PHILADELPHIA: Unisys, global provider of technology services, selected Weber Shandwick as its North American AOR following a competitive review.
The agency's responsibilities include handling corporate communications and PR for the company's services divisions. Jim Kerr, VP of PR at Unisys, said services is about a $4 billion division for the company and represents nearly 90% of its business.
“They will focus on areas like security and outsourcing which are very important to us,” Kerr said. Outreach will primarily target top-tier business press and IT trade publications. Additionally, the agency will do some outreach to the consumer press to promote the Unisys security index, a study of North American technology security concerns, he said.
On Monday, November 10, the company was removed from the Standard & Poor's 500 index. It had ranked 500th. Kerr pointed out, however, that “We obviously made our decision around a PR agency well before learning of this.” Last month the company also named a new CEO to help revive its business.
“It's very important for us to enhance our visibility and reputation,” Kerr said. “[One of the primary messages will be,] we are a very vibrant, significant player in emerging areas of client concern like security, outsourcing, and open source.”
While WS will help with corporate PR and other tasks, crisis communications will remain the purview of the internal team, he added.
The account will be based in the agency's New York office. The company's former AOR was Peppercom. Neither Peppercom nor WS were immediately available for comment.
Kerr declined to state the contract amount.
