 Andy Pray |
Praytell, which is based in Brooklyn, is bringing another part of the communications process in-house with the launching of its own full-service film production studio, Praytell Films. The studio will make documentary and commercial films which will be incorporated into the agency’s creative communications services. Praytell creative lead Jon Chew will head the offering. John Urquhart, who has been creative director at Buzzfeed and The Daily Beast, is joining the agency as Praytell Films CD. “PR agencies shouldn’t only amplify content from other shops,” said Praytell founder Andy Pray. “There are times when we should be producing it, integrating the work into holistic communications campaigns that deliver across the earned, owned and paid spectrum.” Praytell is part of Project Worldwide.
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The Daily Buzz, an hour-long entertainment and news program that airs on CBS-owned POP TV, has announced that it will accept and air public service announcements at no cost to agency and nonprofit clients. In addition to POP TV, television networks YouToo and Soul of the South run The Daily Buzz, giving it a reach of 120 million homes. The PSAs will be also be posted on all Daily Buzz social media platforms. The show, which features celebrity interviews and profiles, gossip and news, integrates paid publicity content into its programming. KEF Media acquired the trademark for The Daily Buzz and re-launched the show last June.
 Mary Cochran |
Launching Labs Marketing, a Boulder, CO-based firm that combines digital and traditional marketing with project management, has been launched by Alison Werning and Mary Cochran. Werning is marketing manger and Cochran is director of marketing for Sleep Easily, a company that markets a device meant to help those with insomnia. Cochran was formerly director of marketing and social media at Catapult PR-IR. Launching Labs is targeting small to medium businesses, offering them branding, marketing, PR and sales consulting services. “Often small to mid-sized businesses have developed one part of their business, but have neglected others,” Cochran said. Werning adds that the new firm “can help quickly decipher what the gaps are and help to fill them.”
4media group completes its acquisition of Family Features Editorial Syndicate... Illumination PR, which represents lifestyle brands, influencers and celebrities, launches DR Media Group... EAG Advertising and Marketing acquires pay-for-performance firm INK inc. Public Relations. 
LLYC launches Signs of Pride, a campaign that revives the original protest banners of the first Pride marches... The Abu Dhabi Chamber of Commerce and Industry forms the Public Relations and Digital Marketing Working Group... Circle of One Marketing, a Miami-based, minority-owned marketing agency, is named official agency of record for Big Brothers Big Sisters of Miami. 
Vogel Group, a DC-headquartered government affairs and consulting firm, forms a strategic partnership with Montreal-based public affairs firm Boléro Stratégies... Matter Communications launches project-based offerings for B2C companies looking to increase brand awareness and visibility... Tucker/Hall, a Tampa-based PR and public affairs firm, opens a new office in Orlando. 
Why investing in public relations is ultimately about building bridges in a connected world.
Edelman is laying off 330 people (5.3 percent of its workforce) to cope with an anticipated eight percent shortfall in 2024 US revenues, and client demand for one-stop shopping for speciality services.
