New team on board for South Island's most experienced tourism and business PR company

A new team is on board at Queenstown-based public relations company Southern PR, bringing a depth of across-the-board experience to a range of businesses throughout New Zealand.

Company Director Fiona Woodham, who has been at the helm of Southern PR for 19 years, said she was delighted to have such a strong PR and marketing team on board for 2013 and beyond.

“They bring with them a wealth of experience across the media spectrum and know the local tourism and business scene well,” she said.

Mrs Woodham said Southern PR was renowned for building and nurturing strong client relationships, as demonstrated by a core clientele that had remained with the company throughout its existence.

“We are looking forward to continuing to get the good word out there for our clients, both new and established.”

Mrs Woodham, who arrived in New Zealand two decades ago, leads the team with a strong journalism background including many years as a Fleet Street national newspaper journalist and feature writer.
New Account Manager Naomi Lindsay started at Southern PR last month, bringing experience in the media industry gained over the past 15 years in London and Queenstown.

With a degree in marketing communications and diploma in journalism, she started her career working with global brands Unilever, Calvin Klein and Johnson & Johnson before becoming a writer and section editor for two business-to-business magazines in London.

She worked with a number of Queenstown companies on their national communication, PR and marketing strategies before joining Southern PR. She has vast international experience in media planning and buying, marketing communications, journalism, marketing strategy, social media planning and implementation, and writing website copy for search engine optimization.

Account manager Frederique Gulcher-Ingram, who also joined Southern PR last month, has more than 10 years’ media experience in public relations, journalism and as a freelancer.

She cut her PR ‘teeth’ managing high profile IT brands in Johannesburg and London, before coming to New Zealand nine years ago and moving up the editorial ranks from reporter to editor, becoming a specialist in travel trade and architecture.

In Queenstown for three years, she has just gained her Bachelor of Arts (with distinction) in addition to two previous diplomas, one in media studies and the other in marketing account management.

Last but not least, office manager Raquelle Bergsma, who joined Southern PR late last year, has worked in marketing and PR-related positions at multinational companies in a range of different industries in the Netherlands, Australia and New Zealand.

Raquelle’s experience in the tourism and promotion industry goes back to 2005, and over the years she has developed extensive knowledge of office support systems, website development, marketing, PR and communications.