused on raising awareness of CoPilot Live to a consumer audience – and we adopting a range of tactics to do this.

Another key focus for the reviews programme is bloggers, who are a particularly important influencer within this sector. We work to identify and approach key iPhone and Android bloggers as well as people who blog in the wider technology, gadget and lifestyle areas. This has resulted in a number of really positive reviews with the likes of Android Bloke and Cool Smart Phone.

As well as sourcing and briefing relevant agencies in specified locations, we can also assist with reviewing proposals, managing pitch processes

It’s been a great few months in the run up to this edition. We have won some extremely exciting new business with Northamptonshire Enterprise Partnership, and been settling into new, larger offices. In addition, we’ve been shortlisted for no less than three awards; the Fresh PR Awards, The Golden Hedgehogs and the Cherwell Business Awards.

We hope this is interesting and useful. Please do get in touch with any feedback, or to discuss how we can help you.

Rachel & Sian

Just wanted to share some great CubanEight news! Last night we won another PR industry award – we were awarded Best Small Consultancy at the Golden Hedgehog awards!   We were shortlisted against five other great PR agencies across the South, including London, Wales and the Midlands and so the competition was tough.  So Rachel and I were so pleased to hear our name called out as the winner last night! It is a great accolade to receive these awards, particularly as a growing business and it’s a real testament to the work of our great team, Annabel and Siobhan, and the support we get from our clients.  And we couldn’t be prouder!!!

By Sian 29th March  2012

Pintrest is an online pin board – you can pin images you like from around the web on to your own boards, and follow other people’s board that interest you. So I’ve created a board of delicious looking food for example – where I’ve pinned tasty looking treats I want to try from around the web, and also uploaded some of my own baking attempts.

What Pintrest does really well, is let you record something that you might want to try later. Images you pin will link directly back to their original source (or at least they should) so if you find a great DIY craft idea you can pin the finished article to your board, and this will allow you to easily find the instructions when you do come to make it.

Pintrest is still in its early days, but judging from the amount of buzz it’s getting, I think it’s going to be around for a long time. As with every social network, it’s going to be really interesting to see how brands and marketers start to use it to connect with their audiences in an ever changing digital landscape.

With so much online, Pintrest is a creative way to navigate online, letting users find, share and enjoy some of the wonderful stuff the web has to offer. Happy pinning!

By Annabel, 27th February 2012