PR News From Weber Shandwick, Finn Partners, Fleishman-Hillard, and H+K Strategies
Weber Shandwick Has New EMEA Leader
Tim Sutton has been promoted as Weber Shandwick’s Asia-Pacific and EMEA chairman and will have those duties added to his current workload beginning in 2018, which will include being in charge of a strategic leadership board supporting company and client efforts. Colin Byrne will be leaving this position at the end of the year. Members of the new board include Hugh Baillie, Rachel Friend, Lucie Harper, Pete Jacob, Jonas Palmqvist, Rachel Pay, Christiane Schulz, and Charlotte Witte.
Brooke Geller to Lead Consumer Unit for Finn Partners
Brooke Geller will now be a senior partner in Finn Partners and will lead the consumer practice for the firm out of their New York office. She had been at DKC working with PR, marketing, and government affairs for them as a senior VP, but leaves them after seven years. Prior to her time with DKC, she was a VP in the entertainment and lifestyle division for Rogers & Cowan. She also worked as both Nike Communications and Ruder Finn in the past. Her work at Finn Partners will be focused on planning, client management, product publicity, and event marketing. Overseeing her efforts will be Alicia Young, managing partner.
Papa John’s Looking for Creative Representation
The pizza chain has requested that 10 agencies do an RTF according to their CMO, Brandon Rhoten. The company wants to sign a creative agency partner by the end of this year. Their current representative, Grey, is one of those 10 agencies, as well as Grey’s parent agency – WPP. The other companies were not specifically identified.
Rhoten said: “By end of ’17 we’ll have a new partner in place or Grey will be reestablished under the new expectations.” They are looking for possible solutions coming from broad holding companies with separate creative divisions or shops and can bring something more than what is found in traditional media.
Authenticity Gap Study From Fleishman-Hillard Addressed
The fourth version of Fleishman-Hillard’s Authenticity Gap report was released and discussed that brands can no longer remain silent about social issues that are divisive. Five items are specifically addressed by the report. Get smart on cyber; the CEO’s reputation and public perception are important to the public; break a few eggs – it’s okay to make a few missteps; disappointment is common about products; and customer service needs to be improved continually.
MENA Region of H+K Strategies Gets a New Leader
Lisa Welsh has been named the new managing director for the Middle East and North Africa region of H+K Strategies immediately and will work from the Dubai offices. She has been on a nine-month sabbatical, and previously worked as the manager for H+K’s UAE country. H+K’s CEO for MENA and Turkey, Bashar AlKadhi will be who she reports to as she oversees key countries such as Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and Egypt.
