George Storms the Catwalk at Belfast Fashionweek!

We love it when a plan comes together..especially when it involves gorgeous clothes, models and the opening night of West Coast Cooler Belfast Fashionweek. Having worked with George at Asda over the past three seasons of Fashionweek - we took our partnership to a whole new level this year, helping the team put together its first standalone show.

It was a real privilege to work with the George House and Asda House team, as well as the event organisers at CMPR, on this project -  and we loved sharing in the passion and excitement (as well as the many weeks of planning, hard work and perspiration) that went in to making the show come to life.

During the pre-show build up we had the chance to meet with three of George's most influential and inspiring colleagues - Helen Low,  Helen Connolly and Jo Whitfield - and had the pleasure of introducing the ladies to some of Belfast's leading fashion journalists and bloggers.

Braving the arctic conditions on Thursday night, we made it to the gorgeous Ulster Museum for the main event. It was fantastic to take in the eager faces of fashionistas and bloggers in the audience, and hear the excited murmurs from the crowd as the models showcased the best of George's Spring Summer and High Summer looks. It might have been cold outside... but it was definitely hot on the George catwalk!!

George Spring Summer 2013

George Spring Summer 2013

George Spring Summer 2013

Seona and Kelly from Morrows 

Awarding Excellence - Morrow Events win contract with CIM

Morrow Events Team

Morrow Events team have recently secured a contract with The Chartered Institute of Marketing (CIM) to manage and deliver the Ireland Marketing Excellence Awards for the next three years.

Our work will include revitalising the awards programme, recruiting entries from companies across Ireland, securing sponsorship and delivering a world class gala awards event later this year.

We are very excited and honoured to be working in partnership with CIM to deliver this prestigious and well respected awards programme. We are currently in the initial planning stages - so watch this space about how to get involved!

Next week, CIM are hosting a seminar in partnership with CIPR on Tuesday 19th February in Titanic Belfast at 12noon - Business Change in a Digital Age - with keynote speakers Múirne Laffan, RTE's Managing Director for digital and Krishna De, an award winning communications strategist, commentator and mentor.

Places are still available to book (from £10 - £20) and is a CPD category 10 event. Find out More. 

Portia earns her PR spurs at Morrow Communications

Back in September we were contacted by the Department for Employment and Learning (DEL) about the possibility of getting involved in a new Internship Programme that it planned to launch.

After meeting with DEL we signed up and took the opportunity to meet the candidates.  Portia-Ellis Woods joined Morrow Communications in October.  With her eight week placement now complete, we were keen to find out how she had gotten on.

"When I heard about the DEL Internship programme I jumped at the chance to be a part of it.  I completed my application form and waited.  Thankfully I was selected by DEL and was delighted to be placed with Morrow Communications", explains Portia.

"My eight week internship with the company has involved a varied range of activities, tasks and projects. Starting in October I was included in the team from day one and have had the chance to work in every area of the event, production and PR teams."

Portia took the opportunity to not only develop her public relation skills, but to also get actively involved with the Morrow's Events and AV teams.

In terms of highlights, Portia has a lot to choose from!  "I never thought when I started the programme that I would be talking about meeting the world famous Basil Brush, but that's exactly what happened when I helped to launch the Dale Farm sponsored Panto 'Cinderella'.  It was great to be a part of this, as well as a host of other client photo calls.  I learnt the level of preparation needed before the shoot, organisation at the location and then the process of selecting the best pictures."

Portia also had the chance to work on client projects for companies like Asda, Dale Farm, Flahavan's, NYSE Euronext and Moy Park - which helped her gain an insight to the many different elements the team manage on a daily basis.

"It was great to get introduced to such a wide spectrum of clients and to have the opportunity to get involved in many aspects of account management.  The team really looked after me and took the time to include me and to explain what we were doing and why.  I have learnt so much from them. It has definitely been a very busy eight week period. Arranging photo calls, researching, helping at events, liaising with journalists as well as writing press releases and advertorial copy are just some of the activities that I have undertaken.

"It has been a valuable experience working for such a successful company and a pleasure to work alongside a talented, hardworking team of people. I feel very privileged to have been part of the team at Morrows and will take with me all the skills and attributes I have learnt during my internship."

New Dimension helps win new AV contract

An innovative approach to 3D animation, placing staff members within an architect’s impression helped our Design and Production team to fight off stiff competition to secure the contract for a set of informational videos about the new Community Safety College being developed in Desertcreat, near Cookstown.

The new college is due for completion in October 2015, for the training of PSNI, Northern Ireland Fire and Rescue Service and the Northern Ireland Prison Service staff. With work not yet underway at


the site a 3D `architectural flythrough’ of  the college is the only thing available to bring the building to life. Our team came up with a creative treatment which involved filming staff members in front of a Green Screen and then using graphic effects to make them look like they were actually inside the 3D flythrough.

The first edit, featuring the effect, was completed for a conference in Mid-November and won great praise from the clients, with three more edits to go. This is a new style of production and we hope to be able to roll the effect out to more clients in the future.

Ruby Rouge Ball in aid of Lauralynn Children’s Hospice

The Morrow Communications team was out in force to lend our support to a recent charity event in aid of the LauraLynn Children’s Hospice.

The Ruby Rouge Ball in loving memory of baby Victoria Thompson,was held at the Belfast Cabaret Supper Club at the end of November.  The event was a fantastic success, raising over £12,000 for the charity.

Morrow’s Director, Moya Neeson took a hands on approach, helping to organise the event.  She was ably assisted by a number of Morrow's staff including Events Director Jane Watson. The event was a huge success and a fitting tribute- truly a night of mixed emotions.

Morrow's AV wins new health DVD contract

We are delighted to have won an exciting new project with Queen's University and St. Mary's Hospital, Manchester.  We were tasked with producing a health promotion DVD to help raise awareness of Gestational Diabetes.  

Aimed at pregnant women, the DVD will be given to those diagnosed with the Gestational Diabetes and will provide them with information on the condition,


how to best manage it during pregnancy and how to cope with it after birth.

The DVD has been produced in a number of different languages (English, Urdu, Arabic and Somali) in response to communities with the greatest occurrence of the condition.

With work almost completed and pilots planned for January 2013 we are looking forward to getting some true quantitative and qualitative analysis of the impact of our work.  

QUB extend Morrow's AV contract into 2014

The Design and Production team are delighted to have had our contract for the provision of video services to Queen’s University extended until 2014. We have been working with the marketing team at the University since January 2011 and have produced several successful videos and established a fabulous relationship with the team. We are delighted at this endorsement of our hard work and ability to deliver exactly what a client needs!


QUB Slice of Life from Morrow Communications on Vimeo.

Making his Mark in the Design and Production Team

 A fresh new talent has joined the Design and Production team at Morrow Communications. University of Ulster Graduate, Mark Robinson took up the post of Trainee Editor and Graphic Designer in September 2012, and due to hectic timetables has had to hit the ground running.

Mark is the first male addition to the all-female Production team, but is taking it all in his stride- thanks, he says, to his part-time student job in a Bingo Hall!

As a student, Mark’s work won him recognition and a number of awards, including the Creative Skillset Undergraduate Award for his dissertation. He has already brought his impressive editing skills to the productions of a number of our clients including Invest NI, IntertradeIreland and Asda.

Mark’s addition to the team brings a fresh youthful perspective to our work and allows us to keep more of our production work in house- thus offering even better value to our clients.

Cool FM’s Jingle Ball Rocked!

Morrow Communications’ client, Cool FM last week filled the Odyssey to the rafters with thousands of screaming pop fans for the first ever Cool FM Jingle Ball Live. Thousands poured into the arena to witness the biggest pop gig Belfast has ever seen - a line-up which included JLS, Matt Cardle, Labrinth, Amelia Lily, Misha B, Ryan O'Shaughnessy, Stooshe, Lawson and Joe McIlderry and Morrow’s own pop svengali, Marty Byrne was backstage taming the press pack in an exclusive media room

The press conference-style backstage media room brought together a host of glamorous showbiz reporters and some slightly less glamorous press photographers for quickfire questions and photos just before the artists took to the stage. The media room ran very smoothly despite some extraordinary wardrobe choices, demands for better refreshments and a dash of diva behaviour (and that was just the journalists).

Morrows were involved with Jingle Ball Live from the beginning, organising media partnerships with local press titles, celeb interview pieces, ticket giveaways, social media and crisis management consultancy as well as management of the backstage press area. With the event being hailed as a huge success, we’re already looking forward to Cool FM’s Jingle Ball Live 2013!

Local schools visit Boys' Model School

Earlier this week we attended the Boys’ Model School as part of its Transition Open Day.

The School invited pupils from 18 local primary schools to come along to the special ‘open day’ with the aim of giving the pupils an insight into what school life would be like if they decided to attend the Boys’ Model.

Pupils spent time with school staff and student mentors in each department and were given the opportunity to get to grips with gym equipment, conduct science experiments, create comic strip animations in the Media Centre, and to cook up a storm in the Home Economics Department.

Commenting on the open day Alan Logan, Acting Principal from Boys’ Model School said: “The day was a great success. More than 18 schools from our catchment area attended, and the feedback from the pupils and their teachers was very positive.

“The move to post primary school is an exciting time for children. However, it can equally be a time of uncertainty due to the prospect of meeting new friends, learning new subjects and getting to grips with a more independent lifestyle. The Boys’ Model Transition Days are designed to familiarise primary school pupils with the facilities, routines and culture at the School and reassure them of the fun and rewarding learning experiences they will have if they choose to come to the school.”

NYSE Euronext Rings our Bell

We’re delighted to announce a new partnership with NYSE Euronext – the global operator of financial markets and a provider of innovative trading technologies. We’ve been following the NYSE Euronext story with keen interest since their arrival to Belfast in 2008, following its purchase of Wombat, and with the financial technology sector booming in NI it's fantastic to now be working with one of the biggest names in the business.

Morrows will deliver an integrated communications strategy for NYSE Euronext including public relations, design and advertising helping the business drives its recruitment and brand profiling needs. Check out www.nyxjobs.co.uk for the latest local developments.