Hill+Knowlton Canada has hired Chris Davies as its first-ever national creative director in a move that reflects the PR company’s evolving role from “service provider” to “solutions partner.”
Over the last three or four years, H+K has played a bigger role in trying to solve its clients’ business challenges, moving beyond traditional PR and into areas including apps, paid media, social media, experiential and digital, the company’s chief operating officer, Tonie Chaltas, told Marketing.
Last summer, for instance, H+K worked with Corby Distilleries to help drive sales of its Jacob’s Creek Moscato wine. H+K created #MoscatoMonday, a Twitter listening campaign that took place during weekly episodes of The Bachelorette. The campaign generated 2,000 tweets and sales increased by more than 360% compared to the same period the year before.
Though this isn’t a new phenomenon within the PR industry, Chaltas said adding a national creative director to the firm’s roster is the logical next step in becoming an integrated solutions provider.
Davies, who started two weeks ago, comes to the table with a different perspective on how to tackle a client’s objectives, which has “added to our creativity and some of the ideas we’re able to present to clients,” said Chaltas.
Davies’ hire comes on the heels of new business wins and an increasing amount of work in the social and digital space. In the last year, H+K added Whirlpool Canada and Intercontinental Hotel Group to its client roster.
