Best Asian American PR Firms (2026): Top AAPI PR Agencies

Related: PR Agency Profiles Directory · PR Firm Rankings · Multicultural Creators

The leading Asian American PR firms are IW Group, InterTrend Communications, Admerasia, TDW+Co, and Multicultural Marketing Resources. The Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) population is the fastest-growing racial demographic in the United States, with buying power estimated at approximately $1.6 trillion in 2024. AAPI PR firms serving this market operate at the intersection of consumer marketing, cultural fluency, and language depth, a combination mainstream generalist firms cannot replicate without specialist partners.

The leading Asian American PR firms at a glance

Rank	Firm	Base	Specialty	Why they rank
1	IW Group	Los Angeles (also San Francisco, New York)	Chinese, Korean, and Vietnamese consumer segments; advertising, PR, digital, cultural insight	Founded 1990 by Bill Imada; multi-decade client retainers
2	InterTrend Communications	Long Beach, California	Strategy, creative, media, PR, cultural intelligence	Founded 1991; Toyota partnership of 30-plus years
3	Admerasia	New York	Advertising, PR, digital across Chinese, Korean, and multi-Asian channels	Founded 1993 by Jane Nakagawa; clients incl. American Express, McDonald's
4	TDW+Co	Los Angeles	AAPI practice alongside Hispanic and general-market work; Mandarin, Korean, Vietnamese	Defined AAPI practice inside a multicultural agency
5	Multicultural Marketing Resources, Inc.	New York	PR, advertising, research across U.S. cultural segments including AAPI	Multi-decade continuity; founder Lisa Skriloff

Three Categories of AAPI-Serving Firm

AAPI marketing and PR demand is served by three distinct firm types, each suited to a different campaign need.

• AAPI-founded specialists: agencies built specifically around Chinese, Korean, Japanese, Vietnamese, Filipino, and South Asian audiences, with language depth and in-market press relationships mainstream agencies do not maintain in-house.
• Multicultural full-service agencies: firms serving AAPI alongside Hispanic, Black, and LGBTQ+ segments in integrated cross-cultural campaigns. 5W's multicultural marketing practice is one example of this model inside a full-service agency, serving AAPI, Hispanic, and Black consumer segments through media relations, talent partnerships, and event management.
• Mainstream firm AAPI practices: dedicated groups inside major PR networks (Weber Shandwick, Edelman, FleishmanHillard) built to serve multinational clients targeting AAPI consumers.

The strongest work typically pairs an AAPI-founded specialist with a major network firm, the model most Fortune 500 consumer campaigns run.

The Leading AAPI PR Firms in 2026

1. IW Group

One of the longest-tenured Asian American marketing communications firms in the United States, with multi-decade client retainers. Imada is a widely cited voice on Asian American marketing, sits on multiple industry boards, and has been recognized across the trade press throughout his career.

2. InterTrend Communications

• Founded: 1991
• Founder: Julia Huang (current CEO)
• Headquarters: Long Beach, California, with East Coast presence
• Specialty: Strategy, creative, media, PR, and cultural intelligence
• Notable Clients: Toyota (30+ year partnership, one of the longest continuous multicultural agency relationships in U.S. automotive)

One of the largest independent AAPI agencies in the country, built by Huang over more than three decades.

3. Admerasia

• Founded: 1993
• Founder: Jane Nakagawa
• Headquarters: New York
• Specialty: Advertising, PR, and digital across Chinese, Korean, and multi-Asian channels
• Notable Clients: American Express, McDonald's, Wells Fargo, HSBC, Prudential

New York's media ecosystem serves as Admerasia's operating base for East Coast press outreach on long-cycle campaigns.

4. TDW+Co

• Headquarters: Los Angeles
• Specialty: AAPI practice alongside Hispanic and general-market work; in-language capability across Mandarin, Korean, and Vietnamese
• Notable Clients: Telecommunications, financial services, healthcare, and consumer packaged goods brands

A multicultural marketing agency with a defined AAPI practice built alongside its broader multicultural roster.

5. Multicultural Marketing Resources, Inc.

• Founder: Lisa Skriloff
• Headquarters: New York (West 28th Street)
• Specialty: PR, advertising, and research across multiple U.S. cultural segments including AAPI
• Notable Clients: Wells Fargo, AARP, Southwest Airlines, Acura, PG&E

Smaller than the network-scale firms above, but multi-decade continuity and cross-segment execution give it a defensible niche among smaller and mid-size clients.

What Changed From 2020 to 2026

Four shifts have reshaped AAPI PR demand over the past five years.

The K-culture wave. K-beauty, K-pop, K-drama, and Korean food and lifestyle brands moved from niche cultural exports to mainstream U.S. category leadership. AAPI PR firms with Korean-market depth and press relationships pulled ahead of generalist multicultural agencies.

AAPI luxury. High-net-worth Chinese and South Asian consumer segments moved from underserved to actively targeted by fashion, hospitality, jewelry, and real estate brands. Firms that could execute in-language luxury campaigns, press placement in Sing Tao, World Journal, India Abroad, and the equivalent Korean and Vietnamese-language press, captured the strongest new mandates.

Streaming and creator content. Netflix, Disney+, Prime Video, and Apple TV+ launched aggressive AAPI-targeted content strategies. PR firms working streaming clients needed talent, screening, awards, and creator-partnership execution across bilingual audiences.

AI Communications. The move to answer-engine visibility affects AAPI PR the same way it affects the rest of the industry. Firms serving Fortune 500 AAPI campaigns are increasingly expected to measure their clients' presence inside AI engines, ChatGPT, Claude, Perplexity, Gemini, for both English and in-language queries.

How to Choose the Right AAPI PR Firm

Three criteria for a shortlist:

• In-language depth in the specific segment you're targeting (Chinese, Korean, Vietnamese, Filipino, South Asian). Multi-language capability is often marketed but rarely delivered at the depth mainstream campaigns require.
• Named client continuity with brands in your category. Long-tenure retainers are the tell; AAPI PR relationships tend to be durable when the work delivers.
• Press relationships with AAPI trade press (Sing Tao, World Journal, KoreAm, India Abroad, and the equivalent regional dailies) plus growing English-language AAPI outlets (Character Media, NextShark, and the AAPI verticals at major U.S. outlets).

For campaigns crossing multiple AAPI segments, pairing an AAPI specialist with a mainstream network firm typically outperforms defaulting to one or the other alone.

Creator partnerships follow a similar test: a named record in several independent outlets. Five multicultural creators with verifiable press records applies that test to one creator per audience, including Joanne Lee Molinaro for the Asian American audience and Lilly Singh for the South Asian audience.

Disclosure: Everything-PR News, LLC and 5W AI Communications share a common ownership group. Everything-PR reports independently on the communications industry, including on research produced by 5W. Editorial decisions are made by Everything-PR's editorial team.