Annalise Brown to chair PR Council
The founder of M&C Saatchi Group’s PR agency Hidden Characters Annalise Brown has been voted the next chair of the Public Relations Council.
Last year, Brown led the launch of M&C Saatchi Group’s new PR offering, Hidden Characters – a rebrand of Bang PR where she had served as managing director for two years. She has also led teams as MD at Spin Communications, Splendid Communications and Porter Novelli Australia.
The PRC, mainly representing consumer PR agencies, is organised under the auspices of industry body The Communications Council.
TCC said in a statement that Brown is a “passionate industry professional and advocate” who, since becoming a member of the PRC in 2013 has “been pivotal in driving council initiatives including industry measurement, mentoring, and more recently working closely on redefining and aligning the vision of the PRC to the broader TCC initiatives”.
Brown said: “TCC’s PR representative member council plays an important role not only in raising industry standards through professional development, events and mentoring, but also in representing the interests of consumer PR agencies and the specific issues facing industry professionals today in this ever-changing communications landscape. I am looking forward to continuing this work in 2017.”
She replaces Melissa Cullen, co-founder and managing director of Res Publica, who has held the position since December 2014 and been on the board of TCC for two years.
Cullen has chaired the PRC since 2014
Under Cullen’s leadership, the PRC rolled out a pilot mentoring program in 2016 and delivered numerous industry events including forums, conversation nights, open committee meetings and leadership luncheons, the statement said.
Cullen said it had been a privilege to lead the PRC and help members strive towards best practice.
“Over the past six months we have been working closely with other members of TCC to identify additional opportunities to demonstrate how commercial creativity drives business growth. PR plays a huge role in this and I am excited about the future direction of the PRC.”
CEO of TCC Tony Hale thanked Brown for her service.
“Melissa has played an instrumental role in building the PRC’s reputation as an industry leader that progresses the interests of PR professionals nation-wide and we would like to thank her for her passion, commitments and tenacity throughout.”
He added: “We are delighted that Annalise has accepted the role of chair. She has been an important committee member and PRC advocate. We have a great calendar of activity planned for 2017 and look forward to driving the future of our industry further.”
As part of the role, Brown will also take a board seat on The Communications Council, which is chaired by colleague Jaimes Leggett, CEO of M&C Saatchi.
topics
Annalise Brown
Bang PR
Hidden Characters
M&C Saatchi
Melissa Cullen
PRC
Public Relations Council
The Communications Council
