Kazumi Mechling

Ideas that matter

Kazumi, “Kaz,” has been bridging PR and marketing across countries for more than two decades. In that time, she has learned that ideas that matter in Japan can be quite different from those in New York or Beijing or Sweden. It means understanding the nuances of a market while maintaining necessary diplomacy across multiple interests. As President of Cohn & Wolfe Los Angeles, Kazumi is responsible for ensuring its portfolio of amazing clients such as Mattel, Ubisoft, RadioShack or Sony all receive its brightest work and consistently impactful results.

Bold brand work

Ever gift-wrapped – and then unwrapped – an entire downtown Tokyo building? Kaz has—for The Gap's flagship store in Japan. Orchestrated a press conference for the King of Sweden? Kaz has—on behalf of Ericsson Mobile and NTT Docomo. Flipped a celebrity scandal into a positive brand story? Kaz has—for T-Mobile. Indeed, Kaz builds championship teams and brings insights from working with some of the world's biggest consumer brands and their executives developing positioning and messaging that will resonate with customers and stakeholders.

Creative highlight

At a time, when most Japan-based agencies were still generalists, Kazumi founded MediaWorks, a Tokyo-based consumer technology PR boutique. Her entrepreneurial drive grew it into a leading agency in less than three years with a client roster that included IBM, National Semi, Fiat, The Gap and Disney. Her firm was subsequently acquired by Edelman Worldwide. Later, she led the establishment of Waggener Edstrom’s Consumer Practice with a specialization in mobile wireless, digital entertainment and retail with clients such as T-Mobile, Canon and Amazon. Today, Kaz’ entrepreneurial spirit is right at home at C&W.