Hill & Knowlton boss Michelle Hutton quits for Edelman
Hill & Knowlton CEO Michelle Hutton is quitting the agency for rival Edelman.
And Weber Shandwick’s head of client services Alexandra Kelly is to join Edelman as general manager of its Sydney office.
Hutton will not join Edelman until June 1. She said in a press release: “I am looking forward to working with the leadership team to build a unique and strong local offer in this market.”
Alan VanderMolen, Edelman’s President, Asia-Pacific, said: “We believe the time is now to deepen leadership and to innovate in this market. This is the first phase of a broader plan of initiatives that Edelman will be rolling out in Australia.”
The moves see Edelman’s MD Amanda Little moved into a new role, building the agency a sustainability practice aimed at helping clients develop their corporate social responsibility strategies.
It is unclear who will take the reins at Hill & Knowlton when Hutton, who was unavailable for comment at the time of posting, departs. However, last month the agency appointed Catriona Booth as its GM.
Hutton, who will be Edelman’s national CEO, recently appeared at Mumbrella Question Time.
Update: Hill & Knowlton will replace the CEO role, but in the meantime, the management team will act up.
Good luck, Michelle. One of the nicest bosses I’ve ever worked under, back in my agency years.
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All the best Michelle – I’m surte you will be at least as successful over at Edelman.
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Just went through a pitch process with 5 agencies including Edelman and H&K. Both stood out but for opposite reasons —Edelman impressed but H&K didn’t.
I’ve heard many people refer to H&K as a ‘sinking ship’ after steadily losing talent and clients (including myself) left right and centre for a while now?
So if that’s the case how does that reflect on Michelle? When you’re running the ship that’s sinking..?
Hope the same thing doesn’t happen to Edelman come June because I’m actually looking forward to working with them!
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