Ogilvy

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]

Ogilvy PR's Far East CEO Christopher Graves upgraded to global CEO of the large WPP agency, according to a press release today. Graves is characterized within by Ogilvy & Mather's CEO Miles Young as a man who will "take the work forward with flair and elan" and as a citizen of the world.

Graves, 50, succeeds Marcia Silverman who moves over to the title of Chair. The move is presumably part of Ogilvy's expanded board's move to younger leadership.

What's interesting about Mr. Graves, is that his accent in PR may be the highest example of "Hack turned Flack" available. His 23 of experience in business news ending with his joining Ogilvy in 2005 spans many divisions of Dow Jones, and CNBC, including the co-founding Wall Street Journal Television, as managing editor of Asia Business News, vice president of news and programming for CNBC Asia, vice president of news and programming for CNBC Europe, managing director of business development (EMEA & Asia) for Dow Jones Consumer Electronic Publishing (WSJ.com) and as managing director of Far Eastern Economic Review. In a good-natured quote give to the Wall Street Journal, he admits to being evil to PR people during his tenure in the media.

[Photo via the Clinton Global Initiative]

Ogilvy Director of External Relations Rachel Foltz sent us a press release today announcing two new hires in the agency's digital practice. Virginia Miracle joined as Senior Vice President and Head of Digital Strategy and Adriana Gascoigne came aboard as Vice President of Digital Strategy in California.

Read the full release after the jump.

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