Q&A - Dave Senay, president and CEO, Fleishman-Hillard

How has the economic climate changed the way you work?

In a challenging economy, our performance in the past year has clearly exceeded the performance of our sector generally and within the Omnicom family of agencies. We accomplished this by focusing on innovation and growth – expanding our physical presence, our areas of expertise and capabilities, and our staff.

Which three offices have been experiencing the greatest growth over the 12 months to July 31, 2010? Why?

The agency has seen impressive top-line growth in many areas around the globe. But the three standout markets are those we recently launched in some of the world’s fastest-growing emerging markets:

• Our Middle East network of wholly owned offices – in Abu Dhabi, Dubai and Cairo – has seen solid growth as companies across all sectors move into the region and try to establish themselves.
• In India, our New Delhi office provides an influential presence in an increasingly influential market, particularly by playing an important role in the Philips account.
• Elsewhere in Asia-Pacific, our new Jakarta office in Indonesia has experienced immediate growth.

What were your agency’s three highlights of the past year?

Staying at the digital forefront, we partnered once again with Harris Interactive on the Digital Influence Index – an in-depth study of the Internet’s true impact on consumer behavior and decisions. The study covers 48 percent of the global online population, spanning the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Canada, China, Japan and the United States.

In terms of integration, we continued to build relationships with Omnicom and non-Omnicom agencies alike: FHX, an effort with the Radiate group of experiential marketing companies; Talent Asset Impact, a collaboration with Bernard Hodes Group to help organizations handle upheaval; and OneVoice, the partnership of Fleishman-Hillard, Ketchum, DDB, TogoRun and Kreab Gavin Anderson that secured the Philips account.

Globally, we continued to establish our presence in rapidly emerging markets, including India, the Middle East and Asia Pacific.

Tell us about one account for which your agency is producing creative and effective digital work.

We won a Gold and Silver PR Lion at the Cannes Lions International Advertising Festival this year for ‘Riding Shotgun With Papa,’ a campaign for client Papa John’s. The premise: CEO John Schnatter had to sell his 1971 Camaro to begin his pizza empire. But 25 years later, he wanted his car back. Using Papa John’s heritage story to both celebrate the restaurant’s 25th anniversary and promote Schnatter’s entrepreneurial success story, Fleishman-Hillard devised a national road trip, complete with an augmented reality application and social media communication via a blog, Twitter updates, Flickr/Facebook photos and YouTube videos.

What are the most effective ways of encouraging more collaborative working between global sister agencies?

Nothing succeeds like success. Collaboration that results in a new business win is the best incentive for further collaboration. So far in 2010, Fleishman-Hillard has had 35 joint pitches or referrals from 21 different Omnicom agencies for major pitches. Of those pitches, so far we’ve won 11 and 19 are still pending.

What was your best decision over the past year?

As we entered the economic downturn, we made a conscious decision that we would continue to strategically hire new staff from non-traditional fields to satisfy evolving client demands. As a result, this was a banner year for Fleishman-Hillard in terms of attracting prominent game-changers in their respective fields – from former chief financial officers to leading political journalists, from Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Treasury to the Ministry of Commerce of the People’s Republic of China. They’ve come from our competitors. They’ve come from corporate life. They’ve come from advertising, marketing, promotional and digital agencies. And, they’ve come from NGOs and governments and politics. But whatever their backgrounds, they’ve enhanced our ability to meet client needs.

What will successful global PR agencies be doing in 2011?

Again, for us it comes back to three words: Digital. Integrated. Global.

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Key Information:

Website address www.FleishmanHillard.com

Parent company of agency Omnicom Group Inc.

Global HQ address and telephone 200 N. Broadway
St. Louis, MO 63102-2796
United States
+1 314 982 1700

CEO Dave Senay
President & CEO

Global new business contact Jack Modzelewski
President Client Relations
Tel: +1-312-729-3700
jack.modzelewski@fleishman.com

Regional contacts Asia Pacific
Lynne Anne Davis
Regional President
+852-2530-0228
lynneanne.davis@fleishman.com

UK, Africa & Middle East
Kevin Bell
Regional President
+44-207-306-9000
kevin.bell@fleishmaneurope.com

Latin America
Martha Boudreau
President & Sr. Partner, Mid-Atlantic and Latin America
+1-202-659-0330
martha.boudreau@fleishman.com

Ireland & Continental Europe/Eurasia
John Saunders
Regional President
+35-31-618-8444
john.saunders@fleishmaneurope.com

Canada
Mia Wedgbury
Regional President
+1-416-368-8348
mia.wedgbury@fleishman.com

U.S. Central
Susan Veidt
Regional President
+1-314-982-1700
susan.veidt@fleishman.com

U.S. East
Steve Hardwick
President & Sr. Partner, East Region
+1-212-453-2000
steve.hardwick@fleishman.com

U.S. Mid-Atlantic
Martha Boudreau
President & Sr. Partner, Mid-Atlantic and Latin America
+1-202-659-0330
martha.boudreau@fleishman.com

U.S. Southwest
Janise Murphy
Regional President
+1-210-354-2300
janise.murphy@fleishman.com

Key global clients AT&T, Boy Scouts of America, Bristol-Myers Squibb, General Motors, Novartis, PepsiCo, Royal Philips Electronics, Procter & Gamble, Roche Holdings AG, Visa

No. of wholly-owned offices 80

No. of affiliates 38