PR as the Steward of Brand Strategy
The spotlight was on Weber Shandwick CEO Andy Polansky this month when Adweek featured him in an in-depth interview and video session. Polansky touched on several topics including the evolution of social media and PR execs taking on the role of the new stewards of strategy.
Polansky, who has been CEO of Weber Shandwick since November 2012 following his promotion from President, stressed the immense growth of the digital and social aspects of Weber Shandwick’s business, raising them as “the biggest growth engines” for Weber Shandwick. He continued to say that if he were in the client’s shoes his ideal agency would be savvy in terms of multiplatform campaigns with a digital and social mindset but, “at the same time thinks about all the challenges, constituencies, channels and all the ways to engage across multiple media and marketing platforms.”
Polansky went on to cite social media as being “at the core of everything we’re doing and the [client] campaigns we’re driving.” He believes that this push for social in the public relations industry and more specifically Weber Shandwick’s ability to engage and create compelling content on social platforms is directly affecting how quickly the world is now, “shifting toward a social and connected life.”
Aside from social and digital, he cited global expansion as another area of business growth for Weber Shandwick. “We’re seeing a lot of business becoming more global as multinationals realign their budgets relative to where they see growth opportunities. So we’re going to continue to deepen our expertise around the world.”
Read more of Polansky’s Adweek interview here and watch his Six Questions video.