APCO Study Finds Two-thirds of Senior Communicators Feel Out of the Loop
Well, maybe not entirely out of the loop, but less than a third of senior communicators (CCOs) feel they are part of the inner circle when dealing with their CEO or other top executives. APCO also determined that 89% of those communicators have direct access to CEOs but only about half report directly to them, while less than 40% feel their voice is critical to business discussions and decisions.
Conversely, 75% of the CCOs believe their CEO knows how important reputation is for a company. The two sides of the coin seem to indicate a lack of understanding about how CCOs can assist with company efforts internally as well as externally. There were 110 people surveyed in October in consumer and B2B companies across the U.S, Canada, Finland, Japan, and Germany.
Finn Partners – Paris Adds New Sr. Partner for Head Office and Health Team
Mina Volovitch brings her biotech innovation background to the Paris head office of Finn Partners and takes over the job leading the office and their team working with health industry clients. Her career began at Merck (MSD Paris) in their marketing division. She moved up the ranks to become director of communications, then went to work with the Mérieux Institute (now known as Sanofi Pasteur) – vaccine specialists – as director of communications. In the late 80’s she started Mynecom, specializing in healthcare communications, where she worked with products and issues including AIDS, cardiology, infectious disease, oncology, biotech, immunology, medical devices, and vaccines. All while maintaining membership in the National League Against Cancer, a working communications group.
Rosen Group Gets AOR Contract with AASP
Rosen Group will take over the PR efforts for Association for Applied Sports Psychology (AASP) at the beginning of December. AASP promotes development of ethics and science and offers member certification on an international level for those in sports psychology – those professionals working with coaches, athletes, staff, and performers in high-risk jobs. They are based in Indianapolis and are a non-profit with 2,300 members in 57 countries.
Rosen will be in charge of social media, brand awareness, media relations, and thought leadership to help the organization reach their goals with PR efforts.
Britt Bradford Promoted to SVP at Tilson PR
Tilson PR with offices in Boca Raton and New Hampshire just promoted Britt Bradford from VP to Sr. VP – a new position. Bradford has been with the agency for 10 of their 26 years in business and will report to Tracy Tilson, president and founder. The position oversees staff, manages client relations, and will have a key role in helping the firm grow.
Frank Picks Up AOR on Skoda U.K.
Skoda, a Czech automaker, just hired Frank, the 42nd largest PR agency in the U.K., to help with the launch at the Paris Motor Show of their new SUV, the Kodiaq – available in early 2017. Skoda has plans to launch other new products in 2017, so they will keep Frank busy. The agency previously working with Skoda was Golley Slater, but Skoda started a search in 2015 for a new PR rep. They hired Kindred to help with another car’s launch.
Frank was appointed after a new search began during the summer of 2016. They will be working with Fallon (an ad agency) and possibly with Kindred as well for various projects. Andrew Bloch, founder of Frank, will be in charge of the creative venture and the managing director, Alex Grier will work on insight and strategy.