NEW YORK: Ogilvy PR hired Stuart Smith, formerly head of Hill & Knowlton's EMEA corporate practice, as MD of its global corporate practice.
Smith will start at Ogilvy February 1 and report to global CEO Christopher Graves. He headed the EMEA corporate practice at Hill & Knowlton for the past three years and was previously CEO of Edelman's UK operations.
“Ogilvy has a very strong presence in Asia and there are fast emerging market brands that want to build themselves globally,” Smith said of the opportunities in the global corporate practice.
Geographically, Smith's initial priority will be to look at Europe and build relationships with existing clients as well as putting together new and innovative products.
“I've learned a lot at Hill & Knowlton over the past three years, but this was a fantastic opportunity and Ogilvy presents new challenges,” he added.
Smith will be based in Ogilvy's London office for the first year and will then transfer to New York. Hill & Knowlton said it plans to have a replacement for Smith by his February 1 departure.
