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Moonshot, a venture studio focused on purpose-driven brands and products, is started up by the leaders of three enthusiast lifestyle agencies: Ryan Chuckel, CEO and founder of Gunpowder Inc.; Tihomir Liptak, CEO and founder of Bodhi; and Aaron Hitchins, partner at Rockhouse Motion & founder of the Rockhouse Agency. In addition to helping clients create companies from scratch and helping early-stage companies or startups with investment or growth opportunities, Moonshot will partner with companies to provide access to world-class talent and resources. Services it will offer include brand development, creative and production, digital growth strategy, public relations, operations, recruiting and human resources. “We started Moonshot to give us an infrastructure to truly invest in businesses we believe in, accelerate growth in a way traditional agencies can’t and share our insights and resources with purpose-driven brands who share our passion for growth,” said Chuckel.
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5WPR acquires YC Media, a food and beverage communications firm. YC Media founder Kim Yorio comes on board at 5W as senior VP. YC’s clients will continue to receive hands-on strategic consultation from Yorio while gaining access to 5W’s service offerings and client network, including full-service digital capabilities through the firm’s recently launched agency, The HOW Agency. “From our first meeting with Kim and YC Media, it was clear that her firm’s boutique approach to client services, coupled with their strategic expertise that is on par with leading global agencies, mirrors our own,” said 5W co-CEO, Dara A. Busch.
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In Truth is launched by sustainability consultants Emma Steele, Sally Cornelius and Bethan Pugh to help businesses and brands keep track of their reputations on environmental sustainability. In Truth canvasses stakeholders and examines a brand’s media coverage to provide a comprehensive report on perceptions. The report is geared toward helping companies understand how their messaging and initiatives are playing out, helping to minimize any accusations of greenwashing. “Being able to take a comprehensive read on what is and isn’t working – for both our clients and their competitors – means investment can be planned more wisely in terms of operations and initiatives, but also with respect to marketing and comms efforts,” said Steele.
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.
