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PAN acquires BLASTmedia, an Indianapolis-headquartered company that works with B2B SaaS companies. BLASTmedia becomes PANBlast, effective immediately, gaining the ability to offer a wider range of integrated marketing services through PAN’s brand-to-demand approach, which includes PR, social media marketing, content marketing, paid media and experience design. All former BLASTmedia team members are being transitioned to PANBlast, with PAN’s leadership team bringing on Mendy Werne as managing director of PANBlast and Lindsey Groepper as EVP of PANBlast business development and marketing. Kelly Hendricks, founder of BLASTmedia, is serving in a PANBlast advisory role through the end of 2024. “PANBlast bolsters our existing presence in the B2B tech market and allows us to provide dedicated B2B SaaS PR services to emerging and high-growth brands, ultimately benefiting both our existing and new clients,” said PAN CEO and president Philip A. Nardone.
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Zapwater Communications of Chicago expands its Miami office. The new, completely remodeled 3,000-square-foot office at 95 Merrick Way in Coral Gables offers media relations, crisis management, social media, influencer relations and event activations, with clients including Hawks Cay Resort, Discover Dominica, Grenada Tourism Authority, and Copa Airlines. The space will also accommodate the ongoing growth of Chispa, Zapwater’s new bilingual division, under the supervision of VP Bertha Diaz. Chispa provides original Spanish-language content, translation, localization of marketing materials, bilingual media relations, and overall message development. “With Miami’s growth as a global destination, we’re perfectly positioned to work with hotels, resorts, and destinations interested in our market,” said Zapwater Communicaitons Miami managing director Holly Zawyer.
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VVK PR + Creative, a Detroit-based integrated communications firm, launches Watermark Law & Creative, a legal video marketing and communications division. The new division offers three product packages that provide such video marketing services as brand story development, video production with scripting, filming and editing, motion graphics and animation, and social media management. VVK has worked with personal injury law firms for the past 10 years through Velocity Cow, a video production company that merged into VVK at its inception. “Through this experience, we gained a keen understanding of the pain points in the legal marketing industry and have developed an innovative approach to addressing those challenges,” said VVK EVP of creative production Michael Sherman.
FleishmanHillard is shuttering its 20-member Dublin office as Omnicom Public Relations reorganizes its global operations... Vested acquires Watermark, a D.C.-based public affairs and special situations firm.... Matter earns two Pinnacle Awards 2026 Marketing & Communications honors for its clients.
Quad/Graphics launches Direct, a Quad Agency to help marketers create, execute and measure direct marketing campaigns in one connected offering... InnoVision Marketing Group SVP/senior creative director Giselle Campos and SVP/general manager Alanna Markey are among the first-ever winners of the San Diego Business Journal’s Indispensables Awards, which recognizes professionals who make the greatest impact within their organizations and across the San Diego business community... Park Place Technologies, an IT infrastructure services firm that works with Feintuch Communications, releases the second episode of its “The Savvy CIO” podcast. 
Ripley PR is named a silver winner in the TITAN American Business Awards’ Outstanding PR Campaign category... Excellera, a corporate-advisory firm, came in at number one in deal count, as well as fourth in deal value, in Mergermarket’s list of top EMEA firms... Thunderly is telling the stories of military veterans who transferred the discipline, organization and leadership skills developed in service to their country into successful post-military careers as franchise business owners, as part of its year-long "American Dreamers: The Stories of Franchising" effort.
Legendary Boston PR man George Regan is stepping down from day-to-day management of his namesake firm. The 75-year-old will remain chairman.
CGLife, a pharma agency focused on clients who are bringing therapies for rare, specialty and hard-to-treat diseases to market, combines with AI-native agency The Considered+AI... PRSA-NY announces the shortlist for the 2026 Big Apple Awards... The Agency East Public Relations, a Fort Lauderdale–based shop that works exclusively with women business owners in the early growth stage, is expanding its practice to help women business owners get found and cited by AI answer engines like ChatGPT, Google AI Mode, Perplexity, and Claude.
