PR News From W2O Group, Ruder Finn, & Burson-Marsteller
W2O Group Adds Mountaingate Capital as Financial Partner
W2O Group, headquartered in San Francisco and with offices in Atlanta, Chicago, London, Austin, Los Angeles, the Silicon Valley, Basal (Switzerland), Minneapolis, Boston, and New York just announced they have sold a share of the business to Mountaingate Capital, a private equity firm in Colorado. The plan is for the incoming money to be available for expansion now that W2O has built their annual revenue to $95 million, with over 500 employees and 15 years of success behind them.
They are an independent network of firms – WCG, Twist, and BrewLife that offer marketing, communications, research, and development to help clients grow through “pragmatic disruption.” This move allows W2O to continue as an independent organization without day-to-day interruption from their new partner, but they can receive insight, direction, and connections from Mountaingate Capital.
Philadelphia Orchestra Retains Ruder Finn Asia for 3rd Consecutive Year
The three-week 2016 China Residency and Tour of Asia event will be led by Yannick Nézet-Séguin, Music Director with concerts performed in Hong Kong, Shanghai, Beijing, Macao, Tokyo, Osaka, and Kawasaki. RFA will be handling the media coordination (online and offline), PR communications, prior to, during, and after the tour has finished. Afterward, RFA will be involved with strategic counsel for the market and future initiatives in China. In addition to the scheduled concerts, the Orchestra will also do mini-concerts at important cultural locations, lectures, community outreach visits, and master classes.
The Orchestra has been performing in China for the last 43 years. But in 2011, they made a five-year deal with China’s National Centre for the Performing Arts (NCPA) uniting The Orchestra’s musicians with young Chinese talent, helping develop their orchestral skills, and bringing their music to many of China’s major provinces and cities.
RFA Chairman, Jean-Michel Dumont, said, “The response and rapport from the audience and communities in the different cities have been tremendous. The Philadelphia Orchestra has made a difference to the Chinese people’s lives since their first visit in 1973.”
RFA employs nearly 300 people in the Asia-Pacific arena and has grown an average of 25 percent per year since 2000. They specialize in reputation management, crisis communication, design, digital and social marketing strategy, employee engagement, and executive skills training. Some of their clients include Volkswagen Group, GSK, Michelin, Kering, and Emirates.
Russia’s Track & Field Program Hires Burson-Marsteller in Wake of Doping Scandal
Since the team is currently banned from International competition because of the doping scandal, Russia has offered an apology for the problem, promising to clean things up, and have also hired B-M in their effort to be included in the Summer Olympic Games in Rio. The Russians are following the classic advice of admitting they did wrong, apologizing, and fixing the problem – all with transparency. It is expected that B-M will aid in this process.
B-M is known within and without the PR industry as a firm willing to take on the particularly difficult crisis management cases, this one is not different. Some of the other clients represented by them include Avon, BigDaddy, Hormel Foods, and Behr Paints.
Atlanta Business Chronicle Releases List of Top PR firms in the Area
The list released last week shows the largest 20 PR firms in Atlanta. It is probably no surprise to find Edelman at the top of the list, but the rest of the list has some local winners. In order, the top five firms are Edelman, Jackson Spalding Inc., Dodge Communications Inc., William Mills Agency, and Kellen. If you want the full list, you have to buy it separately or purchase a year subscription to Atlanta Business Chronicle.
