Karen Allen (Freelancer)
Associate Director, Public Relations
Based in Southsea, Hampshire
Joined 6 months ago (joined 09/03/2010)
Status: Available now
Career History
| 01/01/2010 - Ongoing | Co-Director, Rise PR, Portsmouth
• Freelance PR consultant at my own agency Rise PR providing public relations support for a range of clients |
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| 01/04/2008 - 01/08/2008 | Freelance PR Consultant, Cohn & Wolfe, London
• Management of ongoing trade and corporate media relations campaign for Coca-Cola Enterprises
• Trade press relations for British Bakeries (Hovis and Mothers Pride) and planning for consumer campaigns on the Hovis brand
• Management of consumer PR activity and internal communications for The AirMiles Travel Company, which included secondment to client’s offices
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| 01/03/2008 - 01/08/2008 | Freelance Associate Director, Ketchum Public Relations, London
• Overseeing ongoing consumer and trade activity for Mars brand Dolmio, including campaign planning, implementation and evaluation
• Managing new product launch for P&G brand Pringles
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| 01/02/2008 - 01/08/2008 | Freelance Associate Director, Weber Shandwick, London
• Co-ordination of global PR activity for McVities, including development of a template PR strategy and working with country agencies to oversee local implementation
• Development of launch strategy for the RBS Worldpay brand
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| 01/11/2004 - Ongoing | Account Director, Bell Pottinger, London
• Working with the Equal Opportunities Commission to create national awareness of gender issues in the workplace. The pregnancy discrimination campaign was a PR Week Award finalist
• Helping take Virgin Money beyond the personal finance pages by providing ongoing news generation support
• Overseeing a campaign to raise awareness of The Body Shop’s partnership with Women’s Aid
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| 01/02/2003 - 01/04/2004 | Freelance Account Director, Hill & Knowlton, London
Responsibility for campaign development and management across the P&G laundry portfolio, highlights include:
• Implementation of celebrity tennis event for Ariel Championship Whites featuring Tim Henman, including event logistics, celebrity liaison and event publicity. The campaign won the H&K Excellence Award, achieving over 100 national hits of media coverage in the first week
• Working with advertising and sales promotion agencies to develop holistic campaign proposals across the P&G laundry portfolio (Ariel, Fairy & Bold)
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| 01/04/1996 - 01/08/2002 | Account Executive - Account Director, GCI UK, London
• Oversaw activity on the Pringles (P&G) account, including development of annual PR plans as well as campaign implementation
• Campaigns included product launches and sponsorship exploitation including MTV Ibiza and Newquay Surf Festival
• Managed programmes for Diamond White and Gaymers Olde English cider brands including regional radio promotions, road shows and media relations
• Responsibility for ongoing press office function for Swatch involving proactive/reactive media relations and writing of press materials
• Organised a variety of events on behalf of Swatch including new product launches, collectors events and opening of Swatch flagship stores
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Relevant Skills & Experience
Skills
Budget responsibility, Crisis Management, Management of people, Managing a team, Pitching, Press Releases, Senior level contact with clients.
Sector Experience
Business to Business, Consumer, External, Marcomms, Media Relations, Not for Profit.
Professional Qualifications & Membership
Qualifications
BA (Hons) Degree Media Studies and English.
Professional Membership
None Specified.
Education
None Specified.
About Me
Founded in 2010 by two senior PR practitioners, Rise PR is an independent PR agency offering big agency expertise at an affordable price.
The agency is co-owned by Paul and Karen Allen, who between them have over 25 years combined experience in the technology, corporate and consumer sectors.
Building relationships is at the heart of what we do. Understanding our clients business and applyig that knowledge to delivering impactful PR programmes is dependent on successful relationships. We realise that many businesses don't have the budget to buy big agency consultancy but at Rise PR we can offer big agency expereience combined with a personal approach - all tailored to meet your needs and budgets.
We understand who you choose to manage and implement your PR is one of the most important business decisions. It needs to be someone experienced anought to know what the media wants and young enough to have the hunger to deliver the desired results.
So if you think we can help you rise above the competition get in touch