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Next 15 Group is bringing five of its B2B agencies together into Pretzl, a B2B marketing business that will fully come to market in February 2026. Pretzl will include Agent3 Group, Publitek, This Machine, Velocity and Twogether, encompassing approximately 300 employees working in North America, Europe and APAC. Pretzl will leverage a people-plus-technology offering that includes a combination of talent from the legacy brands and a new AI-driven solution, JourneyLab. JourneyLab, built on AI and data-driven customer insights, is focused on enabling teams to understand key audiences, map real buyer behaviors, devise and deliver personalized experiences, and continuously optimize programs with actionable insights. “Pretzl combines the speed and scale of AI, the objectivity of data, and most importantly the human touch and expertise from a deep bench of B2B specialists, to help brands get closer to their customers,” said Pretzel CEO and current CEO of Agent 3Group Clive Armitage.
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Heron Agency, a woman-owned and operated boutique PR firm, marks its 25th anniversary. The agency works with clients ranging from startups to Fortune 500 companies in sectors including hospitality, lifestyle, corporate, franchise, non-profit and entertainment. It has represented over 2,500 clients, with more than 20,000 press releases issued, over 600,000 media placements secured and 98 percent of their collaborations resulting in contract extensions, future projects or client referrals. "Reaching our 25-year anniversary is a major milestone for us, and we are deeply grateful to our clients, media partners, and dedicated team for their unwavering support," said Heron Agency founder and CEO Noreen Heron.
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Acceleration Community of Companies launches Definity, a synthetic audience platform that lets brands pressure-test creative and messaging against high-fidelity digital twins of their key stakeholders. These digital twins, which simulate responses from customers, investors, employees, regulators, and media across broad demographics, micro-communities, and even individual targets, are synthesized from census data, behavioral patterns, ethnographic research, and proprietary signals drawn from online audience behavior. The platform then simulates audience responses in seconds, allowing companies to validate creative, de-risk decisions, and forecast campaign outcomes. “Definity helps CMOs mitigate budget and reputational risk so they can push bold ideas without stepping on cultural landmines,” said ACC president Monica Chun.
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.
V2 Communications launches its AI Visibility Solution and Earned Media at Scale, two service offerings designed to help companies increase visibility and credibility in generative search... The Public Relations Global Network brings on Greenough Communications as its Boston member agency... DBC is relaunching The DBC Industry Calendar as a free site to help communicators more easily discover relevant events and awards in the cluttered event landscape driven by the growth of webinars and online events. 
PAN releases new original research showing that a significant share of B2B citations surfaced by ChatGPT are inaccurate, misattributed or entirely fabricated, introducing a new credibility risk for brands... REQ, which has offices in DC and San Diego, opens in Phoenix... Notified introduces Market Intelligence, an addition to its all-in-one IR Hub, which gives IR teams a more streamlined way to prepare for earnings calls.
