In hires that strengthen Porter Novelli’s North American team, the firm has named Julie Schumacher Ciardiello managing director of the New York office, Peter DiBart creative director and Bruce Ginsberg senior vice president, business development.
As managing director of Porter Novelli’s flagship office, Schumacher will lead teams across the firm’s practice areas, including consumer, technology, health and wellness, food and corporate communications. She succeeds Erin Osher, who relocated to the agency’s Seattle office. Schumacher rejoins Porter Novelli, where she worked earlier in her career managing one of the agency’s largest food clients, with more than a dozen creative brand and nutrition programs.
“I’m thrilled to be returning to Porter Novelli, where I benefited from an inspiring culture and exceptional team members,” said Schumacher. “The company is poised for significant growth, with a strong senior leadership team in place and talent at the center of its strategic outlook. I look forward to leveraging my deep food, nutrition and health and wellness background to help build on their success.”
Schumacher joins Porter Novelli from Omnicom sister agency Ketchum, where she worked for nearly a decade. Schumacher joined Ketchum in 2007 as a leader in the New York consumer brand practice and later led the office’s Food & Wellness Practice, before becoming co-director of the North American Food & Beverage Practice in 2014. She was named a Ketchum partner in 2013 and most recently was focused on business development and client engagements in the agency’s growing healthcare unit.
Schumacher’s shift to Porter Novelli brings to life one of the overarching goals of Omnicom Public Relations Group—to develop and grow top talent across Omnicom agencies, providing growth opportunities that keep high performers in the Omnicom family.
“This is a great example of talent mobility across Omnicom Public Relations Group agencies, and it is only made possible through close collaboration,” said Karen van Bergen, CEO, Omnicom Public Relations Group. “We’re grateful to Ketchum for their foresight and willingness to bring this career opportunity forward for one of our high performers. We hope to see many more of these moves happening in the future.”
“Julie is exceptionally talented and tenacious. I am grateful for the terrific leadership and service she delivered to our clients and the mentorship she provided to many of our colleagues,” said Mike Doyle, partner and director of Ketchum’s New York office. “She will be missed at Ketchum, but we wish her and our partners at Porter Novelli continued success.”
As creative director North America, Peter DiBart will lead the North America creative team delivering content strategy, development and production, brand identity and expression, advertising, experiential marketing and design.
DiBart joins Porter Novelli from Max Borges agency, where he served as creative director. He has deep experience in digital and public relations with stints at Text100 and Edelman; his work includes campaigns with Ben and Jerry’s and American Heart Association’s Go Red for Women.
“We’re excited to welcome Peter to the Porter Novelli family,” said Megan King, EVP and global leader of Porter Novelli’s creative shop, Jack’s Garage. “His stellar experience as a digital-first creative director will help us continue to build on Porter Novelli legacy of creating engaging, integrated, behavior-changing campaigns.”
As senior vice president, business development for New York, Bruce Ginsberg brings 20 years of experience working in new business development and innovation – including almost every marketing discipline. Ginsberg will lead Porter Novelli’s proactive new business development effort as the agency seeks to update and inform the marketplace of its competitive advantage while creating new opportunities for growth and innovation.
“The opportunity to help a high-quality, legacy organization evolve to the next level of greatness is an exciting one,” said Ginsberg. “I look forward to creating wonderful new client relationships for our Food & Nutrition, Health & Wellness and Technology practice areas as well as our growing and cutting-edge Corporate Affairs and Reputation Management group.”
“We’re so pleased to welcome Julie, Peter and Bruce to our team,” said Jennifer Swint, North American president and partner. “These appointments represent an exciting time at Porter Novelli. With a number of significant new business wins and existing clients expanding their work with us, we couldn’t be more excited about the talent we have in place to grow the region.”