 Allan Kamau |
Weber Shandwick has opened an office in Nairobi, Kenya. The new practice is meant to serve as a hub for the agency’s East Africa operations and allow it to execute programs across the region. Allan Kamau, who was previously head of Portland Communication’s Nairobi office, will serve as managing director of Weber Shandwick East Africa. Kamau has also worked for the Financial Times and strategy and communications consultancy Africa Practice. “With over 75 percent of our work being pan-African, our new office will strengthen our ability to provide world class services seamlessly across the continent,” said Weber Shandwick Africa CEO Jill Hamilton. The agency already has an office in Johannesburg, South Africa, in addition to affiliates and partners throughout Africa.
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Ketchum has launched the Bee Marks Nutrition Communication Fellowship, a paid internship that will be awarded to one candidate who is a registered dietitian or completing his or her dietetic internship or master’s in nutrition in spring 2018. Based in New York, the fellow will work with Ketchum’s Borderless Nutrition team of on-staff registered dietitians and food marketing and communication experts, growing their nutrition expertise through tailored training and projects. The program honors the late Beatrice “Bee” G. Marks, a leader in developing the modern practice of food and nutrition marketing, who worked at Ketchum for more than 40 years. Marks died in September 2017 at the age of 95. “Bee not only built what is now Ketchum’s global food practice,” said Ketchum partner, director food & beverage, North America Kim Essex, “but she also was a true pioneer in the field.” To find out more about applying for the fellowship, click here.
 Mabel De Beunza |
DeepSleep Studio, a Miami-based creative agency, has added public relations to its list of services. The agency already provides clients with graphic design, branding, web development, social media, video production and motion graphics. The public relations sector of the firm will be led by Mabel De Beunza and Paula Gomez, who have represented Fotainebleau Miami Beach in addition to such clients as Trump National Doral and the Cancun Convention & Visitors Bureau. “As the lines continue to blur between traditional public relations, social, digital and marketing, we understood that to stay ahead of the curve and truly be a valuable resource for our clients, we needed to bring multi-faceted, expert-led solutions under one roof,” said DeBeunza.
DJE Holdings, parent of Edelman and Zeno, launches RUTH as an independent shop named after Ruth Edelman, mental health advocate, wife and longtime business partner of Dan Edelman.
New York City PR firms make up the largest slice of O'Dwyer's 147 firm overall ranking with 33 of 40 in the New York/New Jersey area either calling Manhattan their home or having a presence there.
Subject Matter+Kivvit, which joined forces in May, has rebranded as Avoq, an integrated shop with more than 200 professionals in Washington, New York, Asbury Park (NJ), Miami and Chicago.
While PR pros stationed at in-house comms. teams and those working for agencies share many of the same objectives, they also have markedly different top priorities, according to a recent report.
Edelman is cutting 240 employees or about four percent of its workforce to cope with the cooling down of the PR sector, according to a memo from CEO Richard Edelman.
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