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Marathon Strategies launches DefendED, a dedicated higher education crisis practice focused on helping campus leaders rethink the way they communicate and manage their public profiles. The program includes a package of specialty services including full risk assessment (helping institutions understand their vulnerabilities through such strategies as executive leadership background vetting, partner and donor vetting, and an audit of communication collateral used for faculty and students); crisis playbook development; strategic communications support; plagiarism reviews and sentiment monitoring. “The past few months have shown that university officials need to adapt to the fact that they are on the national stage and that their words will be heard by mainstream audiences,” said Marathon Strategies founder and CEO Phil Singer. “If schools don’t plan for this new reality by revamping how they approach communications – starting by assessing their own vulnerabilities – the last few weeks will feel like a fond memory. This is the new normal.”
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Warschawski expands its email and lifecycle marketing team. The team now features 11 team members: seven specialists with extensive expertise across all major email marketing platforms, including Klaviyo, HubSpot, Salesforce, Pardot and Iterable; two data scientists; and two highly experienced email designers. This move is intended to strengthen Warschawski's ability to deliver holistic, integrated, results-driven campaigns in a data-first, always-on, hyper-connected environment. “We believe that email and SMS will play a progressively larger role in maximizing the value of every other marketing communications tactic, which is why we’ve made this significant investment to increase our capabilities, expertise, and capacity,” said Warschwasi EVP Sam Tomlinson.
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The Motion Agency acquires Chicago-based B2B marketing firm 2.718 Marketing. Founded in 1988, the woman-owned agency serves national and global clients across higher education, building & home products, food & food ingredients, financial services, and manufacturing. It will become fully integrated with Motion, with its leadership remaining in place, including owner Liz Brohan who becomes Motion’s chief growth officer. As Motion’s fifth acquisition in 10 years, 2.718’s addition is intended to provide added value for the agency’s B2B and B2C clients. “2.718 Marketing’s bold strategic thinking and results-based approach aligned so seamlessly with Motion’s, it was a no brainer to join forces,” said Motion CEO and Founder, Kimberly Eberl.
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Bekind comms, a “communications firm rooted in kindness,” is launched by Paris Kissel, who was most recently director at New Heights Communications. Bekind offers services including media outreach, event support, influencer engagement, media training and newsletter & blog writing. Kissel previously worked for close to a decade as a publicist at DC-based firms including Qorvis, Spitfire, and LEVICK. The firm, which works with “changemakers, nonprofits, businesses, events and influencers,” says its commitment to prioritizing kindness, fostering positivity, and reshaping narratives results in a “zero-tolerance policy for toxicity.”
Golin launches Lighthouse 360, a service helping companies handle the human side of AI adoption... PR Boutiques International adds five new members... 24 Seven, a marketing, creative and digital talent solutions firm, acquires New York-based marketing consulting firm Markacy.
The Public Relations Global Network adds Rooster, a London-based agency, as its newest member for the United Kingdom... Spectrum Science launches Mo (short for Momentum), an AI-powered platform... Kinetic Marketing Communications, a women-owned marketing communications agency and on-demand marketing talent firm, launches its Strategic Marketing AI Framework.
Ruder Finn launches rf.StoryLab, a creative incubator that merges generative AI tools with human-powered creative vision... Do It On, a Lisbon-based marketing and communication agency, joins INT. Agencies, an international collective of independent full-service agencies with a presence across five continents... The Public Relations Society of America releases “AI Prompting 101: A ‘Start Here’ Guide for Professional Communicators,” a resource offering practical, structured guidance to help communications pros integrate generative AI tools into their daily work.
PKPR, a New York-based boutique shop, launches a book publicity division focused on nonfiction authors... Palantir Technologies and Stagwell form a partnership to create an AI-driven platform for marketers... The Conference Board is presenting a Nov. 18-19 event at the Brooklyn Marriott that will look at the priorities, challenges and opportunities facing AI decision-makers today.
Gregory FCA is marking its 35th anniversary with a comprehensive rebrand... Madden Media, a Tucson-based agency, teams with Denver-based Karsh Hagan... Jasper, an AI content automation platform, launches Jasper Grid, an interface that allows marketing teams to create and orchestrate content across a range of channels, audiences and regions.
