Ketchum Partners With Leading Social Network Expert Rob Cross to Enhance Social Network Analysis and Activation for Clients

NEW YORK, Feb. 7 /PRNewswire/ -- Precisely identifying and energizing the connections and influence of individuals within social networks is so crucial to successful brand and reputation building that Ketchum, a top-10 PR firm, has partnered with a leading social network expert to help clients accelerate the movement of opinions, ideas and actions across networks. The exclusive partnership, announced today, is with Rob Cross, the author of The Hidden Power of Social Networks and a professor at the University of Virginia (UVA). Cross also leads The Network Roundtable, a consortium of companies and experts focused on social networking, housed at UVA. The partnership gives Ketchum (www.ketchum.com) and its clients a highly precise methodology for mapping networks of influencers.

The approach, proprietary to Cross (www.robcross.org) and UVA, will now be used by a host of business units at Ketchum that already specialize in targeting and leveraging connections within networks. In particular, this sophisticated network mapping approach will enhance the work of Ketchum's Stromberg Consulting unit, which focuses on change management and employee engagement; Zocalo Group (www.zocalogroup.com), a Ketchum unit that helps brands drive sustainable word-of-mouth; and Ketchum Global Research Network, which provides research and measurement services to many of Ketchum's multinational clients.

This first-ever partnership between Cross and a PR firm gives Ketchum's clients a scientifically valid tool to map networks of influencers within their organizations and identify the roles and relative influence of opinion makers within and across such networks. These "influencers" within consumer, business-to-business or employee communities are increasingly pivotal in how brand reputation is shaped and how companies manage change.

"As the public relations industry evolves, social network engagement will enhance our work in change management, brand marketing and corporate reputation building," said Rob Flaherty, senior partner, Ketchum. "Combining Ketchum's resources with Rob Cross's expertise gives clients deep insight into the networks of influence that matter to them."

About Ketchum

A communications innovator, Ketchum ranks among the largest global public relations agencies, operating in more than 50 countries. With five global practices -- Brand Marketing, Corporate, Healthcare, Food and Nutrition, and Technology -- and specialty areas that include Concentric Communications (experiential marketing, events and meetings), Ketchum Entertainment Marketing, Ketchum Global Research, Ketchum Sports Network, Stromberg Consulting (change management and workplace communications) and The Washington Group (lobbying and government relations), Ketchum leverages its marketing and corporate communications expertise to build brands and reputations for clients. For more information on Ketchum, a unit of Omnicom Group Inc. (NYSE: OMC) , visit www.ketchum.com.