Firefly appoints Phil Szomszor as Head of Business and Digital to fuel further growth

13 September 2012
by Firefly news team

Firefly Communications has announced the appointment of Phil Szomszor, who joins the agency this week as Head of Business and Digital, complementing recent hire Fiona Hughes as Head of Consumer. Both Heads report to Group CEO Claire Walker.

Phil joins from international PR agency Citigate Dewe Rogerson, where he was Director and Head of Digital. At Citigate Phil was responsible for establishing the agency’s digital team and won prestigious PR Week, Sabre, OTC and Digital Impact Awards for Lloydspharmacy and TalkTalk. He also worked in digital and leading B2B account roles for Kwik-Fit, Kroll Ontrack, Baring Asset Management and Fujitsu Siemens Computers (now Fujitsu).

Phil is regular social media commentator and produces PR and social media blog, theredrocket.co.uk, ranked in the top 20 UK PR and marketing blogs, according to Cision, Ad Age, B2B PR blog listing and Eloqua’s Blog Tree. He also regularly presents at social media events and blogger meetups, such as PR Moment’s Analytics Conference and London Bloggers Meetup recently.

This new position marks a significant step for Firefly, as it looks to consolidate and expand its strong existing B2B portfolio, while moving ever deeper into the digital space.

Firefly Group CEO Claire Walker says, “Our clients are evermore sophisticated in their requirements, and we make sure we are giant leaps ahead to inspire them. Phil’s expertise will significantly add to our digital capabilities and help us become integrated in our campaign planning. Measuring share of voice in the media space is not enough, we take a broader view looking at what tangible results are delivering from an integrated perspective across all influencers – looking at shifts in market share to lead generation, and in great numerical detail.”

Commenting on his appointment, Phil adds: “Joining Firefly is a dream move for me and I can’t wait to get stuck in. I’ve admired Firefly for some time and it’s always been an ‘agency to beat’. Firefly embraces new technologies and PR methodologies, so I’m relishing the opportunity to play my part in taking this forward.”

Phil’s hire follows the appointment of Fiona Hughes who joined from MSL London as Head of Consumer. Since Fiona joined Firefly, the agency’s consumer portfolio has more than doubled in revenue from clients Give as you Live, Vimeo, Millfield School, Lexar and Crucial.

Firefly’s consumer credentials have been boosted with award-nominated (2011 PR Moment Golden Hedgehog Awards and 2012 Holmes Report EMEA SABREs) campaigns for Give as you Live.

Vimeo, the high-quality video-sharing brand, appointed Firefly Consumer in 2012 to handle a high-profile pan-European retainer brief. The win sees Firefly’s London head office working with its French and German teams and a partner agency in Spain.

The  appointment of Phil Szomszor as Head of Business and Digital and Fiona Hughes as Head of Consumer complete Firefly’s new management team line up. Firefly is in in a position of strength to deliver digital, business and consumer expertise.