PR News

Mondelez, which owns the popular cookie brand, Oreo, came under fire from two prominent political activist groups, the American Family Association, and One Million Moms. The target of their ire? An LGBTQ-friendly advert was released to coincide with National Coming Out Day. If a brand takes a public stand on a social or political issue, they should expect some public pushback, so this didn’t really come as a surprise to Mondelez. However, the accusations in some of the public comments did catch some off guard. One Million Moms leader, Monica Cole, said, “Oreo and parent company, Mondelez International, are attempting... Read More >

When you mix wild animals and people, occasionally, accidents will happen. That’s a fact of life in the zoo business. Most professional companies have myriad safeguards in place to limit the potential of these incidents happening. Still, no system is perfect, so sometimes a brand finds itself in a position similar to the Shanghai Zoo. In this case, though, not only did something awful happen, it happened in front of visitors with camera phones, making the whole incident that much worse and the need for a precise Public Relationsresponse that much more vital. You may have already read the story, or... Read More >

  Stephen Corsi Named Chief Digital Officer of Peppercomm The leading strategic communications and marketing agency, Peppercomm, hired Stephen Corsi as its Chief Digital Officer as well as Senior Partner. His primary role at the agency is to lead and grow digital marketing communications services that include social media marketing, paid search, web design and development, SEO, video, and creative services. Previous to working at Peppercomm, Corsi provided digital and PR strategy to different financial services, enterprise B2B, and fintech clients, such as Bank of America, McAfee, Blackberry, and plenty of other Fortune 500 companies. Heal Selects 5WPR as Agency... Read More >

How are agencies coping with corona virus? Here are two stories of marketing agencies and how they are coping with the pandemic. Patrick Garde, Co-Founder of Exaweb said, “Due to the coronavirus, we immediately implemented work-from-home arrangements by mid-March. We have not returned to the office since then. We believe that the health of our team members is our number one priority this pandemic.One of the WFH tips we can share is to set a weekly huddle, if possible, on Monday, to start the week with a positive vibe. One facilitator every week where each one can present something or... Read More >

RF Binder Moves Up in 950 Third Ave Building In a move to consolidate its spaces, PR firm RF Binder Partners has moved their offices one floor up within their current building at 950 Third Avenue New York. This move brings the company up from their current offices on the sixth and seventh floor, totalling 21,672 square-feet to the eighth floor at a much smaller 11,305 square-feet. Soliton Inc Hires Lippe Taylor Group to Launch “RAP” Medical device company Soliton Inc has hired PR firm Lippe Taylor Group in an attempt to help launch the Rapid Acoustic Pulse (“RAP”) device.... Read More >

W2O Expands Even More W2O announced its acquisition of Elysia Group. Headquartered in New York, Elysia is an economic and outcomes research firm with branches in Shanghai and Taipei. It specializes in helping medical device and pharmaceutical companies in their portfolio analysis and forecasting as well as measuring their cost-effectiveness and market sizing. With the acquisition, Elysia co-founders Bruce Wang and Patrick Wesley Furnback join W2O and assume roles as leaders in the agency’s health economics and real-world evidence practice. Both will report to W2O’s commercial strategy and market access practice leader Rita Glaze. PAN Communications Extends Its Reach One... Read More >

Michael Renaldo Joins Interdependence Public Relations Interdependence Public Relations said Renaldo would be the firm’s President of Global Health Business. As such, he will be responsible for steering their business strategy, providing senior counsel, nurturing relationships with their healthcare clients, and bolstering the agency’s presence and standing in the worldwide healthcare community. Rinaldo’s successful experience spans all aspects of healthcare PR over a 30-year career, which included taking the lead in building dna Communications into a major global healthcare PR player. The agency is part of the INC and Weber Shandwick network. Before that, Rinaldo spent more than ten years... Read More >

Chris Boehlke and Curtis Sparrer, co-founders and principals at Bospar PR, started the award-winning agency in 2015. Over the years, the firm has grown into a boutique tech PR agency that leverages the expertise of highly-seasoned pros to put brands on the map. Working with diverse networks, Buspar’s team enables brands to achieve success with their thought leadership, investor excitement, customer acquisition, and influencer engagement campaigns. Based in San Francisco, California, and working with clients like Cambium Networks, lntapp, LevaData, nCipher, Snow Software, and Unisys, the PR agency empowers brands to capitalize on breakthrough products for PR success. Building upon... Read More >

This week we have yet another lesson of how “speaking one’s mind” on social media can hamper or sideline a career, especially in public relations. We all have opinions, and we all want free space to express those opinions. Social media can lull us into a false sense of security, but the fact remains, social media is a PUBLIC forum and, thus, the public will see our private thoughts… and those thoughts will be carved in stone forever, even if the ideas expressed were a momentary bout with hubris or exaggeration. Just ask the spokesman for the US Department of... Read More >

After reports surfaced that some current and former employees of the Ellen show were accusing the star, Ellen DeGeneres, of allowing a “toxic workplace environment,” Ellen immediately responded. At the time, she said she felt “deep compassion” for anyone who felt mistreated, adding the following apology: “On day one of our show, I told everyone in our first meeting that (the show) would be a place of happiness… No one would raise their voice, and everyone would be treated with respect… Something changed, and for that, I’m sorry…” Now, Ellen has continued her efforts to win her way back into... Read More >