 Kerstin Diehl |
DeVries Global has opened up shop in Berlin. Headquartered in New York, DeVries also has offices in London, Beijing, Hong Kong, Singapore and Taipei. The new Berlin office already has an agency-of-record relationship with Zippo Manufacturing Company, an extension of the global service remit that the agency has handled for over a decade. Kerstin Diehl will be heading up the Berlin office. Diehl was previously director of lifestyle communication at Hamburg-based Nicole Weber Communication and head of international PR and marketing at jewelry and luxury goods manufacturer Philipp Plein. She will be collaborating with Helena Bloomer, who has led DeVries Global’s UK operations since 2012, and was recently promoted to regional managing director. “Given Germany’s position as one of the strongest performing markets in Europe, it’s no surprise that we’re seeing increasing interest in dedicated support there, both with existing clients and in new business,” Bloomer said.
 Adam Waitkunas |
Concord, MA-based Milldam Public Relations has launched its Mission Critical Crisis Communications Practice, which the firm says is the first crisis communications practice dedicated to the data center ecosystem. The service is intended to address the lack of preparedness in the data center industry with regard to negative events stemming from data center operations. “With MPR’s nearly fifteen years of experience in the critical infrastructure space, we are well positioned to assist data center operators and vendors with a plan, and have the bandwidth to navigate organizations through a crisis while appropriately engaging relevant stakeholders,” said agency president Adam Waitkunas.
 Tom Kivett (left) and Doug Sadler |
Kivett & Company managing director Tom Kivett has started Brightfluence, an integrated communications agency with a suite of services that includes earned and paid media, social strategy, digital marketing and visual content solutions. The agency is targeting the technology, consumer and health tech sectors, with the aim of making integrated comms and influencer marketing more accessible to startups and small to mid-size companies. Doug Sadler, head of the Pocket Media Group, will be the agency’s director of visual communications, leading its content creation, video and photography programs.
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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