Jackson Spalding recently celebrated their 20 year anniversary. They formed during the summer of 1995 when eight individuals came together to create their ideal company with a unique community, culture, and focused efforts to do the best work for their clients. Jackson Spalding is one of the largest independent PR firms in the southeastern U.S.
Their headquarters are in Atlanta, but they have additional offices in Athens, Georgia, and Dallas Texas. Their membership in PROI Worldwide, a global network of over 50 independent communication consultancies, creates possibilities for them worldwide if a client needs that service.
Twists and Quirks
Jackson Spalding likes to say they have common scents. Yes, that’s right – scents. It all started a few years into their firm, one of the partners ran out of time before the big Christmas party and ended up getting the same gift for all the other guys – the same scent of cologne. They’ve turned that tidbit into a marketing story for their company, giving a light spritz to people coming into meetings with them, to outgoing mail, and other things as needed. Their concept is that if there are too many competing smells, it’s hard to concentrate. And they’ve turned that idea into a broader message of bringing people to a common focus and goal so everything they do can move forward faster and smoother.
Leadership
After reading about the common scents ideas, you may have gathered this is not your average corporate situation. It also says something interesting about the leaders of this firm that team members are listed alphabetically by last name with nothing different about the presentation of the top-level leadership from the rest of the workforce. But both Mr. Spaulding and Mr. Jackson maintain extensive ties in their community and do work with youth, mentoring, and not-for-profit efforts.
Employment
They have approximately 120 employees working for the firm and regularly receive rave reviews from their staff. It’s been mentioned by employees the company allows them to grow in whatever direction they choose rather than trying to keep them to specific tasks as assigned. Numerous awards would seem to back up that they are a great place to work. In 2011, they were on the list (for the second time) by the Holmes Report of the "Best Small Agency to Work for in the U.S." Also in 2011, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution named them one of Atlanta's "Top 100 Workplaces." Georgia Trend included them as being among the “Top 15” workplaces in Georgia in 2008. And Atlanta Magazine also said they were a "Top 10" place to work in 2008. If you are interested in working for them, go to Jackson Spalding Careers.
Expertise
JS specializes in PR for healthcare, food and beverage, sports, financial and investor relations, agriculture, entertainment, beauty and fashion, environmental, economic development, home furnishings, professional services, and travel. They offer help to their clients with public relations, team building, web design, graphic design, integrated marketing and communications, crisis communications, branding, media training and cultivation, event planning, digital communications, and photo and video.
