Mad Hat Asia secures sportswear brand PR mandate

Stefanie Francesca has stepped up at iD Collective as Head of Brand Experiences. She has been with the agency for more than 11 years and was most recently General Manager of PR and Communications.  

 SEC Newgate has announced the launch of an office in Tokyo, marking the group's expansion into Japan. This new location builds upon its current presence in Asia, where it currently counts offices in Shanghai, Hong Kong, Singapore, and Australia, as well as affiliates across the region.

Leading SEC Newgate Japan's operations is Mai Mizuta, who joins as Managing Partner. She brings experience advising senior corporate leaders and global investors in reputation management, shareholder activism, cross-border M&A, and crisis communications. Mai was most recently at Teneo, where she established the firm's Japan business, and previously spent more than a decade with ION Analytics, where she served as Asia-Pacific Content Director for Mergermarket and Dealreporter.

"I am delighted to join SEC Newgate and establish the firm's presence in Japan at a time when the country's corporate, financial, and political landscape is undergoing significant transformation," commented Mai. "SEC Newgate's global platform and integrated advisory capabilities position us well to support both Japanese and multinational clients as they navigate increasingly complex strategic and reputational challenges domestically and internationally."

The Tokyo office will support Japanese and international corporates, financial institutions, and private equity firms on their domestic and international corporate affairs priorities. Services include reputation and crisis management, stakeholder engagement, financial communications, cross-border M&A, and shareholder activism defence. 

The agency shared that the expansion comes as Japan undergoes significant transformation across its corporate, financial, and geopolitical landscape, driven in part by ongoing corporate governance reforms and increasing engagement from global investors. At the same time, Japanese companies are navigating complex global environments under geopolitical uncertainty and evolving stakeholder expectations.

"Japan is the world's fourth largest economy and a vitally important market across the Asia-Pacific region and around the world," said Brian Tyson, Deputy Group CEO, Head of APAC Region, and Chairman of SEC Newgate Australia. "Trade, investment, and corporate engagement between Japan and the rest of the world are only going to increase in the coming years. Establishing this new office in Tokyo means we can provide seamless advice to Japanese companies domestically, through Asia and around the world as well as providing multinationals support in this economically critical market."

Australian public affairs advisory, insights and advocacy consultancy, 227 Partners, has launched to support clients navigate government.
The new agency will be led by Susanna Montrone and will combine political and policy strategy, government relations and community engagement services with market entry research and due diligence, transaction communications and executive counsel.

Susanna is an adviser with decades of experience in senior government and public relations consultancy roles.

227 Partners Executive Director, Susanna Montrone said: “At a time of heightened geopolitical risk, when government is increasingly interventionist in the marketplace, corporate clients are seeking hands on support that applies senior level counsel with a practical understanding of how to integrate business priorities with Australian parliaments, government agencies and key stakeholders.

“Our team, led by expert advisers in government, investment and regulatory risk, work in partnership with clients to design and execute effective strategies - anchored by proprietary intelligence - across the public and private sector interface.”

227 Partners is backed by Ideia Partners, a growing boutique corporate advisory, transaction support and investment firm with domestic and international clients in the infrastructure, property, defence, banking and financial services, transport and energy sectors.

Ideia Partners Managing Partner, Jason de Sousa said: “We are seeing clear market demand for integrated services that combine corporate advisory and transaction support with public affairs and regulatory expertise, to better capitalise on investment opportunities and manage uncertainty in domestic and international markets.

“Ideia Partners' extensive customer base across a wide and diverse range of business and industry sectors in Australia has welcomed the addition of a new strategic alliance with 227 Partners to expand our overall service offering.”

(Pictured L - R: 227 Partners senior team Andrew Huckel, Senior Advisor, Susanna Montrone, Executive Director, and Jason de Sousa, Senior Advisor)