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Weber Shandwick says that while it has only made slight progress in boosting workplace diversity numbers over the past year, the agency has committed itself to “foundational progress” geared toward bringing those numbers up. Black employees holding positions at the executive vice president level or above nudged up from 2.5 percent in 2019 to 3.4 percent in 2020. For Hispanic or Latino employees, that number rose from 1.2 percent in 2019 to 2 percent last year. The number listed as white dropped from 88.9 percent to 85 percent. Among the strategies the firm says it will employ to bring those figures in line with the composition of the overall population are strengthening its diverse talent pipeline and changing its internal career development processes to counter the effects of racial bias. “We have made some meaningful moves that we believe will have a real impact on our organization and our journey toward diversity, inclusivity and anti-racism,” the company said in a release.
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Allen & Gerritsen launches “Protect Our Press,” an initiative enlisting agencies, brands, and publishers in the fight to help save local newspapers. The program asks participants to invest 20 percent of their programmatic advertising spend to direct or collective news buys and also urges the removal of news from exclusion lists. It also asks participants to evaluate direct deals with local newspapers as part of the RFP process and pushes for commitments to maintaining support for media buys already invested in local journalism. “It’s time to admit that the advertising industry has been culpable in the decline of local journalism,” says Will Phipps, senior vice president of media, A&G. “Agencies have been complicit by excluding ‘news’ from clients’ plans, fearing the unpredictable nature of the category." Interested parties can find out more on the Protect Our Press campaign site.
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ResourceOne Fundraising Group, a Moore company, has rebranded as Altus Marketing. The name change is intended to distinguish Altus Marketing’s fundraising and marketing solutions from the printing and production services of Moore’s ResourceOne unit. Altus Marketing provides integrated fundraising solutions to nonprofit, ministry and membership organizations. Altus Marketing’s new branding and marketing approach is effective immediately and will be implemented across company offices, digital presences, products and services. John Wilkinson formerly SVP, client strategy & success at One & All Agency, will join Altus as vice president of client services. “Embracing the Altus Marketing brand is fitting, as the company’s success shows they are developing marketing and fundraising solutions that elevate their clients’ growth through integrated, fully custom and locally relevant campaigns,” said Moore CEO Gretchen Littlefield.
Gregory FCA is marking its 35th anniversary with a comprehensive rebrand... Madden Media, a Tucson-based agency, teams with Denver-based Karsh Hagan... Jasper, an AI content automation platform, launches Jasper Grid, an interface that allows marketing teams to create and orchestrate content across a range of channels, audiences and regions.
Sommerfield Communications, a corporate, financial, and crisis shop that was acquired by Allison Worldwide in early 2021, re-launches as an independently owned firm... D S Simon Media launches a broadcast media tour designed to enhance Generative Engine Optimization... The Public Relations Society of America’s ICON 2025 Conference brought together close to 2,100 in DC from Oct. 28-30.
CorpBridge Advisors is launched by Bob Christie (Brunswick and Alibaba Group veteran) and Russ Rubino (Nasdaq and Intercontinental Exchange/NYSE alum)... Golin marked its 30th anniversary in Miami with an Oct. 23 gathering that celebrated its new outpost in Coral Gables... The Notability Company debuted at the PRSA annual ICON Conference in Washington.
Padilla launches Padilla GEO 3D, a service that aims to improve generative AI search results for brands and organizations... Bader Rutter, a Milwaukee-based B2B marketing agency, unveils the Chef Advisory Network, an initiative designed to bring the voice of the kitchen into food company boardrooms... Dilenschneider Group founder and principal Robert Dilenschneider’s new book, Respect: How to Change the World One Interaction at a Time, was released on Oct. 28 by Wiley... Blue Highway Advisory and Blue Highway Global, founded by former Mercury Public Affairs managing director Ian McCaleb in 2022, rebrands.
Vested forms a strategic partnership with growth marketing platform Fintel Connect, geared at driving growth for banks and financial brands through affiliate marketing... WPP launches WPP Open Pro, a new edition of its AI marketing platform WPP Open, which will provide a range of integrated, AI-powered delivery models... MikeWorldWide is hosting The Platform Fluency Initiative Webinar on Nov. 3 at 12:30 p.m. designed to help senior communicators navigate the opportunities of AI.
