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Finsbury, The Glover Park Group and Hering Schuppener have completed their merger and management buy-in of 49.99 percent of the combined business to form Finsbury Glover Hering. WPP will remain a 50.01 per cent investor and Mark Read, CEO of WPP, will join the board. Carter Eskew and Roland Rudd are co-chairmen of FGH, with Alexander Geiser serving as global CEO and regional CEO for Europe; Mike Feldman and Winnie Lerner as regional Co-CEOs for North America; and Faeth Birch as regional CEO for the United Kingdom, Middle East and Asia. FGH will operate from 18 offices with almost 700 consultants.
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Power Digital Marketing has acquired digital media buying and creative company Social Method. PDM’s offerings currently include SEO, content marketing, paid media, social media marketing, public relations, influencer marketing and web development. The acquisition, PDM’s fourth in the last two years, was carried out in partnership with Periscope Equity, a private equity firm that invests exclusively in lower-middle market technology-enabled service and software companies. PDM says the addition of Social Method will allow it to provide clients with expanded paid and social creative capabilities. Social Method clients will gain access to paid and organic marketing services powered by PDM’s proprietary technology solution SPRnova. Social Method brings more than 50 clients with it, including Tom’s, Stance, Winc and Colgate.
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St. John & Partners, which has offices in Jacksonville, FL and Greenville, SC, has been renamed, St. John. The change also includes a refreshed brand identity and enhanced website. The agency says that the rebrand is meant to reflect its broad range of creative and consulting services for national, regional and local clients. The new website highlights St. John’s brand experience and expanded services in thought leadership; content creation and user experience design; video and digital production; and communications and public relations planning. “We believe our new look and website reflect our unwavering objective to create meaningful brand experiences,” said St. John chairman and CEO Dan St. John.
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5W Public Relations has launched a specialty division focused on PR for the cryptocurrency industry. Services offered to cryptocurrency public relations clients include media relations targeted outreach to crypto industry publications, content creation, digital media campaigns, speaking opportunities and celebrity relations. 5W has worked with established and emerging cryptocurrency platforms including blockchain and cryptocurrency driven marketplaces, trading platforms, crypto real estate companies, and more. Last year 5W guided business intelligence firm, MicroStrategy, through the announcement of its purchase of $250M in Bitcoin.
Mark Allen & Co. acquires Alban Communications, establishing its first Miami office... Buchalter, a business law firm, launches a crisis management and strategic response group... 5W PR expands its beauty practice to include TikTok Shop-aligned PR campaigns and creator amplification strategies.
Caster Communications is acquired by long-time agency leaders Alexandra Crabb and Peter Girard... DiGennaro Communications launches The Authority Studio, a freestanding content strategy and production offering... The Brandman Agency, which specializes in luxury travel and lifestyle, rebrands as Brandman.
Public Inc., a social impact agency based in Toronto and New York, acquires Rocket Social Impact, an advisory firm that works with nonprofit and corporate social impact organizations... Ruder Finn launches “What’s Next: The Ruder Finn Podcast,” a new platform hosted by CEO Kathy Bloomgarden... Crowe PR joins United Partners Network, a network of independent PR agencies with members across more than 65 markets worldwide.
Ruder Finn launches rf.Voices, an integrated influence offering that brings together AI-powered influencer marketing, customer advocacy and paid amplification under one measurable framework... The Pollack Group is accepting applications through March 31 for The Big Red Grant, a $40,000 pro bono strategic PR and marketing engagement program awarded to a nonprofit organization ready for growth... D S Simon Media releases a report that says almost seven in ten producers (68 percent) are more interested in airing a story when they know it has been optimized for AI.
Precision Strategies, an integrated strategy and marketing agency with offices in Washington and New York, acquires Firehouse Strategies, a DC-based public affairs firm... AVENIR GLOBAL acquires London-based Thinks Insight & Strategy... Good Company, which bills itself as a “cultural engineering firm,” is launched by DJ Hardy, a veteran of Johannesburg-based communications consultancy arxna and M&C Saatchi Sport & Entertainment and Casey Stickles, who has worked at 5WPR, Rubenstein and MWW.
