March Communications Named Silver Boutique Agency of the Year by Bulldog Reporter

March Communications, the Boston-based technology public relations firm founded in 2005 by CEO Martin Jones and President Cheryl Gale, has been named Silver Boutique Agency of the Year by Bulldog Reporter for 2010 — with Spark PR taking Gold in the same category. The award, judged on leadership, integrity, breakthrough thinking, account and employee retention, client results, and achievements in public relations practice, is March's first major industry recognition and marks a milestone in the firm's five-year build.

Published May 2010

The firm

March Communications was founded in 2005 with a focus on serving business-to-business technology companies — an underserved segment of the PR agency market at the time, particularly in Boston, where the technology-PR competitive set had traditionally been oriented toward consumer technology and hardware. Jones and Gale built the firm around integrated communications programs for enterprise-software, cybersecurity, and infrastructure clients, and by 2010 the firm counts approximately two dozen professionals across its Boston office.

The Bulldog Reporter recognition places March among a small group of boutique firms — under 50 employees, focused on a specific vertical, competing on depth rather than scale — that have built durable practices in the aftermath of the 2008 financial crisis. The category has been particularly active over the last two years as enterprise-technology budgets have shifted toward digital and content, and the boutique firms have proven better positioned to build the specialized capabilities the shift requires.

What Bulldog Reporter judges

The Bulldog Reporter Stars of PR Awards are among the most established industry awards in U.S. public relations. The Boutique Agency of the Year category, specifically, evaluates firms on six criteria: leadership within the practice, integrity in client and business dealings, breakthrough thinking in campaign and program design, account and employee retention rates, measurable client results across engagements, and broader achievements advancing the profession. The awards run on a nominations-and-review basis with an industry-jury judging panel.

The Boston tech-PR context

The Boston market is one of the most competitive technology-PR competitive sets in the United States — home to enterprise-technology hubs across the Route 128 corridor and Cambridge, and to a mature set of established firms alongside a growing tier of specialized boutiques. March Communications' recognition in a category won by Spark PR — a San Francisco-based technology firm — signals the increasing national visibility of the Boston boutique tier and the strength of the B2B-technology positioning specifically.

The five-year milestone

A firm reaching five years is a milestone in the PR agency industry, where the mortality rate for firms founded in 2005 through 2008 has been meaningful — the 2008 financial crisis produced a cohort of failures and consolidations that made survival, let alone growth, the primary bar. March's ability to reach five years and to receive industry recognition in the process is itself a signal of the durability of the firm's model.

What comes next for the boutique tech-PR tier

The boutique technology-PR tier faces two structural questions through the balance of 2010 and into 2011. First, whether the specialized-boutique thesis holds as the largest holding-company networks (Interpublic, WPP, Omnicom, Publicis) rebuild integrated technology practices post-crisis. Second, whether Boston can retain the enterprise-technology talent that has been a distinguishing feature of the market as San Francisco, Austin, and New York have made competitive plays. Firms like March that have built the tenure, the client roster, and the industry recognition are best positioned to answer both questions.