John Saunders, CEO and Global President of FleishmanHillard under Omnicom PR Group, will be stepping down on October 1, with J.J. Carter taking over his role. At that time, Saunders will assume the position of chairman. Carter, at present the Global Chief Operating Officer and President of the Americas for FleishmanHillard, will be reporting to Omnicom PR Group CEO Chris Foster in his new capacity and join the global leadership team.Carter will continue to work from San Francisco, with no plans to relocate to St. Louis, Missouri, the place where Saunders is based, or to New York City. Saunders, originally from Dublin, Ireland, has led FleishmanHillard for nine years. He was appointed Regional President for EMEA in 2011, following his role as Regional Director for Europe, which he began seven years earlier. He led the foundation of Fleishman-Hillard Saunders in 1990.In 2023, Cisco?ÇÖs North America PR business was retained by the company which continues to work with pivotal clients such as JPMorgan Chase, Johnson & Johnson, Philips, Samsung and PepsiCo. However, the firm lost major accounts like UPS and AT&T, with the latter choosing Jackson Spalding as its lead PR agency.Carter has been with FleishmanHillard since the year 2005, taking on several leadership roles before being named Global Chief Operating Officer and President of the Americas in 2016.

Omnicom PR Group has announced the appointment of communications industry veteran, Matt Stafford, to the position of OPRG President, International, effective November 18, 2024. Stafford will be based in Hong Kong and report to OPRG Chief Executive Officer Chris Foster. Stafford will initially be based in Hong Kong and will transition to the UK in 2025. In this OPRG Corporate Role, he will partner with agency leadership in the region, including Joanne Wong who joined OPRG's largest agency Fleishman Hillard as APAC President earlier this year.  Foster said: "I've wanted an even stronger OPRG in APAC for a while but it took time to determine the best way to organize the portfolio in the region. Further deepening the leadership bench with a client-focused, market-tested leader like Matt is going to add to our momentum. I'm looking forward to working with him again."Stafford added: "I'm excited about the opportunity to join OPRG; I've long admired what Chris and the team have done in transforming the group and am eager to help drive growth against a few key areas." Previously, Stafford was Asia-Pacific President and Global President, Practices & Sectors, BCW, and former Cabinet Secretary for the Australian government. Matt also served as Director of Policy in the office of the Australian Prime Minister and as CEO of Greater China for Burson-Marsteller.Omnicom PR Group (OPRG) is the largest global network of communications and consulting agencies in the world. It is home to three of the top global PR agencies FleishmanHillard, Ketchum, Porter Novelli and more than a dozen specialist agencies in corporate and public affairs, political consulting and advertising, language strategy, global health strategy and organizational transformation. OPRG is part of Omnicom Group Inc. (Image credit: bcw-global.com)