Building THE NEXT GENERATION AGENCY Through M&A

Webcast Overview

A college student sits in his dorm and dreams about the next wave of internet communications.  It started with Microsoft and then climaxed with Facebook, Google, LinkedIn and Instagram among others. The impact of these new technologies has been enormous for agency CEOs.  No longer would the traditional tried and true print and broadcast media rule the kingdom.  And these changes are having a profound impact on PR agency CEOs whose clients are making demands on them to reach out to vast target audiences across the world using all the new tools now available to them to deliver their company's brand messages. As a result, PR Agency CEOs are scrambling to acquire emergent new media marketing agencies to add to their staff rosters the talented people with the skills and experience needed to use these new tools to help fulfill their clients' strategic communications interests. In this first in a series of webcasts sponsored by The Stevens Group, Bob Feldman, Co-Founder & Partner, PulsePoint Group, will examine the client challenges PR agencies are facing and the ever increasing role Mergers & Acquisitions is playing in helping these CEOs build the NEXT GENERATION agency.

Host

Art StevensManaging PartnerThe Stevens Group

Art Stevens literally knows the PR industry at every level and in every aspect, from the inside out and from foundation to pinnacle. Art knows what makes a PR business successful, profitable and valuable. A prolific writer as well as a dynamic executive, Art is subtle, observant and quietly creative, yet not opposed to a good measure of “brandstanding” when appropriate.He has been valuing agencies, brokering mergers and acquisitions, and providing strategic advice for ten years. Art is a former owner and CEO of LobsenzStevens, a Top-20 independent PR agency, which Publicis Groupe acquired.  | @ArtS1735 

Special Guest

Bob FeldmanCo-Founder & PartnerPulsePoint Group

Bob Feldman is co-founder and partner of PulsePoint Group, a management and digital consulting firm with offices in Los Angeles and Austin. The firm was founded in 2008 and acquired in 2014 by ICF International (Nasdaq: ICFI).PulsePoint Group provides insight, strategy development and strategic execution for communications and marketing management challenges, with a special focus on social and digital engagement. Clients are generally among the Fortune 500 and from multiple industry sectors.The firm specializes in C-suite consulting in three key areas:

• Organizational Design & Change Management
• Brand and Reputation Management
• Digital and Marketing Transformation

Bob has advised such PulsePoint clients as Anthem, Bristol-Myers Squibb, Cox Enterprises, Chevron, Deloitte, DuPont, GE, General Mills, Hilton Worldwide, Johnson & Johnson, Novartis, Toyota, USAA, Visa and Wells Fargo.Previously, Bob was with DreamWorks Animation SKG as the company’s first head of corporate communications and corporate marketing. The position was created as a result of the animation unit’s spin off and IPO in October 2004 from DreamWorks SKG.Prior to DreamWorks, Bob lived in New York and was for eight years president and chief executive officer of the worldwide public relations firm GCI Group, an independent unit of Grey Advertising and WPP.Before GCI, Bob held senior positions with Ketchum and Burson-Marsteller, two other large, well-respected public relations firms. While at Ketchum, Bob served on the Board of Directors of its parent company, Ketchum Communications, Inc., and participated in the decision to sell the marketing services firm to Omnicom.Bob authors a monthly column in PR Week magazine focused on the management of the corporate communications function. He also teaches a graduate-level course in corporate reputation at USC’s Annenberg School, and serves on the Board of the school’s Public Relations Center. Additionally, Bob serves on the Board of Directors of the Arthur W. Page Society, the professional association for senior communications executives.  | @bobfeldman