BlackBerry, the Canada-based mobile device maker trying to make a comeback, has consolidated global PR duties with Text100 and APCO Worldwide, following a review for the bulk of the company's communications work.
The multimillion-dollar account has been deemed "significant" by both of the winning firms.
Next Fifteen Communications Group, the holding company parent of Text100, took the unusual step on May 1 of issuing an investor note confirming the win. Next Fifteen said contractual terms are still being finalized and vowed to update investors in its next report in September.
APCO CEO Margery Kraus said it's an "exciting time" for Blackberry, adding that her firm has met Blackberry representatives from around the globe over the past few months.
Text100 CEO Aedhmar Hynes called the win a "vote of confidence in the combined strengths of our teams."
APCO will focus on corporate assignments while Text100 handles tech PR.
Omnicom's Brodeur handled U.S. PR for the past decade, including the company's re-branding from Research in Motion earlier this year, when it took the name of its handheld devices as it moved into the smartphone space with the Z10.
Blackberry CEO Thorstein Heins raised eyebrows this week when he told the Milken Institute conference in Los Angeles that, "In five years, I don't think there'll be a reason to have a tablet anymore." He dismissed tablets as "not a good business model," following his companies $500M flop, PlayBook, in that space.
Laura Anderson, who rose to VP/GM of global communications and events in a nearly 20 year stint at Intel, will take on the Americas technology chair at Burson following the completion of the BCW and H+K merger on July 1.
WE Communications has partnered with ROKK Solutions to form the WE ROKK AI service.
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