Long serving Channel 9 journalist Brendon Wolf has made the jump to PR, joining Amanda Williams’ Yellowpanda personal branding agency as head of media relations.
The pair first met almost a decade ago when Wolf was covering the 2013 federal election for Nine and Williams was working as a media advisor for Queensland MP, Bert van Manen.
A mutual, professional respect developed between the two over that campaign and now they’re teaming up at Yellowpanda with a combined 25 years of experience in media and politics.
“I’ve always been intrigued by Amanda’s ideas around personal branding and how she’s applying a lot of what she learnt in politics to PR,” Wolf said.
“She helped Bert beat none other than (former Queensland premier) Peter Beattie in that election and that was through the careful construction of his profile around being the local guy, not a fly in.”
“Bert and Amanda were never going to beat Beattie on his past record so they focused on what he could do going forward … and it worked. I, obviously, have a background in mainstream media and know what makes news so together, I think we’ve got a recipe for gaining some really good publicity for our clients.”
Williams is beyond excited to have snared such an experienced journalist for her agency, tapping into Wolf’s intimate knowledge of the industry.
“Brendon is a walking encyclopedia when it comes to the media,” she said.
“He seems to know everyone and isn’t afraid to make a call and reach out to them. He’s only been with Yellowpanda for five minutes and already he’s landed front pages for our clients just by picking up his phone.”
Wolf’s addition to Williams’ agency comes at a time of rapid growth for Yellowpanda.
It’s just moved its head office into the Gold Coast Creative House and been selected for the Gold Coast Council’s growth accelerator program.
“Some might say it’s madness to try and scale a business in the middle of a pandemic but that’s when I think it’s best to get in front of everyone else,” Williams said.
“They say never waste a crisis – well, I’m making the most of this one. I’m showing my clients it can be done.”
Pictures from L-R: Brendon Wolf, Anna Wilson, Amanda Williams, Antonia Piao, Hannah Fraser.
