Harold Burson and Burson-Marsteller

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Case Details:

Case Code : LDEN044
Case Length : 15 Pages
Period : 1996-2006
Organization : Burson-Marsteller
Pub Date : 2006
Teaching Note :Not Available
Countries : US
Industry : Public Relations

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This case study was compiled from published sources, and is intended to be used as a basis for class discussion. It is not intended to illustrate either effective or ineffective handling of a management situation. Nor is it a primary information source.

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Introduction Contd...

Describing his role as an outstanding PR practitioner, the magazine said, "Harold Burson's contribution is immense in many other ways.... He started practicing the concept of integrated marketing decades before the term was even invented...

His development of training programs set the benchmark that other agencies have only recently caught up with. He created a unique Burson culture that still unites former employees.

And last but certainly not least, his personal counsel has enlightened the thinking of boardrooms at many Fortune 100 companies and across the globe."⁸

Harold started his career as a reporter in The Commercial Appeal - a local newspaper in Tennessee, US. He came into contact with HK Ferguson (Ferguson), the founder and owner of a construction firm, in course of his job. Within a short period of time, he joined Ferguson as his travel assistant. Ferguson mentored him to grow as an entrepreneur.

In 1944, Harold joined the American army as a soldier during World War II. After the War, he started his own business - a PR firm - in 1946. The business started growing slowly and in 1953, he founded BM in partnership with Bill Marsteller (Bill). In 1979, Young & Rubicam Brands (YRB)⁹ acquired BM. Over the next two decades, BM successfully spread its business in various fields of PR. In 2000, YRB was merged with the WPP Group Plc (WPP)¹⁰ and BM became a part of the world's largest communications services group.

As of 2006, Harold continued as the founding Chairman of BM, mentoring the organization as well as offering his services to some specific clients.

However, the day-to-day functioning of the firm was guided by its CEO. In December 2005, Mark Penn¹¹ was appointed as the worldwide CEO of BM...

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8] "Harold Burson, Founding Chairman, Burson-Marsteller," www.burson-marsteller.com.

9] Young & Rubicam was founded in 1923 by John Orr Young and Raymond Rubicam. In 2000, it was acquired by the WPP group - a UK-based communications services firm.

10] WPP Group Plc. is a global communications services group that was promoted by Martin Sorrell in the late 1980s. As of 2006, it had about 2,000 offices in 106 countries. It is made up of different companies operating in advertising, media investment management, public relations and public affairs, branding and identity, health care communications etc.

11] Mark Penn is one of the founding partners of the opinion research and strategic communications firm Penn, Schoen & Berland Associates (PSB). He was a strategic advisor to the former US president Bill Clinton during 1995-2000.