H&S | CEO Elizabeth Harrison named PR News Top Women in PR

H&S is proud to announce that Elizabeth Harrison has been named PR News Top Women in PR, Changemakers for 2021. Thank you, Elizabeth, for always striving for excellence not just for yourself, but for our agency. A well deserved recognition. 🧡

To qualify to be a 2021 Top Women in PR, Elizabeth was identified as an inspiring women making an impact on her organization, whether that's leading the brand out of a crisis, breaking into new markets, engaging a new audience, or mentoring other colleagues.

H&S | CBO Veronica Rodriguez on PR Council Agency-Ready Certificate Panel

We love to see our staff giving back to the next generation of PR! Chief Brand Officer Veronica Rodriguez will be part of the PR Council’s Agency-Ready Certificate panel titled The Path Toward a Diverse and Inclusive Industry. This panel is a part of a series of sessions that are part of the PR Council Agency-Ready Certificate (ARC) program that’s open to college and graduate students and recent grads. The certificate program requires participation in live or recorded webinars on important areas including strategic counsel, client service, persuasive writing, applying data, social media strategy, crisis communications, DE&I, etc.

The goal of the program is to introduce students to the multitude of sectors available at PR Council member agencies. There are over 65 member firms who’ll be instructing/participating in sessions and have the ability to pipeline new talent, and we are so proud that our own Veronica is one of them! This series is scheduled to kick off on July 8th and currently has more than 1,500 students registered for this year’s session.

H&S | CEO Elizabeth Harrison on World's Most Successful Agencies Podcast

We loved listening to H&S’s CEO Elizabeth Harrison on PR Council’s second podcast episode this month! The episode, titled Delivering Positive Experiences to Build a Diverse Team, features Elizabeth speaking on H&S’s diverse organization and how that contributes to the agency’s overall success. The firm boasts a leadership team that is 70% diverse and has attracted and retained diverse talent at all levels.

Elizabeth launched H&S 24 years ago. During her tenure as CEO, she has worked with iconic brands across multiple categories, and under her leadership the agency has seen robust growth with large global clients such as Bacardi, Booking.com, Fairmont, and OMEGA, as well as affecting positive cultural change, hiring diverse talent, increasing profit growth and maintaining 88% client retention. Through creating positive experiences for diverse employees, Elizabeth has managed to cultivate a diverse workplace that values each other and the work that they do together.

H&S | CEO Elizabeth Harrison on The PRovoke Podcast

H&S CEO Elizabeth Harrison was recently featured on The PRovoke Podcast by PRovoke Media. The episode is titled Ageism In the PR Industry With Elizabeth Harrison, and addresses how the industry has always been faced with ageism and demographic discrimination of all kinds. PRovoke Media's latest data shows that in North America only 57% of PR agency employees believe the industry provides opportunities for those 50+. We’re proud of and grateful for Elizabeth shining light on this issue and talking through ways that we can all aim to create a better and more inclusive future for PR professionals everywhere.

“I would encourage any woman over 50 to own it. Own your age. Own your experience….You can walk into a room and own the room the same way a man can. If you have the confidence, you can be the most powerful person in the room.”

— Elizabeth Harrison, The PRovoke Podcast

“You spend the first part of your career wishing you looked older and taken more seriously. People aren’t taking you seriously enough because you don’t have the experience. And then you spend the latter half wishing people would not consider you too old to do the job.”

— Elizabeth Harrison, The PRovoke Podcast

H&S | Reunited At Last

Last week, the H&S team gathered in-person for the first time in a long time! We took some time off of work to socialize safely at an amazing rooftop at the Arlo Soho (an old client of ours!) with team members from near and far. Some trained in, some walked, and some drove up the coast just to be together again. There were new faces; our new hires that started during the pandemic year and even a new baby that we have all only met over Zoom! We even got to toast to two promotions on our team and loved seeing our hardworking coworkers always striving for growth.

We’re very much looking forward to more in-person time with each other as the world reopens. Our team is a special one, and spending time together is something we all missed tremendously during the pandemic. We’re very lucky to have pivoted to remote work and adjust to that lifestyle, but wouldn’t trade this quality time for anything! Cheers to a more open world and happy hours together.

May - Mental Health Awareness Month

This week is the start to a new month, May, which also happens to be Mental Health Awareness Month.

This past year has been life-altering to say the least, for our agency and for our community of family, friends and clients. Along with balancing client work, our teammates have stepped up in ways we never expected – both professionally and personally – for one another.

With that, we know and understand the feeling of being burned out…

With company culture and employee well-being at the top of our priorities, we wanted to share a few things that the agency and senior leadership team are putting into practice starting in May. We challenged ourselves to think of easy, impactful and meaningful actions that we could take as a group to help everyone strike a better work-life balance.

• No meeting Friday: with jam-packed schedules at the top half of every week, to alleviate some of the TEAMS/Zoom-fatigue, to the best of our ability, we will not schedule meetings on Friday

• No emails after 7pm: there’s nothing more stressful than an email ping (!) at dinnertime, so unless it’s urgent, we’re saving that email until the next day

• Friday, May 21 is now H&S Mental Health Day: this is a company first and we’re extremely proud to announce that Friday, May 21 will be an agency-wide Mental Health Day. We are giving everyone at the agency the day off to rest and recharge. Whether it’s meeting up with a friend for lunch, going to the gym or even just sleeping in, whatever refills your cup, we support it.

We know these habits aren’t going to break overnight and it will require some “un-learning” on everyone’s part. Of course, being in our business, there’s always going to be some exceptions, but the hope is that we will all stick to these as much as possible so that we can all better our collective well-being.

In celebration of Mental Health Awareness Month, we hope you, too, have a plan in place to rest, recharge and refill your cup.

H&S News | Agency of the Year 2021 Finalist

We are so honored to be nominated for PRovoke’s 2021 Agencies of the Year! Out of over 150 submissions, we are among four agencies in North America to reach the finals for the 2021 Consumer PR Agencies of the Year category. Read below to view the finalist report on H&S and why we were selected.

H&S

Launched 24 years ago as a luxury, fashion and lifestyle PR firm by Elizabeth Harrison and Lara Shriftman, H&S had evolved into something quite different by 2021. At least part of that is down to ownership. After selling to Omnicom in 2003, the firm completed an MBO in 2020, buying back its independence but continuing to maintain key relationships with Omnicom agencies, notably Ketchum and BBDO.

Locations

New York (HQ) and Miami.

Focus

H&S retains a core focus on consumer, hospitality and lifestyle, but stands apart from many of its rivals by bringing an elevated level of cultural intelligence, particularly as it pertains to diversity and inclusion. For example, H&S partnered with SaaS player Reframe to improve corporate America’s urgently required ability to create a more inclusive and equitable workplace culture. That cross-cultural mindset permeates much of the firm’s offering, across fashion, technology, hospitality, entertainment, spirits, and food & beverage.

Performance

Unsurprisingly, 2020 proved a challenging year for H&S, not least because so many of its consumer-focused clients were adversely impacted by the pandemic, resulting in retainer and project cuts. The firm focused on its profit margin, kept its top clients, retained all of its senior leaders and, by the end of the year, had reached its revenue goals and reinstated bonuses. New business reflected H&S’ agility, including such names as Amazon, American Express, Capital Brands, Central Park Tower and Kering, which joined an existing client roster that features Bacardi Rum, Belvedere Vodka, Booking.com, Omega, Steinway & Sons, Volkswagen and Wacoal. 

People & Culture

Elizabeth Harrison serves as CEO and the driving force at H&S, supported by chief brand officer Veronica Rodriguez. Of note, 70% of the firm’s leadership team are people of color, while the firm as a whole is 50% diverse, reflecting H&S’ commitment to DE&I. Employees are encouraged to join extracurricular activities that include Book Club and CSR programs. In the wake of #BLM, a group of diverse employees created Culture Club to offer their services to clients struggling to make sense of the new order in the wake of recent social injustice issues. Prior to Covid-19, the agency participated in an in-depth diversity training, sharing personal and professional challenges, while also bringing the agency together with words of support and commitment to do better. H&S also works with PENCIL to support project-based experiences for high school aged students that have expressed interest in working in the PR industry. 

Thought Leadership & Work

The firm’s thought leadership work includes its work with Reframe, which aims to transform corporate America culturally to reflect today’s diversity, and featured white papers and panel discussions. H&S’ marketing team relaunched its digital assets alongside the MBO, including an Instagram Live series called Coffee Break, which pairs H&S specialists with journalists, influencers and clients to share insights around their areas of expertise. Campaign highlights included Booking.com’s ‘Love Letters to America’; the extraordinary Color of Change Pedestal Project, which used A&R to transform Confederate statues; Bacardi Conga; and, ‘Book Your Resolution’ for Booking.com.

—Arun Sudhaman

H&S Names Veronica Rodriguez Chief Brand Officer

Advancing brand strategy, experiences, engagement and cultural transformation

 NEW YORK, MARCH 17, 2021 – H&S, one of the nation’s leading full-service marketing communications companies, announced today the promotion of Veronica Rodriguez to Chief Brand Officer, reporting to Elizabeth Harrison, co-founder and Chief Executive Officer.

A newly established role, Rodriguez will focus on brand strategy, integration and modernizing diversity, equity, and inclusion. Additionally, she will work to scale new products, services and engagements across the firm’s practice areas.

 “I am thrilled to be a part of the company’s growth story and honored to contribute my experience to an extraordinary legacy,” shared Rodriguez. “I look forward to working with the executive team to expand our reach into emerging and creative platforms, provide access to unheard voices: spotlighting inclusive stories, and convert mindsets through truth-telling and transformative experiences.”

 In this new role, Rodriguez will continue to oversee the growth of H&S brand engagement, StudioHS and cultural transformation specialties. Furthermore, she will collaborate with H&S practice leaders across the corporate communications, lifestyle, travel and consumer marketing divisions to help evolve and expand the agency’s digital and experiential marketing offerings.

“Veronica is a change-agent and innovative marketer with a proven track record of building and transforming brands,” shared Harrison. “Her decades of experience in cross-cultural brand strategy, paired with her expertise in consumer insights, digital, and influencer marketing will be instrumental in delivering impactful strategies for our agency, brand partners and consumer experiences.”

 Over the course of her career, Rodriguez has earned a formidable reputation as a critical thinker and trailblazing communications executive. Since joining H&S in 2017, Rodriguez has held multiple roles across the organization including co-founder of the firm’s newest partnership with Reframe: The People Leaders Platform. Reframe is a software and services company that assists organizations culturally transform while providing strategic counsel to People Leaders on closing the gap between Corporate America and the New America. During her tenure at the company, Rodriguez has led an award-winning spirits communications practice contributing to efforts resulting in 3x’s Bronze Cannes Lions, 2x’s Webby and 1x CLIO Awards for the agency’s long-standing brand partner Bacardi.

 In 2018, under her direction, H&S launched its brand engagement practice. A division that integrates research and analytics with talent relations, influencer relationship-building, digital content and experiences – achieving award-winning brand campaigns that intersect culture, diverse consumer passion points, perspectives and purpose.

Prior to joining H&S, Rodriguez oversaw Multicultural Marketing at Edelman and digital strategy at Marina Maher Communications where combined, she delivered best-in-class results for some of the world’s most leading brands including Diageo, Heineken, Kimberly Clark, Kraft Foods, Pepsi, Procter & Gamble, Unilever, United Airlines, and Verizon, among others.

Leave Your Mark Podcast Featuring Elizabeth Harrison

If you’re looking for some career inspiration for the New Year check out this recent episode of Leave Your Mark podcast featuring our CEO and President Elizabeth Harrison! Host Aliza Licht interviews Elizabeth on how she started her career, how PR and events have evolved over the years for clients, and the agency’s mission to redefine what diversity and company culture look like. Listen to the full interview HERE.

Inauguration Day 2021

A letter from our CEO and Co-Founder Elizabeth Harrison:

Observer Power 50

We are excited to announce that our very own Elizabeth Harrison was recognized for Observer’s 2020 PR Power List! A huge congratulations is in order for this Boss Lady as well as the 49 other power players recognized.

Real Talk from the Boss Lady

On August 31st, Elizabeth Harrison and Jeffrey L. Bowman joined Munson Steed on Rolling Out's ‘A Seat at the Table’ series, to discuss how our partnership with Reframe is working to culturally transform Corporate America. Although progress continues to be made, a long journey lies ahead and as People Leaders it's important that you're prepared. Please see below for some of the excerpts, and to listen to the full conversation, check out the link here.

“One of the things we had to really do to reshape this conversation was to redefine the business model. DE&I was meant to integrate Corporate America based on race and identity outcomes and sucess is based only race and identity. Blacks only account for 13% of the U.S. population but often time in our business, blacks as a group over-index on the impact of culture. Our goal was to see the value and impact based on culture, so we redefine and restated the problem statement.”

— Jeffrey L. Bowman

“When we talk about culture there are five stages of culture – monocultural, multi which we’ve been for more than 30 years, now we enter the space of cross-culture, polyculture and transcultural. So by restating the problem, we then are able to go in and diagnose the attitudes and behaviors of where a company is on a scale of one through five. With our cultural assessment, we are able to see where they are as it relates to their score, the company structure, strategy, the systems, segments, and solutions. So when we do the assessment we are able to see where the issues and barriers are.”

— Jeffrey L. Bowman

“I had an epiphany about five years ago, before Black Lives Matter was on the scene. I looked around at the people who worked for me and my clients – the CMOs and CEOs, and everybody looked the same. I sat back and literally transformed the agency to now we’re over 40% diverse. It was an AHA moment that initiated my wish to transform my culture to be a better place to work and to be”

— Elizabeth Harrison

Why Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Will Not Be Enough to Save Corporate America

America and Corporate America is at a cultural crossroads in the midst of two pandemics afflicting our nation: COVID-19 and Black Lives Matter.  There is an urgency for Corporate America to not only integrate racially, but also culturally.  

Inspired by our white paper entitled “Why Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Will Not Be Enough to Save Corporate America,” watch a recent discussion, moderated by H&S CEO and Co-Founder, Elizabeth Harrison alongside H&S SVP of Brand Engagement, Veronica Rodriguez, Ketchum VP + DE&I Advocate, Lindsay Wagner. and our partner, Reframe CEO and Co-Founder, Jeffrey L. Bowman.

Interested in learning more about ways to help your organization culturally transform from the inside, out? Contact us today and get started on your journey!

Real Talk from the Boss Lady

Special thanks to Aliza Licht for highlighting the H&S + Reframe partnership in your new piece on Forbes, ‘How to Transform a Corporate Culture.’ We are beyond proud to be featured amongst true trail blazers, such as Mindy Grossman, Kim Seymour, and Whitney Johnson, as we strive to ensure workplace culture reflects the world we live in today!

An exerpt from the Forbes

"How To Transform A Corporate Culture:":

Reframe is an enterprise software as a service technology company that helps companies build better employee experiences. Cofounded by Jeffrey L. Bowman, a 2x award-winning Wiley published author and former Madison Avenue advertising executive turned tech entrepreneur, Reframe aims to transform culture. Clients include Verizon, Restaurant Associates, Prudential, and MolsonCoors. Bowman has now joined forces with Elizabeth Harrison, cofounder, and CEO of award-winning integrated marketing communications firm: Harrison & Shriftman (H&S), to modernize corporate America to reflect the new America. The collaboration was created through a provocative co-authored White Paper  titled "Why Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Will Not Be Enough To Save Corporate America." 

“Because of COVID-19 and Black Lives Matter, America and Corporate America are at a cultural crossroads," said Bowman. "As People Leaders look to navigate the growing social climate and the ongoing racial inequalities, inequities, and micro-aggressions faced by the Black and Brown workforce, they are also faced with the growing challenges of managing employees remotely. CEOs now have the opportunity to reframe the workplace and close the cultural gap between Corporate America and America."

Starting with their Cultural Maturity Model©, Reframe develops bespoke strategies (with software) to help close cultural gaps that span across the employee lifecycle. While DEI, is a strong focus, Reframe's transformation is broader.

Real Talk from the Boss Lady

Excerpts from the PR Net,

"On today's approach to client work:":

“

One of the elements of our agency’s approach has always been agility: we are able to rapidly reset, retool, rejigger based on what we perceive as the client’s best interest and opportunity as culture changes.

”

Elizabeth Harrison, CEO & Co-Founder, H&S

One of the elements of our agency’s approach has always been agility: we are able to rapidly reset, retool, rejigger based on what we perceive as the client’s best interest and opportunity as culture changes. Wow, that has certainly been tested more than I could ever have imagined during this period of constant upheaval. Yes, some of our clients have gone on hiatus and others have cut their spend—particularly in the hard-hit hospitality and F&B spaces. Our biggest cut has been in experiential—as you might imagine—but we are working closely with our best vendors to create new technology capabilities for clients allowing them to launch products and keep brands top of mind virtually. It’s a work in progress that I’m excited about. Fortunately, we work with primarily Fortune 500 companies that trust our counsel and have effectively planned for the future.

What I find particularly interesting is the type of new business opportunities that have proactively approached us in certain categories that frankly surprised me, including beverages and consumer products. Americans, and consumers globally, have sharply cut back on many items that are now considered luxuries, but these brands wanted to think ahead and show up in a way that conveys to people: ‘We’re here for you, but when you’re ready.’ I find that forethought incredibly smart.  

We’re truly in a unique situation as a boutique agency within a larger global consultancy, which brings us a healthier pipeline than many smaller independent firms. The rulebook brands traditionally used to source agencies has certainly been thrown out in 2020. Brands are realizing that this is an ideal opportunity to review new agencies with new thinking that they haven’t seen before. This absolutely puts us in a strong position.

Real Talk from the Boss Lady

“Sometimes it takes a few tries to find your passion. Do not be afraid to try different internships, experiences or starting positions to figure out what is best for you.”

— Elizabeth Harrison, CEO & Co-Founder, H&S

Excerpts from the PENCIL Communications Career Panel

During the PENCIL Communications Career Panel, Elizabeth provided high school students from the New York City boroughs with advice on furthering their careers as they prepare for college, as well as a few insights on working in the public relations field and the challenges she faces on a daily basis.

“Sometimes it takes a few tries to find your passion. Do not be afraid to try different internships, experiences or starting positions to figure out what is best for you. Your first, second, or third job may not be the career of your dreams, but they will surely help you to find what is.” - Elizabeth Harrison, CEO & Co-Founder, H&S

Real Talk from the Boss Lady

Excerpts from PRovoke Media Q&A,

"Covid-19: What It Means For Entertainment PR":

“We haven’t faced something like this in our lifetimes, so as communications professionals, we’ll need to shift our approaches and think more creatively than ever.”

Elizabeth Harrison, CEO & Co-Founder, H&S

The shutdown of movie theaters, live events and sports has left the entertainment industry reeling, leaving communicators having to change not only what they are pitching but how they are doing so.

“It’s critical for publicists who are managing talent and influencers to think very carefully about how their actions will be perceived. While some celebrities and influencers may think they are lending support or showing people “we're just like you,” that’s not always how it comes across.”

“We’ve made monitoring the content and tone of media coverage a top priority, and we’ve adopted the practice of checking in with journalists and editors before sending any entertainment and lifestyle pitches..”

"There are many examples of brands that are stepping up, showing resilience and providing impactful support in response to COVID-19. BACARDI is one of our longest-standing clients, and they wasted no time identifying opportunities to help combat the crisis in a meaningful way."

"We need to consider that the quarantine mindset may not go away immediately, so we will have to find ways of marrying virtual experiences with opportunities to bring people together again."

"We need to continue closely monitoring the news cycle and be mindful of the limited resources within the editorial community during this time."

Real Talk from the Boss Lady

Excerpts from a PR Net panel discussion,

"Using Digital Tools to Conduct Business When IRL Isn't Available Anymore":

“We are storytellers and we know how to help people and tell them to navigate through tough times”

Elizabeth Harrison, CEO & Co-Founder, H&S

“I think we are actually positioned right now to be so helpful to our clients, and what I am loving is the amount of CEOs and CMOs from big companies that we work with, as well as, the smaller ones, who are really relying on us to tell them how to communicate their message.”

“Try to keep your spirits up, its really hard, its unchartered territory, we don’t know what’s going to happen so all we can do is prepare and try to support each other.”

Best practices for keeping yourself and colleagues engaged while working remotely:

• Conduct business as usual – make staff meetings digital, share work, and congratulate each other for jobs well done

• Create a virtual cocktail hour and invite kids, pets and spouses to join

• Carve out time for virtual dance parties to get up and move around together

• Coordinate for 1 on 1 check-ins to ensure everyone is connected

• Find ways to create engaging content – TikTok contests, workout videos, home décor tips, or make-up tutorials

• Share all pertinent updates and news stories with clients