Annalise Brown Appointed Chair of the Public Relations Council

Annalise Brown, Founder of M&C Saatchi Group’s Hidden Characters, has been appointed Chair of the Public Relations Council (PRC) and Board Member of The Communications Council (TCC).

With a career spanning almost two decades, Annalise has excelled at growing brands in the earned and owned media space across a broad range of industries. She brings a wealth of leadership experience to the role having led teams as MD at Spin Communications, Splendid Communications and Porter Novelli Australia, prior to joining M&C Saatchi.

In early 2016, she led the launch of M&C Saatchi Group’s new PR offering, Hidden Characters, replacing Bang PR where she served as Managing Director for two years. She is a passionate industry professional and advocate and has been a member of the PRC Committee since 2013. During her time she has been pivotal in driving Council initiatives including industry measurement, mentoring and more recently working closely on redefining and aligning the vision of the PRC to the broader TCC initiatives. 

Annalise said: “I am honoured to be appointed Chair of the PRC. TCC’s PR representative member council plays an important role not only in raising industry standards through professional development, events and mentoring, but also in representing the interests of consumer PR agencies and the specific issues facing industry professionals today in this ever-changing communications landscape. I am looking forward to continuing this work in 2017.”

Annalise takes on the role from Melissa Cullen, Co-Founder and Managing Director of Res Publica, who has held the position since December 2014 and prior to this served as PRC Committee Member for over two years. Melissa has also been on the Board of The Communication Council for two years.

Melissa said: “It has been a privilege to lead the PRC for past two years and work with the many agency members in the group to continue to strive for best practice in the industry.

“Over the past six months we have been working closely with other members of The Communications Council to identify additional opportunities to demonstrate how commercial creativity drives business growth. PR plays a huge role in this and I am excited about the future direction of the PRC,” said Melissa.

Under Melissa’s leadership, the PRC rolled out a pilot mentoring program in 2016, with more than a dozen impressive mentors from creative agencies within The Communications Council connecting with PRC mentees. Between 2015 and 2016, the PRC delivered more than 20 events including forums, conversation nights, open committee meetings and leadership lunches, and worked with the organisers of the APG Cannes Lions Showcase and the AMG 7 Minute Mentors to encompass PR perspective -- demonstrating PRC’s commitment to showcasing the value of PR professionals to the broader industry.

Thanking Melissa, CEO of The Communications Council, Tony Hale said: “Melissa has played an instrumental role in building the PRC’s reputation as an industry leader that progresses the interests of PR professionals nation-wide and we would like to thank her for her passion, commitment and tenacity throughout.”

Adding: “We are delighted that Annalise has accepted the role of Chair.  She has been an important committee member and PRC advocate. We have a great calendar of activity planned for 2017 and look forward to driving the future of our industry further.”

The Communications Council is the peak industry body representing advertising and PR agencies in Australia. For more information, visit www.communicationscouncil.org.au.