ATLANTA: Grayling has appointed Jennifer Babbit Bodner, most recently deputy GM of Edelman’s Southeast region, to serve in the newly created role of US consumer practice lead, effective immediately.
Babbit Bodner, who is reporting to Grayling US CEO Peter Harris, will oversee and work to grow the firm’s consumer work across the country.
Harris said Babbit Bodner will stay in Atlanta, where she was based at Edelman, because the firm is opening an office in the city. Grayling will hire staffers for the location as "business requires," he added.
Bringing on Babbit Bodner is part of the firm’s strategy to add more of a focus, talent, and a vision for its consumer practice, explained Harris. He said the firm has won a number of large consumer accounts recently, in addition to organic growth.
In the last few months, Grayling has added Qantas and SunEdison to its consumer roster. The firm’s long-term consumer accounts include Hotwire, Lowe's, Blizzard, and ZTE.
Babbit Bodner was the right fit for the position because of her "great reputation in the marketplace," as well as her knowledge and expertise of consumer audiences across generations, said Harris. He also praised her acumen coming out of Edelman and her success in the Atlanta market, he said.
Grayling global CEO Pete Pedersen is also a veteran of Edelman, having worked there before joining Grayling in early 2013.
While Grayling plans to stay true to its consumer technology heritage, the firm will begin to expand into CPG and retail, which Babbit Bodner said are two of her areas of expertise, along with tech.
"[Grayling] is really on the cusp of significant growth," she explained, "It’s great to be part of something with such an upward trajectory."
She added that Grayling has an opportunity in the consumer space, especially since the firm is investing in tools and data and analytics.
Prior to being named deputy GM in Atlanta for Edelman in 2013, Babbit Bodner served as EVP and global client relationship manager for client eBay since 2002.
Before Edelman, Babbit Bodner worked at boutique agency Cairns, where she handled initiatives for Unilever brands such as Vaseline and Pond’s.
Edelman representatives were not immediately available for comment on Babbit Bodner’s departure or her replacement.
