Though their American counterparts have merged, both GCI Canada and Cohn & Wolfe Canada will remain separate public relations companies within the WPP network.
The London-based holding company WPP announced yesterday that the U.S. operations of the two firms merged under the name Cohn & Wolfe. The merged operations will be led by Jeff Hunt, formerly GCI Group CEO and president of the new organization, and Donna Imperato, who becomes CEO and was formerly president at Cohn & Wolfe.
However, Marion MacKenzie, president of GCI Canada, said the two companies “will operate independently in Canada… it will continue on as it is today.”
What will change for MacKenzie is her reporting structure. Previously, she reported to Hunt, who led the now defunct GCI Group from Austin, Texas. MacKenzie will now report to Imperato.
GCI Group is part of WPP’s Grey Group, the division that owns Grey Canada and Phase V Communications, a health and medical communication agency in Montreal.
Cohn & Wolfe Canada, based in Toronto, remains part of the Res Publica Consulting Group, a partially-owned offshoot of Young & Rubicam Brands that also owns National Public Relations.
