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New findings from Matter Communications indicate that most marketers are planning to up spending in 2024. Matter surveyed 270 CMOs and marketing/communications decision-makers, and 84 percent of them said that their marketing investment would go up next year. Four in ten (40 percent) said that the increase would be “substantial.” The top priority for spending: social media. Over half of the respondents (52 percent) said that social media is one of the top three items on their list when prioritizing budgets for next year—a jump of 20 percent from 2023. Content marketing (38 percent) and brand building (35 building) are the next two choices. AI is also on the radar for them in a big way. Almost eight in 10 (79 percent) plan to invest in AI in 2024, with 60 percent of those investing in AI saying that they’ll allocate more than 10 percent of their marketing budget to it. As regards the most popular AI tool, there’s little contest. ChatGPT (cited by 48 percent of respondents) far outpaced the rest of the pack, with Grammarly (19 percent), Brandwatch (13 percent) and Howler (11 percent) far behind. “Our survey results demonstrate that senior-level marketers will continue to invest in programs and services that deliver true brand building ROI like robust social and content programs,” said Matter president Mandy Mladenoff.
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TBA Worldwide, a network of data-driven advertising agencies and specialty marketing firms, acquires Joybyte, which offers services that include influencer marketing, brand partnerships and social media management. Joybyte will continue to operate as a standalone agency from its Scottsdale, AZ, office with its existing senior management team remaining in place. Its client roster includes Duluth Trading Company, Whamo, Frooze Balls, Jordan Craig and Vessel Golf. "Joybyte brings a very specific expertise with scalable social solutions and a strong growth trajectory," said TBA Worldwide CEO Scott Brandon. "It's a fantastic fit within the TBA Worldwide network of services with many opportunities to offer Joybyte's services to our existing clients."
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Engage for Good, which empowers corporate and nonprofit professionals to create mutually beneficial social impact partnerships, is acquired by Muneer Panjwani, from Cause Marketing Forum, which founded the company in 2002. Panjwani, whose experience with corporate-nonprofit partnerships includes work with The Trevor Project and Diversity, will serve as the company’s CEO. Engage for Good’s portfolio includes its flagship conference, as well as educational webinars, a podcast, a monthly newsletter, educational guides, a job board, and more. Panjwani plans to expand the company’s Halo Awards to celebrate a wider range of social impact activities and provide strategic guidance to organizations navigating the nuances of social impact partnerships. David Hessekiel, founder and outgoing president of Engage For Good, will serve as an advisor to Panjwani through the organization’s May 2024 conference in Minneapolis.
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.
Ways Marketing Solutions, a Saudi Arabia-based marketing and communications group, teams with H&K alum James Drewer and Cake founder Mike Mathieson, to launch Ways Global Communications with HQs in London and Riyadh... UNICEPTA, a media intelligence provider within Stagwell’s The Marketing Cloud, launches an integration with Microsoft 365 Copilot... MAD Global CEO Mike DuHaime has been named to New Jersey Governor-Elect Mikie Sherrill’s transition team.
