About Us
Emerald Public Relations is the Hungarian affiliate of WPP’s Burson Cohn & Wolfe. The agency was founded by Zsofia Lakatos, former President and Member Emeritus of the Hungarian PR Association. Zsofia has over 20 years’ experience in Public Relations, she served as Managing Director of Hill+Knowlton Strategies in Hungary, also representing Ogilvy Public Relations.
The agency introduced a new structure in Hungary: young professionals with a fresh perspective on communication forming the core team as employees supported by a league of gurus from different PR backgrounds working as sub-contractors. The founder of the agency puts much emphasis on mentoring young people, offering Emerald PR as a first workplace for PR-graduates. The young professionals are backed by PR-gurus, who formerly served as PR and PA Directors of multinational companies.
Emerald PR has strategic partnerships with various ATL and BTL agencies to ensure that clients are offered a full spectrum of communication and we have very good working relationship with many agencies across Central and Eastern Europe.
Our Portfolio
The agency’s client list includes multinational brands like GE, MARS, Bunge, Forevermark, Tungsram-Schreder, Klepierre, Roland Berger, ABBYY, Liferay, Qualysoft, White Star Real Estate and UBM and also serves many Hungarian companies such as Columbus Klíma, Balla Ingatlan or H1 Systems. Besides the corporate clients, the agency supports various NGOs with pro-bono work. The list of civil organisations the agency supported in the past few years includes United Way, Mediaunio, Hungarian Reformed Church Aid, The Club of Budapest, Békaperspektíva, Nemluxustáska and Foundation for the Development of the Heim Pál Children’s Hospital, Oktondi and Karanténsuli. We believe it is our duty to help those who are in need to be heard.
Emerald PR has 3 spin-off companies that were founded for non-classical Public Relations services. Válság112 support companies with crisis management, Business Sustainability Program provides sustainability consultancy and Smaragd Akademia supports companies with finding the best training companies in the market.
Emerald PR
Zsofia Lakatos
Managing Director
As Managing Director, Zsofia is responsible for strategic planning, excellent professional service and daily management of the agency. She serves as Senior Consultant on special projects. She is Member Emeritus and former President of the Hungarian Public Relations Association and member of the WCFA Global Advisory Board.
Zsofia has a degree in Public Relations from Budapest Business School and an MBA in Management from the Budapest University of Technology and Economics- She started her career as a reporter for RTL News. She worked as Director of Capital Communications, the leading financial communications agency in for 8 years. She served as Managing Director of Hill+Knowlton Strategies for over 7 years. She is a top crisis management and sustainability expert in Hungary, a frequent lecturer on the topic and owner of Valsag112 and BSP. She is fluent in English and Spanish.
Zsofia is an internationally acknowledged CSR-expert. Her book „Corporate Social Performance in Emerging Markets” was published in 2013 in London. The same year she was named the first „Professional Ambassador of Sustainability in Hungary.” In 2017 she was named Vice-President of Budapest Klub Global Executive Council. In 2021 she became Board Member of Clean Air Action Group.
Our references
"Emerald PR team has been very attentive to our needs and has provided great support in reaching our communicational goals in Hungary. The team is very professional and knows the local media market very well. Zsofi and her colleagues always keep a big picture in their mind and share out of the box ideas and solutions both for online and offline dimensions. We have enjoyed working with Emerald PR and are looking forward to having more joint projects!"
- Elina Mukhametdinova, Head of PR
ABBYY
"In the Hungarian launch campaign of Forevermark, Emerald PR provided us with the highly professional support we needed, combined with creative ideas and a „we have everything under control” attitude. Knowing that we have an agency we can fully rely on, made the launch much more pleasant. And to top it off, they managed the launch campaign in third of the normally necessary time, jumping in and saving the day with great teamwork. Zsofia and her team are seasoned professionals with great expertise and fresh ideas. I highly recommend Emerald PR."
- Vivien Schmid, Marketing Director
Forevermark Hungary
"I have worked with Zsofia and her team for years as a client. She holds the highest professional and ethical standards combined with an attitude set for maximum success. Her strategic advice and superb problem-solving skills have supported our successful operation in Hungary."
- Zsolt Kertai, COO
Klépierre
"In less than a year Emerald has helped us build up our brand with the media representatives that are most important and relevant for us. From strategy building, to content calendar creation, event organisations, we know that we can rely on them and that they will deliver what is promised."
- Dániel Kiss, Senior Marketing Specialist
EMEA, Liferay Hungary Kft
"Emerald has been participating in developing our brand-new luxury residential villa park, Eötvös12 for a year, since the start of the planning phase. It has been a fruitful cooperation right from the beginning as Emerald have had the clear understanding and unique view of the project like no other agencies before. Our very first meeting was a relief when we realized we found the company that can distil the truth from the information mess and can find the right mix to achieve the goals; but more to that Emerald has the eye to see the far future and keep the balance between the development parties. Their participation in our issue management, PR and marketing activities has become vital for us, their contribution to the development team is always a great joy and experience."
- János Gárdai, Managing Director
White Star Real Estate