Boyd Neil has handed over the reins of Hill+Knowlton Strategies’ social media and digital communications practice to Joseph Peters.
Peters, formerly deputy national practice leader, was promoted to senior vice-president and national practice leader for social, digital and public engagement.
Neil, a 16-year veteran of H+K, has led the practice for the past three years. Looking to decrease his involvement in the day-to-day operations of the agency, Neil has moved into a consulting role as senior VP and senior digital strategist.
“I’m switching my emphasis to combining both consulting and teaching at Seneca and Ryerson in social media,” said Neil.
Neil said the change had been in the works ever since H+K bought Peters’ Ottawa-based public engagement firm Ascentum in August 2012.
“He has a very strong background in digital technology, so he was the right person to take over the practice,” said Neil. “There’s also an opportunity for me to work more on client-side digital strategies rather than worrying about the development of the practice… Joe can take it to the next level.”
“One of the ways that we’re addressing changing client demands is the integration of many of the digital tools and the philosophy of public engagement into our business, and Joe brings that with him,” said Mike Coates, chairman and CEO of H+K. “We’re now well positioned to lead this next stage of digital integration into the core business.”
Coates credits Neil with helping to make H+K a serious contender in the digital space. “He’s really been an evangelist, a teacher, a motivator for all of us in the digital space,” said Coates. “He kept us focused not just on our own personal development, but investing in the [digital] area. He was big part of why we acquired Ascentum and without Boyd we certainly would not be as far along as we are today.”
