Newsletter: Porter Novelli positions itself for growth
There have been a number of changes at Porter Novelli over the past three months and it is with unabashed excitement that I ask you to join me in congratulating Strahan Wallis and Valerie Mackenzie in their new roles; General Manager and Chief Operating Officer respectively.
For us, the future of PR is about creating inspiring and innovative ideas, making the right connections for our clients and really transforming the way people think and organisations operate. As we reach to turn these thoughts into reality, it became obvious we needed additional senior management support to shore Porter Novelli up for continued growth.
Strahan has been with Porter Novelli since last July and brings 15 years of national and international experience to the role of General Manager. He joined us from KPMG where he was responsible for National Marketing, Communications and Research.
As General Manager, he will take on increasing responsibility for the day to day running of the business. This new structure will allow me to concentrate on growing the business further, while freeing up time to get more involved with gnarly business issues and what is keeping CEOs awake at night so we can help transform their business.
Valerie is a new addition to the Porter Novelli team and has more than 25 years of experience in finance and accountancy in New Zealand and the United Kingdom, specialising in media. She joins us from Fairfax Magazines. As Chief Operating Officer, Valerie will assume responsibility for general office management and provide strategic financial support to the company.
New Clients:
Porter Novelli has recently won work from leading edge firms such as GE, Methven, DB Breweries and Torpedo 7/1-day.
These wins showcase our strength in both corporate and consumer work and I couldn’t be more proud of my team. Watch this space!
Awards:
Porter Novelli New Zealand was recently awarded first place at the Microsoft Newshound awards for its Explorer Kev social media campaign and was also awarded second place in the PR Agency of the Year category. Having worked with Microsoft New Zealand for a number of years, this was a very exciting moment for us. The Microsoft team includes Sarah Williams, Sarah Rutherford, Natalie Benning, Bill Rundle and Sharron Martin.
The company also recently acknowledged at the CAANZ Effie awards for the Taste of Yellow campaign. Along with Colenso, Starcom and Aim Proximity, Porter Novelli took out the Best Integrated Campaign award – great to see agency collaboration and interlinking at its best. The award winning Yellow Chocolate team was lead by Executive Director Louise Wright, and account support from Senior Account Manager Sarah Geel and Senior Account Executive Anna McIntosh.
Strahan Wallis was awarded the Marketing Public Relations Award for his work with KPMG at the PRINZ Awards.
It’s been a busy month with business wins, promotions and awards, as always we thank our clients and staff for their fantastic support.