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WE Communications has made a five-year commitment to The LAGRANT Foundation, which will include $330,000 to fund nationwide programming and scholarships for ethnic minority students, as well as twenty internships. WE will deliver more than half a million dollars of support to TLF over the course of the partnership. WE’s five-year partnership will also include sponsoring three annual Career Development & Professional Workshops at WE’s offices in New York, San Francisco and Seattle. The workshops will focus on exposing ethnic minority candidates to careers in the communications industry. The new commitment extends WE’s previous engagement with TLF scholarship recipients. WE will now select four scholarship recipients each year to participate in the WE Internship Program, which allows college graduates to gain client-facing experience by working on technology sector account teams that are responsible for developing public relations and marketing communications plans.
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EVINS Communications client Maker’s Mark has been tapped by YouTube to participate in what it says is the first ever 180-degree ad to be featured on the platform. YouTube’s 180-degree Magic Window technology lets brands create an immersive video experience for mobile and desktop in which viewers navigate through the video by moving their phones/mouse for a full 180-degree view. The Maker’s Mark video takes viewers through a holiday party featuring the music of YouTube personality Kurt Hugo Schneider and singer Will Champlin (formerly of “The Voice”). The release of the video follows the launch of the bourbon’s new national creative spot featuring the voice of Scarlett Johansson and a new website offering direct-to-consumer purchasing.
 Amanda Lucey |
Atlanta-based M3 Effect has announced its full merger and acquisition of The Partnership, an integrated marketing agency also based in Atlanta. The combined entity will operate as The Partnership. The two agencies announced a joint venture in March and the full acquisition was completed in November. M3 Effect founder Amanda Lucey will remain in her role as CEO and David Arnold, founder of The Partnership, will continue to play an integral role in the company. Founded in 1979, The Partnership is the oldest privately held agency in Atlanta. Lucey founded M3Effect in 2012.
DJE Holdings, parent of Edelman and Zeno, launches RUTH as an independent shop named after Ruth Edelman, mental health advocate, wife and longtime business partner of Dan Edelman.
New York City PR firms make up the largest slice of O'Dwyer's 147 firm overall ranking with 33 of 40 in the New York/New Jersey area either calling Manhattan their home or having a presence there.
Subject Matter+Kivvit, which joined forces in May, has rebranded as Avoq, an integrated shop with more than 200 professionals in Washington, New York, Asbury Park (NJ), Miami and Chicago.
While PR pros stationed at in-house comms. teams and those working for agencies share many of the same objectives, they also have markedly different top priorities, according to a recent report.
Edelman is cutting 240 employees or about four percent of its workforce to cope with the cooling down of the PR sector, according to a memo from CEO Richard Edelman.
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