News From Alison Brod, Steinreich Communications, Wunderman, Burson-Marsteller, and Brunswick
Alison Brod Marketing & Communications – Only Women on Staff
It’s not that Alison Brod and her company won’t hire men, they just hardly ever get applications from men, that may be in part because one of the perks of the job is free beauty products. The beauty, fashion, and lifestyle boutique firm in Murray Hill hasn’t employed a man since a year ago. Mostly the resumes she receives are from women. Though they also represent some male-oriented clients such as JackThreads and Dollar Shave Club, most clients are more in line with Ralph Lauren Fragrances, OPI, and Drew Barrymore’s Flower Beauty makeup.
There are complimentary haircuts as well as twice a month manicures (provided by OPI), blow outs and spray tanning are also among the perks of the job for the 65 women working there currently. They can also pick from a large supply of free beauty products. All of those are also available to many influencers that work with Brod’s company.
Steinreich Communications Brings in New Account Manager
SuJin Oh just joined Steinreich Communications in their New York headquarters as the consumer products practice account manager. She has 25 years of experience in journalism and public relations including nearly 10 years with Finn Partners. She also worked at The Asia Society overseeing their media relations, and as a staff reporter at the Korea Times.
SuJin Oh has done freelance PR and also worked at MMGY Global and LangonFlynn Communications according to her LinkedIn profile. Her specialties include story development, media strategy, talking points and press material, writing and editing pitches, and media training with clients.
Haydn Townsend Named New Group CEO of Wunderman South Africa
Wunderman, a global digital agency owned by WPP, just moved Haydn Townsend from a consulting position to Group CEO of their South Africa area. He will handle efforts to expand the regional footprint of the agency and increasing their clients’ businesses using digital marketing and strategic data efforts. Some of their clients in that area are Mercedes-Benz, Shell Global, Coca-Cola, cellular provider MTN, and DSTV Africa.
Mel Edwards, WUnderman’s EMEA CEO, said: “After only six months at Wunderman, Haydn has really stepped up to drive our momentum in South Africa. I am thrilled he’s agreed to take on a larger role in building our success. His entrepreneurial mind and diverse background are well suited to the job and will be instrumental for us as we continue to grow our offering throughout the region.”
Kyle Farnham Joining Burson-Marsteller as US Consumer and Brand Chair
Kyle Farnham will be leaving his previous work at MSLGroup to become the new chair of the consumer and brand in Burson-Marsteller’s (BM) marketing division beginning the first of February. He’ll be taking over from the interim chair, Jon Wentzel, and reportingto Mike Fernandez the US CEO for BM. His primary focus will be in building the client portfolio as he helps the consumer brands they represent to grow.
Fernandez said: “This is quite a coup for us. Farnham has built brands and teams that have delivered for clients.” Farnham has previously worked with MSLGroup (a Publicis firm) and Mizuno USA.
Brunswick Still Top M&A Comms Leader, but Losing Ground
In 2016, Brunswick maintained its lead in number of global M&A deals, but research from Mergemarket shows competitors are gaining on them. Still, as leader, they worked deals worth over $526 billion during 2016 – but that was down by almost 30% from 2015. Trailing behind Brunswick were Joele Frank Wilkinson Brimmer Katcher (in the US) with over $467 billion, and Finsbury, down 54% from 2015, totaling over $184 billion.
Gaining ground was Hering Schuppener, a WPP sister agency of Finsbury, rising 157% to reach nearly $120 billion. Also, CNC, owned by Publicis, rose in their ranking from 24th place to sixth, with a gigantic leap of $135 billion over what they did in 2015. FTI Consulting also had a strong growth of 37.6% above their 2015 totals.
