Bell Pottinger

Headline text

Bell-Pottinger is a UK-based PR firm. In 2006, it was ranked the top public relations firm in the UK for the fourth consecutive year by PR Week magazine. Bell Pottinger Group is part of Chime Communications PLC.

Overview

Bell Pottinger is the UK’s leading group of multidisciplinary Public Relations agencies and Communications specialists . It is the Public Relations Division of its parent group, Chime Communications Plc.

It has maintained its position at the top of national PR Week and Marketing Week league tables, by revenue, consistently for over five years due to the quality of its consultants, its ability to proactively map out market trends and migrations; and diversify their service offering accordingly.

The Bell Pottinger Group consists of 23 agencies, spanning services across all communicative disciplines and employs almost 400 people worldwide to deliver on some of the most complex national and international communications challenges.

Bell Pottinger’s major brands include Bell Pottinger, Good Relations, Harvard, Insight, Resonate, De Facto, Traffic, MMK, Search Relations and Corporate Citizenship. Across these brands the group holds a client list in excess of 600 international and domestic brands of diverse size and sector.

Bell Pottinger clients include international and domestic brands; local, national and overseas governments; government departments and agencies; pharmaceutical and healthcare companies; charities; not-for-profit organisations; professional service firms; consumer brands; and international business leaders and personalities, to name but a few.

Its parent company, Chime Communications is also a global top 20 player which, illustrates its quality, its service and its capability to deliver on equally international briefs. Collectively, and in partnership with associated agencies, Bell Pottinger has worked in 54 countries across the globe, a testament to its reach and diverse approach to comms.

Ethos – collaboration and integration

Bell Pottinger Group is a pioneer in the field of integrated communications planning and delivery. Whereas the group structure allows all 23 agencies to operate independently of one another, allowing autonomy wherever possible, all agencies are married under the group umbrella, which draws on the expertise from all of Bell Pottinger consultants to cherry pick the best in practice for any brief on any communications issue.

This ability to provide collaborative, inter-agency and multidisciplinary services adds real value for clients, especially as communications challenges evolve over time to require different solutions that can be similarly sourced from within the Group.

This model is mirrored in Bell Pottinger’s relationship to Chime Communications’ other subsidiaries, VCCP and OLR, which specialise in qualitative and deliberative research; and marketing and advertising respectively.

Taken as a whole, these companies collectively supply holistic communications solutions for clients of any sector and of any size.

Another thing that distinguishes Bell Pottinger Group from larger, multinational agencies is its commitment to providing clients with personalised services at the international, the national and local levels.

In short, Bell Pottinger Group delivers on complex issues by constructing meaningful dialogue and intimate relationships with the clients in a world where globalisation can often mean the distancing of corporate – agency relationships.

Belief – better reputations, better results

The Bell Pottinger Group companies believe they exist to make clients better known, better regarded and more successful.

Their methodology in delivering these objectives is simple: they utilise the latest and most cost-effective channels of communication to deliver specific messages to the audiences that their clients depend upon for success.

Bell Pottinger’s view is that whatever the objective, there is always one thing that’s needed – a change in behaviour. And a change in behaviour is brought about by a change in beliefs, which is where the psychology of communications is paramount.

The theory may be simple, but the reality is often more complex. For communication to change beliefs, it has to be relevant, powerful and compelling. It has to come from an insight into, and empathy with the target audiences.

Essentially, effective communications will influence the opinions and behaviours of your interest groups to develop a social, commercial or political environment more conducive to the success of their business. It is psychological in concept and pragmatic in delivery, ensuring real returns for the client.

All of this revolves around the central concept of reputation. This is the core principle on which Bell Pottinger’s work is founded. It believes that the true success of a corporation can be measured by what others say about it - the things that are discussed when its representatives leave the room. In this era of global communications networks, your reputation can be made and broken overnight.

This is the reason why Bell Pottinger focuses so much time and effort in securing positive reports on one’s reputation and then on the dissemination of those reports to ensure that the viral appreciation of one’s reputation at home and abroad is self-sustaining and a true reflection on your corporate activities.

Kevin Murray

Kevin Murray is Chairman of the Bell Pottinger Group, the Public Relations Division of Chime Communications.

Altogether, the Group has almost 400 people serving over 600 clients, and is ranked number one in both the PR Week and Marketing league tables.

Kevin specialises in the field of strategic communications and reputation management, and leadership communications coaching.

He has years of experience advising chairmen and chief executives, as well as managing complex and global communications projects and departments.

He works with clients such as Lloyds TSB, McLaren F1, the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority, MFI, 118118, Adobe, Airbus, Emirates Airlines and Sky. In the past, he has worked with KPMG, BP, Freshfields, BNFL, KLM, Marconi, IMG, BHP Billiton, Petrofac, Vauxhall, and British Gas, in nearly every case, at CEO or Chairman level.

Previously he was the director of communications for British Airways and, before that, Director of Corporate Affairs for AEA Technology, the business that was floated off from the United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority. In both these organisations he had experience of major change programmes.

Prior to AEA, Kevin was Group Public Relations Manager for Bayer companies in the UK. Bayer is one of the world’s major chemicals-to-pharmaceuticals companies.

He is also a former national newspaper journalist, magazine publisher and marketing director, having started his career as a journalist on The Star newspaper in Johannesburg. He is an enthusiastic father and husband, a mad keen golfer, a theatre-goer, TV watcher, book reader, food eater and wine drinker.

Curriculum Vitae

1973 –1981 The Star, Johannesburg • Court Reporter and Crime Reporter • Foreign Correspondent, Argus Company, London • Air Correspondent and Transport Editor • News Editor

1981 – 1982 Barlow Rand Limited, Johannesburg • Group Publications Editor and PR Executive

1982 –1985 Churchill Murray Publications, Johannesburg • Managing Editor, Leadership SA Magazine • Director, Marketing & Advertising

1985 –1988 Shearwater Communications Services, UK • Managing Director, Kestrel Publications (subsidiary) • Managing Director, Shearwater Communications

1988 – 1992 Bayer plc, UK • Group Public Relations Manager, all Bayer companies in UK

1992 – 1994 UK Atomic Energy Authority • Director, Corporate Communications, UKAEA

1994 – 1996 AEA Technology • Director, Corporate Affairs

1996 – 1998 British Airways plc • Director of Communications

1998 – to date Chime Communications • Senior Consultant, Bell Pottinger Consultants • Managing Director, Bell Pottinger Consultants • Chief Executive, Bell Pottinger Group • Chairman, Public Relations Division, Chime Communications

Companies:

Bell Pottinger Sans Frontieres Bell Pottinger Communications USA LLC Bell Pottinger USA Bell Pottinger Switzerland Bell Pottinger Middle East Bell Pottinger Corporate and Financial Bell Pottinger Health Bell Pottinger Public Relations Bell Pottinger Business and Brand Bell Pottinger Issues and Crisis Management Bell Pottinger North Bell Pottinger Public Affairs Good Relations London Good Relations Wales Corporate Citizenship Resonate De Facto MMK Hamburg Harvard Public Relations Harvard Germany Insight Marketing and Communications Search Relations Traffic Communications

Services

Clients come to Bell Pottinger when they need to build great reputations, win more customers, increase sales, launch new brands and build on existing ones. Or, they ask for help when they have to announce important results, win investor confidence, buy other businesses or prevent unwelcome takeovers.

Bell Pottinger Group has helped clients to be better understood and supported by the people in the media who report on them. It has helped them to shape regulatory environments and lead important public debates that influence the markets they serve. They have helped them to be better corporate citizens, and be leaders in corporate responsibility initiatives.

Sometimes, they ask for campaigns to change national agendas. Increasingly, they ask for help to make employees brand advocates wherever they go. And, when necessary, they call when they need to defend their reputations, or recover from crisis situations.

Bell Pottinger’s collaborative approach is proven. It gets the results that clients need; whatever the issue, whatever the size of the campaign, wherever you are.

Advertising Online Advertising Press and Radio Advertising TV Advocacy and Opinion Leader Development Analyst Relations Assurance B2B Marketing B2B PR Benchmarking Platforms Brand Management and Communications Campaign Management Celebrity Representation Change Communications Climate Change Clinical Trial Recruitment and Retention Community relations Competitor Analysis Consumer Brand Strategy Consumer PR Copy Writing Corporate PR / Comms Corporate Reputation Management Corporate Responsibility Corporate Restructuring Crisis Communications Customer Journey Mapping Deliberative Debates Design and Branding Digital Communications Direct Marketing E-Learning Engagement Environment Management European Coordination External Corporate Engagement Event Management Field Marketing Financial PR Government Communications Guerrilla Marketing Healthcare PR Information Operations Consulting Hi-tech, IT and Mobile PR Integrated Communications Intelligence, monitoring and analysis International Internal Communications International Cooperation Investor Relations Issues and Crisis Management Leadership Management Litigation Communications Loyalty Schemes Managed Entry, Market Access, Pricing and Reimbursement Marketing Media Buying Media Coaching and Training Media Evaluation Media Planning Media Relations Medical Education New Business Development Online PR Online video Opinion Former Research PDGs – Political and Government PR Political Campaign Management POM to P Press office Produce Review Programmes Product Launches Product Lifestyle Management Product Positioning Product Reviews Promotional Marketing Property and Planning PR Public Affairs and political engagement Regulatory and Competition Advice Reporting Reputation Management Research Sales Promotion Search Engine Optimisation Select Committee training Social Marketing Speaker Placement Speaker’s Bureau Sponsorship PR Sports PR Stakeholder audits Strategic Communications Strategic Counsel Strategic Partnership Supply Chain Management Trade Show Support Transaction Communications Travel and Aerospace Vial marketing Web Mapping Website Design and Management White Paper Writing Youth PR

Bell-Pottinger is a UK-based PR firm. In 2006, it was ranked the top public relations firm in the UK for the fourth consecutive year by PR Week magazine. Bell Pottinger Group is part of Chime Communications PLC.

Bell Pottinger is advising Iraq's interim leadership on promoting the country's transformation to a democracy. Bell Pottinger, headed by Lord Tim Bell, is one of the first British companies to win a major contract from the Coalition Provisional Authority, the US-led administration that has run Iraq since President Saddam Hussein was toppled. Officials refused to comment on reports that the contract is worth more than $US5 million ($A6.65 million).

External links

• Company home page