Golin Germany launches as a joint venture by Golin & GGH MullenLowe

Golin has formed a joint venture with sister agency, GGH MullenLowe in Germany. The partnership allows both agencies to bring a truly integrated offering to the German market. Golin is launching its brand in Hamburg under the leadership of Uta Behnke, newly appointed managing director of Golin Germany. Behnke is charged with overseeing and growing the agency – including opening a second office in Munich this summer. She will report to Matt Neale, president international, Golin and Benedikt Holtappels, CEO GGH MullenLowe.

The new integrated model is a response to the reality that many traditional, isolated PR and advertising solutions no longer work in the increasingly complex world of communications. The effectiveness of earned media on its own is increasingly restricted. The most successful campaigns integrate the suport of paid media to ensure reach and scale.

The integrated approach answers our clients’ questions of how companies and brands can earn both attention and credibility (…) It’s exactly this new strategy that attracted me to start at Golin. GGH MullenLowe and Golin share a common understanding of what makes a successful brand campaign. Our respective expertise complement each other perfectly and I’m really looking forward to this exciting adventure where we will create something new.

Uta Behnke

In 2011, Golin launched its g4 model, which completely restructured the traditional agency model from a hierarchy of generalists to communities of specialists.

This joint venture with GGH MullenLowe allows us to deliver g4 from the beginning (…) From day one, we will serve our clients with world-class German creative and planning talent. Launching Golin in Europe’s biggest economy is an important step in our ambition to be the defining agency of this decade.

Matt Neale

Our understanding has always been that traditional advertising can be only one element in the communications solution process (…) To tackle this, we’ve designed CRM and digital concepts for our clients and have been thinking about relevant PR services for quite some time. We are very happy to now, in partnership with Golin, be able to offer a model that is tailored to the German market. Here, PR is not just another building block – but represents an equally entitled part in brand consulting

Benedikt Holtappels,

CEO of GGH MullenLowe

The announcement of its joint venture in Germany comes during the same week that Golin launches Life Time, a brave new progressive and flexible global employee benefits program. Life Time is centered around policies which include unlimited time off and work-from-anywhere flexibility. Golin is working to bring these benefits to the Germany market later this year with the ambition to be the most progressive large agency in the country.

Uta Behnke brings 20 years of PR experience to Golin. In 1999, she began her career at Edelman and since 2009, she served as Managing Director of their Hamburg office. Her clients included Unilever, Mondelez, Bacardi, Shell, iglo and Beck’s. Behnke’s award-winning work includes campaigns such as “Awaken the Heinz in Me” for Heinz tomato ketchup, “Date a Dog” for Pedigree and “This Is Where Margarine Grows” for Unilever.