The acquisition is part of Waggener Edstrom’s global expansion strategy into markets such as Australia, India, Korea and South Africa, through acquisition, equity investments and new wholly owned offices.
Surfing about the digital public relations world this morning, I ran across Waggener Edstrom via our new EPR Spanish Twitter variant. As anyone in the online PR business knows, WE's award winning social media arm is out there, always. But my little blurb today focuses on another WE element that caught my eye, their Consumer Engagement Blog.
In agency news, Weber Shandwick has just appointed Barkha Patel-Zinzuwadia Regional Head of Technology and Senior Vice President Asia Pacific. Formerly of Weber Shandwick Singapore, Patel-Zinzuwadia was also General Manager Thailand previously.
The investment in Shout Communications Korea is part of Waggener Edstrom’s aggressive global strategy, which already includes expansion in Australia, India and South Africa.
Everything PR News examines the top 25 PR firms in America where digital branding is concerned. While many of the world's leading communications companies use social media to engage a massive constituency, others simply pay lip service to actual two way communications. How can traditional PR firms survive offering BS answers only?
Britain's Culture Secretary Jeremy Hurt wants to rebuild the UK's IT infastructure. But, Waggener Edstrom has seen fit to insert their new "digital expert" into the discussion. It is clear the UK and much of the rest of Europe lag behind in digital engagement, so why would anyone argue? According to WE's John Silk, Britain should just create away. Or so it appears.
You can plug a billion dollars into a PR machine, but you still cannot sell ice cubes to Eskimos. Waggener Edstrom has tried to sell Microsoft's Bing search engine with everything from hot fashion models to the man on the street, still the prodigal search entity languishes at third banana on the search treadmill. What will WE try next?
Waggener Edstrom is one of the most digitally savvy PR firms in the world. One might think they would be immune to over hyping reports or creating terms to sound technical, but apparently they are not. Why do firms do more lip service than real service these days? Is talk cheaper than action? Sounding technical does not mean one is technically inclined.
Our focus is, as it should be, on the Internet primarily. It is our area of expertise, it is what we do. We are not perfect, but we know what perfect looks like. Waggener has a wonderful digital footprint in their site. Aesthetically, it is superb in my mind. However, much like Edelman, but in some different was, it is flawed. This is not the worst thing in the world, but for a company that represent Microsoft, and professes to be cutting edge, it does send the wrong message.