Ruder Finn
{{Short description|Public relations firm with co-headquarters in the United States and China}}
{{Infobox company
| name = Ruder Finn
| type = Private
| logo = Ruder Finn logo.png
| founder = David Finn
Bill Ruder
| foundation = 1948
| location = New York City
Beijing
| industry = Communications
Public Relations
Marketing
| key_people = Kathy Bloomgarden
(CEO)
Nick Leonard
(managing director, UK)
Elan Shou
(managing director, China)
Atul Sharma
(managing director, India)
Michael Sschubert
(Chief Innovation Officer)
Peggy Walsh
(Chief Operating Officer)
Ian Glover
(Chief Financial Officer)
Tejas Totade
(Chief Technology Officer)
Adeline Phun
(General Manager, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia)
Hilal Khashan
(Managing Director, Norway)
| area_served = Global
| homepage = {{Official URL}}
}}
Ruder Finn is a public relations firm with headquarters in the United States and China. It is a large privately-owned communications agency, serving corporations, governments, and non-profits.{{cite web|url=http://www.cnn.com/2014/04/17/business/keeping-it-in-the-family/index.html |title=Keeping a legacy alive: CEO puts her stamp on the family business |publisher=CNN |date=2014-04-17 |access-date=2019-11-07}} It also has offices in San Francisco, London, Washington, D.C., Singapore, and several Indian metro areas including the National Capital Region.
History
= Origins: 1948-1960's =
Ruder Finn was established in 1948 in New York by David Finn and Bill Ruder.David Finn, {{cite book|title=The Way Forward: My First Fifty Years at Ruder Finn|url=https://archive.org/details/wayforwardmyfirs0000finn|url-access=registration|year=1998|publisher=Millwood Publishing|location=New York|page=[https://archive.org/details/wayforwardmyfirs0000finn/page/12 12]|isbn=978-0-9640952-1-2 }}
The firm's first client was country singer Perry Como. Its success at promoting Como attracted more clients in show business, including Dinah Shore and Jack Lemmon.{{cite web |last1=Rifkin |first1=Glenn |title=David Finn, Co-Founder of a Public Relations Power, Dies at 100 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2021/10/19/business/david-finn-dead.html |website=The New York Times |date=19 October 2021 |access-date=1 February 2022}} Ruder Finn eventually expanded to represent consumer product companies and government agencies.
In the 1960s through late 1990s, while representing long-time client Philip Morris (now Altria), Ruder Finn was instrumental in crafting the public relations campaign that disputed the evidence tobacco smoking is hazardous to health.[http://legacy.library.ucsf.edu/tid/ekw82f00/pdf Ruder & Finn, Inc., "Project 'B': an alternative proposal to project 'A'", September 1995, Tobacco Institute, Bates no. TIMN0004276/4299] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110614120649/http://legacy.library.ucsf.edu/tid/ekw82f00/pdf |date=June 14, 2011 }}[http://legacy.library.ucsf.edu/tid/wvg98e00/pdf Ruder & Finn, Inc., "Public Relations Study for Philip Morris, Inc.", January 1968, Philip Morris, Bates no. 2021280871/0957] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110614120711/http://legacy.library.ucsf.edu/tid/wvg98e00/pdf |date=June 14, 2011 }}[http://legacy.library.ucsf.edu/tid/vhr02a00/pdf Ruder & Finn, Inc., "Preliminary Proposal for a Corporate Affairs Programme", February 1991, Philip Morris France, Bates No. 2500120377/0438] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110614120721/http://legacy.library.ucsf.edu/tid/vhr02a00/pdf |date=June 14, 2011 }}[http://legacy.library.ucsf.edu/action/search/basic?fd=0&q=%22Ruder+Finn%22&df=er&c=pm 1,247 documents linking Ruder Finn and Philip Morris at the Legacy Tobacco Documents Library at the University of California, San Francisco]{{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160603155408/http://legacy.library.ucsf.edu/action/search/basic?fd=0&q=%22Ruder+Finn%22&df=er&c=pm |date=June 3, 2016 }}
= 1990s =
{{Cleanup|section|reason=needs rephrasing|date=January 2025}}
In the early 1990s, Croatian nationalists initially (and later the Bosnian and Albanian sides) hired Ruder Finn for the "information war." They unleashed a wave of press releases, press conferences, press materials, and even established a "Bosnia Crisis Communication Center." The carefully and consciously constructed narrative interpretation by this agency of Serbia as the new Nazi Germany and Slobodan Milošević as the new Hitler laid the fertile ground on which the very complex civil war – with war crimes committed by all involved parties – could now be distorted and portrayed as a new extermination war and genocide by the Serbs against their own population. The horrors of the terrible massacres and genocides of World War II were invoked, rising like ghosts and overshadowing the current events. The "Račak Massacre," extensively reported worldwide for days, became a turning point in NATO policy toward Belgrade and changed public perception in Europe and the USA regarding airstrikes on Yugoslavia{{citation needed|date=January 2025}}.
In 1997, Ruder Finn ran the Global Climate Coalition, a group of mainly United States businesses opposing action to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.{{cite news |last=Hammond |first=Keith |title=Astroturf Troopers, How the polluters' lobby uses phony front groups to attack the Kyoto treaty |date=December 4, 1997 |url=https://www.motherjones.com/politics/1997/12/astroturf-troopers |magazine=Mother Jones |access-date=February 6, 2016 |quote=The Global Climate Coalition (GCC), run by Washington P.R. firm Ruder Finn, represents the big oil, gas, coal, and auto corporations.}}
In 1998, the firm was caught in a conflict of interest after it was revealed that it represented both the Jewish Agency for Israel and the government of Switzerland.{{cite web|url=https://www.jweekly.com/1998/05/15/leading-p-r-firm-caught-in-fray-between-swiss-jewish-clients/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120609120832/http://www.jweekly.com/article/full/8282/leading-p-r-firm-caught-in-fray-between-swiss-jewish-clients/|archive-date=June 9, 2012|title=Leading P.R. firm caught in fray between Swiss, Jewish clients|last=Cohen|first=Deborah Nussbaum|date=15 May 1998 |publisher=Jewish Telegraphic Agency}} The Jewish Agency's World Jewish Restitution Organization was pursuing a settlement with the Swiss government over its financial dealings during World War II. Ruder Finn responded to this news by severing relations with the Jewish Agency.
In 1999, Ruder Finn established RFI Studios, a digital practice, to help clients protect and build their reputation online.{{cite web|url=https://everything-pr.com/ruder-finn-office/|title=Ruder Finn Pays $30 Million for New Office - PR News|date=2015-04-28|website=Everything-PR: Public Relations, Marketing and Social Media News|language=en-US|access-date=2019-08-18}} The agency expanded in Asia, establishing offices in Shanghai, Beijing, Hong Kong, Guangzhou, Singapore, Delhi, Mumbai and Bangalore.
= 2000s =
In 2005, pro bono work done for the UN raised speculation when Kofi Annan's nephew, Kobina, worked as an intern at the firm.[http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,150043,00.html Questions surface about Annan's nephew]{{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110206150650/http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,150043,00.html |date=February 6, 2011 }}
Kathy Bloomgarden, Finn's daughter, became CEO when he retired in 2011.{{cite web |last1=Rifkin |first1=Glenn |title=David Finn, Co-Founder of a Public Relations Power, Dies at 100 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2021/10/19/business/david-finn-dead.html |website=The New York Times |date=19 October 2021 |access-date=1 February 2022}} That year Ruder Finn acquired Thunder Communications, a Chinese event management, brand and marketing consultancy, and formed a partnership with Kyodo Public Relations.{{cite web|title=Ruder Finn expands in China with four new accounts|url=http://www.prweekus.com/ruder-finn-expands-in-china-with-four-new-accounts/article/208411/|publisher=PR Week|date=July 26, 2011|access-date=July 3, 2012}}
= 2010's =
In 2012, Ruder Finn accepted a controversial contract from the government of Maldives that was condemned by the Commonwealth of Nations for organizing a political coup d'état that led to the fall of the first democratically elected President of the Maldives.{{cite web|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/fury-at-lobbyists-over-lucrative-work-for-brutal-maldives-regime-7718691.html|title=Fury at lobbyists over lucrative work for brutal Maldives regime|first=Oliver|last=Wright|work=The Independent|date=6 May 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200304143818if_/https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/fury-at-lobbyists-over-lucrative-work-for-brutal-maldives-regime-7718691.html|archive-date=March 4, 2020}} Vice-president of Ruder Finn Emmanuel Tchividjian "admitted there were 'diverse points of views' surrounding the circumstances around the change of government"{{cite web|url=http://www.prweek.com/uk/news/article/1128604/ruder-finn-picks-controversial-maldives-brief/|title=Ruder Finn picks up controversial Maldives brief|first=Matt|last=Cartmell|publisher=PR Week|date=April 16, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160619195355/https://www.prweek.com/article/1128604/ruder-finn-picks-controversial-maldives-brief|archive-date=June 19, 2016}} The Commonwealth Ministerial Action Group reiterated its call for early elections to be held in the Maldives.{{cite web|url=http://www.thecommonwealth.org/news/246248/160412cmag.htm|title=Commonwealth Ministerial Action Group (CMAG) Concluding Statement|date=April 16, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120427125407/http://www.thecommonwealth.org/news/246248/160412cmag.htm|url-status=dead|archive-date=April 27, 2012}}
The agency has won the PRSA Bronze Anvils, Big Apple Awards, SABREs and PRWeek Awards.{{cite news|title=People and Accounts of Note|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2006/06/05/business/media/05adco-webdenda.html?_r=1|newspaper=New York Times|date=July 5, 2012|access-date=July 6, 2012}}{{cite web|url=http://new.prsa.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/2012BronzeAnvilAwardResults.pdf|title=2012 Bronze Anvil Results|last=|first=|date=|website=|publisher=Public Relations Society of America|access-date=July 5, 2012}}{{cite web|title=Pepsi Takes Home Top Honors at SABRE Awards|url=http://www.holmesreport.com/news-info/10366/Pepsi-Takes-Homes-Top-Honors-At-SABRE-Awards.aspx|publisher=The Holmes Report|date=May 10, 2011|access-date=July 5, 2012}}{{cite web|url=http://www.prweek.com/article/1264849/multicultural-marketing-campaign-year-2011|title=2011 PR Week Awards|publisher=PR Week|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150910123154/http://www.prweek.com/article/1264849/multicultural-marketing-campaign-year-2011|archive-date=2015-09-10|url-status=dead|access-date=July 6, 2012}} David Finn received a Big Apple Award.{{cite news|title=People and Accounts of Note|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2006/06/05/business/media/05adco-webdenda.html?_r=1|newspaper=New York Times|date=June 5, 2006|access-date=July 6, 2012}}
In 2015, Ruder Finn acquired the Japanese business of Kyodo Public Relations, one of the largest independent PR firms in Japan and the first PR agency to be listed on JASDAQ Securities Exchange.{{cite web|url=http://www.prweek.com/article/1353888/ruder-finn-snaps-china-business-japans-kyodo-public-relations|title=Ruder Finn snaps up China business of Japan's Kyodo Public Relations {{!}} PR Week|website=PR Week|access-date=2016-05-19}}
= 2020s =
In June 2020, Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman's Neom city project signed a $1.7 million contract with Ruder Finn to counter criticism and controversies surrounding the project and its founder,{{cite web|url=https://asiatimes.com/2020/07/saudi-prince-defends-trophy-projects-amid-crisis/|title=Saudi prince defends trophy projects amid crisis|date=2 July 2020|access-date=24 August 2020|website=Asia Times|first=James M.|last=Dorsey|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200806135918/https://asiatimes.com/2020/07/saudi-prince-defends-trophy-projects-amid-crisis/|archive-date=6 August 2020}} such as mass arrests, the assassination of Jamal Khashoggi, and conflict over forced evictions on Howeitat tribal land.{{cite web|url=https://asiatimes.com/2020/04/saudi-tribesman-killed-resisting-futuristic-city/|title=Saudi tribesman killed resisting MBS backed project
|website=Asia Times|first=Alison Tahmizian|last=Meuse|date=24 April 2020|access-date=24 August 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200430224910/https://asiatimes.com/2020/04/saudi-tribesman-killed-resisting-futuristic-city/|archive-date=30 April 2020}}
In July 2020, Ruder Finn acquired the video content studio Osmosis Films, headquartered in Brooklyn, New York.{{Cite news|url=https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/ruder-finn-expands-multi-platform-video-storytelling-capabilities-with-acquisition-of-osmosis-films-301096328.html|title=Ruder Finn Expands Multi-Platform Video Storytelling Capabilities with Acquisition of Osmosis Films |date=2020-07-21|access-date=2020-07-21}}
In 2021, Huawei spent $3.5 million with Ruder Finn according to media reports and public records.{{Cite web |last=Cook |first=Sarah |date=June 27, 2023 |title=China's Foreign PR Enablers |url=https://thediplomat.com/2023/06/chinas-foreign-pr-enablers/ |access-date=2023-06-28 |website=The Diplomat |language=en-US}} In 2023, the two companies ended their partnership.{{Cite web |last=Larkin |first=Ewan |date=30 October 2023 |title=Huawei and Ruder Finn cut ties after nearly three years |url=https://www.prweek.com/article/1845714 |access-date=2023-12-07 |website=PR Week |language=en}}
In 2021, Ruder Finn was ranked 30th on the Global Top 250 PR Agency Ranking.{{Cite web|title=Top 250|url=https://www.provokemedia.com/ranking-and-data/global-pr-agency-rankings/2021-pr-agency-rankings/top-250|access-date=2022-01-18|website=www.provokemedia.com|language=en}}
In October 2023 Ruder Finn was named the PR Agency of the Year. This award was given at the [https://www.mmm-awards.com/#:~:text=WELCOME%20TO%20THE%20MM%2BM%20AWARDS&text=This%20inclusive%20event%20will%20be,broadcast%20live%2C%20Oscars%2Dstyle. Medical Marketing and Media Awards] (MM+M), in New York.{{Cite press release |last=Finn |first=Ruder |title=Ruder Finn Named PR Agency of the Year at Medical Marketing & Media Awards 2023 |url=https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/ruder-finn-named-pr-agency-of-the-year-at-medical-marketing--media-awards-2023-301949759.html |access-date=2023-11-30 |website=www.prnewswire.com |language=en}}{{Cite web |last=Staff |first=MM+M |date=2023-07-17 |title=MM+M reveals its 2023 Awards finalists |url=https://www.mmm-online.com/mmm-awards/mmm-reveals-its-2023-awards-finalists/ |access-date=2023-11-30 |website=MM+M - Medical Marketing and Media |language=en-US}} In the same month, Ruder Finn acquired Pandan Social, a Malaysian firm that was founded in 2018.{{Cite web |title=Ruder Finn Acquires Malaysian Digital Agency |url=https://www.provokemedia.com/latest/article/ruder-finn-acquires-malaysian-digital-agency |access-date=2023-12-07 |website=PRovoke Media |date=5 October 2023 |language=en}}
In March 2024, Ruder Finn acquired the digital marketing agency Flightpath.{{cite news|title=Ruder Finn acquires digital marketing agency Flightpath|url=https://www.prweek.com/article/1864638/ruder-finn-acquires-digital-marketing-agency-flightpath|work=PRWeek}}
References
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