NEW YORK — BCW and Hill & Knowlton have named their second round of Burson leaders including global, practice and specialty heads. 

BCW global president Brooke Hovey will become Burson’s global chief strategy officer on July 1, when sibling WPP agencies BCW and H&K officially merge to create Burson, creating a $1bn PR firm.

Hovey, who’s been with BCW for more than 20 years, was appointed to her current role in 2022 after four years as the agency’s global chief growth officer. H&K global president Richard Millar is departing the firm.

Simon Shaw, currently H&K’s chief creative strategy & innovation officer, has been named Burson’s global chief creative officer. He was appointed to his current role in 2020 as part of a larger restructuring of leadership.

BCW global chief client and growth officer Michelle Hutton will hold that same role at Burson. Hutton joined BCW at the end of last year after more than 13 years with Edelman, most recently as vice chair of client solutions for Asia-Pacific. She left the firm last June..

Three H&K global practice leaders will retain their roles at Burson: global chair of healthcare Brenna Terry; global chair of technology Sara Gourlay; and global chair of energy & industrial Simon Whitehead, who will also retain his role as UK CEO.

BCW specialty agency leaders Kristin Cahill and Matt Lackie will retain their roles as CEOs of healthcare agency GCI Group and tech agency AxiCom respectively.

BCW global CFO  Jerry Lombardo and H&K global chief people officer Azurée Montoute-Lewis will serve in those same roles at Burson. Randa Stephan, H&K’s global chief marketing and communications officer, will be Burson’s global chief brand officer.

“This is an exceptional group of leaders drawn from our two organizations, each of whom has considerable experience in building businesses and brands,” said BCW global CEO Corey duBrowa, who will lead Burson as global CEO with H&K global chairman and CEO AnnaMaria DeSalva, who has been named Burson’s global chairman.

“Hill & Knowlton has a well-established and strong global practice structure in place which will be replicated at Burson, under the guidance of these chair appointments, to deliver clients access to the talent and services at the scale they need. I have great confidence in all of our colleagues to build a modern, full-service, technology-driven Burson focused on building and protecting reputation and grounded in the timeless values of our namesake,” he said.

Wednesday’s leadership announcement comes three weeks after BCW and H&K named their first round of Burson regional leaders. Those leaders will include Kristine Boyden and Scott Wilson serving Americas and EMEA CEOs, respectively, after holding the same roles at BCW.

WPP’s decision to merge the holding group's two biggest PR firms, announced Jan. 25, comes five years after BCW was created by the takeover of Burson-Marsteller by Cohn & Wolfe. According to spokespersons from the two firms, Hill & Knowlton will continue to operate as a distinct brand within Burson, "serving a select group of clients globally through strategic communications, advisory and public affairs services, including clients where there may be conflicts."