Matt Neale, CEO of Golin, on the PRmoment Podcast

Welcome to the PRmoment Podcast.

On the show today, we've got Matt Neale, Golin's global CEO. I first met Matt just after we launched PRmoment in around 2008 when he was co-CEO of Golin in London.

Since then, Matt's moved to New York, been promoted goodness how many times and now runs Golin globally. It's great to see a Brit in a global role at a big global agency.

Matt joined Golin in 2005 from its then sister agency Weber Shandwick - he was appointed joint MD of the London office alongside Jon Hughes.

It worked out, and Golin London started to fly. Matt was promoted to President International in 2011 and was appointed global CEO in 2019. It’s been widely reported that Golin had revenues of approximately $300 m in 2022. Golin works predominantly in the consumer and healthcare sectors.

Thanks so much to the PRmoment Podcast sponsors the PRCA.

Here is a summary of what Matt and PRmoment founder Ben Smith discussed:

2 mins Matt predicts whether Trump is going to win.

6 mins Matt reflects on the news that BCW and Hill & Knowlton are going to merge to form Burson.

11 mins Matt talks about the Group CEO role and how it's different from the CEO role.

16 mins Matt reveals how the move to America came about.

19.30 mins Will Matt be the last Brit to make it to hold one of America’s big PR jobs?

20 mins What does America think of the UK now?

“8 times out of 10 - when the UK makes it onto mainstream news - it’s about the Royal Family.”

25 mins How much bigger are PR budgets in the US than in the UK?

“A good rule of thumb is that the US PR budget is 10x the UK budget.”

27 mins Matt explains the reason behind the higher salaries in the US.

29 mins Matt gives his advice to anyone who's at the start of their PR agency CEO journey.

35 mins Matt talks about how three people have mentored him: Fred Cook, David Brain and Andy Polansky.

40 mins How has the PR agency model changed in recent years?

43 mins Does Matt reckon he’ll ever live in the UK again?