Brunswick inks name rights for trends index

As part of the agreement, Brunswick will hold branding rights for the Index for one year, which will be renamed the Brunswick Purchasing Managers Index. Produced by the UK-based NTC Research, the PMI series currently runs in 15 markets worldwide, including China and Japan. "We think it's an excellent product with great branding potential, so we have chosen to participate with NTC," said Brunswick partner Ray Bashford. "It's got fantastic economic relevance." Bashford added that while marketing activities around the online product would be limited, each monthly release would see efforts to target media, and build PMI's subscriptions. The PMI survey is based on responses from senior and purchasing executives from over 300 companies in Hong Kong, on such economic variables as business activity, new business and pricing. The different variables are aggregated using a weighting system to produce the overall index of business conditions. Brunswick will also be able to add content for its Hong Kong PMI, based on its own local expertise, and is also looking to introduce a China element to the survey. "(NTC) will send out a summary and then we can rework and rewrite based on our local knowledge and concerns," explained Bashford. "We're also inserting several questions relating to China and how that pertains to Hong Kong." The initiative comes at a time when financial communications continues to rise in prominence regionally, with a number of agencies looking to bolster their practices in this regard. As Bashford noted, Brunswick may take a slightly different approach to its rivals "Brunswick is rather different, and it's not necessarily a purely conventional PR firm," he noted. "It likes to put corporate communications in a broader context." The PMI has become a staple of the financial research space, and is also used by central banks in the European Union and the US to help make interest rate decisions. The China PMI branding rights are currently held by investment bank CLSA. The firm has also confirmed plans to relocate associate Joseph Lo from London to Hong Kong. A former pharmacist, Lo has four years experience at Brunswick and will arrive in Hong Kong in March.