Burson-Marsteller Africa named 2015 African Consultancy of the Year
Robyn de Villiers, Chairman and CEO, Burson-Marsteller Africa
Johannesburg, 20 May 2015 – Burson-Marsteller Africa, a leading public relations and communications firm and exclusive affiliate to CMC Connect Limited in Nigeria, was named “2015 African Consultancy of the Year” by the prestigious Holmes Report, the most highly ranked awards organisation for the PR industry globally. The award was made at a glittering awards ceremony on Tuesday 19 May in London.
Burson-Marsteller Africa also bagged the Gold Sabre in the Geographic Category for Africa for the K9 Anti-Poaching Awareness Campaign for Paramount Group. And, Blast Communications, Burson-Marsteller Africa’s exclusive affiliate in Mauritius picked up the Gold Sabre for Financial Services Communications for their Ebola Fund Raising Campaign for client, ABAX.
Paul Holmes, Founder and CEO of The Holmes Report, said: “There is a possibility that 2014 may go down in history as the year giant multinational public relations agencies started paying serious attention to Africa with a number of acquisitions and office openings.
“It is going to be some time before any of them catch up to Burson-Marsteller, which acquired South African firm Arcay Communications in 2011 and in February of last year rebranded that business—as well as 12 long time affiliates with operations in 27 African nations—under the Burson banner. Uganda and Nigeria were added later in the year, giving Burson-Marsteller the most formidable pan-African footprint of any agency by a considerable margin.”
Burson-Marsteller Africa is the only agency, in the history of the “African Consultancy of the Year” award, to have won the award twice, and to have been a finalist in every one of the Award’s six years.
Holmes also acknowledged Robyn de Villiers, as “a leader in the industry—one of the few multinational principals to hold a senior role in the African PR Association—and who is spearheading the firm’s new thought leadership initiative, focused on the changing attitudes of the continent’s youth.”
Jeremy Galbraith, CEO Burson-Marsteller Europe, Middle East & Africa and Global Chief Strategy Officer, added: “I am delighted that the Holmes Report has awarded Burson-Marsteller the “2015 African Consultancy of the Year” award. This is on the back of a remarkable 17% growth last year, on top of a 35% increase in 2013, with new business coming from clients in a number of sectors including ICT, energy, motoring, hospitality, finance, mining, defence and aerospace, and property development. This is incredible recognition for Robyn who remains a leader in the industry and my thanks to her for spearheading a great team and driving the roll-out of the Burson-Marsteller brand across the continent of Africa.”
Robyn de Villiers, Chairman and CEO of Burson-Marsteller Africa concluded: “We are thrilled to have been named “2015 African Consultancy of the Year”. For 26 years our commitment to growing partnerships has underpinned Burson-Marsteller’s activities across Africa. This award is apt recognition for what was a truly special year, as we launched our new branded partner model with our longstanding exclusive affiliates across the continent and raised the Burson-Marsteller flag in 29 markets in just one year. Each one of our partners is individually respected in their own countries and collectively we are recognised as the pre-eminent African communications network.”
Burson-Marsteller Africa has an unparalleled reach across Africa. The firm has branded operations in 29 countries and operations in 53 of the 55 countries through a network which has been built up over 20+ years. It boasts over 300 consultants across Africa, who offers connectivity, local insight and market relevant strategies in each of their countries. {fcomments}
