BRUSSELS—Interel European Affairs has appointed Harald Boerekamp as a senior consultant. Boerekamp joins Interel from the European Commission where he spent more than three years as a senior civil servant in the Secretariat General and Directorate General for Humanitarian Aid and Civil Protection. Prior to this he spent 10 years as a diplomat for the Dutch ministry of Foreign Affairs, with postings in the Hague, Jakarta, a secondment to the World Bank and the Dutch Permanent Representation to the EU.

HAMBURG—Petra Rob is taking over as vice president corporate and brands communications at cosmetics company Beiersdorf on an interim basis. Rob's experience includes managing corporate communications at Metro Konzern and BayernLB. She is replacing Thomas Schönen, who is leaving the company at the end of April.

LONDON—Porter Novelli has named James Farquharson as a new associate director in its UK technology team. He will take a leading day-to-day role on work with clients such as BT Global Services, Analog Devices, Hitachi GST and LANDesk. He joins from specialist technology PR consultancy Whiteoaks, where he worked with Vodafone, Dell and Teradata. Previously, he was at Hill & Knowlton, building his experience on Samsung, Yahoo!, Tata Communications and Visa.

JOHANNESBURG—Eurocom Worldwide, a global network of independent public relations firm, has named Watt Communications of South Africa as its regional lead agency for sub-Saharan Africa. In addition to providing network market coverage in South Africa, Kenya and Angola, Watt recently appointed SY&T Communications as a Eurocom Worldwide partner in Nigeria, with additional coverage in Ghana.

BRIGHTON—Multinational insurance group RSA has appointed Man Bites Dog, a specialist in public relations for the service economy, to manage the business-to-business PR brief for its commercial insurance business in the UK. Man Bites Dog will be supporting RSA on media relations and thought leadership to cement RSA’s position as the UK’s largest commercial lines insurer. The six-figure retainer was won following a competitive pitch. Account Director David Mercer will lead the firm’s team.

LONDON—Bibo, a supplier of domestic water filtration systems to the UK market, has selected Bite Communications to manage its UK PR. Bite will work with Bibo’s director Lindsay Willott to drive a targeted and creative product review programme that will drive a stronger brand identity and consumer presence for the company.

LONDON—Kaizo has been selected to support the Government of Japan as it holds events and festivals as part of the Japan Next campaign, designed to express the country’s gratitude to the world for its support after the earthquake of March 2011 and showcase Japan’s recovery. Kaizo supported the campaign in the United Kingdom with two events which were themed Arigato, the Japanese word for thank you.

LONDON—W Communications has expanded its culture division with the addition of online retailer Sonic Editions. Whas been chosen to boost the UK profile of Sonic Editions, which specializes in making gallery-quality limited edition photography affordable.