On a worldwide basis, the merger will combine Ketchum's strong global management capabilities, collaborative culture, and reputation for creativity with Pleon’s entrepreneurial style and expertise in strategic business communications. Each firm brings considerable and distinctive strengths to the merger:
Established in 1923, Ketchum has long been considered a global powerhouse in building brands for products, services, and corporations and is often acknowledged for its teamwork, creativity, and award-winning results.
Pleon is consistently recognized as a strong entrepreneurial and European corporate communications consultancy, addressing strategic communication challenges with a sound business, political and social understanding. Since its beginning as Kohtes & Klewes in 1988 and now as Pleon Europe, the consultancy has been a strong and reliable business with solid growth.
Headquarters
Global Headquarters
Ketchum
1285 Avenue of the Americas
Fourth Floor
New York, N.Y. 10019
U.S.A.
European Headquarters
Ketchum Pleon
Bahnstraße 2
40212 Düsseldorf
Germany
By the Numbers
- 1923: the year Ketchum was founded
- 1988: the year Pleon was founded (as Kohtes & Klewes)
- 66: the number of countries represented
- 105: total number of offices and affiliates worldwide
- 64: offices and affiliate offices in EMEA
- 19: offices and affiliate offices in Asia
- 11: offices and affiliate offices in North America
- 10: offices and affiliate offices in Latin America
- 204: combined number of PRWeek, SABRE and Silver Anvil award wins
- $7 billion: estimated value of the worldwide public relations agency business, according to a 2007 Holmes Group report
- 10.4 years: average tenure of Ketchum’s top 25 clients
- 12.3 years: average tenure of Pleon’s top 25 clients
Commitment to Innovation
Both firms have a demonstrated commitment to innovative, strategic thinking and deep client knowledge to develop creative solutions that drive measurable business results. In the last five years, the combined firm has introduced a series of innovative offerings:
- Change Readiness Quotient (CRQ): Diagnostic tool expressing the level of change readiness for an organization
- Pleon Performedia: Measurement of return on investment for PR
- Pleon WebScan: Mapping tool to analyze opinion forming in Web 2.0 media
- Reputation Index: Tool combining public arena analysis with state-of-the-art stakeholder surveying methods
- Competitive De-positioning: Tool to differentiates clients from their competitors
- Ketchum Digital: Insights and tools to navigate the online landscape
- Ketchum Message Architecture: Tool to clarify how a company differentiates and positions itself to succeed
- Women 25to54: Behavioral insights and innovative communications approaches for reaching this vital demographic
Awards and Recognition
Both firms have been widely recognized for delivering smart, effective and often award-winning work on behalf of their clients. The excellence that both firms demonstrate in serving their clients is a strong indicator of what the two will create together.
- Ketchum has won 112 Silver Anvil awards from the Public Relations Society of America, more than any other agency. The Silver Anvil is the industry’s highest honor in the United States.
- Ketchum is the winner of 57 North America and EMEA SABRE (Superior Achievement in Branding and Reputation) Awards from The Holmes Group.
- In 2008, Pleon was named European Consultancy of the Year by The Holmes Group.
- The winner of the 2009 PRWeek Campaign of the Year Award in the United States, Ketchum also received the Honorable Mention for PRWeek’s Large Agency of the Year for two consecutive years.
- In 2008, Pleon received a Stevie Award for Best Public Relations Agency at the annual International Business Awards event, a global business awards program honoring exceptional performance in business.
- Since 2004, Pleon has won 71 prestigious industry awards across Europe and North America. The agency has won seven awards from PR Report, Germany’s leading public relations industry trade publication; Ketchum has won two PR Report Awards.
- In 2009, Ketchum and its clients were honored with one Gold, two Silver and one Bronze Clio in the first-ever PR category at the Clio.
