PRESS RELEASE
European Network for Crisis Communications founded
Owner-managed and crisis-proven: together with three foreign consulting agencies, Engel & Zimmermann forms the Crisis Communications Network Europe (CCNE) / A quick expansion is planned
Munich, May 2019. On the initiative of Engel & Zimmermann GmbH (Germany), the crisis-proven communication agencies Rosam.Grünberger Change Communications (Austria), Da-viso GmbH (Italy) and Van Hulzen Communicatie (Netherlands) have joined forces to form a European network for crisis communications. The creation of the Crisis Communications Network Europe (CCNE) by those initial four agencies took place on Friday, May 17 2019, at a meeting in Gauting near Munich.
The CCNE is an association of owner-managed European consulting agencies with proven experience in crisis prevention and communication. The members want to be able to better serve their clients in the case of transnational crises. “We had intense discussions in advance, because it was very important to us that all agencies have a similar strategic approach, so that we can conscientiously recommend one of our network partners to our customers if the situation requires it”, says Sybille Geitel, managing director of the hosting agency Engel & Zimmermann GmbH.
In order to optimally support customers abroad as well, agencies need to be fully aware of the media landscapes, they need to fluently speak the respective language and they need to have access to a local network of lawyers, laboratories or IT-forensics at all time. “Thanks to our network partners we will be able to achieve this and, more than ever, we will be able to cover complex international cases as well as ad hoc mandates”, says CCNE spokesperson Dr. Matthias Glötzner. “The positive feedback we have already received from companies on this project in advance has confirmed our commitment to further accelerate the development of this network with all our energy. Evidently crises do not stop at national borders, even for medium-sized companies.”
Ad hoc-mandates und systematic crisis prevention
The key focus of the CCNE, in addition to ad hoc support, is on joint projects designed for systematic crisis prevention, e.g. in terms of cross-border crisis simulations. In addition, regular meetings of the member agencies ensure the transfer of know-how. “What sets us apart from other networks is that every member agency is only based within their respective home country, so there is no competitive situation between us”, says Geitel. “This allows us to openly communicate on behalf of our customers and thus create a truly vivid network.”
Expansion to additional member countries
During their kick-off meeting, the four founding members agreed that – in addition to joint projects – the expansion of the network will have a high priority over the next months. By the end of this year, the network is supposed to cover twice as many countries.
At the founding meeting in Munich, the four members elected Dr. Matthias Glötzner (Engel & Zimmermann GmbH) and Dmitri Berkhout (Van Hulzen Communicatie) as spokespeople of the network. The two speakers will particularly communicate topics that are relevant to the entire network; moreover, the founding members have agreed that each agency will appear as speaker within its home country.
More information:
Crisis Communications Network Europe c/o
Engel & Zimmermann GmbH
Unternehmensberatung für Kommunikation
Christian Wolfram
Am Schlosspark 15, 82131 Gauting bei München
Tel.: 089 – 893 563 558
E-Mail: c.wolfram@engel-zimmermann.de
