When Anders Kempe—along with his colleagues Bo Jansson and Anders Lindberg—founded JKL in 1985, the Swedish public relations industry was in its infancy. Today, the PR business in Sweden is one of the most sophisticated in Europe, strategic and creative, thanks in part to the leadership role played by JKL. Kempe’s firm, meanwhile, grew into one of the largest and most respected in Europe prior to its 2002 acquisition by Publicis Groupe.

Today, Kempe continues to serve as chairman of JKL Group, which is best known for its work in the corporate and financial and public affairs arenas; its analytical approach; and its commitment to business results. He has overseen the firm’s expansion from its Stockholm base to a network with offices throughout the Nordic region (Oslo, Copenhagen, Helsinki, Gothenburg) and Brussels.

But much of his time and energy over the past few years has been devoted to integrating JKL and its sister agencies under the MSLGroup banner into a cohesive pan-European network with shared vision and values and a commitment to working seamlessly together to provide regional support for clients such as Coca-Cola, Procter & Gamble, sanofi-aventis and the World Gold Council.

Serving as president of the EMEA region, Kempe oversees a team of around 850 professionals across 25 offices, and has been responsible for the launch of the new brand identity that followed the integration of JKL, Publicis Consultants and the former Manning Selvage & Lee.

He has been instrumental in creating a common culture across EMEA; sharing best practices—many of them developed at JKL—to ensure a consistent analytical, creative and collaborative process; strengthening the firm’s leadership team with new top talent in key markets; and increasing the number of pan-regional clients with expanded briefs for Baltic Sea, Siemens and more.

It is for his role in transforming MSLGroup into a significant, top-tier competitor in the EMEA region that he is being recognized with one of this year’s SABRE Awards for Outstanding Individual Achievement. The award will be presented at our annual SABRE Awards dinner, to be held this year at Prague Castle on May 18.

On a daily basis, Kempe continues to serve as a strategic counsellor to some of MSLGroup’s largest clients, spending more than 50 percent of his time on the network’s multi-market business, and bringing to bear more than 25 years of experience as a communications consultant specialising in corporate communications, strategy, lobbying, public affairs and financial communications.

Kempe also plays a leading role on MSLGroup’s global management team, working alongside chief executive Olivier Fleurot.

Anders Kempe studied economics and business administration at the University of Stockholm. He is married with three daughters.