Ketchum Inc.
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| Industry | Public relations and advertising |
|---|---|
| Founded | Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania USA 1923 |
| Founder | George Ketchum |
| Headquarters | New York, New York, USA |
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Key people
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Rob Flaherty, Chairman and CEO Barri Rafferty, Worldwide President |
| Parent | Omnicom Group |
| Website | ketchum |
Ketchum is a global public relations firm, offering marketing, branding, and corporate communications services in the corporate, healthcare, food and beverage and technology industries. George Ketchum founded the firm as a Pittsburgh-based advertising company in 1923. It later evolved to include a public relations practice. The firm is headquartered New York City and with offices and affiliates in North America, EMEA, Asia Pacific, and Latin America. The agency has been owned by Omnicom Group since 1996. Ketchum merged with Düsseldorf-based Pleon in one of the industry’s largest mergers in 2009. It has been led by Chairman and CEO Rob Flaherty since 2012.
The agency that would become Ketchum was founded as Ketchum and MacLeod in Pittsburgh on May 22, 1923. The agency's name was changed to Ketchum, MacLeod & Grove in 1924. It was led by brothers George and Carlton Ketchum, and Norman McLeod and Robert Grove, whom the brothers met at University of Pittsburgh in the 1910s. The agency's early work focused on advertising, publicity, and fundraising.
In 1934 the agency established a public relations department. The department's first assignment was a campaign for Natural Gas Companies, People’s Natural Gas and other local natural gas companies. The agency received national attention in 1951 when it orchestrated a sponsorship for client Westinghouse of the first nationally televised NCAA football game. As the firm's billings grew in the late 1950s, it opened offices in New York City and Washington D.C.. It acquired west coast-based agency Botsford Constantine & McCarty, forming Botsford-Ketchum in 1969. It continued acquiring other agencies throughout the 1970s and 80s, expanding internationally in Europe and Asia.
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