PR News from PadillaCRT, MDC Partners, Burson-Marsteller, VML, and Gould+Partners
Agency Promotions at PadillaCRT
Twice a year PadillaCRT (PCRT) looks at their existing staff and offers promotions to those who shine in PCRT and any sister agencies. This time, they are promoting 16 employees of PCRT and FoodMinds, one of their divisions.
The promotions include from VP to SVP, Tina Charpentier; from director to Sr. director, Tracy Carlson and Allison Mikita (at FoodMinds); from Sr. developer to associate solutions architect, Rohit Keshwani; from Sr. designer to associate creative director, Thea Buri; from Sr. analyst to manager of market intelligence, Alisa Coddington; and from director to SVP, Jeff Wilson. Also from account executive to Sr. account executive, Beatrice Zvosec, Lauren Huisinga, Molly O’Mara, and Rachel McPherson; from assistant account executive to account executive, Lacey Poppe, Meredith Gallagher, Catie Frech, and Jessica Hall; and from Sr. account executive to account supervisor, Samantha Cox.
MDC Partners Brings in Randy Duax as Talent and Recruiting SVP
MDC Partners created the new job of Sr. VP of talent and recruiting placing Randy Duax in the position based in New York. He’ll report directly to the CEO and Chairman of MDC. Duax was at WPP as their Asia Pacific talent director working with teams in Tokyo, Sydney, Singapore, and Shanghai. He also worked for WPP in the U.S. for North American recruitment company-wide.
MDC’s list of partner agencies is expansive and includes such communications companies as Hunter PR, Allison+Partners, Kwittken, KBS Albion, The Media Kitchen, Boom Marketing, Veritas, and Legend.
Burson-Marsteller Expands African Efforts
Burson-Marsteller just added two new partners in Africa and expanded one of their existing relationships there. BM already had 53 countries in their African network, now they’ve added two more with the launch of Blast Burson-Marsteller and MO Burson-Marsteller. The first is in the Ocean Islands, which include Madagascar, Seychelles, Mauritius, Reunion, and Comores. The second is in Angola. Their affiliate in Cameroon – Icon Burson-Marsteller – expands to now include Gabon and Congo-Brazzaville.
VML Becomes Electrolux’s North American PR Agency
VML in Kansas City, and an affiliate of WPP, just picked up the contract to represent both Electrolux and Frigidaire in North America. This new contract means the two brands leave behind DDB as their PR agency for the last 10 years. The RFP process started in June. VML will be handling advertising, PR, CRM, media, in-store marketing, and digital efforts.
Electrolux also previously worked with Zenith Media from the Publicis Groupe since 2014 and Weber Shandwick of the IPG network for PR since 2004.
Gould+Partners Expands to U.K
Gould+Partners, based in New York, is a mergers and acquisitions communications firm. They have decided to open an office in the U.K and hired Sally Tilleray as their London/U.K. senior advisor. Tilleray’s credentials include being a member of Cognito Media’s board; she was also Huntsworth PR’s group COO and finance director, Predictive Systems’ European CFO, and CEO of the Sally Tilleray Consulting agency. Her work for Gould will include helping them identify sellers and buyers, establishing the company’s U.K. presence, and aiding with transactions for clients.
