Newport Beach Gathers PR Credentials
Fri., Sep. 11, 2026
By Kevin McCauley
The City of Newport Beach is gathering credentials from firms interested in handling its PR, marketing, creative and multimedia work on an as-needed basis.
The City of Newport Beach is gathering credentials from firms interested in handling its PR, marketing, creative and multimedia work on an as-needed basis.
Brittney Basden, who led public affairs and advocacy partnerships at the Washington Post has joined Bully Pulpit International as a managing director.
Americans spent more than $174 billion on branded merchandise in 2025, according to a newly released study from Promotional Products Association International—accounting for 51 percent of global spending in the industry.
McClatchy, which owns 29 daily papers across 14 states (including The Miami Herald, Sacramento Bee and Kansas City Star), launches a wave of layoffs that extends to at least 13 of those papers... The Toledo Blade, which was founded in 1835, is set to shut down on Dec. 31, unless owner Block Communications manages to find a buyer for it... A bill awaiting approval by California governor Gavin Newsom would give local newsrooms a boost.
The DUX Group, a Washington, D.C.-based strategic communications firm that works with leaders in highly regulated industries, names Lauren Boland as VP... Workday, an enterprise AI platform for HR, finance and IT, names Sarah Kennedy Ellis CMO, effective Oct. 5. Kennedy Ellis joins the company from Google... Octave Specialty Group, a global specialty insurance firm, brings on Philip Stefano as managing director, head of investor relations.
Türkiye Tourism Promotion and Development Agency has kicked off a search for an international firm to handle its 2027 PR efforts in the US.
BGR Group represents Noble Supply and Logistics as it files for Chapter 11 due to a change in its weapons support contract with the Defense Logistics Agency.
Michele Ziosi will rejoin Stellantis on Oct. 1 as chief PA officer responsible for Enlarged Europe and for the global coordination of the carmaker’s PA activities.
Gabriel Attal, who heads France’s Renaissance Partie, is relying on Gabriel Laurent Eshaghian, a Woodland Hills, CA-based real estate, aviation and investment executive, to boost his profile in the US ahead of France’s April 2027 elections.
IPREX names Big Picture PR in San Francisco, Precision Strategies in Washington, D.C., and Tiny Mighty Communications in Nashville as its first Americas Partner Cohort... Highwire launches AcroAnswers, a proprietary AI visibility platform... Big Red Oak and Naer Communications, a Calgary-based firm, form a partnership providing integrated communications and marketing services to clean energy companies and organizations across Canada.
Inizio, which works with clients in the health and life sciences sectors, appoints Oisín Ó Gógáin as chief people officer... The Boston Beer Company names Allison Stransky CMO, effective Oct. 12. Stransky was previuosly VP and CMO at Samsung Electronics America... Newark Regional Business Partnership and its 501(c)(3) affiliate, the Renaissance Newark Foundation, bring on Kim Lewis-Collins as VP, marketing and business development, a newly created role.
Commentary
The US has reached a dark and sad place when nobody believes a word that comes out of Donald Trump’s mouth... Communicators fear AI will rob PR of its identity... AI researchers tell PR pros to "chill" since artificial intelligence may soon wipe us all out.
C Street Advisory Group is handling the Chapter 11 filing of LIV Golf following the move by Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund to pull the financial plug on the League. (Updated)
Minnesota’s Ramsey County is looking for a firm to provide strategic communications, outreach, public participation, business relations, and community engagement services to support the delivery of the METRO Bronze Line Bus Rapid Transit Project.
Carmichael Lynch president and manager Julie Batliner is joining Padilla as president, succeeding Matt Kuchariski. Kucharski will transition to a fractional role with the agency as an executive counselor through the end of the year.
Some well-honed communications strategies typically deployed in an activist situation must be set aside when the activist is also the founder of the company. Such situations require a more tailored response: one that respects the founder’s credibility without conceding the company’s future, addresses shareholders’ financial interests while acknowledging questions of legacy, and anticipates that the fight may be as personal and persistent as it is strategic.
|
