Friend will be tasked with aligning all the consumer businesses at Weber Shandwick, comprising consumer, sports marketing, consumer tech, consumer health, digital consumer marketing and the in-house production agency Creation.
Friend joined the agency in August 2010 and was previously head of consumer PR at Sainsbury’s.
She has overseen the consumer and sports marketing team, delivering two Olympic campaigns and winning briefs from brands including Electrolux, Motorola, RDIO, Nespresso, Warburtons and Young’s.
Additionally, the agency has appointed former Britvic CMO Andrew Marsden as non-executive director.
With 25 years of board experience at both Britvic and Unilever, and 35 years as a marketing director, Marsden is taking up an advisory role to Friend’s newly created consumer marketing board.
It has also promoted Andrew Ager to creative director, Wayne Fick to art director and Liz Wolstenholme to head of planning, UK consumer.
Friend said: ‘In a transparent, 24/7 world, PR is one of the few marketing disciplines able to integrate complex messages to multiple audiences, whether they are media, consumers, influencers or bloggers. PR has the ability to create compelling stories and tell them in real time, shaping, reacting and responding to conversations for brands.’
