SAN FRANCISCO–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Allison+Partners announced several updates to its executive team structure, expanding the global remit of three partners and appointing two additional partners to its global board. The new alignment will allow leaders to focus on developing and operationalizing solutions that meet clients’ evolving demands, scale the agency for growth globally and future-proof the business as it continues its trajectory of rapid global growth.
Jonathan Heit, one of the agency’s cofounders, has been elevated from global president to global chief operating officer, where his focus will be to help scale and operationalize the business for expansion. The expanded role will ensure that policies, technology and processes are in place to drive efficiencies along with growth. Having recently worked out of the agency’s Tokyo office before returning to New York, he will still play a pivotal part in global integration while leveraging his roots for some of the agency’s largest clients and new business prospects in consumer and B2B technology.
Global presidents Matthew Della Croce and Cathy Planchard will also take on new and expanded roles. In Della Croce’s new role as global president, worldwide client service, he will focus on pushing the agency to take on a big bold mindset reimagination of how it approaches the customer experience, client outcomes and delivering impactful value. Clients are demanding more value, higher quality and faster delivery of services. There’s an opportunity to disrupt the traditional marketing communications client service model and fundamentally change how we engage with our clients by aligning talent, innovation, creativity, data analytics and technology in transformational ways. Della Croce will lead the effort to seek ways to continue to widen and deepen the agency’s global client relationships, build new value-added services and models and work to create great efficiencies with teams around the world to focus on increased and measurable results. He will provide leadership and work in collaboration with the growing group of partners at the agency to increase global integration with its largest clients. Continuing to prioritize Allison+Partners industry leading one P&L approach, we will drive towards ushering in an experience renaissance.
Planchard will add health to her remit as global president, Marketing Innovation Team + Health, where she’ll spearhead the global expansion of the Marketing Innovation Team (formerly All Told) and its integrated services, which saw significant growth this past year as content consumption increased during quarantine and events and tradeshows pivoted to digital experiences. The group rebranded earlier this year to reflect how the agency is leaning into marketing innovation through data and technology to keep up with the accelerated pace of change. Planchard will also build a team focused on evolving the health practice to create a more robust, cohesive and scalable offering. The health group saw significant new client wins last year, including organizations funding research for COVID-19 therapeutics, addressing the need for increased PPE, improving the lives of pregnant women with diabetes, normalizing conversations around mental health and increasing trust and access to telehealth.
The agency also adds two new members to its global board, which is composed of the agency’s senior most leadership, including CFO Julia Farrell, along with Scott Allison and Andy Hardie-Brown. The new additions include Anne Colaiacovo, president, North America and Tom Smith, president, North America, Corporate. Colaiacovo oversees management of the agency’s 13 US offices as well as the North American PR function. Smith will continue to build upon the Corporate practice’s momentum in 2020, where the group recognized more than 250% growth in issues/crisis work, financial comms as well as in DE+I initiatives, thought leadership and advisory services.
“We made good progress last year in one of the most challenging environments in recent history,” said Scott Allison, co-founder, global chairman and CEO. “The agency continued to evolve and finished 2020 with positive momentum to continue the growth that have been the hallmark of our agency’s success. With a new management structure and global board members in place, we believe we have set the course for success in 2021 as we power into the recovery and remain committed to building the best agency in the world.”
In 2020, Allison+Partners managed significant growth across several client categories, expansion of work focused on business continuity for clients hit worst by COVID-19 and secured tremendous new wins, highlighted by Budweiser. Work grew on a global scale for clients, including Qualcomm, ResMed, Tech Data, Teradata and TikTok. To expand into new markets, the agency entered the Middle East through a partnership with Dubai-based Orient Planet with offices in KSA, Egypt, Bahrain, Jordan and Kuwait.
“Our strategy for growth includes a balanced formula of significant organic growth and measured merger and acquisition activity,” said Andy Hardie Brown, cofounder, vice chair, head of M&A and talent. “These individuals have successfully grown key areas of our business and will focus on eliminating any silos with a total focus on the agency’s one P&L model.”
About Allison+Partners
Allison+Partners is a global marketing and communications agency driven by a collaborative approach to innovation and creativity. The firm was named by PRovoke Media as one of its Global and North American Agencies of the Decade, 2020 North American Agencies of the Year and 2020 Best Agencies to Work For. The agency also scored a perfect 10 in PRWeek’s 2020 Agency Business Report, was named a Best Places to Work for the fourth consecutive year and recognized as one of PRWeek UK’s Fastest Growing Agencies in 2020. Allison+Partners operates in 31 markets worldwide and is organized around four practices: Consumer Brands, Corporate + Public Affairs, Health and Technology. The agency’s Marketing Innovation Team, which combines integrated marketing, creative, research and measurement expertise into one offering, works across these practices to deliver integrated storytelling for clients. Allison+Partners also has a network and deep affiliations with firms worldwide through MDC Partners (NASDAQ: MDCA), a progressive marketing and communications network, championing the most innovative entrepreneurial talent. For more information, visit www.allisonpr.com.
Contacts
Shanna Brown
shanna.brown@allisonpr.com
914-263-6837