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| Ollie Burgoyne, Duncan McCaslin |
Stagwell acquires Sidekick, a group of specialist agencies focused on experiential, digital storytelling and branded content. Sidekick will join Allison, the global marketing and communications consultancy within Stagwell. Sidekick co-founders Duncan McCaslin and Ollie Burgoyne will remain as managing directors of their respective teams and both will join Allison’s European management team. Directors William Howe and Stephen Bradley will also move across in their current roles. No other staffing changes are planned. The addition of Sidekick will further expand Allison’s footprint, supplementing its existing core competencies of strategic communications, influencer marketing, digital, performance marketing and data analytics. “Having seen our collective teams work successfully together over the last year or so, we knew that joining with Allison and Stagwell was the logical next step,” said McCaslin. Sidekick is Stagwell’s second acquisition of the year, following the purchase of Team Epiphany, a culturalist creative agency connecting brands to multicultural consumers, in January.
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Watermark Strategies, a corporate affairs consulting firm designed to deploy the latest data and technology in support of comprehensive stakeholder advisory and engagement services, is founded by industry veterans Zack Condry and Erik Hotmire. Condry founded corporate digital firm Echo and is a veteran of digital campaigns at Brunswick Group and Edelman. Hotmire has counseled senior executives and boards on business-critical issues for the past 13 years as a partner at Brunswick Group, senior managing director at Teneo, and partner at FGS Global. Watermark's service offerings include corporate positioning, special situations, digital advisory and execution, and research and insights. “Using predictive analytics, we guide our clients’ communications and public affairs efforts with precision, equipping them to productively engage a diverse set of stakeholders,” said Condry.
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Markets EQ, which fuses voice tones with language in a generative AI platform for corporate communications, launches an AI-generated scorecard based entirely on voice analysis. EQ MarketScore has the ability to discern 58 unique emotions, scoring speakers on tone, confidence, clarity, and the intricacy of their messages. Among the features included are bottom line up front (a brief summary of the conversation); emotional sentiment (a description of the overall tone of the speaker and message) and clarity rank: (a measure of how difficult it was to follow the conversation). "With Markets EQ's new scorecard feature, we're turning the art of communication into a science, cutting time substantially and providing a reliable output to train and improve your spokespeople,” said Markets EQ CEO Sean Austin.
Public Inc., a social impact agency based in Toronto and New York, acquires Rocket Social Impact, an advisory firm that works with nonprofit and corporate social impact organizations... Ruder Finn launches “What’s Next: The Ruder Finn Podcast,” a new platform hosted by CEO Kathy Bloomgarden... Crowe PR joins United Partners Network, a network of independent PR agencies with members across more than 65 markets worldwide.
Ruder Finn launches rf.Voices, an integrated influence offering that brings together AI-powered influencer marketing, customer advocacy and paid amplification under one measurable framework... The Pollack Group is accepting applications through March 31 for The Big Red Grant, a $40,000 pro bono strategic PR and marketing engagement program awarded to a nonprofit organization ready for growth... D S Simon Media releases a report that says almost seven in ten producers (68 percent) are more interested in airing a story when they know it has been optimized for AI.
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.
