Bangkok--12 Jun--Ogilvy Public Relations Worldwide
Appointment of Communications and Journalism Veteran Effective January 1, 2010
Christopher Graves, President and Regional CEO of Ogilvy Public Relations Asia Pacific, has been appointed global CEO of Ogilvy Public Relations Worldwide, a global, multi-disciplinary communications leader, succeeding Marcia Silverman who has led the company for seven years. Marcia will become Chair of Ogilvy PR. Both appointments become effective January 1, 2010.
Since joining Ogilvy PR in 2005, Christopher Graves, 50, has roughly doubled the agency’s size in Asia Pacific, growing the network into the industry leader in the world’s fastest-growing region by any measure, from size, to client roster, to specialist offerings, to awards and accolades. Under his leadership, Ogilvy PR has seen phenomenal development in scale and creativity across all marketing disciplines. He has crafted clear goals and made investments to grow the network into the future and built a strong leadership team in Asia Pacific across 15 countries, dominating in major markets such as China and Australia. Graves collaborates closely with staff and agency leaders around the world and flourishes in the 360-degree marketing communications environment with partner Ogilvy & Mather.
Graves has cultivated relationships with leading such organizations as The World Economic Forum, authored papers and spoken on emerging trends in social media, recession marketing, shifting demographics, and the changing dynamics of influence. He has also created intellectual properties for Ogilvy PR such as immersive workshops on: crisis management; business model disruption; and effective storytelling for business outcomes.
The Ogilvy PR and Ogilvy & Mather senior leadership will work to secure a successor to the Asia Pacific regional CEO position of Ogilvy PR between now and the end of 2009.
Graves joined Ogilvy PR in 2005 after 23 years in business news, most recently with Dow Jones and Wall Street Journal. Chris was one of the founders of Wall Street Journal Television, managing editor of Asia Business News, vice president of news and programming for CNBC Asia, vice president of news and programming for CNBC Europe, managing director of business development (EMEA & Asia) for Dow Jones Consumer Electronic Publishing (WSJ.com) and managing director of Far Eastern Economic Review. Chris’s accolades include an EMMY nomination, the 2007 PR Professional of the Year by PRWeek Asia, as well as a number of awards from Asia PR Awards, The New York Film and Television Festivals and the Asian Television Awards for programming made under his supervision.
Graves graduated from Wesleyan University with a degree in English, and from Phillips Exeter Academy. He and his wife of 23 years, JoAnn Ward, have two daughters and have resided in Hong Kong since 2002.