Veteran communicator Roger Pereira appointed global vice chairman of PR firm Edelman, Robert Holdheim to be India head

26 March 2009

The world's largest independent global PR firm Edelman has appointed Roger C B Pereira, CEO and managing director, R&PM:Edelman as its global vice chairman for Edelman 1 July 2009.

The first person to be appointed to this position from an emerging market, Pereira will serve as a voice of 'BRIC' and Emerging Markets in Asia for the firm in Europe and North America, working closely with Edelman's global client relationship managers (GCRMs) and large-client leads to provide an emerging markets perspective to global stakeholder engagement and communications strategies.

Pereira, an ad industry veteran at the time, branched out into PR to found the firm in 1987 at the instance of the legendary JRD Tata.

The firm started with the most challenging projects for The National Dairy Development Board, Hindustan Lever and the Department of Atomic Energy to The Leather Industries of America. Between December 1985 and April 1987, Pereira consulted with several governments around the world on development issues. His counsel through the 1990s and 2000s for companies looking to make a market entry into India, manage their reputation or successfully overcome challenging crisis situations have earned him respect as one of the most sought after communications advisors from India.

The first 25 years of Roger's career were in Advertising. First at JWT and then at Shilpi, where he was the CEO for 13 years. During his advertising career too, he and his firm were the recipients of several Indian and International awards. Subsequently, he served on the juries for these awards.

Pereira initiated and helped found the Advertising Standards Council of India and the India Chapter of the International Advertising Association (IAA). He was also on the international Board of the IAA for several years.