employer cover photo
employer logo
employer logo

Brunswick Group

Is this your company?

Need to respect local market more - PR - Mid to Senior Level Brunswick Group Employee Review

4.0
14 Nov 2015
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

Very reputable in the industry. Positioned as rather high-end so we can charge clients high - thus pay is quite competitive. Unlike most other PR companies, we value research-driven PR so we do have our own research department. But as a one-firm firm, our research department is fully integrated. Long annual holidays - compared to most other companies in the Asian market.

Cons

Pros Very reputable in the industry. Positioned as rather high-end so we can charge clients high - thus pay is quite competitive. Unlike most other PR companies, we value research-driven PR so we do have our own research department. But as a one-firm firm, our research department is fully integrated. Long annual holidays - compared to most other companies in the Asian market. Cons 1) While I work in the PR department, I do have to work closely with research for reasons mentioned above. Due to Brunswick's decisions, I find my experience working with this department less than positive. Like many other MNCs in Asia, Brunswick also tried to send out executives from HQ. Some of the relocations were well justified - e.g., those who are very senior/experienced and/or have worked in Brunswick for some time as they will be able to ensure a unified culture between different offices and monitor the quality of local offices. But some relocations were questionable - e.g., relocation of a young researcher with just 4 years of experience who was newly recruited to Brunswick and put him in HK. I do not see his value compared to hiring local professionals? He was too inexperienced to bring with him the strategic experience possessed by senior executives. He was also new to Brunswick so he could not cultivate a Brunswick culture in the local offices because he was learning it too. His lack of experience also showed in his performance - often disorganised and overwhelmed. 2) Brunswick needs to understand that in Asia, we do not take 3-6 months to hire as we are all competing for the same talent. As evident from other reviewers' experience, long hiring process is a norm in Brunswick across different offices. If you do not speed up, you will lose talents and this also happens in my department. Don't export a British/ American way to Asia - it will NOT work. Period. 3) Not surprisingly the staffing agencies sometimes used are based outside of Asia (because they are native English speakers and easy to work with). The problem with this is they do not have the connections in Asia and only scout talents from Linkedin - I can do that myself too if this is how you look for talents instead of through personal network! Sometimes staffing agencies don't even try to approach current/past staff of our very direct competitors who are based locally. This alone tells you a lot how much they really know about the market!

Explore other reviews about Brunswick Group

5.0
29 Oct 2025
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

good smart people, interesting work

Cons

I don't have any cons to report

1.0
5 June 2026
Anonymous employee
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

Allure of the brand name however dwindling in stature due to the toxic environment

Cons

Where to start...the most toxic environment due to an old school boys club culture that rewards unethical behavior rather than addressing serious issues at the top. Directors with long tenures are treated poorly, regularly talked down to in public settings and retaliated against if they report the behavior. Most Directors don't want to be promoted to Partners due to the this behavior and things like getting in trouble for attending funerals and getting their hand slapped for reaching out to clients without being given "permission" in advance by a partner happen daily. Phrases like "there is no such thing as psychological safety" and "you have to kiss the ring" are common experiences. The partner who leads the Chicago office in particular has created a toxic bro culture and if you don't adhere to it he will retaliate against you. Meanwhile, Partners have created a culture where it is normal and often encouraged for Associates to go around Directors and undermine them on a regular basis due to the competitive environment that's been established. You are expected to be on 24/7 and if you dare to do something as simple as sleep and don't respond to a Partner at 2 a.m. (regarding nothing urgent), you will be reprimanded. This may have been acceptable in the 90s but it isn't the way the world works anymore and firms like this that refuse to change will eventually be left with subpar talent and dwindling client rosters.

2
See reviews by: Helpful|Rating|Date|All