The founder and former vice president of SEC Newgate CEE has taken on the role of CEO. She succeeds Sebastian Hejnowski in this role, who has been promoted to SEC Newgate Group’s global structures.
Zofia Bugajna-Kasdepke has been developing the SEC Newgate CEE agency since 2021. The company was among the fastest-growing PR agencies in Poland (53% year-on-year growth – PRESS magazine’s PR Check 2022 ranking). In 2023, the company merged with the former Martis Consulting, creating a team of nearly 50 people. Today, it is one of the largest agencies in the CEE region and executes projects for, among others, TVN Warner Bros. Discovery, Nestle, Skanska Residential Development, Mennica Polska, Strabag, Metinvest, LeasePlan, Nielsen, PFR TFI, Global Empowerment Mission (GEM).
The existing chairman, Sebastian Hejnowski, remains on the board of SEC Newgate CEE. He will continue to advise the agency’s key clients, combining consultancy work on selected projects with his new responsibilities as head of the East EMEA region. His responsibilities in the region include acquisitions. SEC Newgate recently acquired V+O Agency, which employs 180 people in offices in Greece, Albania, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Macedonia, Romania and Serbia.
Today, SEC Newgate Group is ranked as the twenty-first largest communications group in the world (PRovoke 2023 Top 250 rankings), moving up nine positions in just one year. In November 2023, SEC Newgate was named the best global agency for corporate communications, and PA: PRovoke Media awarded SEC Newgate Group the title of ‘Global Public Affairs/Corporate Communications Agency of the Year’. In awarding this prestigious accolade, campaigns, and projects from Poland were also considered.
About Zofia Bugajna-Kasdepke:
The new CEO of SEC Newgate CEE is a strategist and manager with more than 20 years of experience in communications and marketing. She worked at Publicis Groupe for 10 years and her professional experience also includes working for global network agencies Edelman and Havas. She has won many prestigious awards and accolades and has been a juror at international creative and business festivals, from the Arab Emirates to France to virtually all major competitions in Central and Eastern European countries. Since 2017, she has been a member of the Expert Council of the THINKTANK Centre for Dialogue and Analysis. She is a strategic advisor to the Business Women Leaders Foundation. She teaches original classes at the University of Warsaw and has also lectured at SWPS University and Lazarski University. Programme director of the PR Masterclasses of the World Communication Forum in Davos. She was included in Forbes Women magazine’s “Women Worth Watching” in 2022.
