by Rob Flaherty| February 13, 2019

Six years ago our agency celebrated our 90th birthday in a big way, including 90 pro bono brainstorm sessions for 90 non-profit organizations all over the world. The occasion dated our origins back to 1923, but that date — long the official date of our founding — obscured one inconvenient fact that is worth noting.

by Rob Flaherty| May 8, 2018

Last year Harold Burson did an interview with Boston University Professor Don Wright in which he said that a critical fault in our field is that we provide “exquisite answers to the wrong problems.”  Intrigued by this phrase, I emailed the 97-year-old founder of Burson-Marsteller and asked him what he meant. He explained in the […]

by Rob Flaherty| December 8, 2017

In a world dominated by algorithms and data, and a diminishing of traditional media’s reach and impact on the general public, does influencing people still matter? I recently had the pleasure of tackling this subject on stage at Web Summit in Lisbon, Portugal with The Economist’s Gady Epstein. My answer: Yes. More than ever. Here’s […]

by Rob Flaherty| November 28, 2017

Today is an exciting day for all the colleagues at Ketchum, for our clients and also for our industry. Today, we named Barri Rafferty Chief Executive Officer at Ketchum, effective January 1, with me continuing as Chairman.

by Rob Flaherty| November 17, 2017

“We don’t see things as they are, we see them as we are.” – The Talmud It was with this quote that I began a fascinating discussion with neuroscientist, author and professor Tali Sharot. In this era of technology-fueled confirmation bias, particularly how the proliferation of alternative facts shape our decision-making process, I was interested […]

by Rob Flaherty| June 26, 2017

On a personal level, I couldn’t have asked for a more fulfilling Cannes Lions experience this year. From introducing Laura Dern, Grace Helbig and our Marcus Peterzell in Classic Hollywood Meets the YouTube Generation on the big stage, to accepting Lions with some of our most valued colleagues, agency partners and clients, to learning from […]