Public Relations News Briefs From Antenna/Beckerman, FleishmanHillard, MWWPR, Weber Shandwick & More…
Antenna, Beckerman, and Eco Branding Joining Forces
Beckerman’s family of PR experts includes Antenna, a PR agency specializing in smart tech. Now Antenna is adding a new partner to their integrated efforts in Eco Branding – a creative agency focused on tech, smart cities, clean energy, and advanced mobility. Together, they are the largest full-service smart tech PR agency in North America.
FleishmanHillard Promotes Terri Owen to Sr. Partner and SVP as new GM of St. Louis Headquarters
Terri Owen was named the new general manager of the FleishmanHillard (FH) US headquarters in St. Louis. The company was founded 70 years ago, and she has been there for more than 20 of those years. Owen started with FH after graduation as an assistant account exec as part of a 3-person communications team. She’s been active in growing the practice, eventually finding herself in charge of employee communications globally for the agency. Her new position will have her developing and executing a strategic plan for FH, including the practice areas of client service, recruiting and staff development, business acquisition, investment in resources, and innovation.
Dawn Lauer Promoted at MWWPR as B2B Communications Leader
Dawn Lauer has been named the SVP and managing director of B2B for MWWPR. Her strength in corporate and brand storytelling, as well as industry leading and time as the leader of Story Core, MWWPR’s master narrative practice, will serve her well in the new position.
Gatesman PR Nabs Susan English from Havas PR in Pittsburgh
Susan English has been with Havas PR, Pittsburgh’s largest PR firm, for 18 years, and though she said it was not an easy decision to leave, she couldn’t pass up the opportunity being offered by Gatesman. At Havas she was a senior VP and director of PR and social media, gaining national recognition with her team for 13 consecutive years working on campaigns for Transitions Optical. She worked with other global brands as well. Gatesman is an independent full-service agency with 82 employees and annual revenue of nearly $17 million, though only about $2.5 million of that is PR revenue.
The Publicist Guild Awards Top Honors to Deadpool and This is Us
The Publicist Guild held their Awards ceremony recently, and Fox’s Deadpool won the top spot for the Maxwell Weinberg publicist showmanship motion picture award. The movie made more than $700 million gross box office using a campaign showing Ryan Reynolds lying on a bearskin rug and displaying his foul-mouthed comic act. The show beat out other movies including Fantastic Beasts and Jungle Book. This Is Us from NBC won for the television spot beating out contenders including Speechless, O.J. Simpson: American Crime Story, and The Late Late Show with James Corden.
The 54th annual awards luncheon at the Beverly Hilton Hotel was held February 24th. Individual winners that were announced previously include Denzel Washington, Nanci Ryder (BWR founding partner), Ryan Murphy, and Jeffrey Katzenberg. With the press award going to Grae Drake (Rotten Tomatoes editor), and the international award to Brent Simon (M Time). Renee Zellweger accepted the award for Nanci Ryder who suffers from ALS and is unable to speak or walk.
Weber Shandwick Repping Los Angeles 2024 Olympic Bid
Weber Shandwick (WS) will provide communications for the 2024 Olympic and Paralympic movement bid from Los Angeles. They are joined by Jon Tibbs Associates – a global sport agency – to usher the games back to the US after nearly 30 years away. WS has worked on previous bids including Beijing 2020, Tokyo 2020, Sochi 2014, and more – helping host cities win their campaigns for 20 years. The decision is scheduled to be announced by the Olympic Committee in September 2017.
According to the LA 2024 Chief Communications Officer, Jeff Millman: “LA 2024 is all about reimaging a New Games for a new era and harnessing California’s unique culture of creativity and imagination to connect the Games to the future. Los Angeles is the perfect place to inspire that kind of reinvention – our innovation and technology combined with the city’s excellent facilities, strong economy, commitment to sustainability and 88% public support offers the best environment for the next Games. Given Weber Shandwick’s vast Olympic experience and its innovative, forward-looking approach, the firm is the perfect partner to help us tell that story and ultimately bring the Games to LA.”
