Bio
During Aaron’s 19-year public relations career, his expertise and performance have resulted in a rapid ascent through the industry, ultimately culminating in his founding of Kwittken & Company (KCO). Since he began his career as a 19-year-old intern at Manning Selvage & Lee, Aaron has always striven for excellence in public relations and has sought to surround himself with the best and brightest colleagues in the business.
A vice president at Fleishman Hillard by 25, an executive vice president of Ketchum managing 250 people by 29, a president handpicked to resurrect Internet PR agency Euro RSCG Middleberg by 31, Aaron has enjoyed spectacular success and was recognized by PR Week in 2007 as one of the nation’s top 40 public relations professionals under the age of 40. His services have been requested by numerous iconic brands and blue-chip companies including, but not limited to, IBM, MCI, Yahoo!, Mercedes-Benz USA, British Airways, Absolut Spirits, Cantor-Fitzgerald, Heineken USA, America Online, Schering Plough, D&B, Reuters, S&P, Visa International, Goldman Sachs, Bell South, Consumer’s Union, KPMG and Deloitte & Touche.
Founded by Aaron in 2005, three-years-young boutique agency KCO already boasts annual revenue approaching $4 million and an impressive client roster, which spans the healthcare, fashion, consumer-products, technology, education, ecommerce, media, B2B and licensing industries. Select KCO clients include Stryker, Towers Perrin, U.S. News Media Group, Hoover’s, Cengage, The Sharper Image, First Advantage and Paul Stuart. The company was also named the best new agency of the year by The Holmes Report in 2006 and won honorable mention as best small agency of the year at the 2007 PR Week awards.
As a CEO who enjoys client interaction, Aaron makes a point to work very closely with a majority of KCO’s clients, providing strategic counsel and day-to-day management oversight. His core areas of expertise include brand management, crisis communications, issues management, trade and national media relations, multicultural communications, corporate social responsibility programming, blogging, online communications and integrated marketing communications. Aaron also runs the agency’s spokesperson training program, preparing some of the most recognized names in business for discussions with journalists, analysts and other audiences in order to sell products or services, clarify issues or advocate positions.
Aaron believes that it is important to give back to the public relations profession as well as the community. Formerly, Aaron worked as an adjunct professor of marketing and communications at New York University, educating a new generation of communications professionals. He also contributes to his industry through his active membership in the Public Relations Society of America and his role on the Council of PR Firms Agency Management Committee. In addition, he participates as a board member of the Westchester Jewish Community Services (WJCS).
His remarkable dedication to his career has not, however, held Aaron back from his life outside the office. He coaches his son’s little league team in Armonk, N.Y., where he lives with his wife and two children. Despite working long hours and constantly attending to clients’ needs, Aaron is also not comfortable living the sedentary life and challenges himself by running triathlons and participating in yoga.
Aaron earned a bachelor’s degree in marketing and speech communication at The George Washington University.