News From Finn Partners, Allison+Partners, Sloane & Company, and Text100
David Shane Named Deputy MD for Finn Partners West Coast Offices
Based out of Los Angeles, David Shane moves into the deputy managing director of the West Coast operations of Finn Partners and will report to Howard Solomon, managing partner. Shane has also been named as a senior partner with this move. Shane’s 20 years’ experience is in the tech, media, entertainment, and corporate communications sectors. He comes to Finn from a consulting firm he founded, Shane Strategies. Before that, he worked at Comcast, HP, International Creative Management, and Relativity.
Increased PR Spending Predicted by ANA Study:
USC’s Center for Public Relations at Annenberg School for Communications and Journalism and the Association of National Advertisers (ANA) released finding from their recent study relating to projections about marketing and PR over the next five years. At the top of the list orf what they found was that there should be an increase of overall spending on PR and internal staffing numbers during that time with 62% of participants saying they plan to increase PR staffing, and 75% planning to increase spending on PR. For this year the numbers are 16% and 25% respectively.
ARM Hires Allison+Partners as New AOR:
ARM Holdings, the largest tech company in the UK, changes PR reps, letting Racepoint go after a decade working together and bringing in Allison+Partners to provide PR assistance in the UK, US, Europe, and other global markets. This switch may be part of the “changing of the guard” after ARM was recently purchased by Softbank (Japan) for $24 billion, but this part of the transition follows closely on the heels of VP of global marketing, brand, and communications, Joyce Kim, taking office at the end of the year.
Sloane & Company Increases Senior Level by Six:
MDC corporate consultancy Sloane & Company just added six senior members to their team comprising four new hires and two promotions to increase their capabilities and in preparation for future growth. The two who were promoted are Michelle Peters as an SVP and Ariel Kouvaris as a VP. The new hires are Jenn Daham (SVP and director of strategic insights and public affairs), Greg Marose (VP), Alex Shippee, and Meghan Warren both as senior associates.
Mercedes-Benz Research & Development North America Hires Text100 as PR AOR:
The creative subsidiary of Mercedes-Benz for North America (MBRDNA) just named Text100, a separate unit of Next Fifteen, as their agency of record to raise awareness and support integrated communications regarding additions to vehicles and autonomous driving as it moves to the tech forefront of automakers. Autonomous driving is a feature in MB’s most recent E-Class sedan. MB is part of Daimler AG and recently announced plans for a driverless taxi service in about three years.
The coming PR campaigns from Text100 will include digital content creation, social media, and web design and development as they tap their tech contacts and influencers. They will also help with internal communications between the various locations of MBRDNA.
