Maja Pawinska Sims 18 Jul 2023 // 11:01PM GMT
LONDON — Omnicom sister agencies Ketchum and Portland have formed a new joint division, Beyond the Ballot, to offer political and consumer expertise in the run up to the 2024 elections in the US, EU and UK.
The joint venture will support clients of both agencies who are navigating next year’s historic triple of a US presidential election in November, a likely UK general election (not yet called, but which must be held before 28 January 2025), and the European Parliament elections in June. Its aim is to help clients plan for and manage the range of possible electoral outcomes and the economic and societal impact in the UK.
Beyond the Ballot has been developed in London by Ketchum’s global markets CEO Jo-ann Robertson and Portland CEO Victoria Dean, combining Portland’s political and policy specialism with Ketchum’s consumer experience and data and analytics capabilities, to offer insights and counsel around public sentiment, business impact, media narrative, policy and politics.
Dean (pictured, left) and Robertson (right) will be supported by a London-based bench under the joint leadership of Emma Dean, Portland’s UK managing director of public affairs and policy and Ketchum UK deputy CEO Heather Blundell, as well as teams on the ground in Brussels, Paris, Berlin and Washington DC.
Victoria Dean told PRovoke Media: “Jo-ann and I have been working more and more closely together and talking about these three mega elections in quick succession over the next 18 months, with volatility and uncertainty attached to them. Depending on which configuration we get, they could be super-impactful for businesses, and we can help clients think about what it might mean for them, prepare and hopefully have some influence."
She added: “We know businesses aren’t thinking about this enough – or upstream enough. They are coming to it late and not thinking about how the elections interrelate, or even thinking about basic things like policy risks.
“Every client at Portland has a piece of legislation they are worried about, or a direction of travel they want from government, or a regulation they want to change. They are good at engaging with the set of political stakeholders closest to them, but they need to get ready for what might be coming. They are not talking about the ambitions of the next set of UK, US and EU leaders: the three jurisdictions impact on each other, and they need to be more on the front foot of legislation and big policy issues.”
Robertson echoed this: “We are completely interrelated globally: what happens in the US affects the UK and what’s happening in the EU will cause tension in the UK – and big societal and economic issues won’t start in the broadsheets or Westminster, but on Tiktok and Instagram.
“For many global brands, we’re the first people to bring this up with them – they haven’t thought about the macro societal, economic and political issues of three elections. As well as the legislative agenda, there are really big, meaty and divisive societal issues that can be very polarizing at a consumer as well as political level – we’ve already seen businesses get caught out in areas like LGBTQ+ rights, women’s reproductive rights and workforce rights. Being able to navigate all of that is very complex.”
Robertson added: “We think it’s market leading to bring Portland and Ketchum together to launch a division so clients are accessing the best talent across our fields rather than having to go to separate agencies. What Vicky and I have found in our partnership is kindred spirits with different skills and approaches but a shared valued and ambition for what we can do for our clients. Our agencies are so different in terms of heritage and what we do, but when we bring our people together it is magic.”