Weber Shandwick


Weber Shandwick is a public relations firm formed in 2001 by merging the Weber Group, Shandwick International, and BSMG.

History

Origins

Weber Shandwick was formed in 2001 by merging the Weber Group, Shandwick International and BSMG. Shandwick International acquired consumer PR firm Mona, Meyer, McGrath & Gavin in 1988. Shandwick was in-turn sold to Interpublic Group in 1998 and was renamed Weber Shandwick. BSMG merged with Shandwick that October. The firm had acquired large accounts like Coca-Cola and the insurance company Cigna, but by 2001 the company was going through layoffs due to the loss of a $12 million anti-smoking campaign and the general economic outcome of the September 11th terrorist attacks.

Recent history

In 2010, Weber's internal developers and social media teams created a social media crisis simulator called Firebell. In 2011 Weber hired employees to fill roles as community managers, writers, social media marketing strategists producers and analytics experts, making their digital marketing staff number 300. After a Weber executive moved to Hill & Knowlton, Weber Shandwick secured a restraining order after alleging the firm was taking their employees and clients. In May 2014, the firm acquired a Sweden-based agency, Prime, and its business intelligence division, United Minds.
The firm serves as global agency of record for Tokyo 2020.

Notable campaigns

In 2008, Weber Shandwick was hired by Microsoft to provide support for non-consumer PR in the EMEA region for products like Windows Client and Microsoft Dynamics.
In 2012, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services contracted Weber Shandwick to run a $3.1 million campaign to raise awareness for state healthcare insurance exchanges mandated by the Affordable Care Act.
In 2017, the Egyptian Intelligence services hired Weber Shandwick and lobbying company Cassidy and Associates to improve Egypt's image in the USA.