Hill & Knowlton - PRNewser

H+K Launches Sustainability Reporting Tool

Tonya Garcia — Wed, 29 Feb 2012 11:42:37 +0000

Hill+Knowlton Strategies‘ sustainability and CSR practice has launched an integrated reporting tool that brings together financial, environmental, social, and governance data together into one form.

The firm has partnered with Harvard Business School professor Robert Eccles and his firm Glenelg Partners on the new offering. Eccles’ research has found that companies that have taken big steps in the areas of sustainability and good governance do better financially in the long run, both for themselves and for investors. As such, this tool is being touted as a way to improve the financial performance of those who use it.

“Investors find less risk in more transparent companies because there is less uncertainty about their ability to deliver expected financial performance,” Eccles says in a statement.

Robert Ludke, SVP of H+K’s D.C. office will lead this new service and Eccles will advise.

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H&K Is Now Hill + Knowlton Strategies

Tonya Garcia — Thu, 01 Dec 2011 11:47:12 +0000

Starting today, Hill & Knowlton is Hill + Knowlton Strategies, a rebranding that the firm says highlights the strategic communications counsel that it provides. John W. Hill launched H&K in 1927 in Cleveland. Today, the company is led by Jack Martin, global chairman and CEO. He assumed that role January 1 of this year.

The rebrand has been in the works for a year and includes a new website and a big investment in digital and research capabilities. For more info, check out the video above.

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Lamel Lands at H&K

Tonya Garcia — Wed, 19 Oct 2011 10:56:46 +0000

Joshua Lamel has joined Hill & Knowlton as the firm’s tech lead in Washington D.C. As SVP and the D.C. practice leader, he’ll be working with new and existing clients.

Lamel joins from J2 Public Strategies, a lobbying and government relations firm that he founded. He has also worked at the trade association TechAmerica, serving for a time as SVP of commercial policy and government affairs. And he worked in government as chief of staff for former Rep. Kendrick Meek (D-FL) and legislative counsel for Sen. Ron Wyden (D-OR).

In a statement announcing the new hire, Hadley Wilkins, H&K’s U.S. tech practice director, called technology one of the firm’s “fastest growing sectors in the U.S.”

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H&K ‘Restructures’ Research Practice

Tonya Garcia — Wed, 24 Aug 2011 13:24:45 +0000

Details weren’t exactly forthcoming, but Hill & Knowlton has confirmed that the agency is “restructuring” its research practice group.

According to Lori Hamamoto, H&K’s director of communications, there is now a “greater emphasis on primary research to better serve clients, something we can now provide internally.” That work was previously outsourced.

There have been “a few people who have left due to the restructuring,” but Hamamoto would not confirm names or numbers. The firm has always provided secondary research and will continue to do so.

When asked what prompted the research group changes, Hamamoto said with changes in leadership, there have been “across the board” shifts to “improve the company.” There have been a number of developments at the agency — new practice groups and staffers among them — over recent months.

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Sports Marketing and PR in the Digital Age Gets Complicated

Tonya Garcia — Fri, 29 Jul 2011 15:59:16 +0000

Among the latest sports news, Chad Ochocinco is going to the Patriots. Photo: Jim Rogash/Getty Images

“It wasn’t that long ago that fan and media access to athletes came through sponsorships,” said Ben Trounson, SVP, director of marketing communications at Hill & Knowlton here in the U.S. “That was one of the main conduits. If you fast-forward just five years, fans get access to these athletes through Twitter.”

This is just one of the major changes impacting sports marketing and PR. With a seemingly neverending stream of sports news over the past few weeks — the NFL lockout, women’s World Cup, players breaking the law — we decided to speak with a couple of experts in this area to get a sense of some of the trends and major issues. As evidenced from the quote above, digital communications is definitely on top of the list.

continued…

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H&K Launches Global Sports Practice

Tonya Garcia — Mon, 25 Jul 2011 10:33:12 +0000

Hill & Knowlton has launched a global sports marketing and sponsorship practice, to be run by the MD of the sports marketing division in the UK, Andy Sutherden. He will continue to work out of the London office and hang on to his MD title.

H&K has worked with sports clients for more than 15 years, including six sponsors of the coming London 2012 Olympics. According to the firm, H&K earned more than £3 million in revenues from the U.K. sports practice in 2010, a 44 percent increase.

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GM’s Global Comms VP Joins H&K

Tonya Garcia — Thu, 30 Jun 2011 11:59:32 +0000

Chris Preuss has joined Hill & Knowlton as an EVP serving on WPP‘s automotive team in Dearborn, MI.

He was most recently the VP of global comms at General Motors and president of GM’s OnStar subsidiary. He worked with the company as it made its way through bankruptcy and restructuring. While at GM, he also held leadership positions for European communications, comms for Cadillac, among others.

At H&K, he’ll spend most of his time working with WPP on the Ford account, focusing on global product communications.

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Miami Beach Tourism Group Selects H&K as AOR

Tonya Garcia — Wed, 29 Jun 2011 14:13:18 +0000

The Miami Beach Visitor and Convention Authority (MBVCA) has chosen Hill & Knowlton as its AOR after a competitive review. MBVCA is setting out to promote the area as a place for both tourists and businesses.

The firm will conduct outreach to consumer and travel media, target events, and create business and corporate communications programs.

“With its extensive presence in the US and internationally, H&K was a natural choice for us. As a destination that relies heavily on leisure tourism and business groups, the agency’s ability to network and leverage its global relationships is crucial to the growth of brand ‘Miami Beach,’” Elsie Howard, chair of the MBVCA said in a press release statement.

H&K has a Miami office, which will be leading the account alongside the New York office.

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Koeneman Appointed Head of H&K’s Financial Practice

Tonya Garcia — Tue, 14 Jun 2011 10:25:38 +0000

Claire Koeneman has been named EVP and U.S. leader for Hill & Knowlton financial comms practice. Koeneman previously spent 17 years with the Financial Relations Board (FRB) working on crisis communications, M&A, bankruptcies, and other areas of financial communications. She was president of the firm when she made the move to H&K.

Koeneman will be based in Chicago and report to Dan Bartlett, US CEO and president.

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Campaign Targets 18- to 34-Year-Old Litterbugs

Tonya Garcia — Tue, 07 Jun 2011 17:12:21 +0000

Keep America Beautiful and its firm Hill & Knowlton have launched a new campaign “Littering is Wrong Too” that moves away from the iconic crying Native American PSA and adds Facebook and Twitter components to encourage 18- to 34-year-olds not to be such litterbugging jerks.

Online, visitors talk about what’s wrong, always with the reminder that “littering is wrong too.” Offline, the message will be posted on billboards, t-shirts, and other materials that will drive traffic to the online sites.

According to the press release, U.S. roads collect more than 51 billion pieces of trash each year and litter clean up costs businesses, governments, and others about $11.5 billion annually.

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H&K Hosting Seminar With Angry Birds at Cannes

Tonya Garcia — Wed, 25 May 2011 11:33:31 +0000

Hill & Knowlton has partnered with the Rovio Mobile blockbuster game Angry Birds to host a seminar at the 2011 Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity about brand engagement and what brands can learn from the game.

Peter Vesterbacka, Rovio Mobile’s “Mighty Eagle” will be presenting, along with by H&K’s global strategy director, Amanda Groty.

For those who can’t be at the seminar live in France on June 21st, you can follow along @HillandKnowlton using #HKCannes. The partnership between the Cannes Festival and H&K was announced in November.

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UCP Goes Beyond Cerebral Palsy

Tonya Garcia — Mon, 16 May 2011 13:36:16 +0000

United Cerebral Palsy (UCP) has been working with its PR firm, Hill & Knowlton, on a campaign to spread the word that the organization is about more than just helping people with cerebral palsy. Rather, it’s dedicated to helping people with a wide spectrum of disabilities including autism, muscular dystrophy, and other conditions to live an independent life.

The first target for this message is the organization’s network of affiliates. Besides the PSA above, H&K and UCP worked with the design firm Abrials & Partners on print PSAs that are being used by more than 70 percent of the organization’s affiliates. The idea is that by reaching the affiliates first, the message will spread even further with the public.

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Gidez Promoted to H&K Global Crisis Lead

Tonya Garcia — Thu, 21 Apr 2011 17:18:44 +0000

Hill & Knowlton has promoted Chris Gidez to a new position: global crisis practice leader, reporting to Jack Martin, chairman and CEO of the firm.

Gidez is now part of the senior global leadership team, and will help build and maintain the risk management and crisis business across the network.

Gidez joined H&K in 2005 as head of the U.S. risk and crisis management group. Prior to that, he worked with Chevron.

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Groty Named to New Position at H&K

Tonya Garcia — Fri, 08 Apr 2011 11:36:58 +0000

Amanda Groty has been promoted to global strategy director, a new role, at Hill & Knowlton. In this new job, she will partner with members of senior leadership and both internal and external analysts to decide where the firm should invest its efforts towards new business, growth opportunities, talent, and other areas. She will report to the firm’s chairman and CEO, Jack Martin.

Groty joined H&K in 2002 and has worked with Fortune 1000 clients internationally. Prior to joining H&K she was MD at Beattie Media, building the firm’s London operation.

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Wilkins Named H&K U.S. Tech Director

Tonya Garcia — Mon, 28 Mar 2011 17:21:25 +0000

Hadley Wilkins, an SVP in Hill & Knowlton’s San Francisco office, has been named U.S. technology practice director, reporting to Dan Bartlett, H&K U.S. president and CEO, and Joshua Reynolds, global tech practice director. She will also take a place on the U.S. Strategy Council.

Over the past three years, Wilkins has worked with clients including LinkedIn, SanDisk, and Adobe Omniture. She has previously worked with Fleishman-Hillard, Citigate Cunningham, and Landor Associates.

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