Kortrijk - June 7, 2009. As from june 1, Philippe Borremans will take on the role of Chief Social Media Officer at the Van Marcke Group. He will be responsible for all online collaboration and the use of social media within the companies of the group.
"Online communications and social media like blogs, wikis, microblogging and social networking are becoming such crucial ingredients of internal collaboration and external relations that we decided to make them a fundamental part of our outreach strategy towards clients, business partners and employees alike." said Caroline Van Marcke, Director of the Van Marcke Group.
The Chief Social Media Officer will report to Caroline Van Marcke and will hold a cross company - cross business unit responsibility for all internal and external online communications and collaboration.
Philippe Borremans, a public relations professional with more than 14 years experience, long time blogger and social media evangelist started his career at Porter Novelli International, a public relations agency, before joining IBM in 1999.
While at IBM he was PR Manager for Belgium & Luxembourg and became involved with social media on a European level when the company issued its first "blogging guidelines" in 2005.
He took a 12 month sabbatical in 2008 during which he set up, together with Leads United, a social media agency called Blackline. Beginning this year he briefly returned to IBM as a Social Media specialist.
"Social Media is much more than the latest online tools. It is a set of fundamental principles which change the traditional relationship between a company and its constituents. I am very honored to take on this unique role within such a forward looking organization like Van Marcke. The fact that a Belgian family group takes such fundamental steps to incorporate social media in all its operations and communications is unique." said Philippe Borremans.
"By using these online tools we wish to interact in a transparent and interactive way with our public and create added value at the same time. We are convinced that by placing our business partners and clients at the core of our business we will be able to move forward... Social media can definitely make a difference in this approach" added Caroline Van Marcke, Director of the Van Marcke Group.