Communications firm plans Charlotte expansion
The following article appeared in the May 6, 2022, edition of The Charlotte Ledger, a digital publication that produces locally focused newsletters for Charlotte. Sign up for our free or paid version:
New CEO of Chernoff Newman to add workers in Charlotte; industry becomes more digital, with employees all over the country
The marketing and PR industries are in the middle of a big change.
Companies have different expectations nowadays from their outside agencies — and the movement toward working from home, which accelerated during Covid, has meant that firms providing marketing help and other creative endeavors have a much broader potential employee base.
To discuss the changes in the industry, The Ledger spoke last week with Carrie McCament, who was named CEO of Chernoff Newman, one of the Carolinas’ largest marketing communications agencies, which was formerly known in Charlotte as Carolina PR. She joins Chernoff Newman from well-known Charlotte-based ad agency Wray Ward, where she was vice president and executive director of client engagement.
Chernoff Newman has about 40 employees at offices in Charlotte, Columbia, Charleston and Orlando, Fla., and clients include Charlotte-Douglas International Airport, Charlotte Water, Movement Mortgage and Deloitte.
McCament, 60, talked with The Ledger’s Tony Mecia about changes in the industry and Chernoff Newman’s expansion plans. Remarks were edited for brevity and clarity:
Q. How is this industry changing? What are the expectations clients have? What are some of the trends you are seeing?
The industry is becoming more digitally oriented, channel-agnostic, media-agnostic, much more online. I think that companies are looking at specialty shops versus full-service agencies because of that.
But the industry changed because of Covid. Period, end of story. What we learned is that you don't have to have one mammoth agency operating under one roof, with big capital expenses. But you can reach out and get things done virtually. And what that means is a little bit of splintering of the market: “You know, I'm going to go get my PR here. I’m going to get my digital here.” Not to say that’s the right way to do marketing, but that is what is happening.
They realize you don’t have to be in Manhattan. You don’t have to be in L.A. or San Francisco to get good talent now. In fact, I interviewed somebody from Google for a position at Wray Ward, and he was in Utah. And I said, “You know, why would you ever leave Utah? It’s just a beautiful state.” And he goes, “What makes you think I will ever leave Utah?” That’s just the mindset now.
Q. So creative people, you can get them from anywhere?
Exactly. Most of the creative who sit behind a screen say to agencies, “I’m not coming in.” But there’s a double-edged sword there. It’s good and bad. You always want to have that culture, chemistry, team camaraderie. You need that to sustain a company.
But the other end of that is you also can acquire really good talent. If they want to live in Toronto and they’re excellent copywriters, there’s no barrier. You Zoom them in.
Q. What are the plans for Chernoff Newman, especially here in Charlotte?
Chernoff Newman’s bread and butter is public relations and public affairs, and they have built their legacy over the last 50 years, mostly in South Carolina with state business, university business, government affairs, agriculture, health.
They know they need to move beyond the border lines and they also know that they need to reach out beyond government contracts and start to be more of a full-service, integrated, omni-channel agency. And they know they need to modernize.
They want to build on what they have already established, and they want the beachhead to be in Charlotte. We have a small office now in SouthPark. They’re looking for new real estate. They want me to be located there as the CEO and start to build out what they have in Columbia in Charlotte.
I do feel like I need to do some hiring to get to that point. I’ll look at a one-year plan, but I’m really looking at a three- to five-year plan: What does that trajectory look like, to become more than just PR and public affairs? I would not have taken the job had I not thought that that was attainable.
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Executive editor: Tony Mecia; Managing editor: Cristina Bolling; Contributing editor: Tim Whitmire, CXN Advisory; Contributing photographer/videographer: Kevin Young, The 5 and 2 Project