WPP : Cohn Wolfe appoints Laura Pesin Eder as President, North America

Brand-building Industry Veteran to Oversee Global Agency's Largest Region

NEW YORK - Cohn & Wolfe, a global communications agency, today announced the appointment of Laura Pesin Eder as President, North America. Effective immediately, Pesin Eder will apply her 22 years of client leadership and agency management experience to the role, overseeing client and talent management and development, strategic operations and business development across Cohn & Wolfe offices in North America. She will report to Global Chief Executive Officer Donna Imperato and will be based in the agency's New York headquarters.

A public relations industry veteran and accomplished client leader, Pesin Eder has led communications strategies and campaigns for numerous global brands at Church & Dwight, Johnson & Johnson and P&G, as well as Absolut Vodka, Mary Kay, Pepperidge Farm, Wendy's International and dozens more.

'Laura is a strong addition to our leadership team. Not only does she have the brand stewardship expertise and deep integrated communications experience necessary to service and grow our clients' businesses, she also cares about agency culture and how to inspire and develop talent, which is critical to our agency,' said Imperato. 'I'm excited to partner with Laura to further drive our growth and success as a leading integrated communications agency.'

Pesin Eder joins Cohn & Wolfe from Edelman, where she was Executive Vice President and Director of Operations of its New York consumer practice, overseeing clients, talent and strategic operations. While there, she served as a business leader for CPG giant Church & Dwight, driving double-digit account growth and launching integrated communications campaigns for its top brands, including Arm & Hammer, First Response, Nair, OxiClean and VitaFusion. She also led the agency's Travel & Tourism, Multicultural and Digital teams.

Prior to her role at Edelman, Pesin Eder was U.S. President and COO at DeVries Global, where she led the client relationship with P&G, the global CPG marketer she has worked with at almost every agency in her career to date. Pesin Eder was instrumental to the concept development and launch of P&G's Pantene Beautiful Lengths program, which provides real-hair wigs for women undergoing cancer treatments, and also helped introduce P&G's first new haircare brand in more than 20 years. Internally, she led a program that increased talent retention by double digits.

Pesin Eder has also held roles at Euro RSCG Magnet (now Havas PR), Lippe Taylor, MS&L and The Dilenschneider Group, and worked across the mass and prestige beauty, retail, health and wellness, general lifestyle, travel and tourism and food and beverage categories.

'I couldn't pass up the opportunity to join Cohn & Wolfe at such an exciting time in the agency's growth and evolution. After my inspiring conversations with Donna and other members of the global leadership team, I see exactly why the agency is doing so well,' said Pesin Eder. 'I'm eager to keep the momentum going, and to further leverage the extraordinary culture, remarkable creativity and innovative thinking that Cohn & Wolfe has at its core to deliver amazing results for our clients.'

About Cohn & Wolfe
Cohn & Wolfe, a global communications agency, builds brands and corporate reputations through an uncompromising commitment to creativity. The agency's strategic approach unearths fresh, relevant insights leading to communications solutions that deliver measurable business success. Throughout its 45-year history, Cohn & Wolfe's world-class integrated marketing communications have attracted top brands around the world, winning awards at the Cannes Lions, the Clios, Eurobest, the Global SABREs and the Global PRWeek Awards.

Headquartered in New York, Cohn & Wolfe has more than 50 offices across Asia, EMEA, Latin America and North America, and has been named Agency of the Year by The Holmes Report and ICCO, as well as a Best Place to Work by The Holmes Report, PRWeek and PRNews. Cohn & Wolfe is part of WPP (Nasdaq: WPPGY), the world's largest communications services group.

Contact
Jill Tannenbaum, Chief Marketing Officer
Cohn & Wolfe
+1 212.798.9871
Jill.tannenbaum@cohnwolfe.com