Edelman Acquires Innovative Brazilian Brand Marketing Firm, Significa

NEW YORK, Sept. 13 /PRNewswire/ -- Edelman, the world's largest independent public relations agency, today announced that it has acquired Significa, the leading Brazilian brand marketing firm specializing in helping companies build their brands by engaging with their stakeholders through causes and content, an approach referred to as "Brand Attitude."

Together the merged firm, Edelman Significa, will become one of the largest PR firms in Brazil. Edelman Significa will be comprised of more than 100 professionals in two offices with expertise in Corporate, Consumer, Healthcare, Technology, Digital, Public Affairs, CSR and integrated brand communications. Significa clients include Natura, Itau, Votorantim, Pao de Acucar, Gol, Claro, EDP, Fiat, Petrobras and Whirlpool. Edelman's clients in Brazil include Air France, Boeing, Iberostar, GE and Samsung.  

As a result of the acquisition, Yacoff Sarkovas, CEO of Significa, will become CEO of Edelman Significa Group Brazil, reporting to Gail Becker, Chair, Canada and Latin America, Edelman.  Ronald Mincheff will remain President of Edelman Significa, Sao Paulo office, which grew organically by 17% in fiscal year 2010.  Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

"The acquisition of Significa means that we operate the largest wholly-owned business of any of the global PR firms in Brazil and can ensure the highest quality of client service in one the world's most dynamic and fastest growing markets," said Richard Edelman, CEO & president, Edelman. "It's a perfect match because we will leverage Significa's track record of building consumer brands to help build Brazilian companies across the world through Edelman's global network."

"Brazil's booming economy certainly boasts well for future business, but it's also the culture of how business is conducted that is extremely conducive for a firm like Edelman," said Gail Becker, Chair, Canada and Latin America. "Many companies in Brazil understand and embrace programs with societal benefit and understand that such programs are critical to the bottom line, to competing on a global scale and to building and maintaining trust among key stakeholders."

"Our decision to team-up with Edelman is about offering a unique value proposition by integrating our complementary services, extending our global reach and providing our staff more opportunities for growth," said Yacoff Sarkovas. "It is an outstanding fit for us both strategically and culturally. We share the same vision, commitment to CSR, strategy and innovation, client service and quality as well as passion for results."

"Our new colleagues will accelerate the explosive expansion and development of our Brazilian business, which is growing strongly and is responsible for notable work such as the response to the crash of flight 447 for Air France," said Ronald Mincheff.

In addition to establishing Significa, Sarkovas has more than 30 years of experience as an entrepreneur, having started his first company, Informa Som, when he was 19.  Sarkovas was also a founding member and vice-president of AMPRO, a Brazilian promotional marketing association, and a founding member of La Red, the Network of Cultural Promoters of Latin America and The Caribbean. He is currently on the board of Ashoka, a global NGO of social entrepreneurs.

Significa creates intellectual capital including the annual Com:Atitude that produces surveys and seminars about brand attitude in Brazil, attended by more than 4,000 communication professionals to date.  In 2010, the program became a web portal supported by Significa: www.comatitude.com.br.  Significa also has a second business unit named Arbora, that works exclusively for NGO's, helping to improve its whole value chain. Both Com:Atitude and Arbora are now being integrated with Edelman.

About Edelman

Edelman is the world's largest independent public relations firm, with 3,300 employees in 52 offices worldwide. Edelman was named Advertising Age's top-ranked PR firm of the decade; Adweek's "2009 Agency of the Year"; PRWeek's "2009 Agency of the Year" and "UK Consultancy of the Year"; and Holmes Report's "Agency of the Decade," "2009 Best Large Agency to Work For" and "2009 Asia Pacific Consultancy of the Year." Edelman owns specialty firms Blue (advertising), StrategyOne (research), BioScience Communications (medical education and publishing), and MATTER (sports and entertainment). Visit www.edelman.com for more information.

SOURCE Edelman