Ogilvy

Ogilvy PR has added two executives to the 360 Digital Influence practice: David Brooks as SVP and Geoffrey Colon as VP.

Brooks was previously the director of digital strategy at Burson-Marsteller and Proof Integrated Communications and has worked with clients including Kraft and JPMorgan Chase over the years. Colon joins from Splendid Communications where he led digital teams here, in London, and in Sydney and worked with clients like Spotify and Topshop.

The firm has made a number of hires in the group over the past year or so, including Tom Deluca last month, Jose Martinez Salmeron earlier this month, Maury Postal as digital experience director this summer, and Dirk Shaw in early 2010.

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Ogilvy‘s social media practice, 360 Digital Influence, partnered with ChatThreads BrandEncounter to study the impact that social media exposure had on 404 restaurant consumers. The study looked at how social media activity impacted the amount people ate, how much they spent, and their attitudes before and after the study was conducted. (The study was done at various time periods between January 20 and May 6.)

Result: Social media is one more reason why you’re fat.

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IT/cloud management company BMC Software has chosen Ogilvy PR as its global AOR after a competitive search.

BMC had been working with Waggener Edstrom until it was announced that the five-year relationship would come to an end. WE will work with BMC through October.* WE did not pitch the business.

The work with Ogilvy PR will include corporate communications; thought leadership;digital, analyst, and traditional media outreach; and product PR. The work will span 20 markets including those in the U.S., Asia, and EMEA. Ogilvy’s tech practice out of the San Francisco office is handling the account.

In a press release statement, Kasey Holman, AVP of global communications at BMC said the company has been working with Ogilvy in Sydney for the past seven years. “Ogilvy PR has consistently delivered strong results and strategic thinking,” the statement goes on to say.

*Correction: We previously wrote that the work came to an end in August.

Ogilvy Washington has signed a five-year, multi-million dollar contract with the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI) to continue its work on “The Heart Truth” campaign. The firm has worked with the NHLBI on the campaign since 2001. The organization is part of the National Institutes of Health.

The campaign raises awareness about heart disease among women; the NHLBI says heart disease is the deadliest disease for American women.

The campaign includes an annual Red Dress Fashion Show at Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week, community outreach and local screenings, and a social media component.

Judy Brennan, who had been an Ogilvy PR New York staff member in the 1990s is returning to the firm effective May 31 as EVP and Midwest director of the firm’s financial and reputation risk group.

Previously, she was the SVP and director of the Midwest corporate and healthcare practice at Ketchum. While there, she worked on issues related to recessionary TARP funding and with a number of health insurers, among others. She also spent 12 years with Sard Verbinnen & Co. working on IPOs, M&As, and corporate reputation management.

Also joining Ogilvy is Iain Bundred, who worked as spokesperson for former British Prime Minister Gordon Brown. He will serve as director of strategic media relations in the London office, leading efforts in crisis, political comms, and reputation management.

Michelle Press and Drew Ferguson have joined Ogilvy PR‘s corporate practice in Chicago as SVPs. Press will lead the b-to-b and corporate technology groups. She joins from GolinHarris where she was SVP of programming and client relationships in areas including b-to-b marketing and corporate reputation.

Ferguson will work with C-level comms and reputation initiatives. He was previously at Ketchum where he handled crisis and issues management for Thornburg Mortgage and handled strategy for Nokia, United Airlines, and other clients.

Ogilvy has announced a number of staff changes in the past few months, including the addition of Jennifer Risi and Alyssa Garnick.

Jennifer Risi joined Ogilvy PR as EVP of the firm’s 360 Degree Media Influence practice and director of content creation on March 1. Risi was previously EVP at Weber Shandwick where she co-founded the firm’s global strategic media practice with Billee Howard and founded that firm’s proprietary VOICEBOXX system for executive speaking engagements. Howard recently joined Allison & Partners as MD of  the firm’s new Brand Innovation group.

According to her LinkedIn profile, Risi was also recently president of JMR Communications from November 2010.

At Ogilvy, Risi will be responsible for providing counsel on global media relations, brand innovation, and CEO positioning.

Ogilvy PR has a new EVP and head of the New York consumer marketing practice. Alyssa Garnick joins the firm from Ketchum where she was an SVP and group manager working with brands like IKEA and Hertz.

Tori Rappold has also joined the firm as VP in the consumer marketing practice. Previously, she was director of PR for fashion brand Cynthia Rowley.

The additions are just a couple of changes that have occurred in the firm’s consumer practice. PRWeek has a list, including the departure of Eric Slutsky, former EVP and head of the New York consumer practice; Bill Reihl, former EVP of consumer for North America (the search continues for his replacement); Mark O’Connor, who has moved on from SVP of media relations to EVP of media at Zeno Group; and Denise Vitola, former SVP of the group, who left to join MSLGroup in its personal care practice.

Examiner.com, producers of local news content via its network of 68,000 “Examiners,” has selected Ogilvy PR as its U.S. AOR. The firm was selected following a competitive review. In addition, Ogilvy worked on a number of projects for Examiner.com in 2010.

Ogilvy’s tech practice out of Denver and New York will work on the business, which will focus on building awareness about the outlet with digital and local marketers and highlighting the quality of the content produced by the site’s writers.

The press release announcing the new account offers some stats about Examiner.com. Click through for details.

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Ogilvy announced the addition of Rachel Polish to its 360-degree Digital Influence Group today, with the title of VP of digital strategy. She’s spearheading the division’s word-of-mouth and social media efforts on the west coast, from Ogilvy’s San Francisco office according to the press release.

Most PR people with digital titles also spend considerable personal time using social media, and Polish is no different. Except she does it for the military as a Coast Guard reservist, lending a hand during breaking news and crises.

Prior to Ogilvy, Polish was a senior PR manager at SanDisk.

Her first outward-facing effort was to weigh in on the New York Times “Spinning the Web” feature about Brooke Hammerling and others in tech PR, as so many have this week. See “In Defense of All Things Public Relations and Social Media” on Ogilvy’s Fresh Influence blog.

[photo from Polish's Twitter profile]