• Blog
  • Agency News

PANdigital: The Next Chapter

Philip A. Nardone, Jr.
President & Chief Executive Officer | Boston, MA
  • Blog
  • Agency News

PANdigital: The Next Chapter

Philip A. Nardone, Jr.
President & Chief Executive Officer | Boston, MA

For anyone who followed ‘Cuse Chronicles, a blog series in which I documented my experience teaching at Syracuse this spring, something I talked about frequently with my students was how the PR industry has been effected by the digitization of business. For my students, the digital world is what they know and grew up with. Most of them can’t remember a time when cell phones weren’t in their hands. For many of them, the hype around the rise of digital, especially in PR, only seems natural but for those of us who have been in PR for a few years, the impact that digital has had on the industry is pretty groundbreaking.

For some time now, PR has been more about media relations and distributing press releases. As we began to get more comfortable with digital offerings in our personal lives, we slowly started to see those same trends trickling into the business world. For example, when Mark Zuckerberg launched Facebook in 2004, it was purely a way for friends to stay connected. Fast forward to 2015 and every company, brand and influencer has their own Facebook page.

Digital PR is like creating a “Supergroup.” All of these separate entities, which have been successful on their own, have come together to create something big. Traditional PR, content marketing, social media and search analytics have all combined forces to form what is known as digital PR.

At PAN, we’ve been working diligently to ensure we are at the forefront of today’s most innovative social offerings and digital storytelling. In the past two years, I’ve heard more and more from my Vice Presidents that their clients are looking for strategies and tactics that span beyond traditional public relations concepts.  This is why I decided, along with my executive management team, that we needed to expand our digital team and bring on a VP of PANdigital.

After months of searching and interviewing candidates who I think to be most some of the talented individuals in this space, I am pleased to share that we have finally welcomed a new VP of PANdigital to the PAN family.

Creative. Analytical. Inventive. These are just a few of the words I would use to describe David Saggio. For the past 20 years, David has been transforming ideas, products, and brands into seamless digital strategies that engage, educate and enhance. Whether it’s a brand or an agency, he brings value by solving challenges with a big picture point of view and an ability to combine digital, social and traditional into measurable business results.

We conducted a very thorough search for the right person for this very important position. One of the many things that drew me to David was his diverse background. He has worked with brands from a variety of markets including technology and healthcare to consumer and new media. In addition, David has split his career on both the client and agency side, which I think will be a huge asset to PAN and our teams here. Having that insight and knowledge from working in-house means David knows how to think like a client and knows what the expectations are from people behind the scenes, so to speak.

Since starting at PAN earlier this month, David has already made an impact, defining our focus and offering, and creating the PANdigital mission statement. David’s addition marks a very important chapter in the PAN history book and I can’t wait to see what he has up his sleeves. Be sure to check back, as I’m sure this isn’t the last you’ll hear about David and his extraordinary talent.

We’re ready to move.
Are you?

Contact Us