 | |
| Company type | Subsidiary |
|---|---|
| Industry | Public relations and advertising |
| Founded | 1923; 102 years ago (1923) Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, U.S. |
| Founder | George Ketchum |
| Headquarters | , U.S. |
Key people | Mike Doyle (president and CEO) |
| Parent | Omnicom Group |
| Website | ketchum |
Ketchum Inc. is a globalpublic relations firm, offering marketing, branding, and corporate communications services in the corporate, healthcare, food and beverage, and technology industries.[1] George Ketchum founded the firm as aPittsburgh-based advertising company in 1923. It later evolved to include a public relations practice. The firm is headquartered in New York City, with auxiliary offices and affiliates inNorth America,EMEA,Asia Pacific, andLatin America.[2] The agency has been owned byOmnicom Group since 1996.[3] Ketchum merged withDüsseldorf-based Pleon in one of the industry's largest mergers in 2009.[4] It has been led by President andCEO Mike Doyle since 2020.
The agency that would become Ketchum was founded asKetchum and MacLeod inPittsburgh on May 22, 1923.[5] The agency's name was changed toKetchum, MacLeod & Grove in 1924. It was led by brothers George and Carlton Ketchum, and Norman McLeod and Robert Grove, whom the brothers met atUniversity of Pittsburgh in the 1910s.[6] The agency's early work focused onadvertising,publicity, andfundraising.[5]
In 1934 the agency established apublic relations department. The department's first assignment was a campaign for Natural Gas Companies, People's Natural Gas, and other localnatural gas companies.[5] The agency received national attention in 1951 when it orchestrated asponsorship for clientWestinghouse of the first nationallytelevisedNCAAfootball game.[5] As the firm's billings grew in the late 1950s, it opened offices inNew York City andWashington, D.C.[5] Itacquired west coast-based agency Botsford Constantine & McCarty, formingBotsford-Ketchum in 1969.[7]
George Ketchum died in September 1975.[7] The agency changed its name toKetchum Communications Inc. in 1981.[5] Its major divisions became known as Ketchum Advertising, Ketchum Public Relations, and Ketchum Directory Advertising.[7] Ketchum Public Relations moved its headquarters to New York from Pittsburgh in 1982.[8]
The agency won its first global account (withFedEx) and its first pan-European account (withWhirlpool) in 1994.[citation needed] In 1996, Ketchum handled theTorch relay for theAtlanta Olympics.[5]
In 2016, Ketchum created "Cultivate", a new branch to help companies and organizations inorganic food markets.[9]
In November 2017, Ketchum announced that then Partner and President Barri Rafferty would assume the role of president and chief executive officer, effective January 1, 2018. Rafferty is the first woman to lead a top five global public relations firm.[10]
Omnicom Group acquired Ketchum in 1996.[11][12] At the time, Ketchum was the 25th-largest American agency.[11] In 1998, Ketchum merged with British consumer agency Life PR.[13] Ketchum sold Ketchum Advertising in 1999; the "Ketchum" name has referred solely to the PR practice since that time.[14]
In the 2000s, Ketchum acquired several firms and opened others, including the acquisition of New York management consulting firm Stromberg Consulting in 2001,[15] the launching ofinfluencer marketing andcommunity building firm Emanate in 2006,[16] and the acquisitions ofclinical trialpatient recruitment agency MMG in 2008,[17]Moscow-based Maslov PR in 2010,[18]Indian agency Sampark PR in 2011,[19] Capstrat inNorth Carolina in 2012,[20] andGermanlifestyle andsocial media PR agency Brandzeichen in 2013.[21] Ketchum took amajority stake in Newscan'sChina operations in 2011,[18] expanded Ketchum Sports & Entertainment practice intoBrazil in 2012,[22] and acquired ICON International Communications inSingapore in 2013.[23] In the US, Ketchum partnered with luxury and lifestyle agency Harrison & Shriftman in 2011,[24] and launched music marketing service Ketchum Sounds in 2012.[25]
In 2009, Ketchum merged with Europe-based Pleon in one of the industry's largest mergers.[26][27] Ketchum merged withSouth Korea-based firm InComm Brodeur in 2013.[28][29]
Ketchum's major clients includeMasterCard,[30]Chase,IBM,[31]IKEA,[32]Philips,[33] andPfizer.[30]
In 1985, Ketchum launched theAcura line of cars forAmerican Honda Motor Company.[34][35] Ketchum also worked on therebranding ofOrville Redenbacher'spopcorn in the 1990s to appeal to a younger demographic,[36] developedDoritos' 2006 crowdsourced "Crash the Super Bowl" contest, which won aGolden World Award from the International Public Relations Association,[37] and created a campaign forDelta Air Lines duringUS Airways' 2008 bid to take over the airline after it had filedChapter 11 bankruptcy. US Airways later dropped the bid and the campaign won a Silver Anvil.[38][39]The agency has also worked withKodak in 2010,[40] the Committee to Preserve Olympic Wrestling (CPOW)'s campaign to keep wrestling in theOlympic program,[41] andWendy's on the launch of the Pretzel Bacon Cheeseburger in 2013, for which they were nominated as a 2014Shorty Award finalist.[42]
In 2011, Ketchum faced backlash for a promotion for ConAgra, in which the agency hosted a dinner for foodbloggers that was billed as serving food prepared byGeorge Duran, but diners were servedConAgra frozen foods instead. Ketchum filmed each dinner and hoped to use footage of diners' reactions for promotional purposes. However, many bloggers felt tricked by the switch. Ketchum apologized and ConAgra offered reimbursement for any incurred expense to the attendees.[43]
Ketchum has a team of approximately 50crisis management executives in the US[44] and offers a suite of related services, including Mobile RepProtect,[45] University RepProtect for higher education, Cyber RepProtect for data security,[46] and Game Plan for sports teams and brands.[47]
In 2011,Pennsylvania State University hired Ketchum to handle crisis communications following theJerry Sandusky scandal in 2011.[44] Ketchum worked withMalaysia Airlines during the search for and response to missing planeMH370 in 2014.[48] The agency also provided crisis counseling toAnthem Blue Cross Blue Shield in 2015 during thelargest data breach in the US insurance industry's history.[49]
Ketchum has fulfilled multiple contracts for theUnited States government, including for theDepartment of Education,Department of Health & Human Services, theInternal Revenue Service, and theUS Army.[50][51] In 2015 the agency worked with theLibrary of Congress to provide support for theNational Book Festival.[52]In 2004, Ketchum was accused of "covertpropaganda" for a series of news stories for HHS that used actors playing journalists reporting on drug benefits without informing viewers of the government connection, for which it was found to be in violation of a federal propaganda ban by theGovernment Accountability Office.[53] In 2005, the Ketchum received similarly critical coverage after theEducation Department directed the agency to pay for coverage that praisedPresident Bush'sNo Child Left Behind Act.[54] The final investigation by theFCC did not find Ketchum to be at fault, but it did issue a citation forArmstrong Williams, who was paid by Ketchum to promote the NCLB Act, and fined two broadcasting companies.[55]
In 2006,Dmitry Peskov,Vladimir Putin'spress attaché, hired Ketchum to work on the32nd G8 summit held inSaint Petersburg, to improve Russia's reputation in the West after its state-controlled energy companyGazpromcut off natural gas supplies to Ukraine.[56]
From 2006 to 2015, Ketchum represented theRussian Federation in the US and Europe[57] for events including theG20 Summit,World Economic Forum, and2014 Sochi Olympics, media andop-edoutreach.[58][59] In 2013, Ketchum pitched an op-ed from Russian presidentVladimir Putin on theSyrian Civil War toThe New York Times.[60] According toThe Holmes Report, the assignment "attracted plenty of mainstream media scrutiny in the US, most of it negative" due to the countries' political relationship.[57] In January 2015,Politico magazine reported that Ketchum had received more than $60 million from theKremlin for their work from 2006 to 2014.[56] The contract between the Russian and Ketchum ended in March 2015.[61]
In 1985 Ketchum New York was a finalist in the Caples direct marketing awards for their pro bono work assistingCentral Park and the Central Park Conservancy. As of 2016, Ketchum has won more Silver Anvils from thePublic Relations Society of America than any other agency.[31] Its campaigns have been awarded "Campaign of the Year" byPRWeek five times,[62] and Ketchum was the 2002[63] and 2012[64]PRWeek Agency of the Year. Ketchum London was named Agency of the Decade by U.K.’sCorpComms magazine in 2015.[65]
Ketchum is owned byOmnicom Group and is part of the company's Diversified Agency Services network's Omnicom Public Relations Group. The agency's subsidiaries include Access Brand Communications, Emanate, and Capstrat.[66]
Ketchum's headquarters are located inNew York City.[67] The agency has more than 130 offices and affiliates in over 70 countries.[68]
Ketchum is led by President and CEO Mike Doyle. Other leadership roles include President of North America, Tamara Norman, and Global Chief Financial & Operating Officer Alan Banner.[69] As of 2016[update], Ketchum has approximately 2,500 employees.[66] In 2016, Ketchum announced the formation of a global leadership council comprising 20 senior leaders. The GLC replaced and significantly expanded Ketchum's Executive Committee.[70]
Ketchum developed a program called MindFire for college students to respond to client challenges with creative solutions in order to earn prizes andnetworking opportunities.[71]
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