Parton to lead agency’s strategic operations across Golin, The Brooklyn Brothers and Virgo brands
NEW YORK (August 7, 2019) – Interpublic Group (NYSE: IPG) agency Golin announced today the appointment of Paul Parton as group chief strategy officer (CSO). In this newly created role, Parton will oversee strategic operations for Golin, The Brooklyn Brothers and Virgo brands. He is based in New York and reports to Matt Neale, co-CEO of Golin.
As CSO, Parton will provide executive counsel to strategy leads across all three agency brands, advance the planning process for creative and strategic teams, focus on practice growth and deliver lead insights on some of the agency’s largest client and prospect assignments. He will also lead strategic efforts for IPG’s The Table, an ‘open architecture’ consulting practice.
“Paul has one of the finest strategic minds in our industry,” said Neale. “He will steer clients to discover their cultural relevance and apply laser-sharp insight to empower brave creative work – work that affects change across the customer journey, from awareness to sales. Our investment in this role is a sign of the maturity of the public relations industry and the primacy of earned media to brand marketing.”
Parton has over 25 years of brand building and creative strategy expertise, working with iconic brands ranging from Hershey and Pepsi to Lululemon and Remy Martin. In 2005, he co-founded The Brooklyn Brothers, a fully integrated creative agency blending brand advertising, experiential, digital, PR, social and content to create earned-first ideas that rise above the noise. Golin acquired The Brooklyn Brothers in February 2016, where Parton was co-founder.
“The earned disciplines have never been more strategically important to clients,” said Parton. “Many of the most powerful and interesting brands in the world are being built and nourished with earned-first ideas and earned-first thinking. We have a truly exciting opportunity now to align our strategic tools, processes and ambition with our strategic importance.”
As part of his first charge as CSO, Parton will launch a new strategic-planning process across Golin’s 50+ global offices and partner with existing planning heads at Golin, The Brooklyn Brothers and Virgo to deliver maximum impact for clients. He will also help realize Golin’s refreshed agency brand ambition as a progressive public relations agency, designed to reach a profoundly diverse global market – which rolled out last November. Parton is succeeded by Dawn Langeland, who took on the role of president, Golin New York back in May to oversee both Golin and The Brooklyn Brothers operations.
Prior to working with Golin and The Brooklyn Brothers, Parton was Executive Director of Planning at DDB New York and Managing Partner at DDB Singapore.