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Zapwater Communications launches a dedicated bilingual services division, Chispa, to provide services for clients in Latin America. Zapwater’s Miami office will lead the division under the supervision of VP Bertha Diaz. Comprised of PR professionals from all three of the agency’s offices (Miami, Chicago, Los Angeles), Chispa will handle original Spanish-language content, translation, localization of marketing materials, bilingual media relations services, social media management, crisis communications, influencer marketing and overall message development. “Our team’s deep understanding of the Latin American market, coupled with their bilingual proficiency, allow us to develop compelling narratives and engage with audiences on a more personal level,” said Zapwater Communications founder and CEO David Zapata. Zapwater is also part of the Travel Lifestyle Network, a global network of marketing communications agencies, which recently expanded its presence to strengthen its network in the Americas.
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IPREX onboards six new partner agencies across its Americas region: Carve Communications (Miami), Chirp PR (Atlanta), Curious Public (Toronto), Ditto PR (New York), LaVoieHealthScience (Boston) and The TASC Group (New York). The network has also formed a Partner Value Committee, which conducts research, gathers benchmarking data, develops thought leadership content, provides agency recommendations and implements partner feedback through the development of new tools and topic-specific webinars. “By collaborating to share data and resources, each of our partnering members has access to the newest best practices in our quickly advancing communications industry,” said Tunheim director of integrated communication, Emily McGrath, who chairs the PVC alongside Susan Davis International VP Sean O’Leary.
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Richard Edelman provides an introduction for Strategic Crisis Communication, a new book from James O’Rourke and Jeffrey Smith that outlines the steps an organization should take in the heat of a crisis. The book says that rather than follow “The FiveDs”—Delay, Deflect, Deny, Discredit, Defame—communicators need to follow a game plan that includes quickly defining their core values, disclosing everything fast to steal the news media’s thunder, accepting responsibility, making meaningful amends, embracing employees in solutions, and informing all stakeholders. Examples are given of how companies like Starbucks, Wells Fargo, Target and many others handled their crisis communications, alongside interviews with several prominent journalists that provide insider tips on successfully interacting with them in a crisis.
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.
