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Purpose Worldwide, an “accountable marketing and communications consultancy,” has officially set up shop. Originally slated to launch at SXSW 2020, the firm, founded by former Blast PR principal Lana McGilvray, Xcelero chief marketing officer Julie Ginches and Blast account supervisor Cassady Nordeen, now plans to launch on Feb. 16. The agency says it is aimed at helping clients connect their purpose to their growth. In the year since its intended launch, Purpose has signed over 20 clients, including USAFacts (former Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer’s data-driven not-for-profit) and Hugo, a Slack- and Google-backed future-of-work company.
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LLYC’s thought leadership center, LLYC IDEAS, releases a new report that says emotional issues will play an increasing role in consumer decisions this year. “The current crisis has revealed not only how fast we can become infected by a virus, but also how vulnerable we are to emotional contagion,” its 2021 Consumer Trends Report says. That has resulted in what it calls the “pandemic-born consumer,” who will place a premium on such issues as accessibility, safety, creativity and keeping things simple. To reach this new consumer, “brand empathy will be almost compulsory.” LLYC director of consumer engagement in Mexico Hugo Valdez says that “consumers will demand extra effort from brands in their commitments to people, closer relations, and making a real difference in their lives, whether that comes through empathy and emotional connection or through more rational aspects, such as proximity and immediacy when responding to their needs.” To see the full report, click here.
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WORKSHOP Washington, a public affairs and communications services initiative, is started up by Winston Agency managing director Bess Winston and Metro Strategies principal Maurice Daniel. The venture is designed to support organizations with small or inexperienced in-house teams, provide clients with quick access to senior counsel, or help clients with limited resources who are unable to enter into long-term commitments with traditional agencies. WORKSHOP’s sessions match clients with up to three senior specialists with the relevant functional expertise and issue or industry background. The firm says that those specialists include former award-winning journalists, executive alumni from top communications agencies, senior policy staff and strategists from Capitol Hill and the Executive Branch “Through our streamlined approach, clients receive the same level and quality of communications advice relied on by the largest players in Washington without all of the accompanying overhead costs,” Daniel said.
PSC (Princeton Strategic Communications) acquires Nonprofit Partners... CG Life launches 24/364, a cultural brand platform intended to drive awareness, connection and action aimed at keeping rare disease at the forefront of the health and social conversation... Interluxe Group, which focuses on brand experiences and in-person activations; Quinn, a strategic communications agency; and media and digital agency North & Warren are uniting under the Interluxe Group banner.
KITH, which provides corporate reputation and crisis preparation services, is now owned by CEO Stephanie Craig, who has been with the firm since 2021... The Marketing Cloud, a part of Stagwell, introduces several expansions to Agent Cloud, the platform it launched in October 2025 to simplify access to its AI tools and marketing assistants.... Notified launches its AI Press Release Optimizer.
V2 Communications launches its AI Visibility Solution and Earned Media at Scale, two service offerings designed to help companies increase visibility and credibility in generative search... The Public Relations Global Network brings on Greenough Communications as its Boston member agency... DBC is relaunching The DBC Industry Calendar as a free site to help communicators more easily discover relevant events and awards in the cluttered event landscape driven by the growth of webinars and online events. 
PAN releases new original research showing that a significant share of B2B citations surfaced by ChatGPT are inaccurate, misattributed or entirely fabricated, introducing a new credibility risk for brands... REQ, which has offices in DC and San Diego, opens in Phoenix... Notified introduces Market Intelligence, an addition to its all-in-one IR Hub, which gives IR teams a more streamlined way to prepare for earnings calls.
FGS Global is collaborating with The 350 Club, a closed community for board members and leaders of large global companies... Impact XM, a portfolio company of global investment firm The Riverside Company, acquires Jack Morton from Omnicom... Southwest Strategies Group, a San Diego-based firm with offices in Fresno, Los Angeles, Phoenix, San Francisco and Seattle, rebrands as Bodewell Group, unifying its family of agencies into a single strategic communications firm.
