Tokyo, Japan – Global communications network Publicis Groupe has appointed Tomoko Akizawa, former executive vice president and client growth leader at global communications company Edelman, to be its new managing director of MSL Japan and new business director of Publicis Groupe Japan.

In her new roles, Akizawa will further develop and deepen MSL’s presence in Japan. She will also lead the MSL team in strengthening its service capabilities to drive greater impact for their clients under the Publicis Groupe’s Power of One offering, which is a frictionless collaboration between all of Publicis Groupe agencies that are able to better service their clients and people. 

Akizawa brings with her 20 years of experience in communications. Aside from her most recent roles at Edelman Japan, she has also held the director of technology and digital practices role.

Commenting on her appointment, Akizawa said that she is excited to join MSL especially as it looks to strengthen its positioning in both corporate and integrated communications in the Japan market.

“Given how MSL is so closely connected to the different solutions under the Publicis Groupe, I strongly believe that MSL is uniquely positioned to contribute and deliver integrated communications solutions as part of the Power of One partnership,” she added.

Meanwhile, Gareth Mulryan, the CEO of Publicis Groupe Japan, believes that Akizawa’s senior appointment will enable them to offer a stronger suite of communications services to their clients via the Publicis Groupe’s service offering of Power of One. 

“I look forward to working with her as part of the Publicis Japan executive team and am confident that she will help to continue our growth in Japan,” said Mulryan.

Margaret Key, MSL’s CEO for APAC and AMA, commented, “With her extensive experience in public relations and integrated communications, MSL Japan will have greater prowess in delivering impact and influence for our clients. I look forward to working closely with Tomoko to scale MSL business in this key growth market.”

Hong Kong – As part of the bank’s commitment to being a leading wealth manager institution in Asia, financial institution HSBC has collaborated with public relations firm MSL Hong Kong, and Victor Wong, a multi-media and NFT artist, to create a digital art piece experience that will welcome visitors to the new HSBC Wealth Centre in Hong Kong’s K11 Atelier.

The digital art experience responds to the changes in the Hang San Index, the free float-adjusted market capitalization-weighted stock market index in Hong Kong. Said art piece turns real-time movements of the Index into dynamic art. 

Peaks, valleys, slopes, and inclines shift according to the volatility of the market. The design of the art piece is also inspired by traditional Chinese landscape paintings, but with a modern twist. Motifs within the artwork are inspired by original HSBC banknotes, including the tram, bank, and birds.

Every day when the market opens, ‘Art of Progress’ is recreated from scratch using the Hang Seng Index’s open-source market data. The artist’s proprietary algorithms then trigger updates throughout the day so that ‘Art of Progress’ is never the same from minute to minute, or from day to day.

Overall, the art piece combines technology, big data, and new media art forms to tell HSBC’s new chapter in its wealth growth story.

“The Hang Seng Index is the financial pulse of Hong Kong, while art has always been a passion for High-Net-Worth Individuals. We had the idea of combining the two to create a uniquely calming brand experience – an antidote to Hong Kong’s hustle and bustle,” explains Flora Tsui, creative director at MSL Hong Kong.

New York, USA – In a bid to empower global PR clients with timely PR tech solutions, PR technology, global public relations firm MSL has announced that it is extending its partnership with media monitoring company Onclusive to offer its PR Attribution service globally, which has previously only been available to MSL’s US clients.

Said service is a PR software that enables public relations key persons to use blended deterministic data with artificial intelligence to their PR services. The PR Attribution service links individual articles and pieces of content to specific business outcomes, allowing for precise PR analytics with truly actionable insights. 

Instead of relying on proxy metrics like coverage volume and potential reach, PR Attribution delivers real-time sights, including total volume of website visits from earned and owned media; specific website interactions by individual content; projected revenue impact of individual content; and trending statistics by communications campaign, message or topic.

MSL said that in terms of its features, all PR Attribution™ data is aggregated, anonymized, and designed to comply with worldwide data privacy regulations. 

The software will be integrated into solutions for current and new MSL and Publicis Groupe clients globally. 

According to Bryan Pedersen, chief innovation officer at MSL U.S, they have spent the bulk of the past two years at MSL honing an earned-first tech stack based on co-development partnerships, connected APIs and rich Epsilon data that has powered insights and innovation in ways that haven’t been possible for the public relations industry until now.

“Onclusive’s PR Attribution™ model has brought us unmatched visibility to PR measurement, deprioritizing industry vanity metrics and inaccurate forms of attribution. Extending our partnership globally further cements MSL’s leadership in ‘influence impact’ and competitive advantage in comms tech.” Pedersen said.

Meanwhile, Dan Beltramo, CEO at Onclusive, said, “Attribution has become standard best practice in marketing, and we are proud to have brought a similar set of advanced capabilities to communications practitioners. As the industry’s first and most accurate attribution solution, PR Attribution™ is changing PR measurement. Utilizing Onclusive’s best-in-class data science we are proud to be a strategic partner to MSL and their clients globally.”