This week, the Octopus team proudly joined client Cisco to launch the second annual British Innovation Gateway (BIG) Awards 2013, to discover and reward the finest examples of the UK's most ground-breaking tech start-up businesses and SMEs.

We are extremely excited to be part of this great initiative for the second year running. Octopus is looking forward to working with this year's winner of the BIG awards, and we can't wait to see the competition's entrants!

@SnapFashion were crowned the first ever winners of the BIG Awards in 2012. They received a cheque for $100,000, in addition to winning a prize package which includes $30,000 of marketing support, $30,000 of PR from Octopus and $15,000 in legal support. They have now grown from strength to strength due to the investment, and continued PR support has resulted in coverage in The Guardian, Vogue and Cosmopolitan to name just a few.

For more information on the BIG Awards, please go to https://www.ciscobig.co.uk/. Entries close on 21^st June 2013.

Last night some of the Professional Services team at Octopus were lucky enough to be invited to the rather showbiz event to celebrate some of the inspirational work being done by the Dame Kelly Holmes Legacy Trust.  The DKHLT is a charity that enables ex athletes to 'give back' to local communities and to help turn young peoples lives around through sport, skills and mentoring.

The evening took place at City Hall with a wonderful panoramic view of the London skyline (see attached pics).  About 100 people attended including people from various sections of the Trust-  sponsors, partners, recent graduates of the programme and various athletes, including one member of the GB beach volleyball squad who was at least 7ft tall.   One ambassador of the Trust was a very interesting man called Paul, who has worked with various charities in the same capacity and, coincidentally, is one of our colleagues' uncle!

We heard short talks from various people including Julie Whelan, CEO of DKHLT and Adam Whitehead, ex Olympic swimmer and current Athlete Programme Manager at DKHLT.  We also heard some truly inspirational words from some young people that have graduated from the scheme are now either in work or training and giving up some of their time to give back to society.

Dame Kelly Holmes was the last to speak.  Her inspirational words and the depth of her belief in what she is doing is wonderful and she was clearly moved when talking about the work they are doing at the DKHLT.

The night finished with a thank you to all of the Trust's partners and a few of the team were even caught on the BBC camera that was doing the rounds. All in all it was a pretty special evening!!

@lu1820

Octopus has been appointed by CA Technologies to handle its UK PR programme. A much sought after account, CA Technologies is one of a leading IT management software and solutions company with revenues of over $4billion globally. The appointment marks yet another major milestone for Octopus, adding a further flagship technology brand to the likes of Cisco and SAP which already form part of the agency's impressive portfolio.

Sarah Atkinson, Vice President, Communications at CA Technologies said: "Business today is putting more pressure on IT than ever before. CIOs must maintain their current level of service, while answering demands for mobile, social, cloud, analytics, and other solutions - all with stretched resources.  We believe Octopus will play a key role in positioning CA Technologies as a strategic partner to business and further explain how we can help organisations realise more from their investments in technology. The team stood out with a thorough, enthusiastic and focused approach to our brief. We have no doubt the partnership will be a great success and look forward to reaping the results Octopus will deliver."

Laura Slade, client services director at Octopus said: "We are absolutely thrilled to have been appointed by CA Technologies. We have developed a proactive campaign that will redefine how their business is perceived over the course of the next twelve months. Our campaign will focus on establishing CA Technologies as a thought leader in the IT and tech sector as well as building platforms for the company and new VP and General Manager UK and Ireland, Jacqueline de Rojas to feature in business and national press. It's a fantastic opportunity for us and one we are ready to grab with both hands."

Octopus will be responsible for the delivery of the core PR programme as well as campaigns specifically designed to target CIOs.

The team here at Octopus Communications is very excited to announce that we have been shortlisted in two categories of the Digital Impact Awards 2012.

Our entries, which demonstrated the recent work that we have done with both Cisco and SAP have been recognised in the 'Best Corporate Viral Campaign' and the 'Best Community Development' categories respectively.

As a business, we are delighted to have been shortlisted for awards in the digital sector and are so pleased that the judges were impressed by the work which we are particularly proud of. We've long believed in the power of fully integrated communications, bringing together key marketing and communications disciplines to deliver the best possible results for our clients.  It's great to see that the industry is also recognising this and shortlisting campaigns such as KayakAttack for Cisco and Think Bigger for SAP for these prestigious awards.

Good luck to all those who have been shortlisted and we're keeping our fingers crossed for success on awards night!

Octopus today launched Union Street, a new agency targeting consumer facing brands.

Union Street will focus on projects for mainstream consumer and challenger brands, utilising expertise in sponsorship, experiential, partnership marketing, social and traditional public relations. Crucially, all of Union Streets' work will use home grown qualitative and quantative research and planning to help ground campaigns and select the right ideas and channels.

Existing Octopus consumer clients, including BMW Financial Services and HotUKDeals, will move across to the new brand alongside new launch clients That's Not Fair and Flavrbox.  That's Not Fair, a new high-end fashion label for kids, chose Union Street after a competitive pitch against leading consumer agencies.  Start-up, Flavrbox, an online community championing independent food and drink producers, will also work with Union Street on its summer launch programme.

Union Street, based out of Octopus Group's London office, will be staffed by the former consumer team at sister agency, Octopus Communications, and led by Juliet Cameron.  The new brand will report to Octopus MD, Jon Lonsdale when it opens its doors on 23^rd July.

Juliet Cameron commented: "There's so much new stuff out there that many brand managers and marketeers are struggling to make sense of what to do, what channels to use and which agency to work with on what. Union Street is all about creating a new exciting place where discipline doesn't matter and engagement campaigns are built from the ground up, based on what the 'man on the street' really thinks and cares about."

Commenting on the launch, Jon Lonsdale, MD of Octopus Communications added; "Octopus has built a great reputation for creativity and fast growth in the B2B arena, but over the last couple of years we've quietly built a really vibrant consumer practice. With Union Street, we are taking this to the next level by creating something fresh, challenging and current and perhaps changing the way the market thinks about us at the same time."

Find out more at WeAreUnionStreet.com or @WeAreUnionSt.

Octopus Communications has been appointed in a competitive pitch by leading global professional services company, Towers Watson to help drive communications for its burgeoning Talent and Rewards Practice.

Octopus will be tasked with raising the profile of the practice that provides consultancy expertise in all major areas of workforce and workplace planning, including employee engagement, rewards, talent management and HR technology.

The project will be led by Octopus' head of Professional Services, Tom Holland, who commented:

"Towers Watson has an incredible contribution to make to the numerous workplace debates playing out at the moment. They have fantastic data and insights from their global client base which we'll be looking to showcase in our campaigns."

Octopus already has a strong heritage in the workplace and talent arena and its Professional Services practice already includes clients such as Alexander Mann Associates, Adecco and the Recruitment and Employment Confederation.

Jamie Kilduff, Towers Watson's EMEA PR Manager said, "We are excited to be working with Octopus to raise the profile of our talent and rewards practice. They have great professional services campaigning experience which we look forward to making the most of.

"There is a wealth of information and experience within the practice on issues ranging from employee engagement to talent management and this gives us the opportunity to develop strong communications campaigns in this area of the business."

SME community group, Ingenious Britain, has selected Octopus Communications to re-define its position as an informative community for SMEs, by SMEs.

Launched in 2011, Ingenious Britain has received great support from various Government and independent bodies for the work it is doing in supporting the SME community.

Octopus' brief is to drive increased awareness of Ingenious Britain through traditional and social media channels, including various thought leadership and core press office activities. Kicking off this month, Octopus and Ingenious Britain will be bringing SMEs together through a series of networking events for business owners, media and other influential communities, with the aim of encouraging conversations and advice-sharing.

Laura Slade, client services director comments; "We are very excited about working with Ingenious Britain. The SME cause is one in which Octopus Communications already has a strong heritage and we are delighted to be able to play a part in this vibrant community. The opportunity for Ingenious Britain to become a driving force for British small and mid-sized companies is significant and we look forward to delivering an influential and successful campaign."

The next edition of the Ingenious Britain supplement will appear in the Sunday Telegraph on 8th July

Octopus has been appointed by Wave Systems Corp. to launch scrambls, an innovative new service that will empower users to control and protect the messages they post to the web. A totally new concept, scrambls actually allows consumers to control every tweet, blog post or status update by means of a simple, yet secure web browser plug-in that encrypts their posts so that only fellow 'scramblrs' can read them.

Octopus' brief is to generate as much noise and buzz around scrambls as possible through both traditional and social media channels. Kicking off in May the launch campaign will include media relations, a comedy event, and a bespoke Facebook App, as well as influencer outreach. Octopus and scrambls will be introducing the concept to a range of organisations, media, businesses and individuals with the aim of getting as many users as possible signed up and using the new service as possible.

Juliet Cameron, Head of Consumer at Octopus comments; "We're really excited to be working on the scrambls launch. It's not often that you get to work with a brand that has the potential to really change the way we all communicate and use social networks today. There is genuine excitement within scrambls and Octopus about this launch and we're looking forward to introducing the UK to such a new and different concept."

Red Bee Media, one of the world's leading media management companies, has appointed Octopus Communications to help raise the media profile of the business across both trade and national press.

"The Walking Dead App from Red Bee"

Octopus will be tasked with educating key audiences about the diversity of Red Bee Media's ever-growing portfolio that brings together technical innovation with creative expertise to deliver cutting-edge products and services. Red Bee Media's portfolio includes multi-platform content management and delivery, award-winning creative services and brand identity, content discovery and access and editorial services for broadcasters, platform operators, content providers and brands worldwide.

"Red Bee Media is a fantastic brand at the heart of some fascinating debates about the changing nature of TV and content in the internet age," commented Jon Lonsdale, MD of Octopus Communications. "This is a hugely exciting space and we're delighted to be working with a genuine industry leader."

In its quest to discover and help develop emerging and early stage technology based start-ups, Cisco has launched the next stage in its British Innovation Gateway (BIG) initiative - The Big Awards - Powered By Cisco I-PRIZE™.

With support from partners including JP Morgan, Bird & Bird, DNX and Octopus Group,  the BIG Awards will take the form of an annual open innovation competition to discover and reward the finest examples of the UK's most innovative start-up digital businesses and SMEs. The overall winner will receive a total prize package of approximately $200k, made up of $100k cash, 12 months of mentoring from Cisco and a 12-month support package covering PR, marketing and legal services.

Running from 1 February 2012 until September 2012, it will involve a four stage judging process which will take place annually throughout the five year duration to help create a community of innovative industry leaders.

Runners-up and semi-finalists will also receive cash and technology prizes to support and accelerate the development of their brands and businesses.

The BIG Awards is the latest development in Cisco's British Innovation Gateway (BIG) initiative, a significant five-year investment of cash, technology and human resources, which aims to develop Britain's innovation eco-system and create an environment in which start-up digital businesses and their ideas can flourish.

Open to individuals, groups of individuals and legal entities in the UK, applicants can enter their technology concept or prototype idea into one of five categories which represent some of the most relevant technology challenges and mega trends we are seeing across the globe today.  For each category, the entry should showcase how the concept can benefit the public and private sector, utilising the network as the platform to deliver economic, social and environmental sustainability.

The categories are:

• BIG Data inc. Datacentre/Virtualisation
• Collaboration inc. Video and Social Media
• Future Cities
• Internet of Things
• Mobility

For more information on each category and competition entry requirements, visit the BIG Awards website at www.thebigawards.co.uk. Registration is now open and entrants will be able to submit their initial business or technology ideas from 1 February 2012. Entries will close on the 31 March 2012.