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Amid political upheavals and a populist backlash, senior communicators will attempt to make sense of a fractured world at this year's World Economic Forum (WEF).
Always a polarising event, this year's Forum will be aiming to reassert its relevance after a year when it's elite consensus was rendered somewhat moot. How else to explain the utter incredulity that cast a bewildering pall over the 2017 edition, thanks to the Trump and Brexit shocks that ruptured the political landscape.
Many observers would recommend a rather large caveat when it comes to Davos commentary. Consensus views from the global economic elite that gather at the World Economic Forum are always wrong, according to Harvard professor and former IMF chief economist Kenneth Rogoff, a result of the stunning homogeneity and group-think that often typifies the event.
"We come to the mountain but the mountain’s crumbling under us," was how one CEO put it last year. Is Davos, and its champagne-swilling devotion to frictionless capitalism, part of the problem?
Perhaps, but not everyone is so sceptical. On this week's Echo Chamber podcast, Omnicom PR Group president David Gallagher made an eloquent case for WEF's virtues, including its remarkable ability to identify and analyse trends that will shape the world's future. This year, for example, WEF reports that the world is entering a "critical period of intensified risks".
And many will be watching the event to gauge the impact of global leaders — Donald Trump, of course, but also Narendra Modi, Emmanuel Macron, Theresa May and Justin Trudeau, to name just a few.
So it is no surprise that senior agency and in-house communications executives will again flock to this year's event. Much of their activity is focused on supporting the various business leaders in attendance, but the Davos agenda — always rich with discussions about the purpose of business — can offer considerable insight into the bigger public relations issues that are likely to dominate the corporate agenda in 2018.
Those issues, you could argue, are more important than ever, particularly as business braces itself for the backlash from emboldened consumers and employees. There is no surprise that WEF has titled this year's event 'Creating a Shared Future in a Fractured World.'
Once again, we've researched the official attendee list. The results, in no particular order, are below, and demonstrate the event's geographic diversity and its ability to attract senior figures from the corporate and agency worlds, spanning public affairs, corporate communications, marketing and CSR. Note that many of our Influence 100 list are present, for example.
Bear in mind that these are only official Summit attendees, there will be many more industry names taking part as 'unofficial' delegates. Here is my working list, please do let me know if I've left you off, and follow along with all of our Davos coverage here, including our first event at Davos, in conjunction with the Wall Street Journal and Weber Shandwick, which will focus on managing corporate reputation in a world dominated by volatility, fake news and populism.
In-house
Dan Tarman
Chief Communications Officer
eBay Inc.
Yutaka Shimazaki
Executive Officer; General Manager, Executive Secretariat, Corporate Communications
Marubeni Corporation
Mark MacGann
Group Chief External Affairs Officer, Member of the Group Executive Committee
VEON
Jennifer Scardino
Global Head, International Communications
Santander
William Sheedy
Global Executive, Corporate Strategy, M&A, Government Relations
Visa Inc.
Mette Fossum
Director, Global Communications, Government and Corporate Social Responsibility
REMA 1000
Andrey Shtorkh
Member of the Executive Board; Director, Strategic Communications
Renova Group
Elaine Weidman Grunewald
Senior Vice-President and Chief Sustainability Officer
Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson
Keith Weed
Chief Marketing Communications Officer
Unilever
Jill Hazelbaker
Senior Vice-President, Policy and Communications
Uber Technologies Inc.
Joseph Naylor
Vice-President, Policy, Government and Public Affairs
Chevron Corporation
Marcela Hawn
Senior Vice-President and Chief Communications Officer
Centene Corporation
Henry Gomez
Executive Vice-President, Chief Marketing and Communications Officer
Hewlett Packard Enterprise
Julie Louise Gerberding
Executive Vice-President, Strategic Communications, Global Public Policy and Population Health
MSD
Laura Gordon
Managing Director, Communications
The Rockefeller Foundation
Elinor Steele
Vice-President, Global Communications and Women's Initiatives
Tupperware Brands Corporation
Penelope Naas
Senior Vice-President, International Public Affairs and Sustainability
UPS Europe
Christine Graeff
Director-General, Communications
European Central Bank
Elliot Schrage
Vice-President, Communications and Policy
Facebook Inc.
Lauren Flaherty
Executive Vice-President and Chief Marketing Officer
CA Technologies
Daniel Berthiaume Executive Director, Worldwide
Communications, Office of the Chief Executive Officer
Adobe Systems Incorporated
Elaine J. Dorward-King
Executive Vice-President, Sustainability and External Relations
Newmont Mining Corporation
Karim A. Lesina
Vice-President, International External Affairs, EU, Caribbean, Central and Latin America, Trans-Atlantic Relations
AT&T
Lori Lee
Chief Executive Officer, ATT International; Global Marketing Officer
AT&T Inc.
Sally Susman
Executive Vice-President, Corporate Affairs
Pfizer Inc.
Yoshitake Yamaguchi
Senior Fellow, General Manager, Government and External Relations Office
Toshiba Corporation
Beatriz Perez
Senior Vice-President; Chief, Public Affairs, Communications and Sustainability
The Coca-Cola Company
Niklas Gustafsson
Chief Sustainability Officer; Head, Public Affairs
AB Volvo
Elaine Weidman Grunewald
Vice-President, Sustainability and Corporate Responsibility
Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson
Hashim Gillani
Senior Vice-President, Corporate Development and Communications
Alghanim Industries
Mark Henderson
Director, Communications
The Wellcome Trust
Tatyana Zavyalova
Senior Vice-President; Head, Marketing and Communications
Sberbank
Jamie Smith
Chief Communications and Marketing Officer
BitFury Group
Mark Klein
Senior Vice-President, Corporate Communications, Public Affairs and External Relations
Dignity Health
Bernard Tan
Managing Director, Sustainability and Stakeholder Engagement
Asia Pulp & Paper
Christopher Lake
Vice-President; Head, International Government Relations
S&P Global Ratings
Marcia M. Smith
Senior Vice-President, Sustainability and External Affairs
Teck Resources Limited
Iris Beck Codner
Group EVP, Corporate Marketing and Communications
Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd
Haruhiko Hirate
Corporate Communications and Public Affairs Officer
Takeda Pharmaceutical Company Limited
Viktoriya Luchka
Communications Strategist
Lviv Educational Foundation
Ruth Harper
Vice-President, Global Strategic Communications
ManpowerGroup
Sherry Pudloski
Senior Vice-President and Chief Communications Officer
The Guardian Life Insurance
Virginie Helias
Vice-President, Global Sustainability
Procter & Gamble International Operations SA
Jeff Seabright
Chief Sustainability Officer
Unilever
Molly Gavin
Vice-President, Government Affairs and Sustainability
Qualcomm Incorporated
Michael Goltzman
Vice-President, Global Public Policy, Environmental Sustainability and Social Impact
The Coca-Cola Company
Brent Bergeron
Executive Vice-President, Corporate Affairs and Sustainability
Goldcorp Inc.
Kristin Peterson
Co-Founder and Chief Marketing Officer
EveryLayer
Xu Wenwei
Executive Director of the Board and Chief Marketing Strategy Officer
Huawei Technologies Co. Ltd
Carolyn Everson
Vice-President, Global Marketing Solutions
Facebook Inc.
Camilla Sylvest
Executive Vice-President, Commercial Strategy and Corporate Affairs
Novo Nordisk A/S
Carlos M. Jarque
Executive Director, International Affairs, Government Relations and Corporate Affairs
America Movil
Michael Lightfoot
Chief Corporate Affairs and Strategy Officer
LeasePlan Corporation N.V.
Maria Nelly Rivas
Director, Corporate Affairs
Cargill Incorporated
Katie Fallon
Executive Vice-President; Global Head, Corporate Affairs
Hilton Worldwide
Manuel Kohnstamm
Senior Vice-President and Chief Corporate Affairs Officer
Liberty Global Plc
Consultancy
Jack Leslie
Chairman
Weber Shandwick
Steven H. Gunby
President and Chief Executive Officer
FTI Consulting Inc.
Kevin Hewitt
Chairman, Europe, Middle East and Africa
FTI Consulting
Carol Potter
President and Chief Executive Officer, Europe
Edelman
Matthew J. Harrington
Global Chief Operating Officer
Edelman
Richard W. Edelman
President and Chief Executive Officer
Edelman
Barri Rafferty
President and Chief Executive Officer
Ketchum Inc.
Kathy Bloomgarden
Chief Executive Officer
Ruder Finn Inc.
Margery Kraus
Founder and Chief Executive Officer
APCO Worldwide Inc.
Roland Rudd
Chairman
Finsbury
Sir Martin Sorrell
Chief Executive Officer
WPP Plc
Michael I. Roth
Chairman and Chief Executive Officer
Interpublic Group
John Wren
President and Chief Executive Officer
Omnicom Group Inc.
Serge Dumont
Chairman, Asia-Pacific; Vice-Chairman
Omnicom Group Inc.
John Seifert
Worldwide Chairman and Chief Executive Officer
Ogilvy & Mather
Rishad Tobaccowala
Chief Strategist
Publicis Groupe
Anne-Gabrielle Heilbronner
Secretary-General; Member of the Executive Board
Publicis Groupe
Maurice Lévy
Chairman of the Supervisory Board
Publicis Groupe SA
Charles Riou
Chief of Staff to the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer
Publicis Groupe
Arthur Sadoun
Chairman and Chief Executive Officer
Publicis Groupe
Shigeru Ishida
Executive Officer
Dentsu Inc.
Nigel Morris
Chief Strategy and Innovation Officer
Dentsu Aegis Network
Jerry Buhlmann
Chief Executive Officer
Dentsu Aegis Network Ltd
Valerie Scoular
Group Human Resources Director
Dentsu Aegis Network Ltd
Nick Brien
Chief Executive Officer Americas and US
Dentsu Aegis Network
Andrew Robertson
President and Chief Executive Officer
BBDO Worldwide
Troy Ruhanen
President and Chief Executive Officer
TBWA Worldwide
Alina Kessel President and Chief Executive Officer,
Team P&G
Grey Communications Ltd
