Henry's House is a London-based creative public relations agency.

Background

The company was founded in 1998 under the name 'Henry's House' by music PR

Julian Henry Julian Henry is a marketing executive based in London and Los Angeles. He has worked in PR and journalism since the 1980s. He founded the agency Henry's House in the 1990s and was appointed Head of Communication for Simon Fuller's 19 Entertainmen ...

, Beverley Luckings, and entertainment entrepreneur

Simon Fuller Simon Fuller (born 17 May 1960) is a British entrepreneur, artist manager, and film and television producer renowned for nurturing and inspiring world class entertainment talent. He is the creator of the ''Idols'' TV format, including the UK s ...

. The firm represented popular consumer brands, UK TV shows and celebrities, initially trading from a workshop in Acklam Road, Notting Hill, west London, from where the company expanded to become one of the most influential publicity firms of its time launching the soft drink

Tango Tango is a partner dance and social dance that originated in the 1880s along the Río de la Plata, the natural border between Argentina and Uruguay. The tango was born in the impoverished port areas of these countries as the result of a combina ...

Victoria Beckham Victoria Caroline Beckham (; born 17 April 1974) is an English fashion designer, singer, and television personality. She rose to prominence in the 1990s as a member of the girl group the Spice Girls, in which she was nicknamed Posh Spice. Wi ...

S Club 7 S Club 7 were a British pop group from London, created by former Spice Girls manager Simon Fuller and consisting of members Bradley McIntosh, Hannah Spearritt, Jo O'Meara, Jon Lee, Paul Cattermole, Rachel Stevens and Tina Barrett. The group ...

, TV presenter

Jamie Theakston James Paul Theakston (born 21 December 1970) is an English television presenter, producer, and actor. He co-presented the former Saturday morning BBC One children's show ''Live & Kicking'', alongside Zoe Ball between 1996 and 1999. He co-hosted ...

David Beckham David Robert Joseph Beckham (; born 2 May 1975) is an English former professional footballer, the current president and co-owner of Inter Miami CF and co-owner of Salford City. Known for his range of passing, crossing ability and bending fr ...

, and TV shows that included Big Brother, The Big Breakfast and

Pop Idol ''Pop Idol'' is a British music competition television series created by Simon Fuller which ran on ITV from 2001 to 2003. The aim of the show was to decide the best new young pop singer (or "pop idol") in the UK based on viewer voting and par ...

Client work

In 1998 The firm staged the sponsorship of London's Regent Street Lights by the drinks brand Tango, an event that featured pop group All Saints. The company quickly became well known for its work in art and pop culture and in 2002, Henry's House mounted an open air ice exhibit outside London's

Design Museum The Design Museum in Kensington, London exhibits product, industrial, graphic, fashion, and architectural design. In 2018, the museum won the European Museum of the Year Award. The museum operates as a registered charity, and all funds generat ...

for YBA Anya Gallacio to launch a new flavour of

Absolut Vodka Absolut Vodka is a brand of vodka, produced near Åhus, in southern Sweden. Absolut is a part of the French group Pernod Ricard. Pernod Ricard bought Absolut for €5.63 billion in 2008 from the Swedish state. Absolut is one of the largest brand ...

. During this period Absolut Vodka would work with members of the YBA in its advertising campaigns, including

Damien Hirst Damien Steven Hirst (; né Brennan; born 7 June 1965) is an English artist, entrepreneur, and art collector. He is one of the Young British Artists (YBAs) who dominated the art scene in the UK during the 1990s. He is reportedly the United Kingd ...

. photographers

Martin Parr Martin Parr (born 23 May 1952) is a British documentary photographer, photojournalist and photobook collector. He is known for his photographic projects that take an intimate, satirical and anthropological look at aspects of modern life, in p ...

and

Pierre et Gilles Pierre Commoy and Gilles Blanchard, also known as Pierre et Gilles, are French artists and romantic partners. They have been producing works together since 1976, creating a world where painting and photography meet. Their art is peopled by their ...

, as well as staging the last photographic shoot with writer

Quentin Crisp Quentin Crisp (born Denis Charles Pratt; – ) was an English raconteur, whose work in the public eye included a memoir of his life and various media appearances. Before becoming well-known, he was an artist's model, hence the title of ...

by Rankin, shortly before Crisp's death in New York. In 2009 the firm also developed and promoted a biopic on Crisp's life. In 2000 Henry's House was taken on by

Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network operated by the state-owned enterprise, state-owned Channel Four Television Corporation. It began its transmission on 2 November 1982 and was established to provide a four ...

to promote Big Brother and

The Big Breakfast ''The Big Breakfast'' is a British breakfast light entertainment television programme that was broadcast on Channel 4. Originally presented by Chris Evans and Gaby Roslin, the show was latterly presented by Mo Gilligan and AJ Odudu. The pro ...

, and later launched

for ITV, the show that uncovered singer

Will Young William Robert Young (born 20 January 1979) is a British singer-songwriter and actor who came to prominence after winning the 2002 Pop Idol (series 1), inaugural series of the ITV (TV network), ITV talent contest ''Pop Idol'', making him the f ...

and TV personality

Simon Cowell Simon Phillip Cowell (; born 7 October 1959) is an English television personality, entrepreneur and record executive. He is the creator of ''The X Factor'' and ''Got Talent'' franchises which have been sold around the world. He has judged on t ...

FHM ''FHM'' (For Him Magazine) is a British multinational men's lifestyle magazine that was published in several countries. Its master edition contained features such as the ''FHM'' 100 Sexiest Women in the World, which has featured models, actres ...

MTV MTV (Originally an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable channel that launched on August 1, 1981. Based in New York City, it serves as the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group, part of Paramount Media Networks, a di ...

, as well as others including

, and

American Airlines American Airlines is a major airlines of the United States, major US-based airline headquartered in Fort Worth, Texas, within the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. It is the Largest airlines in the world, largest airline in the world when measured ...

also became the firm's clients. They won the

Orange Orange most often refers to: *Orange (fruit), the fruit of the tree species '' Citrus'' × ''sinensis'' ** Orange blossom, its fragrant flower *Orange (colour), from the color of an orange, occurs between red and yellow in the visible spectrum * ...

account in 2001 and spent several years promoting the telecoms sponsorship of the

BAFTA Awards The British Academy Film Awards, more commonly known as the BAFTA Film Awards is an annual award show hosted by the British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) to honour the best British and international contributions to film. The cere ...

in London. The agency eventually parted with Orange and were recruited by

Richard Branson Sir Richard Charles Nicholas Branson (born 18 July 1950) is a British billionaire, entrepreneur, and business magnate. In the 1970s he founded the Virgin Group, which today controls more than 400 companies in various fields. Branson expressed ...

Virgin Mobile Virgin Mobile is a wireless communications brand used by seven independent brand-licensees worldwide. Virgin Mobile branded wireless communications services are available in the United Kingdom, Ireland, Canada, Colombia, Chile, Kuwait, Saudi Ara ...

company. The firm held a long-term relationship with

Coca-Cola Coca-Cola, or Coke, is a carbonated soft drink manufactured by the Coca-Cola Company. Originally marketed as a temperance drink and intended as a patent medicine, it was invented in the late 19th century by John Stith Pemberton in Atlanta ...

in the UK. The company also held long running relationships with Virgin / NTL, for whom it promoted the V Festival each year.

resigned his interest in the company in 2005 when he sold his company to become a director of CKX while founder Julian Henry stepped away from the business to work alongside Fuller in 2007. The company has since changed its name to House PR.

Big Brother

In April 2001 Henry's House was appointed by Channel 4 to publicise the 2nd season of the

Endemol Endemol B.V. was a Dutch-based media company that produced and distributed multiplatform entertainment content. The company annually produced more than 15,000 hours of programming across scripted and non-scripted genres, including drama, reality ...

format Big Brother. The programme's 1st season had attracted negative comment and HH were appointed by Endemol Controller of Entertainment Ruth Wrigley, C4 Commissioning Editor Liz Warner and C4 Head of Communication Yvonne Taylor with a brief to generate Fleet Street support for the innovation around the show which included 24-hour streaming for the first time. HH won the pitch for the business by renting a townhouse next to the studio in 3 Mills where the TV show was filmed and staffing it with a team of experienced publicists working on a 24/7 rota to provide cover for the live streaming. The publicity team consisted of Catriona Halsby, Louise Foglia, Charlotte Hickson, Loretta De Souza and Julian Henry, and their publicity work turned Big Brother into a weekly media event with regular press conferences, daily tabloid briefings and exclusive media interviews. The runner up

Helen Adams Helen Adams (born 30 May 1978) is a Welsh television personality who rose to fame in the United Kingdom when she was chosen to be a contestant on the second series of the reality television show '' Big Brother'', in 2001. ''Big Brother'' Adam ...

signed a newspaper contract for £150k following the finale in July 2001, which was seen by over 50% of the available TV audience. According to

The Observer ''The Observer'' is a British newspaper published on Sundays. It is a sister paper to ''The Guardian'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', whose parent company Guardian Media Group Limited acquired it in 1993. First published in 1791, it is the w ...

, the publicity campaign for Big Brother became “the biggest story of the year, generating more coverage and selling more copies than any other subject, including the Conservative leadership election, the foot and mouth crisis and

Tim Henman Timothy Henry Henman (born 6 September 1974) is a British former professional tennis player. Henman played a serve-and-volley style of tennis. He was the first British man to reach the singles semifinals of Wimbledon since Roger Taylor in the ...

's Wimbledon run”. Henry's strategy of promoting a reality TV format aggressively to the tabloids has been duplicated by other UK based reality TV shows and as a result Henry's House were asked by ITV Head Of Communication Nicola Howson to launch their new format

.http://www.prweek.com/uk/news/143723/CAMPAIGN-Media-Relations---Pop-Idol-show-climaxes-mediafrenzy/?DCMP=ILC-SEARCH

References

{{reflist, colwidth=30em Public relations companies of the United Kingdom