Matrix Award Honorees Pledge to Keep The Door From Closing
Wed, May 27, 2026
By Lara Murray-Sterzel
Publicis Groupe Chief Strategy Officer Carla Serrano called on the 475 gathered for the 59th Annual Matrix Awards May 19th at NYC's Ziegfeld Ballroom to not let the night "be another awards ceremony" and make it "a moment where we refuse to be edited out, not now, not for AI, not ever."

ICR hires Faiz Khan as a managing partner in ICR Capital’s convertible and equity derivatives advisory team. Khan comes to ICR from Barclays Investment Bank... Lumen Technologies promotes Melissa Mann to chief public policy officer and Jessica Taylor to SVP and chief communications officer... Zendesk, which develops autonomous service workforces consisting of artificial intelligence agents, automation and human expertise, names Tifenn Dano Kwan as CMO.
Today’s digital media landscape has reshaped influence and information discovery, which requires PR programs to adapt by changing their approach to perception and brand visibility.
While AI may have made the basics of generating content easier and more efficient, it has also made it more difficult for a brand to stand out from an ever-growing crowd of voices and platforms, according to a report from Public Relations Global Network and Greenough Communications.
Your buyers are asking AI about you. And what AI says about your brand depends on what you’ve earned.
The audacious autocrat who occupies the White House has achieved what was thought to be impossible. He has united the Hatfields and McCoys of the editorial world in opposition to his $1.776B slush fund... Sign of these sorry times: George Soros' Open Society Foundations plans to spend $300M to promote democracy and economic security in the US... PR play of the week goes to Steven Rosenbaum, author of “The Future of Truth."
Communicators today face a challenge of ensuring that brands are discoverable in the zero-click digital ecosystem where consumers now find information.
Edelman launches Edelman Intelligence, bringing together the firm’s proprietary AI solutions, data science, research, analytics and predictive intelligence capabilities into a unified organization... Havas Paris is acquiring Format, an agency specializing in next‑generation corporate influence communications... Trevelino/Keller launches Exec-AI, a solution aimed at demonstrating the power of executive visibility across generative AI platforms as well as measuring an executive's contributing visibility lift on the companies they lead.
Clario Group brings on Allison Worldwide co-founders Scott Allison and Andy Hardie-Brown as non-executive chairs... Montieth & Company promotes Perry Goldman to global managing director... Seed Health, a microbiome science company, names Anisha Raghavan as its first chief marketing officer.
Even the most effective communications team couldn't help Shein, which is renowned for its lousy human rights record, recoup its $100M outlay to acquire the beloved Everlane ethical fashion champion... College graduates are tired of baby boomers, such as former Google CEO Eric Schmidt, talking up the wonders of AI. They are the ones facing bleak job prospects.
Moburst, which develops digital marketing and AI-powered solutions for its clients, receives an $11.8M investment from private investment firm Chrysalis Holdings, LLC... BoardroomPR launches its Answer Engine Optimization service which is designed to help businesses strengthen visibility and authority... Matter ups its focus on strategic video production services.
The Public Relations Society of America awards the 2026 Best of Silver Anvils Award to the American Academy of Pediatrics for its Vaccine Confidence campaign... Laughlin Constable Public Relations was recognized as a Silver Anvil Award Finalist by PRSA for its campaign for the grand opening of PENN Entertainment and Hollywood Casino’s $185 million entertainment destination in Joliet, IL... BridgeView Marketing is cited by the Hermes Creative Awards and the Communicator Awards.
Publicis Groupe has acquired LiveRamp, the San Francisco-based data collaboration platform, for $2.2B.
The instinct behind every great pitch is the same needed to win the AI answer box.
Sam Singer, the Bay Area’s go-to crisis PR guy, today celebrated his client OpenAI’s “tremendous victory” over Elon Musk.
The traditional press had already lost much of its status as a gatekeeper of information before AI came on the scene—and now its position is even more tenuous. In this brave new world, brands and communicators increasingly need to tell their own stories.
If the work that once built foundational skills—creating content—is automated, where does the next generation of communicators develop judgment about what effective content looks like?
Jim O’Leary, Weber Shandwick global president and North America CEO, has joined Penta Group, the DC corporate advisory, as CEO.


















