Weber Shandwick Elevates Global Creative & Strategy Leadership

NEW YORK, Sept. 15, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- Weber Shandwick, one of the world's leading global public relations firms, today announced the appointment of Jennifer Sosin to Chair, Global Strategy & Insights and Josh Gilbert to Executive Creative Director, Global Practices, as the firm continues to calibrate its capabilities to deliver the optimal fusion of world-class strategy and creative and further elevate its marketing services expertise globally.

"Clients are increasingly building communications into the core of their overall global business strategy," said Gail Heimann, president, Weber Shandwick. "At Weber Shandwick, we are continuing to evolve our organization to deliver against those client needs, both now and in the future. That means deepening our capabilities in strategic planning and stretching our creative muscle in order to incite the right audiences and ultimately drive business results for clients." 

Sosin, who previously held the role of Chief Research Strategist and before that was President of KRC Research (Weber Shandwick's attitudinal research arm), will be based in Washington, D.C. As Chair of Global Strategy & Insights, she will drive the firm's strategic planning operations to integrate data, research and analytics across all levels of client service and throughout Weber Shandwick's global practices, regions and highly-specialized talent network.

Since joining Weber Shandwick in 1998, Sosin has worked with clients to design research that informs strategy and to ensure that both research and strong strategic thinking are embedded in messaging and communications plans from early planning stages. She has particular expertise in corporate and public affairs, working with a variety of organizations to help manage controversies, communicate about complex issues and rebuild damaged reputations. Prior to joining Weber Shandwick, Sosin was a principal in a leading U.S. political polling firm. She has managed political campaigns, trained political candidates and their staffs, and was part of the Democratic presidential polling teams in 1988 and 1992.

"Strategic planning in today's ever-evolving digital landscape has to be rooted in research, data and analytics in order to maximize the effectiveness and agility of communications programs," Heimann said. "Jennifer brings decades of experience placing research at the core of client programs across the spectrum, and she will undoubtedly be a catalyst for our innovation and iteration upon the type of strategic thinking we're bringing to our clients on a global scale."

Josh Gilbert to Drive Creative Solutions across Global Practices

As executive creative director, Global Practices, based in New York, Gilbert will drive the firm's multi-disciplinary creative solutions, continuing to elevate and deliver on Weber Shandwick's role as a creative leader for clients as well as growing the firm's best-in-class creative talent across the global network.

"Josh is a creative powerhouse and has spearheaded some of the boldest, most innovative work Weber Shandwick has ever produced for our clients," Heimann said. "We will look to him to continue to inspire our global teams and challenge our diverse roster of designers, producers, content creators and storytellers to bring the unconventional thinking that achieves great results for clients around the world."

Gilbert previously held the role of executive vice president of creative at Weber Shandwick, working with clients to create great brand ideas and creative campaigns. This has included leading the agency's work on Fisher-Price's global television and digital advertising, working with MIT and Harvard to develop the brand for edX, their leading-edge global online learning platform, developing creative campaigns for Unilever's brightFuture program, and helping Bank of America to create its first brand campaign as a global business.

Prior to joining Weber Shandwick, Gilbert was a founding partner of the communications consulting boutique Westhill Partners. During his tenure there, the firm's political arm served as the strategy and media consultant for a presidential election in Venezuela, a project Gilbert led, among other major domestic political campaigns.

About Weber Shandwick

Weber Shandwick is a leading global communications and engagement firm in 75 cities across 34 countries and operations extending to 123 cities in 81 countries. The firm's diverse team of strategists, analysts, producers, designers, developers and campaign activators has won the most prestigious awards in the world for innovative, creative approaches and impactful work, including being honored as an Ad Age A-List Agency in 2014 and 2015, PRWeek's 2015 Global Agency of the Year and The Holmes Report's 2014 Global Agency of the Year. Weber Shandwick and its Prime unit have won a combined 25 Cannes Lions since 2009. Weber Shandwick was also named a Best Place to Work by Ad Age in 2014 and PRWeek in 2013 and 2014. The firm deploys deep expertise across sectors and specialty areas, including consumer marketing, corporate reputation, healthcare, technology, public affairs, financial services, corporate social responsibility, financial communications and crisis management, using proprietary social, digital and analytics methodologies. Weber Shandwick is part of the Interpublic Group (NYSE: IPG). For more information, visit http://www.webershandwick.com.

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