Burson-Marsteller China launches digital and social media practice

D/BM's services will include digital influencer engagement, online community design and management and ongoing digital consultancy and planning services. The firm also provides social media monitoring, real-time management of issues and crisis and tracking of campaign results and ROI.

“Neither digital nor social media reside in a silo within the marketplace or society," said Burson-Marsteller China CEO Chris Deri. "Engaging within these communities and platforms has simply become a part of our lives as well as an extension of our profession. D/BM's value lies in its ability to integrate across existing Burson-Marsteller practices and account teams as well as strategies and programmes."

The new practice will be headed by Zaheer Nooruddin (pictured), Burson-Marsteller Asia-Pacific’s lead digital strategist for Greater China. Other members of the core China team include Leon Zhang as digital strategy and insights lead in Beijing (formerly of MRM Worldwide), and Rachel Yeung as digital analytics and activation lead in Shanghai (formerly of Digitas).

“Right across Asia-Pacific, the digital platform is an opportunity for relationship-rich public relations that has never been more crucial for organisations than it is today,” said Bob Pickard, Burson-Marsteller Asia-Pacific’s president and CEO.