O'Dwyer's released its 2021 annual PR firm rankings in April, and the industry snapshot they draw is the clearest picture of what pandemic-era PR actually looked like — the top 130 independent firms posted a 3.8% gain to $3 billion in combined fee income during 2020, the top 25 firms combined for a 5% gain to $2.3 billion, and headcount across the top 25 fell 2.2% to 12,135 as firms trimmed staff early in the pandemic and were slower to rebuild than fee income implied.
Published Jun 2021
The ranking is the reference document for how the U.S. independent-firm tier is structured — Edelman at the top, a mid-tier of $100M–$400M full-service firms, and a long tail of specialist agencies growing on category depth. The 2020 numbers also make clear which firms leaned into acquisition (Real Chemistry), which held ground through the crisis (APCO), and which experienced the pandemic hit that the rest of the top 25 mostly avoided (Coyne).
The top of the ranking
Edelman held #1 with $840 million in 2020 fee income — down 5.8% year over year and down roughly 530 employees. The largest independent PR firm in the world lost less ground in the pandemic than most of the media speculation predicted, but the flat-to-declining trajectory is the story analysts will watch through 2021.
Real Chemistry (the former W2O Group under CEO Jim Weiss) posted the biggest tier-one growth story of the year — a 61% jump to $360.2 million, driven by seven acquisitions closed in 2020: 21GRAMS, Symplur, Discern Health, Elysia Group, starpower, Swoop, and IPM.ai. The healthcare-marketing-technology positioning is the aggressive category thesis of the tier.
APCO Worldwide under CEO Brad Staples took the #3 slot at $143 million — up 1% from 2019. The Washington-based public-affairs and corporate reputation firm ran a "coronavirus hub" through 2020, launched a "Come Back Stronger" client program, and expanded regional hubs in Europe, Asia, and the Middle East.
The next tier
Finn Partners, ICR, and 5WPR anchor the next tier of full-service independent firms in the top 10. Prosek Partners and MWWPR round out the immediate follow-on group. The shape of this cohort is what independents-of-scale look like at the moment: $50 million–$150 million in fee income, national presence, cross-vertical practice, and enough headcount to compete on integrated brief work.
Below the top 10, the ranking gets more specialized. Kivvit at #14 posted $34.1 million (3% growth) on public-affairs and issues-management work — CEO Molly Scherrman's team invested through the pandemic in leadership hires and data tooling. Coyne PR at #20 posted $28 million (down 13%), the largest pandemic-era decline in the top 25 — CEO Tom Coyne's commitment to no layoffs became the case study on staff-retention-over-earnings that other firms studied through the year.
What the numbers signal about 2021
Three signals. First, PR proved more recession-resilient than adjacent professional services categories — the 3.8% top-line gain compares favorably to advertising's flat-to-down 2020. Second, healthcare and public affairs are the growth verticals — Real Chemistry, APCO, and the healthcare specialists in the specialist rankings all outperformed the aggregate. Third, the acquisition-driven growth of Real Chemistry is the strategic model tier-one firms will study for 2021 and 2022 M&A cycles.
The consumer and technology specialties, hardest hit early in the pandemic, are already showing recovery signals in the Q1 2021 industry data — the growth story for the next year is likely to be consumer and lifestyle firms rebuilding faster than headcount allows.
Methodology note
O'Dwyer's rankings measure net fee income — charges for PR counseling and time spent placing stories — and exclude advertising spend and production expenses. Rankings are verified by income tax returns and W-3 forms to support fee and employee totals. The methodology is why the O'Dwyer's ranking is treated as the industry's most credible measure of firm scale, and why growth numbers reported to it carry a different weight than self-reported figures.
Edelman, with $840 million in 2020 fee income. Down 5.8% year over year, but still more than twice the size of the #2 firm.
Which top-25 firm grew the fastest in 2020?
Real Chemistry — up 61% to $360.2 million, driven by seven acquisitions closed in the year (21GRAMS, Symplur, Discern Health, Elysia Group, starpower, Swoop, IPM.ai). The largest single-year growth in the top tier since O'Dwyer's began tracking.
How does O'Dwyer's measure fee income?
Net fee income — charges for PR counseling and time spent preparing and placing stories in media. Advertising and production expenses are excluded. Numbers are verified against income tax returns and W-3 forms.
How did PR compare to advertising in the 2020 pandemic year?
PR outperformed. The top 130 independent PR firms posted a 3.8% aggregate fee-income gain; the adjacent advertising category posted flat-to-negative aggregate growth on U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis measures.
Which verticals grew fastest through the pandemic?
Healthcare and public affairs. Real Chemistry (healthcare marketing technology) posted 61% growth. APCO (public affairs) held ground. The healthcare-focused specialist rankings also outperformed the aggregate.
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.
