Hill+Knowlton Strategies

Hill+Knowlton Strategies is a global public relations company, headquartered in New York City, United States, with 90 offices in 52 countries. The company was founded in Cleveland, Ohio, in 1927 by John W. Hill and has been led since 2011 by Chairman & CEO, Jack Martin. It is owned by the WPP Group.

History

Early history

The company that became Hill+Knowlton Strategies was founded in 1927 by newspaper reporter and businessman John Hill in Cleveland, Ohio. Hill's first two clients were Cleveland-based Union Trust Company, and the Otis Steel Company. When Union Trust Company was shutdown by the Great Depression in 1933, Hill hired its former director of advertising and publicity Don Knowlton, and they together established Hill & Knowlton of Cleveland. Hill moved to New York City in 1934 to open a new Hill & Knowlton office. Knowlton remained in Cleveland and operated the original location until his retirement in 1964. Hill served as chairman and chief executive until 1962, but remained on the firm's policy committee, and continued to go into the office until shortly before his death in 1977.