Tim Sutton is Chairman of Weber Shandwick in the Asia Pacific region and is one of the global PR industry's most respected practitioners. He also serves as Asia Pacific Chairman of the Constituency Management Group (CMG) of parent company Interpublic, which includes its various below the line marketing services businesses in the disciplines of public relations, events management, sports marketing and brand identity.
Prior to moving to Asia Pacific in 2007, Tim held similar responsibilities for many years in Interpublics Europe, Middle East, Africa region. He therefore has broad knowledge and experience of a wide range of key major and emerging PR markets across the world.
Educated at Magdalen College, Oxford University (Philosophy, Politics & Economics), Tim is a renowned corporate and brand strategy PR professional having directed corporate programmes, brand development programmes and public affairs issues campaigns for some of the world's top companies and industries. He has a particularly strong track record in public issues campaigning and brand communications strategy which has won him significant industry recognition.
For twelve years, Tim was personally responsible for the whole of the airline bmi British Midlands corporate and brand development programmes in Europe reporting directly to the Chairman, Sir Michael Bishop. The excellence of this long term campaign, in support of deregulation of the UK, European and transatlantic airline routes, cementing of bmi's position as the second largest operator at London Heathrow; and developing of a broader international franchise for the brand, has received many accolades and still remains the only European PR campaign to have won both of the industry's top awards: the PR Week Grand Prix and the IPR Sword of Excellence.
In the 1990s, he led the successful political campaign, described by the London Sunday Times newspaper as "devastating", for the UK brewing industry against government competition policy proposals. His campaign on behalf of independent gas companies was responsible for the deregulation of the UK gas market and was described by the leading trade publication 'Gas Matters' as a brilliant PR coup'. He was an advisor to the worldwide oil industry via UKOOA and the E&P Forum, and directly to Shell, on the difficult communications issues following the Brent Spar North Sea platform controversy, and to the campaign by the Community Pharmacy Action Group to preserve Resale Price Maintenance on over the counter medicines.
Tim has been heavily involved in advising numerous other companies at a senior level on major restructuring and brand communications strategies, including Compass Group, IBM, Kingfisher and Unilever and is also a recognised authority on crisis management, brand strategy, employee communications and the globalization of PR. Most recently, he was responsible for the international programme on behalf of the Save Darfur Campaign a programme to help relieve the suffering of the Darfuri people in Sudan.
Prior to his career with Weber Shandwick, he was chairman of Orpheus Group and previously chairman of BSMG Worldwide's European operations and Chief Executive Officer of Charles Barker plc, then one of the UK's best known and respected independent PR companies.
A member of the Institute of Public Relations and a member of the Superbrands Council, he is a frequent speaker at industry conferences and a guest on radio and television business and media programmes.