The leadership team behind Weber Shandwick Australia has officially launched VOCAL, a new earned-first communications agency designed to help brands build authority across both traditional media and AI-driven information channels.
Headquartered in Sydney, the agency opens its doors with foundation clients spanning the corporate, technology, healthcare, and consumer sectors. VOCAL is spearheaded by co-founders and managing partners Angela Malkin and Jami Gandha, alongside head of strategy Addie Freyne and client director Akina Taniguchi, supported by a broader team of former Weber Shandwick talent.
The agency's creation stems from a fundamental shift in how brands are discovered and evaluated, as artificial intelligence increasingly reshapes how information is surfaced, interpreted, and recommended. VOCAL’s core proposition focuses on helping brands establish themselves as trusted entities that human audiences rely on, journalists quote, and AI systems reference.
Co-founder Angela Malkin noted that the communications landscape has evolved past simply capturing attention. “For decades, communications has been about earning attention. Today, it's about Earning Authority,” Malkin said, emphasizing that while traditional fundamentals like trusted relationships and independent credibility remain vital, the ways people and AI search for information have fundamentally transformed.
To back this approach, VOCAL has introduced a proprietary Earned Authority Index framework designed to measure a brand'
