Edelman Appoints Yvonne Koh As Head of Corporate In Asia Pacific

Edelman has appointed Yvonne Koh as head of corporate for Asia-Pacific. She joins Edelman from Klareco, where she spent nine months as senior director and partner. Previously, she spent three years as PayPal's head of Asia-Pacific communications, following a lengthy stint with MSL in New York and Singapore.

Koh's arrival follows last month's departure of 17-year Edelman veteran Amanda Goh, vice-chair for clients and sectors in Asia-Pacific. “Yvonne is representative of a growing base of talented female Asian leaders who are taking on senior agency roles in the region," said Edelman Asia-Pacific CEO Stephen Kehoe. "We see this as a deeply encouraging sign for the future of the industry as we focus on building the next generation of locally-grown talent."

Koh reports to Dave Samson, Edelman's global vice chair of corporate affairs, and will also serve as a member of the global corporate practice team.

“Yvonne joins us at a time when the stakes for companies have never been higher and their role in advancing the betterment of society more critical," said Samson.

Koh joins Edelman amid a resurgence in demand for corporate PR services in 2020, as revealed by multiple PRovoke research studies. With consumer marketing spend under pressure, major PR networks such as Edelman are seeing better growth prospects in such areas as crisis, corporate reputation, purpose and employee engagement, along with sectors like technology and healthcare.

"Companies are facing massive challenges in their business models, operations, people management and reputation, and often at the same time," said Koh. "Corporate affairs as a specialty is now more critical than before — communications firms that are committed to taking a business-centric, insight-driven approach are well positioned to counsel our clients through these unpredictable situations."