An exciting night at the 2013 OTC Awards with the Pegasus team walked away, with award in hand for Best OTC Public Relations Campaign For a Medicine.

Less than 12 months ago we were set a challenge by Thornton & Ross - the UK’s  largest independent pharmaceutical manufacturer. Reintroduce the Care range, and its 90 OTC products, to pharmacists and set the brand on the road to becoming a household name.

We had a mountain to climb but, undaunted, we set to work on a three-pronged strategy under the theme of ‘All the Care You Need’.

With judges describing the campaign as ‘excellent and very diverse’ and ‘multi-faceted, with comprehensive content and convincing results’ – we like to think the post award cork-popping with the T&R team was more than justified.

Read the full award notes below and follow us on Instagram  – PegasusPics –  for some snaps from the night.

In November, the University of Brighton invited our very own Sharon Whiting to give a Media relations lecture to their budding PR students.

Sharon, whose been in the PR game for over 20 years, discussed the PR-journalist relationship, what makes a compelling story and how to give a media what they want (when they want it!!). With a lively and engaged audience, the idea behind the talk was to provide a real life insight into the industry – providing relevance and context to the modules they are currently studying.

Following the lecture, students were split in to ‘agency groups’ by course Director, Dan Bennett, and set the challenge of writing a press release about the guest lecture.

Below is the work of the winning agency and a demonstration of the promising talent about to graduate from Brighton University.

Pegasus professional gives wings to Bright Young Things

Students on the PR module were given valuable insight into the art of media relations when Sharon Whiting, Senior Consultant with Pegasus PR, flew by to share her knowledge and experiences with the PR wannabes.

Delivering a charming, witty and insightful presentation, Sharon caught the attention of every aspiring PR hopeful in the room. With an impressive background and 23 years experience that has taken her around the world, Sharon more than proved her PR guru status, giving the audience valuable tips in managing what is often a tricky relationship – that of PR pro and journalist.  Sharon recounted some of her own experiences with the media and how important it is to really get to know the journalists that you are liaising with.

The Bright Young Things (BYT) initiative, brainchild of PR lecturers Dan Bennett and Charlotte Clifford, is the creation of a new, innovative communications agency that will be run by students within the School as part of their modules in marketing, PR and advertising.  The aim of BYT is to give students some real life experiences as part of their degree and is already being considered a valuable training ground for the PR professionals of the future.

With the (slightly) daunting task of managing live client projects, it is an exciting time for students on the PR module and their enthusiasm was clear as the fledgling account teams were keen and eager to absorb the priceless insight from Sharon.  When the floor opened for questions, gaining employment was the hot topic dominating conversation and it was clear that the opportunity to talk to an industry professional was of great benefit to the students.

PRestige Account Manager, Danica Histed, commented: “It was an amazing insight into the industry from Sharon and being able to hear from a professional whose agency has just won PR Week’s ‘Specialist Consultancy of the Year’ award is an added bonus.  We are delighted to be part of the BYT project and would like to extend our gratitude to Sharon for sharing her valuable time.”

Sharon’s appearance clearly made a strong impact, with many students staying on to chat to her after the session finished.  With this valuable industry knowledge fresh in the mind, the spotlight is now firmly placed on the promising PRs who are rapidly gearing up for the challenging task of live client management.  The Bright Young Things on the PR module will certainly be the ones to watch within the coming months, in what is shaping up to be both an intriguing and innovative outlook on group work.

By Sharon Whiting

Last Wednesday I spent the day with the Make a Difference Makeover Team, putting together 250 goody bags for young people who have found refuge with Centrepoint Hostel in South London.

The Make A Difference Makeover programme has now been working with Centrepoint for over 10 years and has helped to transform many of the lives of the homeless young women who’ve taken part in the workshops. The workshops happen up to 4 times a year and involve both a physical makeover and life coaching sessions to really boost the confidence of these vulnerable young women as they approach the end of their Centrepoint journey.

All Make a Difference Makeover committee members are industry professionals who use their contacts, skills and experience to involve the beauty industry with this hugely worthwhile charity. Companies all give very generously which means that on Christmas morning the 250 young women staying in a Centrepoint hostel receive the most fantastic gift. It’s an amazing thing to be a part of and I’d like to say a huge thanks to Pegasus healthy-beauty clients – Trilogy, Manuka Doctor and Dr Organic, who were all extremely generous with their donations of high quality products. They will certainly light up some faces come Christmas morning.

By Laura Farhall, Pegasus Healthy-Beauty

This week I had the pleasure of working with Made in Chelsea star, Millie Mackintosh – the brand ambassador for the heavenly Bee Venom skin care range, Manuka Doctor.

The shoot took place at a location house in Shoreditch which appeared to be a country manor hidden in the hub of cosmopolis, complete with mounted moose head and freestanding roll top bath.

After a few costume changes and a hair and make-up session to rival K-Middy, we got to work snapping Millie amongst an array of Christmas treats and party decorations. The shoot was themed around the Christmas season and will appear in More! Magazine later this month.

Following a fantastic award win last month – walking away with Specialist Consultancy of the Year at the illustrious PR Week Awards – last night we received further recognition with a Highly Commended  in the same category at the PRCA Awards.

As clichéd as it sounds, we don’t do this for the shiny trophies, but to receive such acknowledgement at two of the major industry awards, really does mean a lot.

Yes, 2012 is a good year!

“Pegasus is ambitious and forward thinking: a great business model with the vision and insight that make them innovators in their sector.  Pegasus feels fresh, innovative and strong with a bright future.”

Danny Rogers, PR Week’s editor-in-chief

Winning an award is always cause to celebrate – a well-deserved pat on the back from your industry peers, recognising the hard work and dedication behind every successful campaign.  However, on Friday, we had extra cause to let the champagne corks fly, thanks to the team picking up all FIVE awards it had been shortlisted for at the CIPR Home Counties South Pride Awards.

Held in Brighton’s Hilton Metropole, the clean sweep of gongs included ‘Best Use of Media Relations’, ‘Consumer Relations’, ‘Healthcare’ and ‘Best Use of Social Media’ as well as the illustrious ‘Outstanding Public Relations Consultancy’.

The regional Pride awards receive over 1,000 entries every year from freelancers, consultancies and in-house teams across the UK. They aim to recognise excellence in public relations and communications with winners selected by a panel of over 50 judges.

Well done team, a fantastic achievement!

Crowds of people gathered on the seafront yesterday to witness Pegasus soar gloriously through the Sussex sky .

However, despite speculation from the gathering supporters, the winged mass wasn’t the heroic creature from Greek mythology but rather our very own David and Kieran – representing the agency in the International Worthing Birdman competition.

Taking place on Worthing pier, a mere pebbles-throw from our office, the fearless duo took the 35ft plunge with a 7ft Pegasus model in aid of St Barnabas Hospice, helping raise £878.

There was even unprompted interest from the attending media. We’re not used to being on this side of the head-lines!?

By Luke Hopkins

Account Executive

In PR, nothing can quite beat the feeling when that ‘incredible’ piece of coverage  appears – well, almost nothing.

Every now and then you’re lucky enough to cross paths with a truly remarkable set of individuals, with an even more remarkable story to tell; and that’s just what our campaign for Drontal allowed us the chance to do.

In this case, it was in the form of 6-month-old Anatolian Sheppard, Haatchi, and his family – winners of the 2012 ‘Give Your Dog a Bone’ awards, a campaign created to celebrate the launch of Drontal’s new bone-shaped worming tablets.

Nearing the end of a wholly successful campaign, Haatchi’s story was featured as a full page in the Daily Express and even made Monday’s broadcast of ITV Meridian Tonight, with more great coverage expected in the coming weeks.

Not only did this end our campaign for Drontal on a high note, but it has helped the brave story of one boy and his dog get the recognition it deserves, much to the delight of the family. That feeling is going to take an awful lot to beat – happiness is indeed bone-shaped.

Yesterday saw the first ever Summer Party hosted by the Pegasus Beauty Team at the ever-so stylish Kettner’s in Soho. Over the course of the day we welcomed over 80 key beauty influencers including journalists, bloggers and make-up artists.

The steady flow of guests enjoyed various activities taking place throughout the day, including:

• Visia skin analyses offered by Manuka Doctor
• Mini manicures with The Organic Pharmacy’s ‘Organic Glam’ range
• Make your own Vital Moisturising Cream workshops with Trilogy
• Nutritional skin assessments with Colladeen Visage and Dr Sam Christie
• Product showcases from Micro-Pedi, Viviscal, Holland & Barrett Avène, Klorane, Dr Organic, Bio-Oil, Keromask and HoMedics – to name a few….

Walls were decked with colourful bunting, drinks filled with delicious cocktails and goody bags jam-packed with treats from the Pegasus beauty portfolio. Guests were also treated to some specially- made, candy-striped Pegasus rock.

All in all the event was a tremendous success and the start of what we hope will be an annual celebration of healthy-beauty at Pegasus.

This weekend, team members swapped Blackberries for masks and capes in preparation for superhero duties.

Sharon, Marlon and Sylva took to Hove seafront on Sunday as participants in the annual 10k Heroes Run Brighton in aid of Pass It On Africa – a charity involved in building schools and support education in some of the poorest areas of Africa.

We didn’t exactly save the world – but had lots of fun pretending and it was for a great cause.