Backstory

Edelman has been one of the leading international PR firms in Korea for more than a decade, with consistent double-digit growth turning it into the firm’s second biggest Asia-Pacific market by revenue. The firm’s integrated capabilities, a hallmark of its broader global investment in create, strategy, digital and analytics, provide a strong differentiator versus many of its Korean rivals, helping it land numerous global mandates for Korean conglomerates. 

Locations

There are 158 people located in Seoul. 

Performance

Edelman Korea expanded revenue by 25.5% in 2023, making it the firm’s fastest-growing Asia-Pacific market, well ahead regional growth of 1.7%. In particular, the firm’s focus on global PR for Korean conglomerates has helped it land significant assignments from the likes of Hanwha, CJ, SK, Hyundai, Samsung and Hankook. In addition, Edelman’s integrated marketing capabilities also underpinned new business from Michelin Guide, Disney, Ananti, Spotify, Chanel, GS Caltex and Australia Tourism. 

People & Culture

In Korea, the firm is led by CEO SB Jang and COO Janet Kim, while Huan Hwang (global advisory), Yun Seyoung (brand), Heejun Koh (technology), and Rebekah Lee (digital) serve as senior directors. In 2023, the firm strengthened its employee network groups, adding a stronger focus on interfaith and support for disabilities, chronic illness and neurodivergence. The firm’s commitment to responsible citizenship includes funding of $100k in grants to nonprofits along with numerous DEI and mental wellness initiatives. 

Thought Leadership & Work

Edelman’s Trust Barometer remains the standard by which all agency thought leadership efforts are judged, while there are also special reports on such areas as health, business and racial justice, brand, employees/work and climate. Unsurprisingly, there has been a significant focus on AI in recent years, including training and a dedicated task force. In Korea, campaign highlights included successful SEO work for Hanhwa Group, immersive branding for Spotify, and Michelin Guide’s Busan launch. 

— Paul Holmes

Backstory

While Ketchum celebrated its 100th anniversary in the United States recently, the firm’s Korean operation notched its 10th anniversary last year. Ketchum established itself in the Korean market through a merger with Omnicom sibling InComm Brodeur, a strong local brand that can trace its heritage back to its founding as an independent agency in 1993. The firm's expertise encompasses consumer brand-building and corporate reputation, with the requisite digital and social media capabilities that are table stakes today, and works across sectors including technology, consumer goods, food, transportation, travel, retail, lifestyle and luxury, and financial and professional services.

Locations

The Seoul office is part of an Asia-Pacific network that is more about quality in key markets than it is about comprehensive coverage, although that footprint is reduced somewhat after layoffs this year in China and India. The firm retains an extensive global network with operations in key markets throughout EMEA and the Americas. 

Performance

After a strong year in 2024, driven largely by Samsung’s sponsorship of the Olympic Games, Ketchum was under some pressure that it could maintain the same levels in a year without such a tentpole event. It held its own and then some, with fee income up by 5%. as one of the few global agencies competing at the top level in a market dominated by local firms, it continues to work with big names such as Google, YouTube, Google Play, Morgan Stanley, Delta Airline, HPE, 3M, Diageo, Siemens Healthineers, and KLA. New business over the course o the year came from Intel and Tim Hortons, among others.

People & Culture

Ketchum’s values call on the agency and its people to be curious, brave, inspiring, and most importantly, a force for good, producing “work that matters to the world.” The global roll out of a new employee value proposition (Better For Being Here) last year has been embraced by APAC offices, where much of the emphasis has been on empathy and purpose—as well as providing Korean employees with access to the firm’s global resources. The firm’s leadership team has evolved significantly in recent years under the leadership of managing director Joon Kim.

Thought Leadership & Work

In Korea, Ketchum has distinguished itself through its willingness to look to the future, invest in new skills and encourage innovation. In 2019, Ketchum Korea embarked on a data-driven digital marketing transformation journey emphasizing integrated solutions and behavioral change. Building on that expertise in 2023, Ketchum was part of an Omnicom initiative at “Cannes Lions X Seoul” unveiling a new strategy: “Precision Communications: fueled by data and fusing technology with creativity. A key client project was the 37th International Electric Vehicle Symposium and Exhibition, an event attracting 15,000 attendees from 40 countries, for which Ketchum handled media activities. The firm also worked with Google on its arts and culture programming and on a special interview with Lee Sae Dol, a renowned professional Go player—the only one to beat an AI opponent—to celebrate the 20th anniversary of Google Korea.

— Paul Holmes

Backstory

KPR lost its founder, Kay H. Imm, heralded as the godmother of the Korean PR industry, two years ago at age 91. The firm, though, has not wavered from Imm’s staunch commitment to being the trendsetter in the Korean PR industry that she created it to be in 1989. KPR’s continued success is built on creating value for clients through integrated communications and content created through collaboration, new ideas and technology. That, combined with the firm’s deep understanding of Korean media and business, has fueled continued growth and a reputation as a full-service player in the competitive Korean marketplace.

Locations

KPR is headquartered in Seoul, where it employs 145 staffers.

Performance

With 2023 fee income of just over $30 million—up by a very healthy 27% after the Covid doldrums ended—KPR ranks just one place outside the top  100 on our global ranking of PR firms and among the top three from the Korean market. The firm’s leadership in the digital arena once again proved a strength, although growth came from many areas including purpose-driven and CSR work. The firm is proud of its many long-tenured clients and continues to wok with Applied Materials Korea, Google Cloud, GS Caltex, Hankook Shell Oil, Hyundai Motor Group, Incheon Metropolitan City, Kia Corporation, Lenovo, Siemens and more, while new business came from the likes of AutoStore, CJ Olive Young, fintech company Dunamu. Korea International Cooperation Agency, Lotte World, Moleskine, POSCO International, Seoul Metropolitan Government and WWF Korea.

People & Culture

You can’t look at KPR’s culture without noting the lasting influence of agency founder Imm, who came into the office every day. Her commitment to the firm’s people, elevating women in the workplace and improving the world through communications remains very much alive under Jooho Kim, who was named KPR’s president after five years at the helm of collabo K, the firm’s integrated marketing unit. In June of 2023, managing director Brian Yi, previously the head of the issue and crisis management team, was named to head the agency's newly established ESG strategy group and in December, KPR established a new consumer communication division and named senior executive director Jin Choi as its leader.

Thought Leadership & Work

With its Digital Communication Research Lab providing clients with digital news and information and delivering a digital communications trend report, and its new K Public unit offering specialized services to the public sector, KPR continues to innovate. Impressive work in the past year includes “Made Cooler by Hyundai” for Hyundai Motor Company and “#CaptureBackChallenge: My First Dishwasher for My Family” on behalf of LG Electronicsm both of which are nominated for SABRE Awards. New initiatives include an AI Task Force to study how to use AI for design, advertising, PR and examine the ethical use of AI, and created Weenidy, a design resource service platform.

— Paul Holmes

Backstory

There was a time when international firms in the Japanese market would seek to diminish the public relations operations of Dentsu with the suggestion that they played a secondary role to the giant ad agency with which they share a name and ownership. The fact is that the PR and advertising businesses do work closely together, but in recent years it has become impossible to ignore the fine quality of the public relations work, and the fact that much of the integrated output is “earned first” in the best sense of that term. After celebrating its 60th anniversary two years ago, Dentsu is now established as one of the leading creative agencies not only in Asia but in the world—living up to its tagline: ‘Advocates for Social Innovation’.

Locations

Dentsu Public Relations has offices in Tokyo and Osaka as well as access to a network of owned and affiliated partners in major global markets.

Performance

There is an opacity to the Japanese market—a blurring of the lines between PR and advertising and sometimes completely unrelated businesses—that can make competing claims about market leadership difficult to evaluate. Dentsu may indeed be smaller than some of its competitors, but it continues to occupy a strong leadership position in the market, and while fees were flat in 2023, net sales were up by about 20% and the firm continues to represent 37 Fortune Global 500 and 70 Nikkei 225 companies, which speaks to its reputation. It continues to work for the Cabinet Office, the  Reconstruction Agency, Japan National Tourism Organization, Japan Arts Council, Tokyo Metropolitan Government, Tokyo Convention & Visitors Bureau, JETRO—all important national institutions—as well as  Nikkei Inc and Kyocera Corporation, while a major new win was Subway Japan.

People & Culture

Takamasa Yamaguchi began his tenure as president and CEO at the start of the year and—in keeping with tradition—brings a wealth of experience across other parts of theDentsu business, having joined the agency in 1991 and most recently serving as managing director of the holistic solutions division. He will be building on a culture that was modernized under the leadership of of his predecessor, Masahiro Makiguchi, and includes exeutive officers Motoko Kunita (the firm’s first female C-suite executive) and Tadashi Inokuchi  The firm has continued its commitment to increased diversity, with professional development activities supporting the advancement of women in the workforce, and support for Pride events in the region.

Thought Leadership & Work

Dentsu continues to show up strongly in awards competitions globally and regionally. The firm partnered with Dentsu Inc on the SABRE nominated “Lions Good News 2024” campaign for Nikkei Inc., helping Japan‘s leading economic newspaper leverage content from the Cannes Lions. The firm also won at the PRSJ’s PR Awards Grand Prix for a “Heatstroke Prevention Awareness Campaign” executed for Suntory. And it built on its tradition of thought leadership with the publication of three new PR-related books: “Welcome to Corporate Museums,” :51 ideas that changed the world,” and “PR 4.0.”

— Paul Holmes

Backstory

Weber Shandwick’s North Asian operations comprise a longstanding Japanese presence, which traces its roots back to 1959, along with a Korean operation that has grown considerably since launching in 2009. One thing that unites them, though, is their trajectory, which has turned the sub-region into a critical growth engine for the firm’s regional operations. The performance is further reflected by former North Asia head Tyler Kim’s status as Asia-Pacific CEO.

Locations

There are around 80 people in Seoul and 85 in Tokyo. 

Performance

Korea grew by around 12% in 2023, underpinned by the firm’s Asia-domiciled multimarket clients, which include SK Hynix, Amore Pacific, and Samsung, while the firm’s 11% regional growth in brand/consumer was led by North Asia. Healthcare remains another strong suit, reflected by Moderna’s growth across Korea and Japan, while there was also expansion from Amazon’s sustainability work and Expedia consumer in Japan.

People & Culture

Japan is led by MD Campbell Hanley, while Korea is overseen by MD Elizabeth Bae. The new Weber Shandwick Collective has four core values—curiosity, courage, inclusion and impact—and “DE&I and values” are viewed as inseparable, with inclusion laying the groundwork for equity and belonging. In Asia, there has been significant progress to empower employees to lead initiatives that foster collaboration, mutual support and belonging.

Thought Leadership & Work

Weber Shandwick’s focus on ‘intersections’ between different business challenges has given it a strong thought leadership positioning, helping it solve issues that often span business, society and behavioural trends. That is supported by integrated media and digital capabilities which include particularly strong AI capabilities, while the firm’s sustainability and women’s health credentials are among the best in the region. Campaign highlights include the SABRE-nominated Hotels.com campaign for Expedia.

— Arun Sudhaman