HOTWIRE PR
Hotwire’s COO, Alex MacLaverty, has left the company after 15 years. She joined Hotwire as an account manager in the early 2000s, and by 2010 she had risen through the ranks to become the UK’s managing director. According to Hotwire, there will be no successor. Instead, MacLaverty’s responsibilities will be taken on by Chris Paxton, Heather Kernahan, Fiona Chilcott, Adrian Talbot, Andy West, and Barbara Bates - the global leadership team.
FINN PARTNERS:
The Boston agency “Small Army” was acquired by Finn Partners on February 7, 2019, further expanding the company’s global footprint. Small Army’s founder and CEO, Jeff Freedman, will join Finn Partners’ management team for digital marketing. Small Army consists of a team of 45 whose main focuses are on CSR, health, financial services, travel, and tech. They are a creative services and marketing team who Peter Finn felt they had a strong cultural fit with.
KONNECT AGENCY:
Amanda Bialek has been named as Konnect Agency’s new Executive Vice President. Konnect, which is a renowned tri-coastal PR firm, announced Bialek as their inaugural Executive VP. This follows five years of Bialek’s leadership as the company’s Vice President, as well as the manager of its franchise division.
Konnect was started 10 years ago, and flourished under the leadership of Sabina Gault and Monica Guzman Escobar. It quickly scaled, and Bialek was brought on board to signify that they were now a force to be reckoned with. With her, Bialek brought more than 10 years of management experience from various PR firms, namely 5W Public Relations and Rogers & Cowan. Over $1.65 million - the number that Bialek is responsible for in billings. She has been a key player in more than a dozen nationwide openings for Dave & Buster’s, as well as the relaunch of the incredibly popular Teletubbies brand.
OGILVY PR
Matt Buchanan has been hired as the Head of PR and Influence over at Ogilvy UK. He will make the transition from One Green Bean, Havas-owned social agency and PR firm. He has led the Australian agency’s operation since 2012, and was the driving force behind its UK launch, winning clients such as DEFRA, Costa Coffee, Virgin Holidays, and Sky.
Buchanan already knows the Ogilvy world. He has spent two years at Pulse Communications, Ogilvy’s Australian PR brand, as its managing director. Prior to this, he was with The Red Consultancy as the head of consumer brands, at Lexis as the director of consumer, and as an associate director with Bell Pottinger.
