News From Weber Shandwick, Edelman, 5WPR, Levick, and Prosek
Weber Shandwick Helps with Nike’s Breaking2 Exhibition Marathon
Nike sponsored the Breaking2 Marathon last week. It was a private exhibition race which means photos from the event can be used by Nike for marketing purposes. And they will be. Already there’s controversy over the race photos. At such events, there is usually a clock on display showing the time a winner crosses the finish line. That clock doesn’t usually show the official time, usually being off by anywhere from a few seconds to a couple of minutes. The clock showed 2:00:23 and the official time was 2:00:25. Very little difference.
But in promotional materials issued after the race from Nike and their PR firm, Weber Shandwick, there was a change to the photo of that clock. Their photo shows the official time of 2:00:25, but that clock never actually hit that number, it was stopped at 2:00:23. It seems that Nike or WS photoshopped the image to show the official time of the race, probably to keep things simple, but it leaves questions about if this was a good idea or not.
Jackie Xu Rui Becoming Managing Director of Edelman Shanghai in June
Jackie Xu Rui is leaving her MD post with Mullen Lowe Profero to become Edelman’s MD in the Shanghai office beginning June 1st. Also, until they find a replacement for the MD in their Beijing office, she’ll fill in on that position as well. She’s been in senior industry management for more than 15 years. Her tasks include bringing Chinese clients current on digital efforts. Some of the clients she has worked with include PwC, Haribo, Fiat, Unilever, and Diageo.
The Beijing position is being vacated by Sanjay Nair who has also been the COO for Edelman China. He’s staying with Edelman but shifting to the San Francisco office where he’ll lead the US tech sector for the company. Nair worked in China for five years and was in charge of setting up Edelman Singapore’s tech practice.
5W Made AOR for Servcorp
Servcorp, a multinational office space provider, just named 5W Public Relations as their AOR. Servcorp offers virtual offices, IT services in metropolitan cities around the world, serviced offices, and meeting rooms. Some of the locations where they offer IT services include New York (One Trade Center), Tokyo (Marunouchi Trust Tower), Singapore (Marina Bay Financial Centre), Hong Kong (Two International Finance Centre), London (The Leadenhall Building), and Abu Dhabi (Etihad Towers).
5W will help the company position themselves as a leader in their field with businesses, business owners, brokers, and entrepreneurs both internationally and in the US at the 155 locations in 24 countries. Servcorp has had US offices since 2010.
Melissa Aronoff Leaves Levick After 12 Years
Melissa Aronoff has been with Levick, a DC-based PR firm. She left their employ as an SVP and practice chair of their corporate communications at the end of February. One of her last accomplishments with Levick was to acquire Chase Communications with offices in DC and San Francisco and specializing in real estate and healthcare communications.
Aronoff said: “I haven’t quite figured out yet what is next on my plate, but I’m excited about exploring new opportunities,” on her LinkedIn account. Currently, the company website shows that Julie Chase (former CEO at Chase Communications) is the practice chair for corporate.
Prosek Partners Hires Former Trump Transition Team Member as VP
Chris Byrne has been hired as a vice president at Prosek Partners. Byrne formerly served as a White House press aid, Trump campaign advisor, and producer of Hannity at Fox News Channel. With the Trump transition team he was a communications advisor, and before his White House work, he was at Capitol Media Partners in Los Angeles, a firm specializing in public affairs and digital services. At the White House press office, he worked under White House press secretary, Dana Perino (Bush administration), as deputy director of presidential personnel and special assistant to Perino. Byrne will work from the New York offices, though the agency also has offices in DC, Fairfield CT, London, and Los Angeles.
