LONDON--Waggener Edstrom has lured senior BT communications executive Chantal Bowman-Boyles to head its UK tech practice.
Bowman-Boyles joins the firm after three years at BT, most recently as head of employee and change communications at the telecoms giant’s BT Operate division.
Prior to her BT stint, Bowman-Boyles held numerous roles in the agency world, including leadership positions at Burson-Marsteller, where she headed corporate and technology, GolinHarris and Weber Group.
She told the Holmes Report that the Waggener Edstrom opportunity offers a welcome return to the agency sphere. “I got to a point where I realised that I missed a couple of things about agencies: the variety you have, being at the forefront of new tech developments; and new business, the intellectual challenge of pitching and winning different clients,” said Bowman-Boyles. “I also missed the international flavour.”
Bowman-Boyles added that her internal comms experience would prove useful, given the convergence of employee engagement and external communication. “The smart companies will look at comms in the round rather than looking at separate comms and PR teams,” she said. “I think it’s a strength that I have, that I can use to hopefully build a different type of business at Wag-Ed.”
Bowman-Boyles takes charge of a tech practice that counts Microsoft, Intermec and Texas Instruments as key clients. In addition, Wag-Ed recently won Xerox’s PR account in the UK and Ireland.
“[Chantal’s] ability to drive communications campaigns across channels and a wide range of audiences will bolster Waggener Edstrom’s integrated influence approach,” said Wag-Ed UK GM Shaun Wootton, to whom Bowman-Boyles will report.