PR Buzz From Cognito Public Relations, Lewis PR, Behrman Communications, and Peppercomm

What’s what in the PR world with these firms, we went looking, and here’s what we found.

Cognito Public Relations v. Vested

The last couple of months have been difficult for Cognito – at least that’s how it seems. First some of Cognito’s PR people and then some of their clients left Cognito – forming a new company (Vested) and new alliances. It began during the summer when two of Cognito’s former top executives left to launch Vested.  Not long after they opened their doors, Vested also brought a former Cognito director over to be their COO, Ishviene Arora.

In November, Ali Wells, Cognito’s creative director announced she would be joining Vested as their Chief Creative Officer. At Cognito, Wells “managed a team that delivered brand, digital, marketing and design programs for their client portfolio that included Oracle Financial Services, Intel, Citigroup FX and American Express.” Ms. Wells received a Bachelor of Design degree from The Copper Union and NSCAD.

Dan Simon (CEO) and Binna Kim (President) cofounded Vested, an integrated communications firm specializing in the financial industry in New York City. Vested started with 10 clients including HedgeCoVest, Carbon Trade Exchange, Polaris Consulting, Contix, and the Museum of American Finance. According to Kim, Vested is working with several of Cognito’s former clients, but the work they provide is substantially different from anything Cognito ever offered them.

Lewis Global Communications

The Holmes Report spoke with Chris Lewis, founder and CEO of Lewis PR, a global PR firm. They have four U.S. offices – Washington DC, Boston, San Francisco, and San Diego and numerous other locations around the world. However in the interview, Lewis said, “The firm hopes to add New York, Chicago, and a Southern presence to its footprint. The agency has used acquisition to build its U.S. presence in recent years, buying digital shop Piston earlier this year after previous deals saw the addition of PageOne PR and DMG.”

During the interview, Lewis also talked about running a global agency saying, “There are two dangers for PR agencies working globally. Being marginalized by scale, or being marginalized by other functions taking your profession. Even if PR is dead, it will still be a conduit for selling in other services. That gives us situational fluency.”

Behrman Communications

Behrman Communications representatives, Linsey Tilbor or Julia Buttitta, have been busy with Milani Cosmetics new PR campaign “What’s Your Beauty Identity?” The new campaign just started January 22 with a contest running until March 31, 2016. Milani is launching a cosmetic collection designed for every woman, and any style, starting it with an interactive digital contest on Facebook and Instagram.

PRNewswire release noted, “Every Thursday, through March 31st, 2016, Milani will post a themed beauty identity along with the brand’s recommended 2016 products to achieve the look on the Milani Cosmetics website as well as via a newsletter to all of the brand’s subscribers. Each post will encourage fans to channel their inner persona from the Romantic to the Innovator to the Naturalist, to name a few. Social media fans can enter the contest via Facebook and Instagram; additional contest information can be found here.”

Peppercomm PR Updates

In September, Peppercomm made the 100 Best Places for Women to Work list, placing at #64. Out of their 80 employees, 46 are women. Women in executive roles make up 60% and in manager positions 50%. The company was formed in 1995 by Steve Cody and Ed Moed and are a privately-held firm netting nearly $19 million in annual revenues.

The firm allows employees to work from home when appropriate, opportunities to work in the company’s other locations for brief periods – locations are in New York, San Francisco, and London. They pay 60% of health insurance costs, including for dependents and matches 25% of contributions to retirement accounts. They also have frequent stand-up comedy training and events, believing impromptu comedy makes their people better communicators with clients and others.

What do you know about these firms? Give us the scoop if you haven’t seen it here, just leave a comment or email through our contact page.