Elizabeth Bae to lead BCW Korea

By Yoon Ja-young

BCW announced Wednesday that it appointed Elizabeth Bae as its new leader for its Korean operation. It also named Kim Bum-sung as its managing director for corporate practice.

BCW, which is one of the top three full service global communication agencies born through the merger of Burson-Marsteller and Cohn & Wolfe in February, said that Bae will focus on driving growth and innovation within the Korea office and providing strategic counsel to key clients in the market. She was previously managing director.

With more than 15 years of experience in corporate and brand communications, Bae's expertise covers a wide range of disciplines including reputation management, brand positioning, issue management, digital activation and executive training.

Before joining BCW, she was senior director of corporate and consumer practice at Edelman Korea where she provided counsel for global brands across a variety of industries. Her track record in issues management includes advising companies faced with legal disputes and labor conflict to product issues and organizational restructuring.

“BCW Korea is at a critical juncture in its transition into one of the leading integrated communications agencies in the market,” Bae said. “I am very excited to work with BCW's talented leaders and teams around the world to help solidify this change and achieve continued and meaningful business success for Korea.”

Kim, meanwhile, will drive client development, strategy and new offerings for the practice.

Kim joined BCW from Aramco Asia Korea, where he led the public affairs team with responsibilities including media relations, internal communications and government relations.

Before that, he spent more than 12 years at AIA Korea, overseeing all public relations, branding and advertising campaigns, as well as internal communications, corporate social responsibilities and crisis communications.

During this time, Kim successfully led the rebranding of AIG to AIA, including the planning and execution of the firm's corporate advertising campaigns. He also oversaw brand communication programs which included sponsorships for leading football teams such as Manchester United and the Tottenham Hotspurs.

“BCW Korea is a unique entity on the Korea communications scene and I am thrilled to be a part of this exciting new phase,” Kim said. “I look forward to working with the team to develop new integrated product offerings to help us deliver on our clients' business objectives and communications needs.”