Edelman Announces String Of Senior Promotions

Edelman has announced the expansion of Michelle Hutton’s (main photo) role as vice chair for APAC, adding leadership of the firm’s regional client and growth functions to her remit. The firm has also named a new head of corporate for APAC, promoting Susan Redden Makatoa, currently the group managing director of Edelman Australia, to the position.

In her expanded role, Hutton will leverage her experience in building Edelman’s integrated solutions offering in APAC to evolve the firm’s client-centric approach, ensuring strategy, creative, data and digital sit at the heart of all client business and growth efforts. As such, Hutton will now also oversee the firm’s regional client leadership, new business and marketing initiatives going forward, ensuring each of these areas build on the firm’s vision to deliver truly integrated work for its clients.

Fern Canning-Brook

To partner with Hutton on her expanded remit, the firm has promoted Fern Canning-Brook to the newly created role of executive vice president, integrated client solutions, APAC. Previously the managing director of Edelman Australia’s integrated solutions offering where she has led teams to produce award-winning and impactful work spanning a breadth of major brands, Canning-Brook will now focus on creating integrated solutions with tangible business outcomes for Edelman’s regional clients.

Susan Redden Makatoa

As head of corporate for APAC, Redden Makatoa will lead Edelman’s reputation and advisory practice across the region, reporting into Stephen Kehoe, Edelman’s president and CEO for APAC, and Dave Samson, global vice chair of corporate affairs. Redden Makatoa brings over 20 years of experience in leading reputation management and advisory services across business, government and not-for-profit sectors. Having joined Edelman in February 2020, she has already led the firm’s Australia clients through the unrelenting challenges presented by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Simon Murphy

Working closely with Makatoa, Simon Murphy will take on a new role as head of corporate innovation for APAC. In this capacity, Murphy will build on the firm’s existing corporate capabilities through a deeper collaboration with Edelman’s digital and data and intelligence (DxI) units, embedding data and insights into the firm’s Corporate offering. Murphy, who has served as the head of corporate for Edelman in Hong Kong and Taiwan for the past four years, will be returning to Australia in November, where he previously spent 15 years.

Stephen Kehoe commented: “With these moves, we are creating a more powerful, client-centric organization than ever before in APAC. We’re an agency that has never stood still; our pioneering spirit continues today and we have a collective hunger to deliver impactful and effective integrated work for our clients, with a One Edelman mindset.”

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