 |
Havas agencies Havas London, Havas Lemz, Havas New York and Havas Immerse have lost their B Corporation certifications due to Havas Media’s relationship with Shell. An investigation by the nonprofit B Lab, which is tasked with determining that B Corporations voluntarily meet certain standards of transparency, accountability, sustainability and performance, was undertaken following complaints from other agencies after Havas Media signed the contract. (While Havas Media did not have certified B Corporation status, the use of the Havas name across the company’s units now prevents B Corporation status for all of them.) Clean Creatives, a campaign calling on advertising and PR agencies to refuse to work with fossil fuel companies, led the backlash against Havas. “Creative agencies should not be working for the companies destroying the planet,” Clean Creatives executive director Duncan Meisel said in a statement.
 |
Ironistic, an Alexandria, VA-based digital agency, merges with RISE Marketing, a specialized marketing communications agency headquartered in Vermont. RISE Marketing’s entire staff will join the Ironistic team. Ironistic specializes in web development and design expertise, website hosting and maintenance services, and extensive digital marketing services, including PPC and SEO management. RISE Marketing focuses on serving as an extension of their client’s marketing department to provide content marketing, as well as advertising, email marketing, public relations, events management, and social media. “In RISE Marketing, we found a partner that shares a similar vision and values,” said Ironistic co-founder and CEO Jared Elliott. “By combining our two entities we will be able to naturally extend our range of services, leveraging our combined expertise and resources for greater impact and innovation in the marketing landscape.”
 |
PR73, which in June rebranded from Press Record Communications, releases its first research report, “Building Trust: Insights and Strategies for Communications Teams.” The report, which surveyed 100 US-based communications pros from organizations like NBC Universal, Disney and Visa, finds that many communications pros think a trust gap exists between in-house communications teams and internal stakeholders. The report’s findings show that 50 percent of respondents feel dispensable to senior leadership; only 49 percent of respondents feel highly trusted by other departments; one-third of respondents find it challenging to work with their senior executives and two-thirds of respondents say that departments in their organizations ignore or resist their strategies.
Page launches the Polansky Future Leaders Fund, which was established through a gift from 2025 Page Hall of Fame inductee and former Weber Shandwick Global CEO Andy Polansky... Ruder Finn reintroduces its website, ruderfinn.com, which will now feature a large language model (LLM) as its primary user interface... Higher Plane Media is launched by former Sloane & Company CEO Darren Brandt.
Champion, which specializes in restaurant, franchise and consumer brands, opens a Miami office, adding to its operations in Dallas and Los Angeles... Violet PR, a Montclair, NJ-based firm that focuses on economic development, commercial real estate and place branding, opens a second office on Park Avenue South in New York... Inflection Point, a founder-led, senior growth systems partner for startups and growth-stage businesses, launches... PRSA announces the recipients of its inaugural Women of Impact Awards. Honorees honorees were recognized during the PRSA Women of Impact Summit & Awards at the Union League Club of Chicago.
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.
