London: February 15, 2008 – Kaizo has been appointed as US-based Neterion’s UK PR agency. Neterion is the market leader in 10 Gigabit Ethernet hardware and software solutions that help eliminate I/O bottlenecks in enterprise networking infrastructures and enable broad deployment of virtualization. 

Neterion has partnered with VMware and will be making a significant announcement at VMworld Europe in Cannes later this month.  

“We are delighted to be working with Kaizo to increase awareness and understanding of how Neterion can help European customers achieve new levels of performance, availability and reliability in the datacentre,” said Ravi Chalaka, vice president of marketing at Neterion.  

Adelle Foster, Associate Director at Kaizo said: ”Our initial focus is on establishing the brand across Europe with key decision makers in the enterprise space, and supporting their exciting announcement”. 

Neterion successfully competes against industry giants Intel and Broadcom and its current customers include IBM, HP and EMC. 

Ends

08 January 2008 - As a specialist in sustainability communications, Kaizo is set to host a breakfast seminar intended to outline the commercial threats and opportunities posed by climate change issues in 2008. Hosted by leading speaker on sustainability and business, Christopher Broadbent, the seminar will be held in the Great Hall, 25, Southampton Buildings, London on Thursday, January 17th.The changing commercial landscape 

Mr Broadbent commented:“The influence of sustainability on commercial performance will continue to grow in the coming year and beyond, and climate change is already the primary issue faced by any business in the UK today. Changing legislation, regulation, consumer behaviour and media landscapes are all fuelling an immediate need for UK business to change – but many companies are still confused about the significance of climate change, what they need to do to become a low-carbon business and how they can establish a return on investment when going green. 

The next step

The Kaizo seminar aims not only to highlight the risks and opportunities for UK business, but also to outline the first steps that businesses can take in order to maximise the potential of investing in change and avoid the potential PR pitfalls of promoting green credentials. 

To attend the seminar, please contact Imogen England via email at Imogen.england@kaizo.net

* Insurance BPO and Software Specialist Seeks To Build Sector Awareness 

London, 3rd December 2007 - The Innovation Group, one of the leading providers of Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) and software solutions to the insurance industry, has selected Kaizo, the independent PR and Word of Mouth Communications consultancy, to handle its public relations in the UK.

The appointment of Kaizo, which is effective immediately, follows a comprehensive competitive pitch process and is aimed at building the profile of Innovation Group in the company’s key vertical markets. The Innovation Group is a global company with more than 2000 employees that provides BPO services to insurers and other risk carriers. The Group’s software solutions are designed to handle policy and claims administrative processes.

Mark Mellor, Chief Operating Officer at Innovation Group, said: “Kaizo demonstrated a deep understanding of our communications needs and innovative ideas that will build awareness and understanding of our unique solutions. Innovation Group has grown in part through a selective acquisition strategy and the support of Kaizo is fundamental in our need to take a unified message to the market.”

Rhodri Harries, Managing Director of Kaizo, commented: “Our strategy will be based on building one coherent approach for the group which puts them at the forefront of thinking on issues relating to insurance and outsourcing. We will be looking at building the brand through new thinking and new media.”

Kaizo is part of the Argyll Consultancies Plc and is also a member of Worldcom, the world’s largest network of independent PR Consultancies.
About Innovation Group

• Innovation Group plc (Innovation or Group) provides outsourcing services and software solutions to insurers and other risk carriers. The software solutions are designed for the handling of policy and claims administrative processes within the insurance industry. The solutions can be utilized in connection with the Group’s outsourcing operations or implemented on a stand-alone basis. 76% of the Innovation Group’s total revenues are now recurring with the remainder coming from the sale and support of its software solutions. The Group provides software and outsourcing services on a non-branded basis and does not perform insurance underwriting functions.

• The general BPO market is currently forecasted to outpace other IT services. In North America, BPO is estimated to grow by an 8.8% compound annual growth rate to $100 billion by 2009. Gartner 2005.

• Innovation has over 220 global clients including the Royal Sun Alliance, Ford Motor Company, Aviva, AXA Insurance, Toyota (South Africa) and Zurich (UK). The Group processes more than 3 million claims per year with 20% direct claims cost saving achieved. The software operates in 8 languages and the Group has approximately 2000 people across offices in North America, the UK, Germany, South Africa, Australia and Japan, visit www.innovation-group.com

• Since 2002, IBM and Innovation Group have worked together to deliver proven business solutions for insurance carriers that have brought innovation, clear business value and return on investment. Together they are enabling clients to realize the benefits of transformational change in core insurance functions such as Policy Administration and Claims Management.

Kaizo stole the show at the PRCA’s annual awards ceremony, picking up the inaugural Web 2.0 award, arguably the most sought after accolade as it represents the future of the communications industry.

Kaizo’s thought-leading work with Simple, the UK’s number one sensitive skincare brand, was recognised by the panel of judges as truly Web 2.0 because of the way that it engaged and involved Simple’s customers on a level never seen before in this market.

The challenge all businesses face in the Web 2.0 world is how to adapt and re-model their traditional marketing initiatives to the way consumers are now creating and consuming information. Kaizo’s philosophy is simple. Listen to your customers. With this in mind, Kaizo developed SimplyCity, a direct consumer engagement panel that to date has recruited 4,000 brand advocates. Advocates that voluntarily become involved in key business decisions and drive positive brand recommendations offline, whilst also providing Simple with clear, cost effective and invaluable consumer insight. In essence, the Kaizo strategy is turning Simple’s customers into a volunteer salesforce.

Crispin Manners, director of service innovation at Kaizo, commented: “Web 2.0 is changing everything. Businesses have to realise they have no control over what their customers say about them. It’s time for brands to rethink ‘tell’ dominated campaigns and adopt an ‘ask’ strategy that turns customers into advisers. What our effort with SimplyCity has proven, is that when you exceed customers’ expectations they love to be treated as advisers. We have been blown away by the complete positivity that our WOM approach has uncovered.”

* Connection yet to be made between environmental policy and commercial performance as businesses fail to take action

Despite increased media coverage and promotion of climate change issues, UK businesses are still unclear about the commercial impact it could have according to latest insights revealed today.

Additionally, businesses are failing to do all that they can to reduce their impact on the environment according to the new research into business attitudes towards sustainability conducted by PR and Word of Mouth consultancy Kaizo.

Key findings of the study called ‘Greener Business – Opportunity or Risk’ include:

* 49% of respondents believe their business is not doing enough to combat climate change
* 86% of respondents do not know the carbon footprint of their business
* 20% of businesses are still not making any changes at all to become a greener operation
* 67% of respondents still find media coverage of climate change issues confusing

Worryingly the research also highlights that the UK business community still sees climate change as a traditional PR issue, rather than a primary management consideration:

* 64% don’t rate climate change as an important influence on business management strategy
* 41% of respondents felt the biggest commercial opportunity was a boost to brand reputation

Christopher Broadbent, a senior consultant at Kaizo on sustainability issues commented:“The results of the Kaizo survey are alarming in that they expose a resistance to change seemingly fuelled by confusion, narrow scope and an assumption that ‘green clothing’ can be a substitute for action.

“Many businesses in the UK are not waking up to the broader commercial importance of sustainability, and the remarkable commercial benefits adapting business models to it can bring, let alone the moral imperative. Regarding ‘going green’ as a purely PR exercise is not only futile it is damaging.”

Further findings include:

* Only 6% of respondents see meeting customer demand as a primary opportunity offered by adopting a low carbon business model
* 13% of respondents felt that there are absolutely no risks for businesses that refuse to go green

Broadbent continued: “The idea that organisations failing to adopt a low carbon business model face no commercial risks at all is very naive. With the government’s (albeit weak) climate change bill in the pipeline, the tougher London Action Plan on Climate Change already in place, European production regulations tightening and energy costs rising, every business that does not address climate change will see an impact on its profits and it value.”

To coincide with these insights, Kaizo has launched a comprehensive Sustainable Communications offering, led by Broadbent. A specialist team of sustainability experts at Kaizo now counsel organisations on the changes that can be made to become a low carbon business before coordinating and executing communications programmes that unlock the commercial potential of those changes.

Rhodri Harries, Managing Director of Kaizo, commented: “Climate change has brought with it the requirement for a broader skill-set that sits outside of conventional PR. We have created a team that has the capacity to meet these new challenges and take ownership of what can be a confusing issue for many businesses.”

The full results of Kaizo’s survey, ‘Greener Business – Opportunity or Risk’ can be found here.

Quantum Corporation, one of the world’s leading technology storage providers, has renewed its PR relationship with Kaizo following comprehensive market review. The $1 billion dollar back-up, archive and recovery specialist will work with Kaizo to promote its increased storage product range following the acquisition of competitor ADIC. Quantum’s broad range of products meets the storage needs of organisations of all sizes, from Global 2000 enterprises to small businesses and remote offices.

The company has the most comprehensive portfolio of disk-based backup and de-duplication/replication solutions, is the #1 provider of tape automation, and is a long-standing leader in tape drives and media. In addition, Quantum’s data management software is an industry-leading technology for shared workflow and intelligent archiving in high-performance, long-term storage environments. Joanne Ayres, UK marketing manager at Quantum, said: “Following our acquisition of ADIC and a successful 5 year relationship with Kaizo, it was the right time to review our PR relationship in the UK. We saw five of the top technology agencies and quickly realised that Kaizo were still best positioned to represent us moving forward.” Rhodri Harries, managing director of Kaizo, said: “It is exciting times at Quantum and with a stronger than ever product range to promote, we are delighted to be continuing our long-term partnership. Our technical understanding and media and analyst relationships in this sector are second to none.”

ends

Our new study tracks brands in key sectors based upon their recommendability via content online.

We live in a Web 2.0 world, where online content is a key source of brand reputation - good or bad - increasingly driving offline conversations and - ultimately - consumer decision-making.

So what does the online recommendability league table looks like at present?

In 2007 we took the logic of the Net Promoter Score (NPS) to the next level and developed the Kaizo Advocacy Index, a study that tracks brands in key sectors (food, software, airline, automotive and beauty) based upon their recommendability via content online.

The results provide a real indicator of likely business challenges based on comparative recommendability and highlight the need for all organisations and businesses to:

- Value and protect their online reputation
- Plan for the reputational risks and benefits of Word-of-’Mouse’; and
- Engage with online influencers to stimulate and influence the right kind of Web content.

Spring Group, one of the UK’s leading human capital management companies, has brought in Kaizo PR to re-launch its ‘Best People’ brand to the IT industry.

‘Best People’ is a specialist technology recruiter providing highly skilled specialist candidates such as systems analysts, network and security specialists and those with skills in infrastructure architecture. The focus of the campaign will be to re-establish the brand with the industry and to position it as understanding the issues that IT managers face in today’s business environment.

Spring Group comprises several businesses specialising in contract and permanent IT, technology and telecoms recruitment and staffing services as well as office and industrial staff, workforce management solutions, Recruitment Process Outsourcing (RPO) and Total Resource Management (TRM).

Kaizo will also be supporting Spring Group with other brand building activity as it looks to develop its presence in the key HR and IT media channels online and offline.

Seb O’Connell, sales and marketing director of Spring Group, said: “Our market can be very fragmented, so we are looking to our PR activity to differentiate as well build awareness. Our business is traditionally very sales focussed and we are excited about how this new focus on PR will support our client and candidate recruitment going forwards.”

Rhodri Harries, managing director of Kaizo, said: “Recruitment is clearly a challenge across all industries at the moment and we are excited about our role to help Spring’s brands rise above the competition in this highly competitive market. Our integrated activity for this campaign will position the Best People brand with its core IT audience by tapping into the softer skills of its candidates as well as key specialist knowledge.”

Alain Samson has joined Kaizo to spearhead the consultancy’s innovative ‘active listening’ services. Samson will work alongside Crispin Manners to help clients to deliver business growth by increasing their recommendation rates.

Samson is a specialist in the use of the Net Promoter Score (NPS)* - the world-class metric developed by Bain & Company - that identifies the recommendability of a product, service or brand. Kaizo has embedded NPS as its foundation research technique as part of a suite of services that turns clients into ‘active listening’ organisations.

Manners, said: “Web 2.0 has turned marketing on its head. Organisations are being forced to change from telling to listening and allowing their customers to do the talking for them. Alain’s research expertise and strengths in social psychology mean we can give our clients an important edge.

“Active listening represents a totally new approach to engaging with audiences and arms our clients with the insight and the relationships to succeed in a Web 2.0 world. Hiring Alain signals our intent to be the pre-eminent resource for clients who are intent on using Word-of-Mouth to their advantage.”

Samson has previous experience as a market research consultant and psychologist with a specialisation in consumer attitudes and behaviour, particularly Word-of-Mouth (WOM). He has been affiliated with the London School of Economics since 2003, where he has worked as a researcher, statistics teacher and consultant, through Enterprise LSE.

Samson said: “It is exciting to be part of a company that gets why NPS is such a powerful business tool. I have been very impressed at how Kaizo is using NPS to make clients understand the power of recommendations and what can be done to increase recommendability.”

Samson’s publications include ‘Understanding the Buzz that Matters: Negative versus Positive Word of Mouth’ (International Journal of Market Research, 2006), ‘Advocacy Drives Growth’ (Brand Strategy, 2005), as well as various scholarly articles in the behavioural sciences. Alain holds a BA from UC Berkeley, an MA from the University of Michigan and is a doctoral candidate at the LSE’s Institute of Social Psychology.
*Net Promoter is a new business metric that measures levels of customer advocacy. It is a registered trademark of Satmetrix Systems, Inc., Bain & Company and Fred Reichheld. For more information about NPS visit: www.netpromoter.com.

Rhodri Harries, deputy managing director of GCI London Limited, is to become managing director of leading independent PR consultancy Kaizo and will join the board of parent company The Argyll Consultancies PLC with effect from 10 April 2007, reporting to executive chairman Rosemary Brook.

The post is a new one and a key element in the strategic and structural review initiated by Argyll CEO Crispin Manners to take advantage of growth opportunities opened up by the rapid growth of social networks and user generated content.

Harries’ arrival will free Manners to focus on accelerating the development of innovative services such as word of mouth communications, active listening and direct engagement and involvement of consumers, which are already attracting new clients and revenue to Kaizo. As signalled by Argyll last October, Manners will step down as Argyll CEO, with effect from 1 April 2007, now that the new Kaizo MD has been appointed, remaining on the Argyll board as its principal shareholder and Director of Service Innovation.

Manners commented: “We have transformed Kaizo in recent years from a business that was largely dependent on a single sector to one that offers the range of value-added corporate and communications services that clients expect in the a world of constant business and new media innovation. Rhodri’s experience makes him absolutely the right person to lead Kaizo’s further development and growth; he is driven by a similar passion for giving clients only the best and for creating a dynamic environment where careers can flourish. I look forward to working with him to make Kaizo the first choice for innovative communications solutions for ambitious brands and organisations.”

Harries joins just as Kaizo announced a significant win with Unilever for pan-European strategic communications for the Flora brand. It is also developing a truly innovative consumer engagement solution for its client Accantia - owner of the Simple brand of skincare products. Other key clients include: Docklands Light Railway, Elsevier, Epson, Network Appliance and Rockwell Automation.

Commenting on his appointment, Harries said: “I am delighted to be joining Kaizo at this time and am looking forward to working closely with Crispin, Rosemary, Vivien and the rest of the management team. The agency has been at the forefront of innovation for the last few years and we will be building on this approach as we move forwards to offer something that really stands out in the market. With its energy and clear vision I am very confident of Kaizo’s growth potential across multiple sectors and services.”