Hill+Knowlton Strategies (H+K) has announced the merging of operations with BCW (Burson Cohn & Wolfe) in Korea. Effective next month, the combined business will operate under the H+K Korea brand and be led by HS Chung, President, H+K Asia.
The decision to integrate was made due to clear synergies between the agencies across corporate and marketing communications, government and public affairs, issues management and consumer technologies, according to H+K.
“H+K and BCW have a rich and successful history of working together, and this collaboration will continue in Korea,” said Chung. “This strategic move is about continuing growth in Korea and across Asia, and with this expanded operation we are bringing together the skills of two highly complementary agencies to better service our clients and win more business in the region.”
The combined business will also offer in-house social and content teams, and a production and studio function. Discussions have been ongoing for some time and follows the integration of H+K and Ogilvy, Public Relations & Influence into BCW operations in Japan in January of this year.
“Korea is a critical market for many of our clients in Asia and globally, and we are confident this move will be as successful as our recent integration under BCW in Japan, where BCW created an unrivalled one-stop communications shop for clients,” said Matt Stafford, President, BCW APAC. “Together, BCW and H+K will continue to deliver clients the outstanding integrated communications service and support they have come to expect from us.”
