NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--After competing for nearly two decades for every major travel PR account in the world, two of the industry’s most experienced and award-winning PR professionals have joined forces as collaborators to change the way business is done in the world of travel marketing.
René Mack, former president of the travel practice at Weber Shandwick, and Cathleen Johnson, founder and head of the travel practice at Edelman, are now leading Percepture Travel – a division of Percepture, Inc.
Bringing even more clout and wisdom to this travel triumvirate is Veronica Stoddart, former editor-in-chief for travel at USA TODAY (1998-2014), who recently joined Percepture Travel as its Executive Editor-in-Residence. Stoddart is responsible for developing and curating content for the agency’s clients and for special projects.
“Critical to every marketing program today is content, which is why the addition of Veronica Stoddart to the dream team of travel PR is so crucial to our clients' success,” says Thor Harris, founder and CEO of Percepture. “Veronica’s unprecedented experience and depth of knowledge not only enhances our ability to deliver world-class PR programs, but also significantly advances our well established and successful digital and search capabilities.”
Using the Boston Consulting Group model, Percepture Travel is redefining the way the business of travel is delivered. The model builds expert teams to solve business challenges; ROI is based on revenue and qualified sales leads; and agency compensation is exceptionally affordable given clients are not paying for bricks and mortar. The model is shifting along with savvy marketers from “overhead” to “what’s in your head?”
Johnson and Mack share an unprecedented repertoire in the world of travel, tourism and hospitality public relations.
Mack was President of Weber Shandwick’s Global Travel Practice from 1996 to 2014. He has spent his entire career in travel/tourism public relations and worked for The Bahamas, The Canadian Tourism Commission, Australian Tourism Commission, New Zealand Tourism Commission, South African Airways, Pure Michigan, Hilton Head Island, Singapore Airlines, American Airlines, Marriott International, Harley-Davidson, Beverly Hills, Royal Caribbean International, Silversea Cruises, Xanterra Parks & Resorts (Furnace Creek Resort; Grand Canyon Railway; Kingsmill Resort in Williamsburg). He created The Bahamas Weather Conference that has forever changed the way meteorologists report on hurricanes in The Caribbean; brought back tourism to New Orleans post Hurricane Katrina through the city’s last Super Bowl; and has handled every possible crisis, including US Airways' "Miracle on the Hudson."
Johnson created and led Edelman’s tourism practice to become the leading practice among independent PR agencies. Her first major account was the National Tour Association (NTA), where she cut her teeth on the group tour market. She also led international campaigns for countries including Mexico, Brazil, and the United States, where she brought together a powerful team of advertising, PR and co-op marketing to create the first international integrated marketing program for the U.S. as a tourism destination. She, too, has served states including Illinois and Washington, airlines such as United, cruise companies including Viking River Cruises and Norwegian Cruise Line, hotel brands including Hilton and Hyatt and OTAs including Expedia and Travelocity. Between two 15-year stints in her career at Edelman, she also served as the SVP of Marketing for the Hawaii Visitors and Convention Bureau.
Percepture is a solutions-based, results-driven marketing communications agency that answers the question: “If everyone is talking, is anyone listening and how do I get them to pay attention to me?" Search, PR, social, digital, CSR, broadcast, IR, reputation management, marketing and public relationships are the disciplines we activate to enable brands to cut through the clutter, be found, talked about, recommended and purchased.
