Global WPP public relations agency H+K Strategies expands its African presence through acquisition of South African consultancy Corporate Communications Consultants.
The South Africa acquisition increases the number of fully-fledged African H+K Strategies offices to six and builds on the company’s African expansion strategy announced in January 2013
Nairobi, Kampala, Dar es Salaam, July 25th, 2013: Hill+Knowlton Strategies, a leading global public relations and communications firm, today announced the launch of Hill+Knowlton Strategies South Africa following the acquisition of South African agency Corporate Communications Consultants (Corpcom).
“Corpcom has worked as an affiliate agency to H+K Strategies for 14 years. Through this relationship we’ve enjoyed an incredible exchange of knowledge and access to some of the world’s top communications experts. While we are very proud of the advisory work we do at the C-suite level, this change will allow us to broaden our service range and enter new sectors. We’re ready to take the next step and become a fully-fledged H+K Strategies office,” said Roz Thomas, the newly appointed Managing Director of Hill+Knowlton Strategies South Africa.
Corpcom was founded in 1989 and has been predominantly a B2B agency with sector strengths of financial services, professional services and ICT. A key part of the company’s work involves building a South African presence for multi-nationals clients including such as BlackRock, SanDisk, SES, The Dow Chemical Company, Citrix and Thales. The firm also represents South African giants such as the Johannesburg Stock Exchange, South Africa’s largest residential developer Century Property Developments and life insurance challenger brand BrightRock.
H+K Strategies entered the sub-Saharan Africa region in May 2009 through a joint venture with Scangroup - a Kenyan-based marketing and communications firm listed at the Nairobi Securities Exchange (NSE) – with an office opening in Nairobi.
Scangroup CEO Bharat Thakrar said: “We are delighted about this announcement as it fits with Scangroup’s vision to be Africa’s leading integrated marketing communications group.”
Early this year H+K embarked on an elaborate expansion plan for Africa aimed at offering consultancy services to businesses across the continent. As part of the strategy the agency appointed Alexander Döll, who successfully managed the East African to take up a new position as Chief Executive Officer of H+K Strategies Africa.
Speaking on the latest development, Mr. Doll commented; “This acquisition further expands our African footprint and is a testament to our belief that Africa will be the next frontier of growth for the company. Through our offices and extensive network of affiliates we are able to offer on the ground support in 27 African countries.”
In the past four years Hill+Knowlton Strategies has opened offices in Kenya, Uganda, Ghana, Tanzania and Rwanda. In Africa H+K Strategies supports supporting global brands, multi-national and local businesses such as Procter & Gamble, Nokia, Coca-Cola, Airtel, Nestle, Emirates, Standard Chartered, Sony, De La Rue, DHL among others.
Globally, H+K Strategies has 90 offices in 52 countries with a client base that represents 50 percent of global Fortune 500 companies. The South African office will offer clients a broad range of services such as corporate communications, marketing communications, internal communications, sports marketing and sponsorship, digital communications, issues and crisis consultancy and public affairs.
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