It is hard to believe that a mere 13 years ago Paul Taaffe was just
another hard-up backpacker making his way across Europe with nothing
more than an oversized rucksack and enormous aspirations. The man
sitting before me, with perfectly manicured hands, is the epitome of
sophistication.
Last month the former backpacker was promoted from president of Hill and
Knowlton Europe, Middle East and Africa to worldwide president of
H&K.
Taaffe left his native Australia in 1985, at the tender age of 24, and
spent nine months travelling throughout Europe, North Africa and the
Middle East. To family and friends in Brisbane it seemed a rather odd
thing to do, given that his career was just taking off. He had obtained
his business degree at Queensland University and begun his career in
communications as a graduate at Unilever. When he left to go travelling
two years later he had worked his way up to corporate relations manager.
But, Taaffe says, he ’wanted to be where the action was.’
’I realised the world wasn’t run from Australia and that I had to travel
to the US or the UK and the UK was the only place I could get a work
permit.’ Taaffe’s impromptu world tour ended when he ran out of money
and energy.
He ended up in London in 1986 working as group account director with
communications consultancy Reginald Watts Associates.
Taaffe’s next move was, he admits, a bit of a quantum leap. In 1989 he
joined Shandwick Consultants, the agency’s City arm, as joint MD
alongside Chris Matthews, the current CEO of financial PR specialist
Hogarth Partnership.
Taaffe’s performance at pitches became legendary. Simon
Brocklebank-Fowler, who was a consultant at Shandwick during Taaffe’s
stint there, says: ’New business pitches with him were always exciting.
People tended to either love his Australian tell-em-like-it-is style, or
not. You knew you had an even chance of it going either way.’
Taaffe admits that it has taken him 13 years to adapt to a more
appropriate style for UK or US chief executives and marketing
directors.’I have been known to challenge clients quite directly. I’ve
been marched out of a few offices but most of the time clients
appreciate it.’
After two years managing Shandwick’s corporate, financial and
business-to-business PR Taaffe realised that his opportunities to
develop in the international arena were limited. ’We did some
international assignments but it wasn’t really enough. The problem was
that all the Shandwick offices, at the time, were competing with each
other for the international work.’ He consequently accepted a post as
CEO of Hill and Knowlton UK in 1992.
By 1994 he was promoted to president and CEO of H&K Europe, Middle East
and Africa and last month was given the additional title of worldwide
president. Half of the company’s 1,500 staff now report to him, and in
his new role he is responsible for ensuring that the firm behaves like a
truly international agency for its international clients.
’What we were finding was that international companies could not find
anyone to address all their communications needs across the globe and my
job now is to make sure that H&K is that agency,’ he says. His clients
are primarily pan-European or international and include American
Express, Pepsi and Chase Manhattan bank.
Taaffe is now firmly settled in the UK with his wife and three
children.
He is one of the few PR operators who have risen to the top of the
US-based international PR networks through UK operations but still has
one aspiration, namely, to run the largest communications agency in the
world.
’That would be the toughest challenge and hopefully one day it will be
H&K. The day that communications ceases to be a challenge, I’ll retire
to Australia and finally learn to surf.’
HIGHLIGHTS
1983
Corporate relations manager, Unilever, Australia
1986
Group account director, Reginald Watts Associates
1989
Joint managing director, Shandwick Consultants UK
1992
UK chief executive, Hill and Knowlton
1994
President EMEA, H&K
1998
Worldwide president, H&K
