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| Binna Kim |
Vested acquires Red Lab Technologies, a web design, development and digital marketing firm that partners with healthcare and finance companies looking to bolster their marketing teams. Red Lab will provide Vested clients with expertise in Wordpress design and development, search engine optimization and marketing, paid social advertising and marketing automation. Both firms will continue to operate under their current names, and there are no staffing changes planned. The acquisition is intended to augment Vested’s digital capabilities as well as adding talent to their team. “What excites me about Red Lab is not just their deep digital expertise and skill sets. It’s their entrepreneurial mindset and creative spirit,” said Vested president Binna Kim.
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| Michael Olguin |
Havas Formula establishes a Midwest regional hub in Chicago. Initially, Havas Formula Midwest will encompass two offices, located in Chicago and Denver (the agency’s last US hub, established in April 2021). It will primarily focus on consumer, CPG, lifestyle, B-to-B and tech brands. The Chicago hub will be led by Tara Reid, who has been promoted from senior vice president to president. “The Midwest is rich with opportunities, especially with so many large food companies, retailers and tech startups from the Great Lakes area—and even as far south as Texas,” said Havas Formula CEO Michael Olguin. “Establishing a Midwest regional hub in this market will fuel the agency’s growth strategy as we seek to expand into other flourishing markets in this area, like Austin, Minneapolis and Columbus.”
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| Gail Heimann |
Weber Shandwick introduces The Weber Shandwick Collective, a strategic communications and consulting network. In addition to Weber Shandwick, the agencies that will be a part of The Weber Shandwick Collective include Prime Weber Shandwick, United Minds, Powell Tate, Revive, Resolute Digital, Flipside, ThatLot, KRC Research and Cappuccino. The firm is also launching Weber Shandwick Futures, which will work to identify potential investments, partnerships or M&A opportunities that help shape future-forward offers to clients. It will be led by chairman Chris Perry, who calls the unit “one part think tank, one part incubator and two parts business engine.” Its first partnership is with venture capital firm Social Starts. “We’re scaling our consulting expertise, introducing a new model for innovation and evolving the articulation of our brand to more accurately reflect the value and scale that our ecosystem delivers today – and to establish a foundation for future growth and disruption,” said Weber Shandwick CEO Gail Heimann.
Stagwell launches NewVoices.ai, an independent AI-powered sales agent that can book appointments, drive conversions, resolve questions and handle customer concerns... Cision acquires search intelligence platform Trajaan... The McRae Agency, a Scottsdale, AZ-firm t, celebrates its 30th anniversary.
energi PR, an independent shop based in Montréal and Toronto, marks its 35th anniversary. It is the Canadian affiliate of DC-headquartered GHMC (Global Health Marketing & Communications)... Barabino & Partners and Community, which are part of Italy’s Excellera Advisory Group, snag top positions in the MergerLinks rankings in the PR Consultants in EMEA category... Honeyjar, an “AI co-pilot” that will leverage brand context, goals and campaign history into a collaborative workspace providing communications & PR pros with assistance across the end-to-end execution of communications, announces a $2M pre-seed fundraise and the launch of its Early Access waitlist.
The Communications Group, a Little Rock-based shop releases its first Public Affairs Marketing Trends Report... The Worldcom Public Relations Group votes Paris-based firm SEITOSEI•ACTIFIN into its global partnership... PRNEWS, a European PR-tech firm, relocates its U.S. headquarters to downtown Miami.
af&co., a San Francisco-based hospitality marketing and PR agency founded by Andrew Freeman, is marking its 20th anniversary... Notified launches Syndicated Articles... Crosby Marketing Communications selects four students from Anne Arundel Community College for its marketing scholars program.
KCSA Strategic Communications launches the KCSA AI Lab, which will develop proprietary AI systems to expand what strategic communications can achieve for PR and IR clients... Clipbook, a vertical AI platform for strategic communications and public affairs, closes a $3.3 million seed round co-led by Mark Cuban, Commonweal Ventures and Carpenter Capital... VizSense, a Boston-based AI influencer marketing agency, teams up with holographic storytelling company Geminai, to launch what they say is the next frontier in brand experiences: interactive holograms powered by AI.
