Biography

Frank Ahrens, a Principal at BGR Public Relations, joined the firm in January 2014. He believes in forming relationships with clients to help them tell their stories to Washington and top-tier U.S. media and online audiences. He works with individuals, corporations and governments to improve their online profiles by creating print, digital and video content and deploying the latest SEO tactics. He helps clients land high-profile op-ed placement, score coveted TV news show bookings and win Page 1 of Google search – an indispensable skill when crisis hits.

Language is critical. Frank helps clients distill complicated, often technical arguments into winning, succinct and memorable messaging that resonates with the media, policymakers and influencers. Frank helps companies speak to their employees in words they understand on the devices they use.

Results matter. Frank has arranged client interviews with Fox News, CNN, The Washington Post and major wire services. Client op-eds have appeared in the New York Times, the Washington Post and the Wall Street Journal. Communications campaigns have influenced policy in ways beneficial to clients.

Frank’s years living in Washington and overseas give him the experience to help clients bridge cultural and communications gaps. He helps foreign clients successfully navigate the unique and often-vexing American media landscape. At the same time, Frank provides market-entry intelligence and communications insight to U.S. clients seeking to create or expand their footprint in South Korea and elsewhere in Asia.

Before coming to BGR, Frank was Vice President of Global Corporate Communications for Hyundai Motor at the automaker’s Seoul, South Korea, headquarters. He created the company’s first English-language corporate media site, including a blog and Twitter feed. Stories he pitched played prominently in such major media outlets as the Wall Street Journal, Advertising Age and Bloomberg. He worked closely with Hyundai Motor government affairs offices in Washington and Brussels on breaking and long-range issues including labor, energy and trade. During Frank’s tenure, Hyundai was named “Fastest Growing Brand” by Interbrand in 2011 and 2012.

Frank is the author of “Seoul Man: A Memoir of Cars, Culture, Crisis, and Unexpected Hilarity Inside a Korean Corporate Titan,” the story of his three years as the only American at Hyundai Motor headquarters. It was named a Best Book of 2016 by the New York Post.

Prior to Hyundai, Frank worked for 18 years as an editor and reporter at the Washington Post. He covered the global financial crisis of 2008-2010 as well as the media and entertainment industries. Frank appeared frequently as a media industry expert on CNBC, MSNBC, PBS and other networks.

Frank still writes in his free time. His articles have appeared in Foreign Policy, Forbes, Automotive News, PR News and The Diplomat.

He attended West Virginia University where he received a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering. He lives in the Washington, D.C., area with his wife and daughters.