Ogilvy Public Relations Worldwide Bolsters Senior Teams in its New York Headquarters

Two Senior Hires and One Promotion Broadens Agency Expertise

NEW YORK, Feb. 10, 2011 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Ogilvy Public Relations Worldwide (Ogilvy PR), an integrated global communications firm, welcomes Peter Hirsch as Executive Vice President/ Director of Reputation Risk effective February 1. Hirsch will be based in the agency's New York Headquarters and brings more than 20 years experience to the newly created role.

As director of reputation risk, Hirsch will be responsible for building on the success of Ogilvy PR's significant presence in the corporate reputation, crisis management, executive visibility and thought leadership arena. Prior to joining Ogilvy PR, Peter was Principal at Peter Hirsch Strategies, LLC with a client portfolio including Johnson & Johnson, Veolia Transportation and American Water, among others.

Prior to that, Hirsch served as the Global Corporate Affairs Leader at Porter Novelli, responsible for building the Corporate Affairs Practice. His agency tenure also included Edelman, where he was an Executive Vice President in the Corporate Affairs Practice in New York and formally served as the Managing Director of Edelman, Germany. Throughout his career, he has worked across various clients including Ernst and Young, AstraZeneca, British Airways, Proctor and Gamble and Wyeth.

Hirsch is the author of Corporate Communication: Strategic Adaptation for Global Practice, which was published in May 2010. He teaches crisis communications at Columbia University and corporate social media at CUNY. He is a member of the Board of Advisors of Corporate Communications International and a member of the Public Relations Society of America.

"We are very excited to welcome Peter to our team. His experience and leadership in corporate reputation, stakeholder engagement and crisis management, both global and domestic, makes him the perfect person to spearhead this new role for us," said Kate Cronin, Managing Director of Ogilvy PR/New York.  "Hirsch will bring his reputation expertise to some of the agency's biggest clients and add value to the Public Affairs, Consumer Marketing and Healthcare practices through strategic council."

In addition to Hirsch, Ogilvy PR has added Brooke Blashill as a Vice President in its New York Consumer Marketing Practice. She will report to Alyssa Garnick, Executive Vice President, NY Consumer Marketing Practice Director, who commented, "We are very excited to welcome Brooke as the latest addition to our consumer marketing team. Her experience counseling global brands and contributing to the development of their CSR platforms will add to our diverse consumer expertise." 

Blashill, who joins from Edelman, was a senior member of the consumer marketing team and worked across the consumer practice portfolio. She led global communications strategy for Shell and completed a secondment in Asia, where she built multi-country programs while serving as a regional lead. In addition to her global credentials, Blashill spearheaded the rebranding of one of Kraft Foods' largest snack brands and was instrumental in the launch of Turner Broadcasting programming in the UK.

Prior to joining Edelman, Blashill was a part of Zeno Group, an Edelman company. There she mainly focused on corporate responsibility campaigns including Habitat for Humanity, as well as consumer brands such as Turtle Wax and the National Marine Manufacturers Association. Blashill won a 2009 European SABRE Award for best multi-country campaign and was a 2010 PRWeek nominee for her work on Shell. Blashill has a bachelor's degree in integrated public relations and a minor in advertising from the University of Central Michigan.

In addition to the new staff members, Shannon Walsh was promoted to Executive Vice President, Director of the New York Healthcare Practice. Throughout her 16 years of experience in the pharmaceutical and healthcare industry, Walsh's client portfolio has included a variety of Fortune 100 companies. Known for creativity and impeccable client service during her six year tenure at Ogilvy PR, she has brought her strategic thinking to clients with a focus on consumer education campaigns, advocacy relations, regulatory milestones and issues management.  

In her new role, she will report directly to Kate Cronin, who said, "This promotion gives me great pleasure to announce. Shannon has shown her leadership skills in everything she does, and I look forward to seeing her grow our New York Healthcare practice even further."

Walsh's past agency experience includes Porter Novelli, GCI Health and MSLGROP. Walsh has a bachelor's degree in broadcasting and mass communications from the State University of New York, College at Oswego.

About Ogilvy Public Relations Worldwide

Ogilvy Public Relations Worldwide (Ogilvy PR) is a global, multi-disciplinary communications leader operating in more than 80 markets. Named Large Agency of the Year by The Holmes Report and PRNews, Ogilvy PR blends proven PR methodologies with cutting edge digital innovations to craft strategic programs that give clients winning and measurable results. Celebrating its 30th anniversary in business, Ogilvy PR provides strategic public relations counsel to a variety of clients across its social marketing, public affairs, healthcare, consumer marketing, 360-degree digital influence, corporate, and technology practices. Through its subsidiary, Feinstein Kean Healthcare, the agency also offers additional experience in the cancer field, as well as specialized expertise in molecular medicine, advanced biomedical research, leading life science and healthcare technologies and treatments. Ogilvy PR is part of the WPP plc, one of the world's largest communications services organizations (Nasdaq: WPPGY, www.wpp.com). For more information, visit our Web site at www.ogilvypr.com.

SOURCE Ogilvy Public Relations Worldwide