Acumen Republic – one of New Zealand’s longest established PR agencies – is gearing up its Australian offering with the appointment of Hill & Knowlton’s Myrna Van Pelt as general manager.
Van Pelt was with Hill & Knowlton for nine years, most recently as Asia Pacific director of analyst relations.
Before Hill & Knowlton, she was a corporate affairs manager for Apple for four years.
Michael Dunlop, MD of Acumen Republic, said: “2011 will be a year of growth for the Acumen Republic brand across the Trans Tasman. Under Myrna’s management, we have faith and expectation that the Australian market will yield strong results for our business.
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“We selected Myrna Van Pelt from a wide field of Australian candidates and we’re excited to have secured someone of this calibre to spearhead and rapidly expand our presence in this market. The skills and reputation from her senior agency and in-house roles across the last 15 years will help to steer the business in the right direction.”
Van Pelt, who starts on Monday, said: “I am delighted to be given this opportunity to grow the Acumen Republic footprint in Australia.”
Acumen Republic has been in the NZ market for more than 30 years. It opened its Sydney office a year ago with Alcatel-Lucent as foundation client.