KIEV—FleishmanHillard Vanguard—a joint venture created in 2007 by FleishmanHillard and Moscow agency Vanguard PR—has launched a new office in Kiev. Elena Fadeeva, general director and partner of FleishmanHillard Vanguard, will serve as general director of FleishmanHillard Vanguard Ukraine, and Anna Maximenko, the firm’s supervisor for Ukraine and CIS, will manage client relations in Kiev. The operation offers corporate communications, public affairs, financial communications, marketing, healthcare, technology and digital communications.

LONDON—Ruth Allchurch (pictured), currently head of brand PR for Diageo Western Europe, will be leaving the company in January to become managing director at consumer PR firm Cirkle, whose clients include PepsiCo, Right Guard, Energizer, GSK, Freixenet, Premier Foods and Ferrero, where she will be leading a team of 30.  Allchurch has been at Diageo for seven years and in her current role is responsible for leading the strategy on Diageo’s core brands (Guinness, Tanqueray, Gordon’s, Pimms, Smirnoff, Captain Morgan’s, Johnnie Walker and Classic Malts) across 14 countries. Earlier, she was responsible for shaping and delivering the trade PR strategy for Diageo, and before that worked on the agency side for Cohn & Wolfe, Fishburn Hedges and Weber Shandwick.

PARIS—Wellcom, the largest independent PR firm in France, has been selected to become the French partner in the world’s leading partnership of independent public relations firms, PROI Worldwide. It takes the place vacated by i&e consultants, which was sold to Burson-Marsteller two years ago. Based in Paris, Wellcom has a staff of 90 people and revenues of close to US$ 11 million (€8.2m) in 2012.

LONDON—Premium cookware brand Le Creuset has appointed Talk PR as its retained consumer agency in the UK, following a competitive pitch process. The partnership will focus on activating several new product launches and developments planned for 2014, to reinforce the premium position of the brand, with specific focus on moving Le Creuset beyond the food pages and increasing its share of voice across broader national, consumer and luxury lifestyle on and off-line media.
 
LONDON—Blue Rubicon has been appointed by Guardian Soulmates to build increased awareness and drive market share as the online dating service celebrates its 10th anniversary next year. The agency team, which won the brief following a competitive pitch, will deliver a 12 month creative brand building campaign to engage both new and existing users.

OSLO—Marius Parmann, named by the Norwegian Business Daily last year as one of the top PR talents in Norway, has joined corporate and public affairs specialist First House. Parmann has four years of experience as an advisor at WPP-owned Burson-Marsteller’s offices in Oslo and London, where he has assisted Norwegian and international companies with corporate and financial communication and crisis management. He also has experience being a journalist in Norwegian papers such as Aftenposten and The Norwegian Business Daily.

LONDON—Coca-Cola has handed Cheil UK a brief to evolve its “Happiness” proposition across multiple platforms following a competitive pitch. Cheil UK will work with Coca-Cola GB to devise and implement a strategy aimed at driving the brand's “Share a Coke’ attributes to re-establish the soft drink as the number one impulse brand in all channels.