NEW YORK and SAO PAULO, Sept. 26,
2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Interpublic today announced it has
acquired majority control of S2Publicom, ranked among the top five
public relations firms in Brazil.
The operation will represent an important part of Weber Shandwick
and Golin Harris growth plans in the
region. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.
S2Publicom was formed last year by the merger of S2 and
Publicom, two major public relations firms that have been operating
in the country for more than two decades, both of which were
affiliates of Weber Shandwick and Golin
Harris. The firm has two offices in Sao Paulo and one in Rio de Janeiro. It employs 125 professionals
with broad communications and media relations expertise, as well as
specialists in crisis management, media training and digital
communications. S2Publicom has been at the center of
marketing communications in Brazil, providing clients with strategic
communications insights and counsel in multiple sectors such as
corporate, consumer, technology and healthcare. McDonald's,
Petrobras, HTC and Gol Airlines are among the agency's
long-standing clients.
Jose Luiz Schiavoni, one of
S2Publicom's founding partners, will continue to lead the company
as CEO. Schiavoni has been a pioneer in the public relations
industry in Brazil. In addition to his client-related
experience, he has been a vocal advocate for continuous improvement
of professional standards and ethics in public relations. He
also served as the president of the Brazilian Association of Public
Relations Agencies (Abracom) for four years, from 2004 to 2008. Two
of the other three original founding partners, Luciana Gurgel and Aldo
De Luca, will continue to be senior strategists and
client counselors.
Harris Diamond, chief executive
officer of Interpublic's Constituency Management Group, which
includes Weber Shandwick, Golin
Harris and other companies with operations in Brazil including FutureBrand and Octagon,
commented about the acquisition: "Our successful past
collaborations with S2Publicom convinced us that they are the right
partners to help Weber Shandwick and Golin
Harris support their multinational clients and to continue
to build a great business together in what is clearly one of the
world's fastest growing economies. Brazil is one of the largest consumer markets
in the world, and as it plans to host the FIFA World
Cup™ 2014 and the 2016 Olympic Summer Games, we see
great opportunities to build our presence in the market."
Schiavoni added, "Through our long association as an affiliate
partner with Weber Shandwick and Golin
Harris, our agencies have built a relationship of mutual
trust. The experience of bringing the best thinking to our clients
has demonstrated that our business philosophies and styles are a
good fit. We are very excited that we can now offer our staff
more opportunities for professional development and can offer our
clients a global reach."
About Interpublic
Interpublic is one of the world's leading organizations of
advertising agencies and marketing services companies. Major global
brands include Draftfcb, FutureBrand, GolinHarris International,
HUGE, Initiative, Jack Morton Worldwide, Lowe and Partners,
MAGNAGLOBAL, McCann Erickson,
Momentum, MRM Worldwide, Octagon, R/GA, UM and Weber Shandwick.
Leading domestic brands include Campbell Ewald; Campbell Mithun;
Carmichael Lynch; Deutsch, a Lowe and Partners Company; Gotham
Inc.; Hill Holliday; ID Media; Mullen and The Martin Agency. For
more information, please visit www.interpublic.com.
About Weber Shandwick
Weber Shandwick is a leading global public relations agency with
offices in 74 countries around the world. The firm's success is
built on its deep commitment to client service, our people,
creativity, collaboration and harnessing the power of Advocates -
engaging stakeholders in new and creative ways to build brands and
reputation. Weber Shandwick provides strategy and execution across
practices such as consumer marketing, healthcare, technology,
public affairs, financial services, corporate and crisis
management. Its specialized services include digital/social media,
advocacy advertising, market research, and corporate
responsibility. In 2010, Weber Shandwick was named Global Agency of
the Year by The Holmes Report for the second year in a row;
an 'Agency of the Decade' by Advertising Age, Large PR
Agency of the Year by Bulldog Reporter, a Digital Firm of
the Year by PR News, and Top Corporate Responsibility
Advisory Firm by CR Magazine. The firm has also won numerous
'best place to work' awards around the world. Weber
Shandwick is part of the Interpublic Group (NYSE: IPG). For more
information, visit http://www.webershandwick.com.
About GolinHarris
Established in 1956, GolinHarris is a holistic communications
firm designed and built to win in a complex digital world. From our
global practices, to specialty services, to proprietary tools, our
focus is to provide clients with a wealth of innovative thinking
and creativity. We have 34 offices throughout the Americas, EMEA
and Asia Pacific. Our global
strength is enhanced by the local expertise of more than 25
affiliate partners, allowing us to provide our clients with
comprehensive solutions for multi-market, regional and global
communications programs. We provide strategy and execution across
practices such as consumer marketing, corporate communications,
digital/social media, corporate social responsibility, healthcare,
internal communications, multicultural communications, technology
and public affairs. For more than 50 years, GolinHarris has created
innovative and award-winning public relations programs that deliver
results for clients such as Dow Chemical Company, Florida
Department of Citrus, Kaiser Permanente, McDonald's, Unilever,
Nintendo of America Inc., Orange and Texas Instruments. GolinHarris
was recognized as the 2011 Best Large Agency to Work for by the
Holmes Report, PRWeek's 2010 Large PR Agency of the Year and the
2009 Asia Pacific PR Consultancy of Year. The agency is
headquartered in Chicago and is a
subsidiary of the Interpublic Group (NYSE: IPG). For more
information, visit www.golinharris.com.
Contact(s)
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Jennifer Norton
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Company
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Weber Shandwick
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Phone
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212.445.8314
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Email
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jnorton@webershandwick.com
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SOURCE Weber Shandwick