HP called the review last September. It is believed the EMEA brief is worth $2 million alone, while Asia-Pacific is thought to be worth $1 million. Weber Shandwick's London office will act as the lead agency. Mabel Phoon, Weber Shandwick's executive vice-president, technology, will lead the account in Asia.
Burson-Marsteller was previously retained for HP's corporate comms in Asia-Pacific, while EMEA corporate work was handled by Hill & Knowlton.
Weber Shandwick landed the account after a keenly fought pitch. The brief includes issues and reputation management and crisis comms.
One priority for HP during the pitch process was believed to be the ability to anticipate a crisis. In December, the company was embarrassed by a viral campaign in which it was claimed that Hewlett Packard webcams are racist because their face-tracking software does not work on black faces.
HP vice-president of global corporate communications, David Shane, said: "Weber Shandwick is the right agency partner for this important assignment. Their scale, talent and depth of experience in issues management will serve HP well as we expand corporate programs in EMEA, AP and Latin America."
Director of HP corporate media relations, Christina Schneider, is being relocated to London to handle the newly-created role of director of international corporate communications, reporting to Shane.
