Zeno Group Announces Global Expansion: Opens Five Offices in Asia & Europe Exporting Its Award-Winning Approach and Unique Culture

Steve Earl to lead Zeno Europe and John Kerr to lead Zeno Asia

NEW YORK, New York (September 27, 2012) – Zeno Group, the award-winning mid-size agency that over the last several years has disrupted the North American PR scene, today announced the opening of four offices in Asia and one in Europe.  The addition of these markets brings the total number of full-service Zeno offices to 11 – a major milestone for the firm that is a member of the Daniel J Edelman (DJE) family of companies.

Zeno in India (New Delhi), Indonesia (Jakarta) and Singapore will be operational by October 1. China is expected to be in place by year-end, pending Chinese government approval to re-brand DJE’s Blue agency to Zeno¹.  In Indonesia, leading DJE-owned PR firm Stratcom, is also being rebranded and transferred to Zeno ownership. In addition, there is one Zeno satellite office in Asia -- Japan (Tokyo) and – as well as Brazil (Sao Paolo) and Amsterdam. Zeno Asia clients at launch include EMC, Emirates, Facebook, Frisian Flag, SK Planet and Tupperware.

Industry veteran Steve Earl, co-founder of award-winning, London-based Speed Communications, has accepted an offer to lead Zeno Europe, reporting to Barby K. Siegel, CEO of Zeno Group.  Earl will be responsible for charting the firm’s growth in London and other key European cities.  Zeno London has been representing a major pharmaceutical company as part of a network-wide global assignment.

Earl is a frequently sought commentator on brand reputation and most recently co-authored Brand Anarchy, the critically-acclaimed book about how brands can best work with modern media to safeguard and build their reputations, published by Bloomsbury.

To lead and grow Zeno Asia, John Kerr has been named Managing Director. Kerr joins Zeno from sister-agency Edelman, which he joined in 2006 to start Edelman Digital in Asia, which is today one of the largest and most awarded social media marketing capabilities in the region. Kerr will also report to Siegel.

"We are thrilled to be exporting Zeno’s winning model to Asia and Europe with John Kerr and Steve Earl at the helm. What really sets Zeno apart is building our global brand with social digital at the core. This, coupled with Zeno’s challenger mindset and fearless spirit, frees us to deliver work that harnesses the new and interconnected content and media-centric world in which we live to have a measurable impact on our clients' business," said Barby K. Siegel, CEO of Zeno Group.  "No doubt the attributes that have fueled our growth in recent years – nimble and fast; fearless and relentless – coupled with the DJE imprimatur – will enable us to deliver new, fresh thinking to clients that is both inspirational and actionable," added Siegel.

Zeno Asia and Zeno Europe will work across core practice areas including consumer, health, technology and corporate affairs – as the firm has successfully done in North America – and will offer the full suite of traditional and digital PR capabilities.^*

In 2011 and 2012, Zeno was named PRWeek US Mid-Size Agency of the Year and in 2011 was PRWeek US Agency of the Year. In addition, the Zeno Group story opens the first chapter of the 25th anniversary edition of The Leadership Challenge: How to Make Extraordinary Things Happen in Organizations², a book that has already been read by more than 2 million people, in 22 languages.

Over the last several years, Zeno  has experienced unprecedented double-digit growth and industry recognition for its work with major brands and companies including Astra-Zeneca, Bausch & Lomb, Dreamworks Animation, Kia Motors, Four Seasons Hotels & Resorts, Office Depot, Pizza Hut, Seattle’s Best Coffee (Starbucks),  Scott’s Miracle-Gro and Sears, amongst others.

About Zeno Group
Believers in the fearless pursuit of the unexpected, the award-winning Zeno Group operates as one firm across eleven full-service offices in New York, Chicago, Santa Monica, Dallas, Silicon Valley, Toronto, London, Beijing, Delhi, Jakarta, Singapore, and three satellite offices in Amsterdam, Sao Paolo and Tokyo.  Zeno is the 2011 and 2012 winner of the PR Week US Mid-Size Agency of the Year and 2011 Holmes Report US Creative Agency of the Year. The firm’s practice areas include consumer, health, technology and corporate, all supported by planning, digital engagement and media.  Clients include: AstraZeneca, Bacardi, Bausch & Lomb, Brocade, Dreamworks Animation, Emirates, Facebook, Four Seasons Hotels & Resorts, Kia Motors America, Life Technologies, Lipton, Micron Technology, Inc., Office Depot, Nature's Path, Oak Investment Partners, Q-Cells, Pizza Hut, RIM, Sears, Seattle’s Best Coffee and VeriFone. Zeno Group is a member of the Daniel J Edelman Company. Please visit us at zenogroup.com, like us on Facebook or follow us @zenogroup.

MEDIA CONTACT:
Mark O’Connor
Zeno Group
mark.oconnor@zenogroup.com
212-299-8960 (O)
203-246-9534 (M)

¹ Subject to pending government approval to re-brand Daniel J Edelman's Blue agency in China to Zeno
^* Employee transitions from other Edelman companies (ie, Edelman, Blue and StratCom) will be completed in 30 days.
² Jossey-Bass; Published August 2012