The brand has already taken the US by storm with it range of fitness trackers which sync to personal web pages that monitor, manage and motivate those looking to get fitter and healthier. The brand was recently listed as one of the top 30 iconic design leaders in the US by Fast Company magazine, adding to a list that includes Apple, Nike and Starbucks.

Gareth Jones, VP and European General Manager for Fitbit, said:

“Fitbit’s range is designed for today’s social generation, from twentysomethings to mums to empty nesters, we provide 24/7 support, motivation and in depth information that really works. Kaizo’s role will be to establish us as the brand of choice across these segments.”

“Our strategy will focus a great deal on word of mouth and recommendations that drive sales, an area we feel Kaizo really excels in. We were also impressed by their combined track record in the consumer electronics and the fitness and wellbeing markets.”

Fitbit’s personal online pages include a range of social feature to help motivate on the go and with friends including a mobile app, social messaging, and achievement badges fully synced with all social media platforms.

Rhodri Harries, MD of Kaizo, said;

“This is a new way for people to help monitor and maintain fitness and wellbeing, one which is very much in tune with today’s consumer. This is a brand that has the capacity to change attitudes to fitness– how we exercise, eat, and also rest.  Expect to see it, experience it and share it soon!”

Fitbit will be available in January from major etailers and retailers. The appointment follows a comprehensive UK pitch process.

The account will be led by Harries and Account Director Kate Howe, ex Head of Communications at the Fitness Industry Association. Kaizo’s experience includes Flip Video, Panasonic, Grid -10 and House of Marley on the consumer technology space and Flora/ Becel and Institute for Scientific Information on Coffee, in the health and wellbeing sector.

The lecture is held annually in memory of Tom Olsen, a former Sunday Telegraph journalist, with the aim of focusing on the themes of freedom and responsibility.

This year it features Bob Satchwell, Director of The Society of Editors.  The title of the lecture will be “Hacked off with the Media – an unholy alliance of Press, Police and Politicians?”

The event takes place tonight at 6.30 at St Bride’s Church off Fleet Street.

CCI utilises PR, advertising and promotional activities to communicate the positive attributes of U.S. cotton and cotton products to consumers, retailers and the textile trade, while also promoting the COTTON USA Mark as a sign of quality. For further information http://www.cottonusa.co.uk/.

Stephanie Thiers-Ratcliffe, CCI Marketing Manager, said:
“COTTON USA is an internationally licensed trademark for premium U.S. cotton-rich products. It inspires trust and embodies quality in all items made using U.S. grown cotton. Kaizo will be tasked with both promoting the Mark and helping us attract more UK retailers such as existing licensees Marks and Spencer and Christy Towels.”

Rhodri Harries, Managing Director of Kaizo said:
“Our strategy focuses on creatively highlighting moments where only the best and highest quality will do when it comes to home and fashion. Multi-layered, multi-media and integrating media, digital and experiential, our aim is to bring the cotton story to life for potential licensees as well as the target consumer demographics, including women 25 to 45.”

GetTaxi is GPS based taxi ordering and dispatch service today enabling businesses to order London Black Taxis online, through a personalised company web portal and via a mobile app at a fraction of the cost of the traditional taxi account charges. The service is signing up an average of 300 drivers per week, and is on track to exceed its target of 2000 drivers by the end of the year, offering a footprint of taxis in central London every bit as a widespread as the traditional taxi services.

For further information visit www.gettaxi.com

]]> http://www.kaizo.net/2011/08/11/gettaxi-hires-kaizo-for-uk-launch/feed/ 0 http://www.kaizo.net/2011/07/28/successful-mbo-marks-new-opportunities/ http://www.kaizo.net/2011/07/28/successful-mbo-marks-new-opportunities/#comments Thu, 28 Jul 2011 08:41:43 +0000 Rhodri Harries http://www.kaizo.net/?p=2329 Delighted to announce that as of yesterday we are now wholly owned by our existing management team following a successful MBO.

Whilst we remain the same business in the same premises with the same teams, our new independence highlights key attributes we feel bring a fresh perspective to communications’ challenges targeting consumers and businesses.

We’re impartial, whether advising on media choice or brand direction; self-sufficient, so no sub teams and silos to add complexity and cost; free thinkers, so great ideas flow and are encouraged; and now importantly self-governing so we’re able to offer a flexible approach to your PR and earned media budgets.

We thank all our clients, including Truvia®, Flora/ Becel, Cisco, CA Technologies, Unilever, mxData, Johnson and Johnson, Serco, and Elsevier, for their continued support and look forward to a successful future together.

Whilst we remain the same business in the same premises with the same teams, our new independence highlights key attributes we feel bring a fresh perspective to communications’ challenges targeting consumers and businesses.

We’re impartial, whether advising on media choice or brand direction; self-sufficient, so no sub teams and silos to add complexity and cost; free thinkers, so great ideas flow and are encouraged; and now importantly self-governing so we’re able to offer a flexible approach to your PR and earned media budgets.

We thank all our clients, including Truvia®, Flora/ Becel, Cisco, CA Technologies, Unilever,mxData, Johnson and Johnson, Serco, and Elsevier, for their continued support and look forward to a successful future together.

When the heavens opened late afternoon, some of those less optimistic types may have been tempted to think the ‘Summer Sizzle’ may have turned into ‘Summer Drizzle’. But no, with a little help from

the gods – and from our incredibly versatile MD Rhodri Harries – the stage was prepared (and dry) for an evening not to forget…. and it didn’t disappoint.

Kaizo clients mingled with our friends in the media and distinguished colleagues from across the PR world and the occasional celebrity. The drink flowed more freely than Mel Gibson’s local boozer, while the platter laid on was a culinary delight that would have had Heston Blumenthal licking his lips.

Amongst the clinking of glasses, we were all treated to spectacular shows from a world class flairer (think Tom Cruise’s skills in Cocktail) and a magician who seemed like he’d just graduated from Hogwarts. While there was no such Hermione to offer us a magical pole dance, the end of the night drew to a close with guests leaving happy.

We would just like to thank everyone who attended and made it a fantastic night for all to remember. We all very much look forward to seeing you again next year!

Google yesterday announced its latest assault on the world of social and more specifically, Facebook. With Facebook’s massive user base and seemingly relentless desire to bring the entire internet inside Facebook, Google has for some time been looking for a way to address the threat to its bottom line.

The Google+ project, revealed yesterday with little fanfare via a blog post by Vic Gundotra, Senior Vice President, Engineering, is what Google hopes will be the answer to Facebook’s social dominance.

At the centre of Google’s premise is that “not all relationships are created equal” and therefore you might not want to share everything with everyone. As our online social networks have developed and we’ve become more switched on regarding what we’re sharing and with whom, we’ve increasingly become more selective about sharing. With Google+, Google is betting that we’d prefer to be selective within a single social platform rather than managing multiple social networks for different types of people e.g. LinkedIn for business, Facebook for friends and family.

Google is currently limiting who can access Google+ via a ‘closed beta’ so that it can quickly and easily react to user feedback. However, Google is hoping its range of new features will be too compelling to ignore:

+Circles – share different content with different social circles
+Sparks – find the content you (and others) love via an online sharing engine
+Hangouts – ‘hang out’ online, face-to-face with your friends (essentially an instant messaging/video calling application – watch out Skype!)
+Mobile – easily share pictures, experiences, your location etc wherever you are

As this is still day one and limited people have access to it, there’s no way of knowing if Google+ will be a success, let alone make even a small dent in Facebook’s dominant position. One of the key barriers to take up will be prising people away from Facebook and on to a new platform.

As for the impact on brands, well the jury is most certainly out. We’ll definitely be keeping a keen eye on developments though and advising clients as and when opportunities arise.

The Sharing Hearts Minds and Moments campaign won over the judges with its integrated approach and undoubted focus on business success in terms of sales.

Certificates were also picked up for shortlisted campaigns in the Best Social Media, Best Broadcast and Best Media Relations categories.

For more details on these campaigns email rhodri.harries@kaizo.net.

The service, known as Covoiturage.fr in France, has been a phenomenal success amongst drivers and passengers alike who are frustrated at disruptions to air and rail transport and hard hit by increasing petrol prices and rising public transport costs. The site, founded in 2006, now has over one million drivers and passengers and is growing by over 50,000 users every month.

For drivers, BlablaCar offers the opportunity to reduce the cost of travel on journeys they would make in any case, whilst for passengers this offers an extremely cost effective alternative to any other form of transport on their chosen route. Drivers post details of their trip and a suggested price (typically a proportionate contribution). Potential passengers searching for a specific trip then choose whether or not this fits with what they want to pay.

BlablaCar, like its French counterpart, will have the feel of a combination of a travel site and a community site, with drivers and passengers posting details about themselves and rating each other on a range of criteria, from performance and reliability to how chatty they are. In fact, the name BlablaCar comes from this as on the French site a driver rates how talkative he or she as bla (not very chatty), blabla (likes a natter) and blablabla (won’t shut up). The community aspect ensures transparency, safety and that the market effectively and efficiently sets the price.

Nicolas Brusson, Co-founder of BlablaCar said:

“We are looking to replicate the success we have had in France here in the UK as rising petrol costs, issues and prices associated with peak time public transport, as well as environmental concerns are very similar. BlablaCar is revolutionising carpooling from the preserve of students and those concerned with the environment to a mainstream answer to rising costs and tighter purse strings.”

Rhodri Harries Managing Director of Kaizo said:

“This is a massively exciting challenge to reproduce the phenomenal word of mouth that has taken place in France around this brand. Our programme will build as we attract drivers to posts their trips, initially focusing on a few key routes such London to Manchester.”

By way of example of the popularity of the service, posted trips from Paris to London have risen by between 100 and 200 per cent in the last year.

Additionally BlablaCar offers a service for events, festival and concert organisers called the Agenda, which provides branded carpooling pages for each event. This service is also due to be launched in early June.