Business News
Digital Media Leader Paul Walker Named President of GCI Read-Poland
Monday 10. March 2008 - GCI Continues to 'Change Rules' with an Integrated Approach to PR and Social Media
GCI Group announced today the promotion of digital media leader Paul Walker to president of the agency’s Texas operations. The move strengthens GCI’s commitment to challenge the boundaries of traditional public relations and embrace a media-neutral approach to communications with a strong emphasis on digital and social media.
In addition to leading GCI Read-Poland, Walker will continue in his role as head of GCI Group’s Global Digital Media Practice, which he launched in 2005. Since that time, Walker has made strategic digital media hires in GCI offices around the world, implemented innovative digital training programs for all GCI consultants, and counseled some of the world’s leading brands to navigate and exploit the changing media landscape to achieve their business goals. These brands include Dell, Nike, Red Lobster, Olive Garden, Whole Foods Market and Genentech.
“The digital media revolution has caused a dramatic change in the communications industry, and we have embraced that change at GCI,” said Jeff Hunt, CEO of GCI Group. “Our philosophy is ‘Change Rules’ — change the way we think and act as communicators — and Paul is a vital part of that vision. Under his leadership, GCI has developed a world-class digital media capability, and in his new role, we are well-positioned to make GCI Texas a digital and social media center of excellence.”
“There’s never been a more exciting time to be in our business because we are reinventing PR and pushing into entirely new and innovative communications areas,” said Walker. “At GCI, we take a media-savvy approach to strategy and execution and focus on the best ideas to drive ROI for our clients. We’ve seen the power of social media to transform our clients’ businesses, and we’re just getting started. In the next year, we’ll continue to invest in GCI’s digital media capability through new market offerings, recruitment of great talent and strategic alliances.”
Walker has more than twenty years experience in general management, brand-building, marketing, sales, business development, venture investing and consulting. Prior to joining GCI, he was the CEO of an Austin-based company that helps companies and individuals sell excess inventories using online channels. Formerly, he was vice president of a Silicon Valley seed fund created by Accenture and Mobius Venture Capital, where he invested in companies and worked with them on strategy, sales and marketing.
Walker spent ten years at Accenture in leadership brand management, market development and business development roles across a wide range of industries and service lines in both Asia and the U.S. In 1993, the company then known as Andersen Consulting hired Paul from Y&R/Burson-Marsteller to run its Pan-Asian market development efforts, including Japan, China and Australia. Walker began his career at Y&R/Burson-Marsteller, where he started its high-tech practice and went on to become the managing director of its Singapore office.
As Walker assumes his new role at GCI, former GCI Read-Poland president Lynne Skinner will take on new role as well. Skinner will manage the transition of the Dell account to a new, global integrated marketing and communications agency within WPP — tentatively called DaVinci — and the formation of the global PR function within that agency.