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| Marco Lastrico |
Barabino & Partners, a leading Italian public relations firm with offices in Germany and the UK, marks the 10th anniversary of its US division with the opening of a new office in Rockefeller Center in New York City. The agency says it expects to close 2021 with a growth rate of 20 percent over 2020. Barabino & Partners USA has worked alongside over 150 Made in Italy brands, specializing in the food and beverage and hospitality sectors. “The choice of the new headquarters is strategic for us” said B+P USA partner and CEO Marco Lastrico. “The vibrant Rockefeller Center area, a symbolic place in New York, will offer our entire team additional motivation and creative ideas to develop new strategies.”
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Next PR is seeking proposals from mission-driven and charitable organizations that want to become the next pro bono client in the firm’s Conscious Capitalism program. The goal of the program is to assist groups by increasing brand awareness, garnering media coverage and growing social followings and engagement through PR support. Organizations supporting such missions as the advancement of women in STEM, clean energy, diversity in tech and healthcare improvement are encouraged to apply for the next partnership, which will run from April toSeptember 2022. Next says candidates must have a “kickass culture,” do innovative work and exhibit curiosity about the future of tech. The Conscious Capitalism program has thus far supported partners in the sustainability industry withDenver'sThe Alliance Center, in the biopharmaceutical industry withChicago'sNeopenda, withPhiladelphiatechnology nonprofitTech Impactand in the venture foundry space withMother SuperiorinSan Francisco.
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The Summit Group, Utah’s longest-running independently owned agency, is acquired by Parpia Global Management. Parpia owner Naushad Parpia will serve as The Summit Group CEO, succeeding agency founder Bill Paulos, who after transitioning selected clients, will leave the agency to focus on community and public service activities. Partner Todd Wolfenbarger, who bought into the firm nearly 20 years ago, will continue to serve TSG in a consultative role. There are no plans to make any other staff changes. The agency will operate as a remote workforce with its headquarters in Salt Lake City, Utah, and New York, NY with satellite offices including San Jose, Austin, Greenville, and Seattle.
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.
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.
