Scott Allison: Founder of Allison+Partners, Now Allison Worldwide

Scott Allison is the co-founder of Allison+Partners, now Allison Worldwide, the PR and marketing agency he launched in September 2001 with Andy Hardie-Brown. The firm grew into a 52-office network inside Stagwell. Allison moved to an advisory role in December 2024 and joined Clario Group as executive chair in May 2026.

Who is Scott Allison?

Scott Allison is the agency founder who built Allison+Partners from a San Francisco start-up into a global public relations and marketing communications firm. He served as chairman and CEO, and Everything-PR sat down with him in August 2011, just as the agency opened its first overseas office in London.

Allison's career is a useful case study in how a PR founder scales a firm: start with earned media, add digital and marketing services, expand abroad, then join a holding company. The table below gives the key facts.

How did Allison+Partners start in 2001?

Allison+Partners started in San Francisco in September 2001, when Scott Allison and Andy Hardie-Brown opened a new agency during the dot-com downturn. Scott Pansky and Jonathan Heit completed the founding team of four.

The firm's origin story, as Everything-PR reported it in 2011, places the planning conversation at a restaurant on Belden Alley, where the two founders sketched their idea on a cocktail napkin. Their premise was a positive, entrepreneurial culture where new talent could do its best work without office politics.

That culture became the agency's calling card. Allison told EPR in 2011 that great work, followed by growth and revenue, was the formula, and that he wanted to surround himself with talented people.

What did Scott Allison say in EPR's 2011 interview?

In August 2011, Allison told Everything-PR that the PR industry was entering a golden age and that the agency's next step was global growth. His answers covered six ideas that still read well today.

• The center of gravity was moving from west to east, so London was a first step toward Asia and South America.
• Mid-sized and smaller firms had an edge in speed and agility, much as they did when the Internet arrived in the 1990s.
• Social media would become one more tool every firm used, and the winning approach was a mix of traditional and digital work.
• During the 2011 London riots, he said people want to see that someone is in charge and has a handle on the situation.
• Client selection came down to shared values, and Square was the brand he named as the one he most wanted to represent.
• He preferred John Wooden's team-building philosophy to Vince Lombardi's will-driven style.

EPR also asked about rankings. The agency stood 16th on the O'Dwyer's list of top PR firms at the time, and Allison said he had his eye on the top five within a decade.

How did the 2011 plans turn out?

The expansion plan Allison described in 2011 became the defining feature of the firm. The table compares what he said then with what the agency reported later.

2011 statement	Later result
London is the first step abroad, with Asia and South America next	A 52-office network across five continents by December 2024
Small and mid-sized firms win on speed and entrepreneurial culture	The agency joined Stagwell and grew through organic hires and acquisitions
Great people first, then growth and revenue	The December 2024 announcement repeated the same motto about great work and retained talent

Which campaigns and clients defined the agency?

Allison+Partners built its reputation on consumer, travel, technology and financial campaigns that combined media relations with marketing. EPR's 2011 coverage named Best Western, Sony, L'Oreal, Orbitz, Hasbro and GE Healthcare among its clients.

Year	Client	Work
2011	California Travel & Tourism Commission	The "Royal Summer" campaign, built on the tagline "Three Days isn't Enough," timed to the royal couple's California tour
2013	RetailMeNot	Positioning the coupon site as a credible IPO candidate ahead of its NASDAQ listing under the symbol SALE, priced at $21 a share
2014	ASICS	Marathon awareness for the LA Marathon after Toyota dropped out, with media training led by Deena Kastor and half-marathon relays for first-time runners
2014	Samsung	A SABRE Award for product media relations

The agency also collected industry awards. The Holmes Report named it its 2010 Agency of the Year for firms under $25 million in revenue, and PRWeek gave it a 2010 honorable mention for mid-sized agency of the year. In 2014 it won five SABRE Awards, including Agency of the Year and Midsize Agency of the Year.

How did the agency change under Stagwell?

The agency moved from a founder-led PR firm to part of Stagwell, a holding company that grew out of the MDC Partners network Miles Nadal built. The timeline below shows the main steps.

1. September 2001: Allison and Hardie-Brown found Allison+Partners in San Francisco.
2. 2011: The agency opens its first overseas office in London.
3. 2023: The firm renames itself Allison Worldwide to reflect a shift from PR-first work to integrated marketing and communications.
4. January 2024: Allison steps down as Global CEO to focus on expansion through acquisitions, and co-founder Jonathan Heit takes the role, according to Daily Research News.
5. December 2, 2024: Allison and Hardie-Brown move to an advisory capacity, Ray Day becomes executive chairman, and Heit remains Global CEO, per a Stagwell announcement on PR Newswire.

Readers who want the agency's current services, leadership and offices can find them on EPR's Allison Worldwide agency profile. Stagwell's full portfolio is covered on the Stagwell Group page.

What is Scott Allison doing now?

Scott Allison joined Clario Group as an executive chair on May 20, 2026. In the role he supports growth in the United States, the Americas and Europe, while Andy Hardie-Brown supports expansion in Asia-Pacific and the Middle East.

Clario Group describes itself as a senior-driven global strategic communications and advisory firm, led by co-founders Matthew Della Croce and Lars Rosene. Allison said Clario Group is built for how communications work today and has a chance to create an agency where people want to work. The Clario Group announcement carries the full statement.

Where does Scott Allison fit among PR's architects?

Scott Allison belongs to the generation of agency founders who launched firms around the 2001 dot-com downturn. Jim Weiss started W2O Group in San Francisco the same year, and both men built firms that later joined larger platforms.

Allison is part of The Architects, EPR's encyclopedia of the people who built public relations. For another 2011 conversation with a firm leader, read EPR's interview with Kathy Bloomgarden of Ruder Finn. More founder conversations sit in the PR agency Q&A collection, and every profiled leader is listed in the PR Leaders Directory.