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42<br />
THISDAY • MONDAY, MAY 18, 2015<br />
PRCAN Joins Global<br />
Communication Fold<br />
The Public Relations Consultants<br />
Association (PRCAN),<br />
the umbrella body of PR<br />
consultancy firms operating<br />
in Nigeria, has been admitted<br />
into membership of the<br />
International Communications<br />
Consultancy Organisation<br />
(ICCO).<br />
PRCAN’s admission was<br />
announced by the ICCO Chief<br />
Executive, Francis Ingham, at<br />
the organisation’s bi-annual<br />
Board of Management meeting<br />
which held in Vienna, Austria<br />
recently.<br />
Following PRCAN’s inclusion,<br />
the PRCAN President,<br />
Mr. John Ehiguese, was also<br />
appointed to the board of<br />
management of the organization,<br />
for a maximum tenure<br />
of four years.<br />
With this appointment,<br />
he joins 30 other members<br />
in ICCO’s highest decisionmaking<br />
authority.<br />
Ehiguese said: “I am very<br />
excited at this development,<br />
because it means that Nigerian<br />
PR has finally joined the global<br />
mainstream. ICCO is the largest<br />
global PR body, representing<br />
over 2,000 consultancy firms<br />
from 31 countries. It is heavily<br />
involved in training, events,<br />
industry updates, CMS and<br />
Global reports, areas in which<br />
I believe PRCAN members will<br />
benefit tremendously.<br />
“With my admission to the<br />
Board of ICCO we also now<br />
have a voice on the world<br />
stage. I intend, not only to<br />
be a worthy ambassador of<br />
Nigerian PR practice, but to<br />
also encourage our members to<br />
participate fully in the activities<br />
of ICCO, so that we can bring<br />
ourselves up to speed with<br />
NEWS<br />
current global best practice,<br />
enabling us to attain higher<br />
professional standards and<br />
deliver more value to the<br />
clients we work for”.<br />
ICCO is the voice of PR<br />
consultancies around the<br />
world. Its membership<br />
comprises national trade<br />
associations in 31 countries<br />
across the globe: from Europe,<br />
Africa, Asia, the Americas and<br />
Australasia. Collectively, these<br />
associations represent over<br />
2,000 firms.<br />
It provides a forum for<br />
senior management of the<br />
world’s best PR consultancies<br />
to meet and address issues of<br />
mutual interest and concern.<br />
Members work together to raise<br />
standards of quality, address<br />
ethical issues, harmonize professional<br />
consultancy practice<br />
and share knowledge.<br />
Access Bank Restates Support for<br />
UNICEF Projects<br />
The Executive Director,<br />
Personal Banking, Access<br />
Bank, Mr. Victor Etuokwu, has<br />
restated the bank’s support for<br />
UNICEF projects in Nigeria.<br />
Etuokwu stated this last<br />
week in Lagos while speaking<br />
on the 2015 edition of the<br />
Access Bank-UNICEF Charity<br />
Shield Polo tournament that is<br />
scheduled to hold in Kangimi<br />
Resort, Kaduna, from May 20<br />
to May 31, 2015.<br />
The biggest charity polo<br />
event in Africa will this year,<br />
feature 15 teams vying for<br />
honours in three categories.<br />
He said the bank had<br />
maintained its yearly donation<br />
of N10 million in supporting<br />
UNICEF towards its projects<br />
for orphans and vulnerable<br />
children.<br />
In addition to that, the bank<br />
is continually seeking avenues<br />
through which more resources<br />
can be pooled towards supporting<br />
the children<br />
He said: “We have been<br />
working in Kaduna, in collaboration<br />
with UNICEF to<br />
elevate quality of lives. We<br />
Owners of Diageo Brands,<br />
have introduced a new variant<br />
of Smirnoff, called Smirnoff Ice<br />
Double Black with Guarana.<br />
To create glamour around the<br />
new vodka drink, guests were<br />
welcomed to an unconventional<br />
venue for a party- a thriving<br />
auto workshop turned into a<br />
party venue.<br />
According to the manufacturers,<br />
Smirnoff Ice Guarana<br />
combines refreshing and invigorating<br />
taste of Smirnoff<br />
Vodka blended with Soda<br />
and extracts of Guarana. They<br />
further stated that it joins the<br />
existing Smirnoff family of<br />
Smirnoff Vodka and Smirnoff<br />
Ice Red.<br />
Unveiling the brand, the<br />
Head of Marketing, Spirits<br />
and RTD, Liz Ashdown, said<br />
Guinness Nigeria is driven by<br />
need to do a lot more in<br />
support of these orphans and<br />
vulnerable children to enable<br />
them take tomorrow. We are<br />
hoping to get more children<br />
needing support for instance,<br />
children orphaned by HIV/<br />
AIDS - especially the girl<br />
child into schools” says Jean<br />
Gough, UNICEF Representative<br />
in Nigeria. We have no<br />
doubt created the space for<br />
a lot of them to enjoy their<br />
rights to education through this<br />
partnership, but we aim to seek<br />
more community participation<br />
to achieve greater results,” he<br />
said.<br />
According to him, the Access<br />
Bank-UNICEF Charity Shield<br />
Polo tournament, which is in<br />
its eighth year of Access Bank<br />
sponsorship, is a reaffirmation<br />
of the importance of the lives<br />
of the orphaned and vulnerable<br />
children in northern Nigeria.<br />
Speaking on the tournament,<br />
Fifth Chukker Polo<br />
Captain,Babangida Hassan<br />
said they are proud to continue<br />
in its development of this<br />
established partnership with<br />
innovation and the company<br />
is committed to launching<br />
products that meet more of<br />
their consumers’ needs and<br />
occasions.<br />
“Smirnoff Ice Guarana has<br />
been produced to satisfy the<br />
quest of our younger consumers,<br />
who are of the legal<br />
drinking age and want to make<br />
less obvious choices because<br />
that’s what makes their nights<br />
better and more memorable.<br />
The refreshing taste of this new<br />
Smirnoff variant is the outcome<br />
of an extensive research that<br />
resulted in the right blend<br />
of the best ingredients” Liz<br />
Ashdown said.<br />
Regarding the possibilities of<br />
the new variant putting sales<br />
pressure on the existing variants,<br />
Ashdown explained that “we<br />
have provided consumers with<br />
Access Bank and UNICEF.<br />
He listed the participating<br />
teams to include Deebee Farms,<br />
Akasma, Titans, Trappco<br />
Liberty, Fas Agro Sacks and,<br />
Meridian teams.<br />
Others teams seeking to<br />
win a major prize at this<br />
year’s Access Bank UNICEF<br />
Charity Shield tournament<br />
are Susplan, Maigari Farms,<br />
Sublime, Sultana, Huawei ,<br />
Max Air, Keffi Ponys, Lintex-<br />
Titans and title holders, Fifth<br />
Chukker Access Bank team.<br />
Campaigns for the most<br />
prestigious prize, the Access<br />
Bank Cup and the low-goal<br />
UNICEF Cup promises to be an<br />
exciting experience with Deebee<br />
Farms and Akasma clashing<br />
in a potentiallyexplosive game<br />
of the tournament.<br />
The Access Bank Cup and<br />
the Argentine Ambassador’s<br />
Cup final are scheduled for<br />
May 24, while the Charity<br />
Shield grand finale with the<br />
defending champions, Fifth<br />
Chukker Access Bank aiming<br />
for a fourth straight victory, is<br />
scheduled for May 31.<br />
Diageo Introduces New Variant of<br />
Smirnoff<br />
greater choice and with a drink<br />
that is more relevant for higher<br />
tempo occasions than many<br />
other offerings in the market”.<br />
“The #doubleside idea is the<br />
celebration of an alternative<br />
side of life –be that of places<br />
doubling as something more<br />
epic or oneself that is more<br />
expressive and open to new<br />
experiences. The double<br />
side party brought this to<br />
life through the unexpected<br />
performances and location – an<br />
auto workshop doubling as a<br />
party venue at night” Ashdown<br />
further clarified.<br />
According to the Smirnoff<br />
team, a series of consumer<br />
activities across major cities<br />
have been lined up for the<br />
product launch starting<br />
from July through December<br />
2015.
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