Hill+Knowlton Strategies
Report by Jack Martin
Chief executive officer and chairman
W
e are living in uncertain times. The solutions to our biggest problems can seem deceptively small at first glance, as can the origins of our direst threats. In this environment, a handful of tiny start-ups can still topple multi-billion-dollar industries, or create them out of nothing. A handful of hackers can find equal footing with any superpower. And a single social media account, wielded skillfully, can be the tipping point in a US Presidential election.
By tapping into the limitless power of storytelling content, SJR is continuing to open up new ways for H+K to transform reputations, conversations, and entire industries
The future belongs to those thinkers who can perceive the unique advantages and opportunities inherent in this environment. To navigate uncertainty, it isn’t enough to solve the problems our clients put before us. We have to think of solutions that are bigger than the problems themselves, and blaze new paths when all existing paths lead nowhere.
I’ve been greatly encouraged by the spread of this kind of thinking throughout Hill+Knowlton Strategies over the past year, sparked especially by SJR in New York and our Global Center of Creative Strategy in London. Because of this new approach, 2016 was a year of growth, one of the best we’ve seen for a number of years.
Under the leadership of Alexander Jutkowitz, SJR has been the catalyst for explosive growth, both creative and financial. Its unique approach to problem solving, in which they convene top talent and don’t confine it with job titles or assumptions, has allowed SJR to pivot quickly around our clients’ needs. And by tapping into the limitless power of storytelling content, SJR is continuing to open up new ways for H+K to transform reputations, conversations, and entire industries.
Under the leadership of Richard Millar, our Global Center of Creative Strategy has brought a new sense of purpose both to H+K and to our clients’ communications strategies. Through its dedication to creativity and curiosity, it is at the forefront of learning how to drive and not just adapt to the way that influence works.
Across H+K, we are test-driving the model of innovation, transformation and hungry, restless energy that our clients so urgently need from us in this uncertain world.