COPENHAGEN — Hill+Knowlton Strategies has been appointed as the global agency of record mandate for hearing aid manufacturer GN Hearing, which is headquartered in Denmark. The agency will provide strategic counsel and purpose-driven creative campaigns to change perceptions of hearing technology, including the company’s ReSound brand.

LONDON — Toy manufacturer Spin Master has hired Stripe Communications as its retained UK PR agency after a competitive pitch. The company makes the Paw Patrol, DC Universe, Monster Jam, Meccano, Hatchimals and Kinetic Sand toy brands. Stripe takes over from Fosbury PR.

LONDON — Crisis expert Rod Cartwright has teamed up with crisis simulation company Polpeo to launch Match Fit, a crisis preparation tool for brands. The new consulting offer combines a crisis simulation and a crisis maturity assessment tool to stress-test an organisation’s crisis processes, reputational resilience and human preparedness, highlighting any gaps in process and preparation. The Polpeo Match Fit crisis simulation focuses on the areas in which consumer, employee and public expectations have changed radically, including mental health, diversity & inclusion, climate change, governance and ethics. The Crisis Maturity Assessment, led by Cartwright, gauges how crisis ready a brand is, against 25 measures of proven best practice.

LONDON — Supermarket chain Lidl has hired We Are Social to handle its UK social media marketing. The agency’s brief includes defining Lidl’s social media and community management strategy, all influencer marketing activity, developing social media content and working with the supermarket’s agency partners on campaigns.

LONDON — Global tech PR specialist network, the With Global Alliance, which was launched by UK agency With in January, has added five new members: FirstCom Comunicação in Brazil, VinciPR in Russia, Frau Wenk in DACH, GinjaNinjaPR in South Africa and DOK30 in Benelux. All 10 member agencies share experience in sectors including martech, fintech, IT, and edtech, and the new members bring experience in tech verticals including medtech, telco and retail tech. The Alliance has already conducted eight campaigns across six markets for five clients.

LONDON — The Institution of Engineering and Technology has appointed Kindred to deliver a series of projects aimed to inspire the next generation of engineers and ‘Engineer a Better World’. The agency will be responsible for developing and delivering original campaigns to give parents and children an insight into engineering, including the Sports of the Future competition with cyclist Mark Cavendish, calling on children to come up with a new sporting invention during lockdown.

LONDON — Bold White Space, the new brand strategy and communications agency bringing together advertising, marketing and PR, has made two additions to its founding team. Former TBWA and MediaCom strategist, Allan Dickenson, joins as a senior brand consultant and will work across the agency’s client base to support on brand strategy, development and campaign planning. Imogen Kranz joins from global investment bank DC Advisory, where she was responsible for managing and executing a wide-range of communications and marketing campaigns across Europe, Asia and the US.

LONDON — Technology marketing agency Octopus Group has been appointed by peer-to-peer mental health charity, My Black Dog, to support its PR, marketing and fundraising efforts on a pro-bono basis, as it looks to fill a gap in the UK’s mental health provision. My Black Dog encourages those suffering from mental health issues to chat online to trained volunteers, who have dealt with mental health challenges themselves, as a first step to accessing further professional help and treatment.

LONDON — Sports, automotive and technology specialist Performance Communications has acquired a significant stake in Frisson Creative, a sports social content and influencer marketing agency, to boost its digital capability. Frisson specialises in social content, design, influencer campaigns and community management for live sporting events, brands and rights holders. Clients have included The  Alfred Dunhill Links Championship, Nissan, Crystal Palace F.C, Newbury Racecourse, and golf course St Andrews. The agency also owns cricket social media brand Crickshouts.

LONDON — Communications agency Think/Feel/Do (T/F/D) has won a number of new retainer clients, including the global brief for Masstech and its Kumulate intelligent storage, workflow and lifecycle management for video assets product. T/F/D will be responsible for Masstech’s digital marketing strategy and execution as it builds its international business. The agency has also recently secured the European PR brief for Entrust Datacard, the identity and secure transaction solution provider, and new independent film streaming platform Paus.

LONDON — The PRCA’s Public Affairs Board has elected Liam Herbert, Chelgate’s chief executive, as its new chair. He takes over from previous co-chairs Emma Petela, a director at GK Strategy, and George McGregor, managing partner of Interel, and will serve in the role for 12 months.