Eileen Rochford
President
Eileen is the founder of The Harbinger Group, a unique PR firm that delivers premium services through a hand-picked network of senior communicators and former journalists. She created the firm to provide clients with a model that the industry lacked: experienced thinking on every project; fast, personal service; and true flexibility—at a fair price. At The Harbinger Group, Eileen is responsible for client program development, media relations strategy and implementation and overall client satisfaction.
Eileen has 16 years of corporate communication experience inside of large, global agencies, with specialties in business to business communications, corporate brand strategy development, media relations, public affairs and issues management. She has worked with companies in a variety of industries, including professional services (Andersen), insurance (Destiny Health, Million Dollar Roundtable), fiberglass (Owens Corning), trucking (International Truck and Engine), paint and chemicals (Glidden), retail (Target Corporation) and packaged foods (Quaker, Gerber).
Eileen's hallmark is the creation and implementation of a revolutionary media relations method based on supply-chain principles that systematically secures coverage in top-tier media. She introduced the process at Ketchum Public Relations in Chicago, which led to significant client growth, satisfaction and widespread adoption of the best practice throughout the global agency. Originally hired to play a prominent role in the creation of Ketchum's Corporate Practice in 1997, Eileen built the Chicago department into a multi-million dollar practice in her six years at the agency.
While at Ketchum, Eileen led a team of twelve in execution of global public relations strategy for Andersen, resulting in a growth of target media coverage by 400 percent, and exceeding the program goal by 200 percent for three consecutive years. She coordinated all media interviews for Andersen executives on-site at the 1999 and 2000 World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, and secured an average of ten meetings each year with publications such as Business Week, Fortune, Wall Street Journal and the Associated Press.
Prior to joining Ketchum, Eileen worked for Golin/Harris Communications in Chicago in both the brand communications and corporate practices, specializing in public affairs and issues management. Before that, she was with the Associated Press as election coordinator for the state of Wisconsin during the 1992 presidential election. She has also worked in the U.S. House of Representatives as assistant to the Press Secretary for Rep. Mary Rose Oakar (D-OH).
Eileen's programs on behalf of her clients have won her three Golden Trumpet Awards from the Publicity Club of Chicago, the SABRE Award Certificate of Excellence, and the IABC Chicago Spectra Award of Merit for Media Relations.
