Burson Names Regional Leadership Across Global Operations

(MENAFN- PRovoke) NEW YORK - BCW and Hill & Knowlton have named their first round of Burson regional leaders, including Americas and EMEA CEOs - BCW's Kristine Boyden and Scott Wilson respectively.

Both Boyden and Wilson currently hold those same roles at BCW, which, along with fellow WPP firm H&K, will officially merge into Burson July 1, creating a $1bn PR firm that could arguably be the industry's biggest player.

Boyden and Wilson assumed their current roles in October, when BCW made a number of global leadership changes - the first significant moves to the senior team since former google communications head Corey duBrowa took over as the agency's global CEO from Donna Imperato in August.

At that time, Boyden assumed the new role of CEO, Americas, covering the US, Canada, Mexico and Latin America, after more than a dozen years at Edelman and leading in-house comms for Cruise. Wilson had been BCW's Europe and Africa president for the past five years.

Craig Buchholz ,
who joined H&K as US CEO from GM in July, will continue to lead the region as Burson's US CEO.
Simon Whitehead , H&K's longtime UK CEO, also will retain his role under Burson.

Other appointments include a mix of current BCW and H&K leaders.

Bashar AlKadhi, currently H&K's
CEO of EMEAx, will become CEO, Middle East, Turkey & Africa, Burson.
HS Chung, currently H&K president, Asia-Pacific, will become CEO, North Asia-Pacific – covering greater China, Japan and Korea.

Matt Stafford, currently BCW president, Asia-Pacific, will become Burson's CEO, South Asia-Pacific – covering India, Australia, New Zealand, Singapore, Indonesia, Thailand and Malaysia; and Brian Burlingame, currently CEO, Latin America, H&K, will become CEO, Latin America, Burson.

“This is an outstanding group of colleagues, each of whom has decades of experience - whether in-house or at agencies - building and protecting client reputations, creating environments where people can perform their best and thrive, and driving business growth,” said BCW global CEO Corey duBrowa, who will lead Burson as global CEO with H&K global chairman and CEO
AnnaMaria DeSalva , who has been named Burson's global chairman.

“These leaders have performed exceptionally in their current roles and will bring that same commitment and rigor to their new positions at Burson.”

WPP's decision to merge the holding group's two biggest PR firms, announced Jan. 25, comes five years after BCW was created by the takeover of Burson-Marsteller by Cohn & Wolfe. According to spokespersons from the two firms, Hill & Knowlton will continue to operate as a distinct brand within Burson, "serving a select group of clients globally through strategic communications, advisory and public affairs services, including clients where there may be conflicts."

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