 Rikki Jones |
GCI Health has expanded into the Asia-Pacific region with the opening of an office in Singapore. Rikki Jones, who has served as managing director of GCI Health’s European headquarters since 2013, will now be Managing Director, Asia-Pacific, relocating from London to Singapore. Kath Kerry will take on leadership responsibilities in the U.K. The focus of the Singapore office will be on four primary service areas: life sciences, market access communications, strategic consulting and consumer wellness. “With Asian healthcare systems and markets rapidly evolving, the need for specialist agency expertise does too,” said Wendy Lund, CEO. “The time is right to expand our local capability in Asia.”
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ICR is launching a cannabis track at this year’s ICR Conference, which runs from Jan. 14-16 at the Grand Lakes Resort in Orlando, FL. Both private and public cannabis companies will be presenting at the event. Participants include Acreage Holdings, Green Thumb Industries and MedMen. In addition, there will be two panels on issues facing the cannabis industry at the conference: “Cannabis Investing: Capitalizing on a New Global Asset Class” on Jan. 15 and “Emerging Cannabis Panel: Private Cannabis Companies Poised for Growth in 2019” on Jan. 16. ICR chief executive officer Tom Ryan says the presentations will give cannabis companies a platform “to tell their stories and broaden exposure to global institutional investors, private equity professionals, equity research analysts and select media.” For more information go to http://www.icrconference.com.
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The BMF Media Group is celebrating its 15th anniversary with a rebrand to BMF. In addition to the new name, the agency will have a new logo and tagline, which will be carried throughout its revamped website, social media channels, and collateral. The agency has also opened up shop in London, joining its existing offices in New York City, Los Angeles, Austin and Miami. In the past year, BMF has also acquired boutique lifestyle public relations firm LFB Media Group and created a research and analytics division. The agency now has more than one hundred employees. In addition, it has brought on several new clients, including W Hotels, Calvin Klein, Samsung SmartThings and Colgate.
4media group completes its acquisition of Family Features Editorial Syndicate... Illumination PR, which represents lifestyle brands, influencers and celebrities, launches DR Media Group... EAG Advertising and Marketing acquires pay-for-performance firm INK inc. Public Relations. 
LLYC launches Signs of Pride, a campaign that revives the original protest banners of the first Pride marches... The Abu Dhabi Chamber of Commerce and Industry forms the Public Relations and Digital Marketing Working Group... Circle of One Marketing, a Miami-based, minority-owned marketing agency, is named official agency of record for Big Brothers Big Sisters of Miami. 
Vogel Group, a DC-headquartered government affairs and consulting firm, forms a strategic partnership with Montreal-based public affairs firm Boléro Stratégies... Matter Communications launches project-based offerings for B2C companies looking to increase brand awareness and visibility... Tucker/Hall, a Tampa-based PR and public affairs firm, opens a new office in Orlando. 
Why investing in public relations is ultimately about building bridges in a connected world.
Edelman is laying off 330 people (5.3 percent of its workforce) to cope with an anticipated eight percent shortfall in 2024 US revenues, and client demand for one-stop shopping for speciality services.
