Culled from Campaign Asia Pacific
Cornelia Kunze, currently chief executive officer of Edelman Germany, will move to Mumbai as vice chairman of Edelman Asia Pacific, supporting president and CEO David Brain in expanding the agency’s presence in the region. The appointment is effective 1 October.
Kunze will be charged with developing the agency’s consumer and brand planning offerings throughout the region.
Brain, who worked with Kunze for seven years in EMEA, called her a “great brands thinker” and one of the best leaders he has worked with. The hiring is part of an effort to help the agency “stand toe-to-toe with CMOs and talk strategy”, Brain told Campaign Asia-Pacific.
Given the insatiable demand for content today, PR craft is more important than ever for brands, Brain asserted. “We believe that the PR way of thinking is at least as valid, and arguably more valid, to CMOs strategically than old-school advertising,” he added.
Kunze will work closely with another recent hire, Arun Mahtani, head of content for Asia-Pacific.
Kunze will also focus on the Asia activities of Edelman’s current German-based clients, including BMW, Osram, BASF and TÜV SÜD. She will also support Robert Holdheim, managing director of Edelman India, which is expanding rapidly thanks to winning the business of Tata.
A new CEO for Edelman Germany has been appointed and will be announced later this month.