Edelman opens new offices in Berlin and Rome

Edelman, the world’s largest independent public relations firm, announced today that it has opened new offices in Berlin and Rome.

The new offices reflect a strategic decision by Edelman to seek to enhance its public affairs offer worldwide between now and 2012. 

The Berlin office is headed by Bernd Buschhausen, who has held senior positions in German public affairs consultancies in Bonn and Berlin since 1998.  It brings to four the number of Edelman offices in Germany, adding to existing offices in Hamburg, Frankfurt and Munich.  Edelman Germany, headed by Cornelia Kunze, is the leading consumer PR consultancy in Germany.
The Rome office is a joint venture with the Rome consultancy, VerA, headed by Managing Director, Francesco Schlitzer.  It will partner with Edelman’s well-established Milan office, headed by leading Italian businesswoman, Fiorella Passoni.  Schlitzer is a former Italian Ministry of Interior civil servant, who has worked in Italian public affairs since 1998. 

Edelman Europe Vice Chairman, Michael Burrell, said: “These office openings reflect our determination to become a leading player in public affairs in Europe, adding to our existing capabilities in Brussels, Dublin, London (where we are UK public affairs consultancy of the year) Madrid and Paris.

Our objective is to continue to add breadth and depth in public affairs and to grow our market share in this sector over the next four years.  Under the public affairs practice leadership of Washington DC-based Neal Flieger, we anticipate further developments in Asia and Latin America, adding to our market-leading public affairs offer in North America.

It is an exciting moment for us and I am thrilled that we have been joined by Bernd and Francesco, who are acknowledged as leading and innovative practitioners in their markets.  With a new government in Italy and elections looming in Germany, this is a great time to be able to offer state of the art public affairs services to both national and international clients in both countries”.

Bernd Buschhausen said: “The Berlin public affairs environment is a key challenge for any business operating in the European and national markets.  Edelman’s profound expertise in digital media provides new dynamics for effective public affairs programmes in Germany and beyond.  Partnering with the other Edelman offices in Germany, I am greatly looking forward to leveraging all this expertise for our clients”.

Francesco Schlitzer said: “We at VerA welcome the opportunity to work with the Edelman network.  We think that the integration of our shared public affairs vision, together with Edelman’s communication expertise and pan-European and global outreach, will bring a new dimension to the Italian public affairs market – a completely innovative player, offering a wide range of services, rooted in a brand new strategic approach”.

For further information, please contact:
Michael Burrell, Vice Chairman, Europe
E: Michael.burrell@edelman.com
T:   +44 20 3047 2161
M: +44 7730 989 696