Weber Shandwick Names Janet Helm Chief Food and Nutrition Strategist For North America

CHICAGO – Weber Shandwick, one of the world’s leading global public relations firms, today announced it has promoted Janet Helm to Chief Food and Nutrition Strategist for North America. In this new position Helm, who is a 15-year Weber Shandwick Chicago veteran, will be focused on increasing the firm’s visibility within the food and nutrition community and helping client teams keep their fingers on the pulse of the highly-dynamic health and nutrition landscape.

Helm’s appointment reflects the growing importance of this sector within Weber Shandwick’s food and nutrition offering and the growth of the firm’s client portfolio in this space, which includes some of the country’s highest-profile category and branded campaigns. She is regularly sought out by clients and others for her point-of-view on emerging food trends and is known for her vast network of nutrition influencers and her ability to translate nutrition research into useful information for consumers. Her work for clients ranges from strategy development to identification and vetting of nutrition/health claims.

“Janet brings so much to our work in food and nutrition – she’s a strategist, a scientist and a masterful communicator and marketer,” said Cathy Calhoun, president, Weber Shandwick North America. “She brings a very important perspective to the work we do for our clients and it is wonderful to be able to recognize her with this expanded role.”

Helm is highly regarded in nutrition circles. She is a registered dietitian and former national media spokesperson for the American Dietetic Association, a contributor to the Chicago Tribune and writes a well-read blog, Nutrition Unplugged (www.nutritionunplugged.com), which was recently named among the top 100 most influential nutrition blogs. She is recognized for her leadership in the social media space among the country’s dietitians and is a sought-after speaker on the topic.

“I am thrilled to continue to advance Weber Shandwick’s leadership in the food and nutrition sector to benefit our clients as they confront the gamut of issues, trends and opportunities in this space,” said Janet Helm.

The Weber Shandwick Food and Nutrition Team includes veteran Washington Post nutrition reporter Sally Squires; food issues expert Susan Ruland; and an integrated team that includes four registered dietitians, two Ph.D. nutrition scientists and two trained chefs.

About Weber Shandwick
Weber Shandwick is a leading global public relations agency with offices in 77 markets around the world. The firm’s success is built on its deep commitment to client service, creativity, collaboration and harnessing the power of Advocates - engaging stakeholders in new and creative ways to build brands and reputation. Weber Shandwick provides strategy and execution across practices such as consumer marketing, healthcare, technology, public affairs, corporate/financial and crisis management. Its specialized services include digital/social media, advocacy advertising, market research, and corporate responsibility. Weber Shandwick was recognized as PRWeek’s 2009 Global Agency Report Card Gold Medal Winner, named Global Agency of the Year by The Holmes Report and Large PR Firm of the Year by PR News in 2008. The firm also won the United Nations Grand Award for Outstanding Achievement in Public Relations for a lifestyles educational campaign in India. Weber Shandwick is part of the Interpublic Group (NYSE: IPG). For more information, visit http://www.webershandwick.com.