Patrick Ford Named Interim Chair of Burson-Marsteller Asia Pacific

NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Burson-Marsteller, a leading global public relations and communications firm, announced today that Patrick Ford has been named interim Chair of its Asia Pacific region. Ford will report to the firm’s Worldwide President and Chief Executive Officer Donald A. Baer. Ford will take on this interim leadership role in the region as Asia Pacific Chief Executive Officer Bob Pickard has decided to leave the firm to pursue another opportunity.

“Pat Ford is a great leader with a long track record of success during his 23 years at Burson-Marsteller”

Ford has been with the firm for 23 years and is currently the firm’s Worldwide Chief Client Officer. He will continue in that role, focusing on driving growth among Burson-Marsteller’s largest clients in the Asia Pacific region as well as around the world. Ford served as the firm’s U.S. Chief Executive Officer for five years before becoming a Vice Chairman in 2012. He has been working from Hong Kong for the last several months.

“Pat Ford is a great leader with a long track record of success during his 23 years at Burson-Marsteller,” said Baer. “We thank Bob Pickard for his contribution to our growth and wish him well in his future endeavors, and we could not be more pleased to have Pat Ford leading this crucial region, which is a cornerstone of our firm’s growth strategy.”

Ford will oversee a region that includes 19 wholly-owned offices in nine countries and 11 affiliate relationships also across nine countries. He will also work with Baer and other senior leaders of the firm to lead the search for a permanent CEO of the region.

Ford is a specialist in corporate reputation and issues management with more than 30 years of communications experience. He has consulted with a wide range of clients on corporate positioning, crisis and issues management, media relations, labor relations, and ally development.

“I am looking forward to working closely with the region’s senior leadership team, staff and clients,” said Ford. “Burson-Marsteller has a long and rich tradition in Asia. We opened our first office in the region in 1961, and we have been at the forefront of many of the region’s groundbreaking work since. I am eager to help continue the tradition.”

Since joining Burson-Marsteller in 1989, Ford has served as a senior managing director in B-M’s Public Affairs Practice, chairman of the Corporate-Financial Practice, and, from 2006-2011, as President and CEO of Burson-Marsteller U.S.

Ford serves on the Executive Committee of the Board of Trustees of the Institute for Public Relations and on the Membership & Eligibility Committee of the Council of Public Relations Firms.

About Burson-Marsteller

Burson-Marsteller, established in 1953, is a leading global public relations and communications firm. It provides clients with strategic thinking and program execution across a full range of public relations, public affairs, reputation and crisis management, advertising and digital strategies. The firm’s seamless worldwide network consists of 73 offices and 83 affiliate offices, together operating in 110 countries across six continents. Burson-Marsteller is a unit of WPP, the world’s leading communications services network. For more information, please visit bm.com.