PadillaCRT has rebranded as Padilla in what CEO Lynn Casey refers to as “a natural progression for our company since so many of our employees, clients and industry partners already refer to us as Padilla.”
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“We took advantage of the change to totally revamp our website, emphasizing the breadth of our expertise as well as our proven ability to help clients build and grow as well as protect their brands,” Casey said.
Padilla was founded in Minneapolis, Minnesota in 1961 as Padilla Speer Beardsley. In 2013, after the acquisition of Richmond, Virginia-based CRT/tanaka, formed when Carter Ryley Thomas took over New York’s Patrice Tanaka & Co. in 2005, it became PadillaCRT.
“Removing CRT from our name doesn’t change who we are. We continue to maintain our employee-ownership culture, a dedication to shared values and a commitment to community service,” said Mark Raper, Padilla chief counsel officer.
Raper led the group of employees who founded CRT and was its CEO until it was acquired by PSB. He served as president of PadillaCRT until Matt Kucharski was promoted to president in February.
The agency now has 240 employee-owners in Minneapolis, Minnesota; New York, New York; Chicago, Illinois; Richmond, Virginia; Washington, D.C., San Francisco, California; and Los Angeles, California.
In June 2016, Padilla acquired food and nutrition communications and consulting shop FoodMinds LLC, establishing it as one of the largest independent food and beverage agencies in the country.
Other divisions are brand consultancy Joe Smith and research firm SMS Research Advisors.
Clients include 3M, Barnes & Noble Education, BASF, Bayer, Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Minnesota, GE, Hass Avocado Board, Land O’Lakes, Mayo Clinic, Prosciutto di Parma, Rockwell Automation, U.S. Highbush Blueberry Council, the Virginia Lottery, Welch’s and Xcel Energy.
Padilla is one of the largest independently-owned PR and communications firms in the US as ranked by O’Dwyer’s.
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