NEW YORK: Edelman has appointed Tonia Ries, the founder of Modern Media, to serve as SVP and executive director of Edelman Square, the agency’s intellectual property center.
Ries, who joined the firm on Monday, reports to Ben Boyd, president of its practices, sectors, and offerings. She has succeeded Amy Treanor, who Boyd said left the agency about nine months ago. According to Treanor’s LinkedIn profile, she joined Koch Industries as director of corporate branding in June.
Boyd added that the agency was looking for someone to steward its intellectual property strategy and keep conversations about the issue fresh. Edelman Square provides the firm with IP studies and reports in collaboration with Edelman Berland and its global practices.
He added that Ries was the right candidate to lead Square because of her "confidence, creativity, and her proven experience in helping clients develop creative platforms to market their IP."
Previously, Ries led her own agency, Modern Media, for 12 years. It launched events, developed social media campaigns, and created websites and marketing strategies for media brands, according to the firm’s LinkedIn page.
Before joining Edelman, Ries closed Modern Media, according to Boyd. The fact that she founded her own firm is impressive because it shows she is a "proven self-starter," he added.
Some of Boyd’s main goals for Edelman Square are to extend conversations about intellectual property and build out the firm’s IP portfolio with additional studies.
"Having proprietary insights on pervasive points of view, such as the importance of trust and brand behavior that drives consumer action, are fundamental for a vast majority of clients who are trying to manage their businesses in today’s world," explained Boyd.
Prior to launching Modern Media, Ries was VP of marketing for Ziff Davis. She also previously worked at Adwise, CMP Media, and InformationWeek.
