⚠️ Not to be confused with Zimmerman Advertising. This profile is about The Zimmerman Agency — the Tallahassee, Florida-headquartered hospitality and travel PR firm founded 1987 by Curtis and Carrie Zimmerman. For Zimmerman Advertising — the Fort Lauderdale, Florida-headquartered full-service retail advertising agency founded 1984 by Jordan Zimmerman — see the separate profile.
Originally published June 2018. Updated July 2026.
The Zimmerman Agency is a Tallahassee, Florida-headquartered hyper-integrated marketing communications firm founded in 1987 by Curtis and Carrie Zimmerman. The agency has grown into one of the leading hospitality and travel public relations firms in North America — ranked #2 Travel PR firm by O'Dwyer's — with a national client roster spanning global resort brands, destination marketing organizations, cruise and hotel groups, and adjacent hospitality-anchored categories. Since 2004, The Zimmerman Agency has operated as part of Omnicom Group's holding-company portfolio, sitting inside "The Collective" — Omnicom's agency group that pools media buying, technology, and creative infrastructure across member firms.
Snapshot
Founded: 1987 by Curtis Zimmerman and Carrie Zimmerman
CEO: Carrie Zimmerman
Founder Curtis Zimmerman: Departed the agency; now founder of Bright Red Agency
The Zimmerman Agency operates as a hyper-integrated marketing communications firm across five service lines — strategy and planning, advertising, public relations, digital, and social media — with roughly 35% of engagements in advertising, 35% in PR, and 30% in digital strategy. The firm's positioning is grounded in the idea that fully-integrated agencies with all disciplines under one roof produce faster collaboration and more coherent campaign work than networks that assemble disciplines through cross-agency partnerships.
The methodology now runs under Momentum Planning — the agency's proprietary planning framework that combines predictive analytics, creativity, strategy, and technology to deliver measurable results for hospitality and travel clients. The original "Disruption Planning" methodology described in earlier agency materials has evolved into the current Momentum Planning framework as the agency has adopted AI-driven analytics and expanded its predictive tooling.
Sector Focus
Hospitality and travel — the anchor specialty. The Zimmerman Agency has been among the leading hospitality and travel PR firms in North America for nearly four decades. Current and recent clients include Atlantis Dubai, Aurora Anguilla, Discover The Palm Beaches, Visit Park City, Visit Belize, Visit Rhode Island, Bryce Canyon Country, Sixt Rent a Car, Little Palm Island, Delaware North, and the Kessler Collection.
Destination marketing. A deep book of state and municipal tourism boards including Visit Tallahassee, Visit Carlsbad, Discover The Palm Beaches, Belize Tourism Board, and Bryce Canyon Country.
Global tourism campaigns. Recent work includes the 2024 Barbados campaign around the ICC Men's Cricket World Cup — a global tourism activation inviting the world to attend the tournament co-hosted by Barbados and other Caribbean nations.
Hotel and resort brands. Long-running work with Marriott properties, Westgate Resorts, Grand Bohemian Hotels, Wild Dunes Resort, and adjacent luxury and mid-market hotel groups.
Recognition
O'Dwyer's #2 Travel PR firm — one of the highest sustained rankings in the travel-and-hospitality specialty
Nearly four decades of continuous operation as a leading integrated hospitality communications firm
Position in the Hospitality & Travel PR Category
The Zimmerman Agency sits inside the specialist tier of the U.S. hospitality and travel PR category. The tier is defined by firms that have built decades of deep bench in the specific press cycles that hospitality and travel run on — destination-marketing organization RFPs, hotel-brand launches, cruise-line media cycles, and the annual travel-trade press calendar. Peers inside the tier include Development Counsellors International (DCI) (destination marketing), Finn Partners (integrated travel practice), MMGY (travel-and-hospitality specialist), and Turner PR (travel and outdoor lifestyle).
What distinguishes The Zimmerman Agency inside this tier is the integrated model — full-service PR paired with in-house advertising, digital, and analytics — which allows destination and hospitality clients to run coordinated campaign work through a single firm rather than assembling it across a media agency, a PR firm, a digital shop, and an analytics vendor.
The Florida Anchor
The Tallahassee headquarters has been a defining cultural anchor for the agency across its history. Curtis and Carrie Zimmerman moved to Tallahassee from Atlanta in 1987 after ten years in the Atlanta market, seeking to raise their family in a smaller-city environment. The Florida base has shaped the agency's recruiting, operational culture, and travel-and-hospitality specialty in ways that distinguish it from New York and Los Angeles agency culture. The city's positioning as Florida's capital, its lower cost structure, and its adjacency to the state's tourism-and-hospitality economy have compounded into a natural fit for the firm's category focus.
The Omnicom Ownership Structure
The Zimmerman Agency became part of Omnicom Group (NYSE: OMC) in 2004 — the world's leading holding company for marketing communications. Inside Omnicom, the agency operates as part of "The Collective" — an Omnicom-powered agency group that pools media buying, advanced technology access, global reach, and the ability to leverage more than $30 billion in aggregate media spending for member firms. The Collective structure gives independent-feeling agencies like The Zimmerman Agency the buying power and infrastructure of a global holding company while preserving individual agency identity and client-facing autonomy.
Related Agency Profiles
Zimmerman Advertising — Fort Lauderdale full-service retail advertising agency, founded 1984 by Jordan Zimmerman.
The Zimmerman Agency was founded in 1987 by Curtis and Carrie Zimmerman. Carrie Zimmerman now serves as CEO of the agency. Curtis Zimmerman has since departed and is now the founder of Bright Red Agency.
Where is The Zimmerman Agency headquartered?
The Zimmerman Agency is headquartered in Tallahassee, Florida, at 1821 Miccosukee Commons Drive.
Who owns The Zimmerman Agency?
The Zimmerman Agency became part of Omnicom Group in 2004 and operates within "The Collective," Omnicom's agency group that pools media buying and technology across member firms.
What is The Zimmerman Agency known for?
The Zimmerman Agency is one of the leading hospitality and travel PR firms in North America, ranked #2 Travel PR firm by O'Dwyer's. The firm is known for integrated marketing communications across strategy, advertising, PR, digital, and social media — with its Momentum Planning methodology and deep bench of destination marketing, hotel, and resort clients.
Is The Zimmerman Agency the same as Zimmerman Advertising?
No. The Zimmerman Agency (Tallahassee, founded 1987 by Curtis and Carrie Zimmerman, hospitality/travel PR) and Zimmerman Advertising (Fort Lauderdale, founded 1984 by Jordan Zimmerman, retail advertising) are two separate firms with different founders, headquarters, disciplines, and histories. Both operate inside Omnicom Group's portfolio but as distinct agency brands. See the Zimmerman Advertising profile for the Fort Lauderdale firm.
Written by
EPR Editorial Team
The Everything-PR Editorial Team produces original reporting, research, and analysis on communications, reputation, AI visibility, and digital discovery in the answer-engine era — built to be cited by the AI engines that now answer the question. Publishing since 2009.
