London, March 27th 2005. PLEON UK today announced the appointment of Jennifer Helfer as an Associate Director.

In this role, Helfer will augment high level strategic planning across Pleon’s 21 offices throughout Europe. Jennifer brings over ten years of experience of shaping and driving high level marketing programmes – on both sides of the Atlantic – to Pleon.

“Jennifer’s strong track record in marketing, combined with her experience of fundraising and exit strategies for fast-growing companies make her an ideal choice for Pleon. Her appointment will certainly help us in our objective to go ‘beyond communications,” says Geoff Beattie, CEO, Pleon UK. “With her understanding of wider business strategies and how PR can support and drive those strategies, Jennifer is a valuable additional to the team at Pleon.”

Jennifer joins Pleon from Firefly Communications, where she helped clients reposition and plan new strategies. Prior to that, she worked with a corporate finance group in London that supported the growth and capitalisation of early-stage technology companies. Consequently, she gained experience working with the three largest venture capital groups in Europe in portfolio management as well as mergers and acquisitions.

While in the US, Jennifer was the Director of Marketing and Corporate Communications for iGATE, a $500M, NASDAQ-traded IT services holding company. She oversaw the marketing, public relations and branding teams for the holding company, venture capital arm and 12 subsidiary companies located in India and Europe. This included managing the ongoing marketing as well as strategic communications for mergers and acquisitions, downsizing, new company launches, financial/stock announcements and new product/services rollouts.

Prior to iGATE, Jennifer was a founder of a strategic branding company that helped technology companies and the investors plan for growth and fundraising. Jennifer has also worked for Ketchum where she received the highest award in the US PR industry, the Public Relations Society of America’s Silver Anvil in integrated communications. Jennifer holds dual degrees in marketing and communications.

“The creation of Pleon is the most significant development in the European communications business. For the first time, a consultancy has Europe at its core, offering clients a unique understanding of this huge and diverse market. This is not a network; it’s a truly European company and Jennifer is the kind of consultant we need to propel Pleon to the next stage of its development,” concluded Beattie.
About Pleon

Pleon (www.pleon.com) is an international consulting firm with European roots, which creates and implements strategies for private and public sector organisations around the world. With deep understanding of business, politics and communications, Pleon is uniquely placed to devise compelling solutions that deliver measurable and tangible results. Pleon is part of the Brodeur|Pleon Worldwide network and has a presence throughout the US, Asia Pacific and Latin America. Pleon represents the merger of Brodeur agencies in France, Italy, Germany, the Netherlands and UK with the ECC Group, including market leaders ECC KohtesKlewes in Germany and Belgium, and ECC Publico in Austria. Pleon and Brodeur (www.brodeur.com) are part of Omnicom Group Inc. (NYSE: OMC) (www.omnicomgroup.com), a leading global marketing and corporate communications company.
 

For more information, please contact:

Jennifer Helfer
CEO Pleon United Kingdom
T +44 20 7479 5603
F +44 20 7479 5657
M +44 77 39 33 7115
jennifer.helfer(at)pleon.com
 

Pleon, United Kingdom
London
239 Old Marylebone Road
London NW1 5QT
United Kingdom