Burson Marsteller Sport Promises Strengthened Global Consulting

(ATR) Lars Haue-Pedersen says the full integration of TSE Consulting into the Burson Marsteller family can help further develop Lausanne as the "Silicon Valley of Sport".

"Our vision is to help clients define and achieve their objectives," the Burson Marsteller Sport managing director tells Around the Rings at the former TSE Consulting office in the Olympic capital overlooking Lake Geneva. "Our mission is to bring closer the sports world and the public sector."

After initially being acquired by Burson Marsteller in February 2016, TSE Consulting was officially transformed into Burson Marsteller Sport on Jan. 17, opting to keep the Lausanne office as the headquarters for the new agency. Pedersen says it was important to keep the offices in Lausanne.

"You feel like you are part of the international sports world, we feel very much part of the wider Olympic family," he says.

"We are very integrated and we have been working with the city of Lausanne and the region, Canton Vaud, for many years, helping them further develop the Olympic capital of Lausanne into what we call the 'Silicon Valley of Sport'."

Pedersen says the combination of TSE’s sports expertise and Burson Marsteller’s global communications will greatly benefit both the city of Lausanne and sports organizations across the globe.

"We can do things we did before, but now we can do them better and we can do more," he tells ATR. "We are a sports specialized consultancy, but we can include and incorporate 40 years of communication experiences from Burson Marsteller, crisis management, branding, etc., and we can have this global reach to the network which we – and obviously our clients – would benefit from."

The physical changes to Burson Marsteller Sport are already visible at the Lausanne headquarters, with signage inside the office reflecting the new name. However, Pedersen says it may take a few months before the TSE Consulting brand is taken off the Lausanne Gare-facing front of the office building.

"You will still see in the offices here a few leftovers, some TSE small logos, and that’s sort of to let our souls travel slowly into the new setting," he jests.

"We are branding Burson Marsteller Sport fully, but of course people when they come to the Olympic capital they step out of the train station and they look up and see TSE Consulting, they should still see that for some time but then they come in and they see Burson Marsteller Sport."

Having been with TSE Consulting since its origins 15 years ago, Pedersen says he’s proud of the expansion the company has made and is "not at all sad" to see the name disappear.

"I feel very good, and a little proud, that we have taken a little company that started in the corner of the other building over there with one partner in London, myself and a part time secretary, and have now developed that over the past 15 years and been invited to join a huge, successful and global company like Burson Marsteller and have been invited to join their brand.

"TSE has a place in our heart – which it should – but everything from now on will be a positive development for us."

While declining to be specific, Pedersen says that Burson Marsteller Sport will make its first splash in the international sports market in the coming weeks with "exciting things" in the works. Stay tuned he says.

Reported and written by Kevin Nutley in Lausanne.

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