Lots of people think ad agencies are an endangered species but that doesn’t seem to stop lots other companies trying to eat their lunch.
Now independently-owned Edelman, arguably the most successful global PR agency, is consolidating its advertising efforts through Edelman Deportivo, Deportivo being the much-awarded Swedish agency it bought in 2014. Edelman Deportivo will operate in London and Stockholm with a staff of 70 under Deportivo CEO Mattias Ronge who becomes chairman of Edelman Deportivo.
Edelman UK general manager Toby Gunton says: “Edelman Deportivo has established itself as the agency to watch. It has delivered effective and award winning campaigns and we’ve been working closely with the team in Stockholm for some time. It’s fantastic to be able to move this on to the next stage and officially bring their energy, creativity and approach to Edelman’s clients in the UK.”
New chairman Ronge says: “We are proud of the reputation we have built as communications pioneers and we now have a crucial opportunity to build our reputation and body of award winning work. Some of the best creativity in the world has been delivered from London – being a part of this is an opportunity we do not want to miss.”
Edelman is an interesting outfit. Founded it Chicago in 1952 by journalist Daniel J. Edelman it’s still largely owned by the family and run by son Richard (left), who maintains a high and outspoken profile, partly through his celebrated 6 AM blog. It was one of the first big PR firms to move strongly into social media. Rather like the Accentures of this world (Accenture recently bought UK creative agency Karmarama) it has a huge global client list, which should help its upgraded advertising arm.
