5W has been appointed as the public relations firm for Willow Tree Credit Partners, a private credit alternatives company. Willow Tree with offices in Miami and Dallas, manages over $4 billion in assets and has closed more than 100 credit investments. The firm will leverage 5W’s financial services expertise to strengthen its industry position and boost brand recognition. Willow Tree CEO & CIO Timothy Lower expressed confidence in 5W's ability to enhance their communications and engage key stakeholders, emphasizing the strategic importance of this partnership.
Foxglove Communications, a public relations and brand strategy agency, has added OpenTable, a restaurant tech platform, to its hospitality client roster. Serving over 55,000 venues and millions of diners, OpenTable will rely on Foxglove to enhance its support for restaurants. This includes addressing challenges like bots and no-shows and maximizing revenue through partnerships, product features, and integrations. OpenTable is at the forefront of tech and restaurant innovation, anticipating industry needs. “Foxglove impressed us with their deep industry knowledge and understanding of what it means to be restaurant-first,” said Steve Sintra, OpenTable SVP of restaurant sales and services.
PAN has acquired BLASTmedia, a SaaS marketing firm, enhancing its B2B tech capabilities. BLASTmedia, founded in 2005 and based in Indianapolis, will be rebranded as PANBlast, focusing on emerging and high-growth B2B SaaS brands. The acquisition expands PANBlast’s services to include PR, social media marketing, content marketing, paid media, and experience design. The 40-person BLASTmedia team will join PAN's 170 employees, with CEO Mendy Werne becoming managing director and executive VP Lindsey Groepper continuing her role. Founder Kelly Hendricks will serve as an advisor until the end of 2024. This is PAN's third acquisition in a decade, following UK Capella PR in 2019 and Vantage PR in 2015.
SourceCode has promoted Kristen Stippich to US managing director, making her the agency's first in this role. She will join SourceCode's global executive leadership team. Over the past three years, Stippich has significantly contributed by launching the AI practice, strategy, and analytics team. Christa Conte will succeed her as executive VP and head of client services, joining after 12 years at Hotwire. Conte will also be part of the global executive leadership team, including co-founders Greg Mondshein and Rebecca Honeyman, CFO Seth Rosenstein, head of tech Kevin Dulaney, and Giles Peddy. Mondshein expressed pride in the team's growth and the new leadership structure aimed at future success.
