Aedhmar Hynes, CEO of Text 100, received the Distinguished Service Award of the Arthur W. Page Society and Ray Kotcher, non-executive chair of Ketchum, was inducted into the Page Hall of Fame. Brexit was discussed.
The honors were bestowed at the 33rd annual conference of the Page Society Sept. 11 in London.
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The conference focused on the vote to withdraw the U.K. from the Common Market, a move that brought from Martin Wolf, chief economics commentator of the Financial Times, the remark that “It was all insane. The referendum was an asinine idea…I think we are screwed.”
Wolf provided numbers that showed Brexit as a rebellion of young against old, educated against less educated, provinces vs. cities, and well-off vs. less well-off.
Simon Walker of the Institute of Directors talked about the rise of populism, excessive executive pay, waning public trust in institutions, and companies evolving but failing to adequately retrain employees to meet new demands.
Management is wrestling with a workforce that has a deficit of “soft skills,” meaning “creativity, collaboration, emotional intelligence and resourcefulness—the human skills that will be at a premium as companies modernize their operations and attempt to bridge divides,” he said.
Erin Mayer, who teaches about cultural intelligence at INSEAD, graduate business school with campuses at Fountainbleau, France, Singapore and Abu Dhabi, said that for companies expanding into new markets, navigating new cultures is a top requirement of the CCO. They need to develop understanding of how the different cultures operate, he said.
Hynes Has Passion for Communications
The Distinguished Service Award honors those who have strengthened the role of PR in business and society through service, writing, research, speaking or teaching. Most recent recipients include Frank Ovaitt of the Institute for PR, John Onoda of Fleishman-Hillard, and Maril MacDonald of Gagen MacDonald.
Hynes, a Page trustee, has served as co-chair of its Thought Leadership Committee which aims to improve the strategic leadership role of the chief communications officer. She is co-chair of the Page Globalization Committee which is “dedicated to making Page truly a global organization with a critical mass of members in all major world geographies.”
Becoming more global will help Page to achieve its mission in an increasingly global world and greatly enrich the peer learning and networking experience for Page members, she said.
"Throughout my career I've been passionate about telling stories, giving my clients a voice and seeing the impact that effective communication can have on a company's success," Hynes added. "It is a tremendous honor to be recognized by some of the most respected leaders in our profession, and I feel incredibly fortunate that I've earned this recognition through doing work that I am passionate about."
Hynes is a Henry Crown Fellow at The Aspen Institute and a Board Director of Technoserve, a nonprofit leader in harnessing the power of the private sector to help people lift themselves out of poverty. She is a member of MIT Media Lab Advisory Council and sits on the Foundation Board of her alma mater, The National University of Ireland – Galway. Hynes has been also named one of the top 50 most influential people in PR by PRWeek magazine, and received the Global Technology Award for Communications from the Global Technology Network.
"Aedhmar has been instrumental in advancing the mission of the Society through her active involvement in many of our most notable initiatives," said Dave Samson, general manager of public affairs for Chevron Corporation and chairman of the Arthur W. Page Society. "But what makes Aedhmar stand apart, is her selfless leadership style that has earned her the widespread admiration of her clients, Text100 colleagues and industry peers. For her extensive service to our profession, we are pleased to recognize her with the Arthur Page Society's 2016 Distinguished Service Award."
Kotcher: “This Is Our Time”
Kotcher, in his acceptance remarks, which were titled, “This Is Our Time,” reflected on thedevelopment of the discipline and looked out at the years to come.
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"For more than a century, all of us in this industry – agencies, clients and educators - working together around the world, through mutuality of endeavor, defined a new industry,” he said.
"We have come far. Yet much remains to be done to realize the opportunity that awaits us. Let all of us remain committed to our common interests and leverage our collective strength with the spirit of community that brought us to today.
We will not realize our great purpose without the human resource – talent. Talent with the right skills and importantly, character. Character counts. A strong sense of integrity must be the core value of our work. We must do it right – with verity, credibility, truthfulness. High standards must remain our guiding principles. For us and those to come, this is the clear path to continued, sustainable success for our great profession.”s
32 Years at Ketchum
Kotcher spent 32 years at Ketchum, 12 of them as Global CEO and eight as president before that. He oversaw the expansion of the firm's global client service footprint and helped broaden and deepen Ketchum's offerings. During his tenure, he also strengthened the agency's corporate practice, client service proposition, inculcated new approaches to program development and enriched the agency's own social responsibility activities.
His counsel—in collaboration with some of the best CCOs in the business—elevated the importance of reputation in major companies, said Page chairman Dave Samson, general manager of public affairs, Chevron Corp.
He worked as part of Ketchum's FedEx team that developed reputation metrics that became a component of the incentive program for FedEx's top executives. They identified the key reputation drivers and then activated an ongoing program to drive improvement that was precisely measured every year.
Kotcher also brought the same focus and systematic approach to reputation in his counsel with Hyundai, which over 15 years went to the top of the quality ratings and became one of the fastest-growing car companies during the recent Great Recession. Additionally, he also guided the firm to provide clients with breakthrough ideas that earned numerous industry accolades, including several PRWeek and SABRE awards, Public Relations Society of America Silver Anvils, as well as Cannes Lions for work done with clients such as MasterCard, Frito-Lay, Michelin, IKEA and Pfizer.
"Over the course of his career, Ray was never satisfied with the status quo,” said Samson. “He continually reinvented himself and the agency he led. As a result,
Ray firmly established himself as one of our profession's great leaders and Ketchum as one of the world's leading consultancies. I can think of no one more deserving of this extraordinary honor."
Rob Flaherty, partner, chairman and CEO of Ketchum, a Page trustee and Kotcher's long-time colleague and friend, added, "After nearly thirty years of working closely with Ray, I can attest that no one has more of a passion for our business or more dedication to doing the right thing than Ray Kotcher. Whether it was the counsel he gave our senior clients or the countless decisions he made at Ketchum, he was always focused on landing on the choice that was right and would stand the test of time."
In thanking the Page Honors Committee and trustees for the recognition Kotcher said, "I am humbled to stand alongside past Hall of Fame inductees – trailblazers and pioneers, giants of public relations and communications. It is the greatest honor of my professional life."
Kotcher, says Page, has spent his career raising the standard and stature of the practice of public relations through his engagement with several industry organizations, including the Council of Public Relations Firms (now the PR Council), the Institute for Public Relations (IPR) and the PRSA. He also has served on the executive committee and board of trustees of the Page Society and chaired the Society's membership committee during the period of Page's greatest membership growth, advocating passionately for the diversity and quality of the membership. He recently stepped down from his senior executive position at Ketchum, but remains in an advisory capacity with the firm as non-executive chairman. Kotcher begins teaching full-time at Boston University as a professor of the practice of public relations this month.
Page: 700 Members in 20+ Countries
The Society website describes it as a professional association for senior public relations and corporate communications executives who seek to enrich and strengthen their profession. Membership consists primarily of CCOs of Fortune 500 corporations, the CEOs of the world's largest public relations agencies, and leading academics from top business and communications schools. With more than 700 members in over 20 countries, the Page Society enables members to develop professional relationships with the most knowledgeable, influential and innovative global leaders in enterprise communications. Members also participate in producing thought leadership that is shaping the understanding of the value and role of corporate communications, and are able to take advantage of professional development opportunities for their staff. The Page Society is dedicated to strengthening the enterprise leadership role of the CCO.
Business leaders will face challenges in the upcoming year, some of which will come as a complete surprise, or beyond anyone's imagination.
Teneo has hired Philipp Grontzki, who is a 20-year veteran of corporate communications and financial journalism, as a managing director in its strategy and communications group.
Rowan Benecke, who co-founded Zeno Group and helmed Burson-Marsteller's tech practice, has joined McKinsey & Co as director of communications for North America.
BCW has named Golin's Matt Coldagelli EVP and leader of its corporate affairs practice in Chicago.
Abby Bailey, who headed corporate communications for Fedex in its Middle East, India and Africa region, has joined Teneo as managing director in Dubai.
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