Vladimír Bystrov | Managing Partner, Bison & Rose (Czech Republic)

Vladimír is the Managing Partner and co-owner of Bison & Rose, the leading brand of strategic communications consultancy in the Czech Republic. He was originally educated in International Trade and Commercial Law, and gained invaluable experience in the media as an editor for leading Czech dailies (Svobodné slovo, Noviny or Lidové noviny), weeklies and other media outlets (Týden, Strategie, Západ, BBC Czech). He spent several years promoting top musical productions in Prague, including Jesus Christ Superstar, Rusalka and Foam of the Day. He subsequently made the move into the corporate world, taking up the role of Advertising Director at Komerční banka and later acting as the bank’s representative at the annual meetings of the IMF and the World Bank in Prague. He joined Bison & Rose in 2003 as Director of Strategic Planning and became a partner in 2010. He is a specialist in corporate communications, CSR projects, financial PR, litigation PR and crisis communications. Vladimír has worked in the bodies of the Czech national industry association (APRA) for the last two decades, holding the roles of board member, chairman and Czech representative on the ICCO board. Since 2015, Vladimír has chaired an Ethics and Arbitration Board of APRA. He was named Person of the PR Industry by the Czech PR Association ASCOPA in 2019 and received an Award for Contribution to the Industry from APRA at the Czech Public Relations Awards 2022.