Edelman leads O'Dwyer's ranking of PR firms again, posting $874.9M in 2016 net fees, up 2.4 percent. There was some jostling though at the top with W2O Group ($122.7M, +33 percent) bumping APCO ($120.6M, +1 percent) down to third place.
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Finn Partners ($76.7M, +7.3 percent), ICR ($55.6M, -1.0 percent), and Padilla ($42.4M, -1.9 percent) are joined in the top ten by newcomers Prosek Partners ($31.2M, +28.1 percent), Racepoint Global ($29M, +7.8 percent), Coyne ($27.3M, +26.9 percent), and Fahlgren Mortine ($24.4M, +18.9 percent).
Eighteen of the top 25 firms posted year-over-year gains with 12 showing double-digit growth. Overall, 90 of the 121 ranked firms had a positive change.
O'Dwyer's has the only rankings by PR specialty: agriculture, beauty & fashion, entertainment, environmental & PA, financial & investor relations, food & beverage, healthcare, home furnishings, professional services, sports, technology, and travel & economic development.
Firms are also ranked in 13 key cities/regions such as New York, D.C., Southeast, Chicago, and Los Angeles.
Rankings participants were required to submit the top page of the latest corporate income tax return and W-3, establishing them as PR firms rather than ad agencies or other types of businesses. O'Dwyer's is the only ranking that requires this documentation.
A new Burson report finds that a general lack of trust in social and political institutions has spilled over into the business arena.
Research has always been a “black box,” but with the adoption of new technologies and reduced budgets, less rigorous and even fraudulent methods have proliferated at the hands of inexperienced vendors.
Changing marketing forces continued to push back against both growth and profitability for PR agencies in 2025, according to a recently released report from Gould+Partners.
Japan has kept its position as the country with the strongest ties to the U.S. for the third consecutive year in the recently released 2026 BGR Impact Index.
The split between the growing number of sources that audiences can go to for information and the increasing consolidation at the biggest outlets in the media industry is resulting in an environment that poses significant challenges for communicators, according to a new study from Global Strategy Group.
