Dentsu Creative Public Relations launches in ANZ led by Tim Powell
Eight months on from the global merger of all Dentsu creative and PR brands, Dentsu Creative has launched its local public relations capability under the leadership of chief PR officer, Tim Powell.
Initially slated to roll into the newly consolidated Dentsu Creative offering in September, Powell said the delays in finalising the group’s PR offering came down to working “sensibly” through what was “effectively creating a new agency”.
Dentsu Creative Public Relations will be lead by chief public relations officer, Tim Powell
“These things take time,” he told Mumbrella, “but we have all our capabilities and all our people lined up, and we’re ready to tell the world about Dentsu Creative Public Relations”.
The newly consolidated offering brings together expertise from heritage brands Haystac (consumer and brand), Cox Inall (behaviour change, corporate and argibusiness) and Cox Inall Ridgeway (First Nations).
Cox Inall Ridgeway is 51% owned by its First Nation’s employee trust, and 49% owned by Dentsu, and will continue to operate as a go-to-market brand in its own right.
Dentsu Creative ANZ CEO, Kirsty Muddle, said: “At Dentsu Creative, storytelling sits at the heart of everything we do. We have the unique ability to turn strategy into engaging moments that help brands create an emotional connection with their audience.
“In the ANZ market, we have one of the most sophisticated range of public relations capabilities within the global Dentsu network. Bringing together all our capabilities under a single brand and creating one united team enables our clients to seamlessly access the best-of-the-best, and there’s no better person to lead this than Tim Powell.
“Tim brings 30 years’ experience in journalism, politics, corporate affairs, and PR, and he has an extensive network across Australian business and media covering food and agribusiness, retail and sustainability. He also sits on the Board of the Product Stewardship Centre of Excellence, bringing our clients deep expertise in ways they can improve their sustainable footprint.”
Dentsu Creative CEO, Kristy Muddle
Dentsu Creative Public Relation’s team of 75 specialist will work hand in hand with Dentsu Creative’s strategy, creative, entertainment and production teams across Australia and New Zealand, in what Powell said will provide clients with “seamless access” to other specialisms and an “end-to-end” experience within the agency’s PR capabilities.
While he admits that the merger posed a risk of losing the deep experience built within each agency brand, Powell said this has been mitigated by keeping “key” leaders in the place.
“The teams are generally the same, but we’ve just freed up the ability to work across all those areas and for clients to be able to sign a single contract with Dentsu Creative and have access to a whole bunch of services, not just PR.”
Powell also pointed to Dentsu Creative’s three key service areas laid out in Dentsu Creative’s global strategy, being entertainment, earned attention and experience. In particular, he said that earned attention was a priority for global chief creative officer Fred Levron.
“The exciting part for my team is really having the spotlight on earned attention, and having similar ways of working so we can do the do the work we really love and value.”
Dentsu Creative Public Relations has offices in Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane, Canberra, Auckland, and several regional centres. The agency’s current client list includes Bunnings; Skyscanner; NiB; NAB Agribusiness; Product Stewardship Centre of Excellence; Australian Government Departments of Finance, Defence, Health and Aged Care; Aware Super, and Australian Prostate Cancer Centre.
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topics
Cox Inall
Cox Inall Ridgeway
Dentsu
Dentsu Creative Public Relations
Haystac
Kirsty Muddle
Tim Powell
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