Weber Shandwick
| 220px | |
| Subsidiary | |
| Industry | Public relations |
|
Number of locations
|
73 offices |
|
Area served
|
Worldwide |
|
Key people
|
Andy Polansky (CEO) Jack Leslie (Chairman) Gail Heimann President[1] |
| Revenue | $500 million[2] |
| Parent | Interpublic Group |
| Website | www |
Weber Shandwick is a public relations firm formed in 2001[3] by merging the Weber Group (1987), Shandwick International (1974), and BSMG (2001).[2]
History
Origins
Weber Shandwick was formed in 2001 by merging the Weber Group, Shandwick International and BSMG (formerly Bozell Sawyer Miller Group[4]). Shandwick International acquired consumer PR firm Mona, Meyer, McGrath & Gavin in 1988. Shandwick was in-turn sold to Interpublic Group of Companies (IPG) in 1998. It was renamed Weber Shandwick. BSMG merged with Shandwick that October. The firm had acquired large accounts like Coca-Cola and the insurance company Cigna, but by 2001 the company was going through layoffs due to the loss of a $12 million anti-smoking campaign and the general economic outcome of the September 11th terrorist attacks.[5]
Recent history
In 2010 Weber's internal developers and social media teams created a social media crisis simulator called Firebell.[6] In 2011 Weber hired employees to fill roles as community managers, writers, social media marketing strategists producers and analytics experts, making their digital marketing staff number 300. After a Weber executive moved to Hill & Knowlton, Weber Shandwick secured a restraining order after alleging the firm was taking their employees and clients.[7] In May 2014, the firm acquired a Sweden-based agency, Prime, and its business intelligence division, United Minds.[8]
The firm serves as global agency of record for Tokyo 2020. [9] [10]
Notable Campaigns
In 2008 Weber Shandwick was hired by Microsoft to provide support for non-consumer PR in the EMEA region for products like Windows Client and Microsoft Dynamics.[11]
In 2012 the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services contracted Weber Shandwick to run a $3.1 million campaign to raise awareness for state healthcare insurance exchanges mandated by the Affordable Care Act.[12]
References
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Weber Shandwick. (2012). PRWeek (U.S.), 15(5), 43.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Barry Siegel, Los Angeles Times, November 24, 1991, Spin Doctors To The World : The Sawyer Miller Group Uses The Tricks Of Political Campaigns To Change The Way You Think About Foreign Governments, Big Business And Any Client In Need Of An Image Lift
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ http://www.digitalunchained.com/2012/07/social-media-and-issues-management-firebell/
- ↑ http://www.bizjournals.com/dallas/print-edition/2012/01/27/firm-agrees-to-restraining-order-in-pr.html
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ http://everything-pr.com/weber-shandwick-tokyo/35081/
- ↑ http://webershandwick.asia/weber-shandwick-wins-tokyo-2020-olympic-global-brief/
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
