Change is afoot in the Australian outposts of the multi-national public relations industry as Edelman raids the ranks of its rival, Hill & Knowlton, to boost its presence in Australia.
Edelman has hired Michelle Hutton - Hill & Knowlton’s chief executive - to head up its Australian operations. At the same time it has also gone to another rival, this time Weber Shandwick, to recruit an executive to lead its Sydney office.
Weber’s current client services director Alexandra Kelly joins Edelman Sydney as General Manager on June 1, the same day that Ms Hutton starts in the newly-created role.
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The appointments come as Edelman said talks with local marketing services agencies about a merger or joint venture were moving along but its Asia Pacific president Alan VanderMolen declined to give any further details.
The appointments were the first step in the company’s bid to transform itself from being an international firm with offices in Australia to becoming a distinctly Australian firm with a strong global network, he said. ‘‘We are on a path to achieving that ambition of aggressive growth here in Australia and these appointments set us up for that,’’ he said.
The moves are part of Edelman’s stated ambition to build its business in Australia, which, along with the major international names in PR, has fluctuated with the ebb and flow of global marketing budgets.
Building up its local client base will help it get to its target of an annual revenue of $10 million, Mr VanderMolen said last year.
“This is the first phase of a broader plan of initiatives that Edelman will be rolling out in Australia," he said. "We have significant breadth across the world and across the region – now we’re after much greater depth, critical mass and increased market relevance.’’
Public relations is enjoying a mini-boom as budgets have started to ease following last year when many areas of PR in particular consumer, brand and technology public relations felt the squeeze by clients under pressure to cut costs.
jlee@smh.com.au
SMH
