TORONTO — Ogilvy PR has hired Erin Jacobson, most recently a National PR senior VP, to lead digital and advocacy in North America.

In the newly created role, Jacobson is tasked with furthering the firm’s digital and advocacy offering, which includes social strategy and content, public affairs and advocacy. The job also entails growing Ogilvy PR’s digital public affairs practices in Canada and Washington and leading advocacy work.

Toronto-based Jacobson reports to Julianna Richter, who was named Ogilvy’s global PR lead in December. 

Before joining Ogilvy earlier this month, Jacobson was National’s digital, marketing and technology practice lead, and was Cohn & Wolfe’s Toronto digital leader before that.

She is the latest in a string of recent senior hires, including global creative and strategy heads, as part of Ogilvy’s ongoing effort to bolster the firm’s PR business under Andy Main, the former Deloitte executive who replaced John Seifert as Ogilvy's global CEO in June 2020.

“Over the last year, we’ve seen brand preference and reputation become inseparable from social purpose and influence, with digital and social as the driving force,” Richter said. “Critical to a modern communications offer is the ability to create alignment between the brand values with those of their stakeholders and to build advocacy throughout their ecosystem. Erin’s depth of experience as a digital strategist and advocacy expert is key to scaling our wider data-centric, audience-first approach for clients.”