TORONTO, Nov. 4, 2014 /CNW/ - Jean-Pierre Vasseur, president and CEO of RES PUBLICA Consulting Group, is pleased to announce the appointment of Rick Murray, a veteran innovator and respected leader in the public relations industry, as managing partner of the Toronto office of NATIONAL Public Relations, as well as chief digital strategist for the Firm. RES PUBLICA is the parent company of NATIONAL Public Relations, Canada's largest and most successful strategic communications firm with offices across the country and in select global markets.
From 2001 to 2014, Rick led a series of successful, ground-breaking initiatives at Edelman, the world's largest independent public relations agency, where he was most recently president of the Midwest Region. In 2004, Rick launched Edelman's social media business. As president of Edelman Digital, Rick substantially grew the firm's digital and social media revenue. In 2010, Rick was appointed to manage Edelman's flagship office in Chicago, where he led 625 staff members to record fees and client satisfaction scores. Prior to Edelman, Rick was executive vice-president and general manager at Golin Harris, a multinational communications firm owned by Interpublic Group. He also held senior executive positions at firms specializing in events production, loyalty programs and consumer promotions.
As managing partner in Toronto, Rick will be responsible for growing the office's volume of business and expanding the service offering. As chief digital strategist, he has been tasked with developing and implementing a firm-wide social/digital strategy to offer an integrated approach to client service and consulting in all markets. In this role, Rick will be responsible for Sonic Boom, NATIONAL's digital marketing subsidiary. He will work closely with Norm Melamed, managing director of Sonic Boom, who has responsibility for all operations.
"Rick has successfully grown every business he has founded or led, and we are convinced he will do so at our Toronto office and with our digital practice," said Jean-Pierre Vasseur. "We are very excited to welcome Rick to NATIONAL. His passion for the interconnection between communications and technology and his strategic vision of our business will further consolidate our firm's integrated offering."
Rick was born in Montreal and completed a B.A. in Economics at the University of Vermont. In the early part of his career, he was vice-president of marketing in Canada for Pepsi-Cola International. "I very much look forward to returning to Canada and driving growth at NATIONAL. We share the same spirit of professionalism, bold thinking and stretching ourselves to make sure we remain central to our clients in helping them address the issues and opportunities they are facing," said Rick.
Rick Murray will officially start at NATIONAL on December 3. John Crean, who was interim managing partner of NATIONAL's Toronto office since the beginning of the year, will turn his full attention to his duties as national managing partner.
About NATIONAL
NATIONAL Public Relations is the largest public relations consultancy in Canada with offices in Victoria, Vancouver, Calgary, Toronto, Ottawa, Montreal, Quebec City, Saint John, Halifax, St. John's, New York and London. The Firm serves leading corporate, government and institutional clients and offers the full range of communications services, including corporate communications, investor relations, public affairs, employee engagement, public consultation and participation, marketing, technology and healthcare communications, as well as digital communications. It provides medical communications, public relations and clinical trial support services to a wide section of the leading pharmaceutical and medical devices companies internationally under the name AXON Communications. NATIONAL also owns digital marketing firm Sonic Boom, A Customer Experience Agency with offices in Toronto and Montreal. NATIONAL is a subsidiary of RES PUBLICA Consulting Group. At the international level, the Firm is affiliated with Burson‐Marsteller, part of WPP Group, a world leader in marketing communications.
Image with caption: "Rick Murray, Managing Partner of the Toronto office of NATIONAL Public Relations, Chief Digital Strategist for the Firm (CNW Group/NATIONAL Public Relations - Toronto)". Image available at: http://photos.newswire.ca/images/download/20141104_C4997_PHOTO_EN_7528.jpg
SOURCE: NATIONAL Public Relations - Toronto
Karl Baldauf, NATIONAL Public Relations, Tel.: 647-888-2866, [email protected]
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