8th 4 AL ANNU ION EDIT 2018 O ’ D W Y E R ’ S D I R E C T O R Y O F P U B L I C R E L A T I O 48th ANNUAL N S F I 2018 R M S DIRECTORY OF PUBLIC RELATIONS FIRMS J.R. O’DWYER CO. • NEW YORK, NY • WWW.ODWYERPR.COM HU_Print advert_8.5x11_0.1_180403.indd 1 4/3/18 4:19 PM 2018_directory.qxp_pages 6/4/18 9:15 AM Page 1 O’Dwyer’s Directory of Public Relations Firms 2018 Directory Editor-in-Chief: Melissa Werbell Researchers: Jane Landers Christine O’Dwyer Advertising: John O’Dwyer Design & Production: Steve Barnes Jon Gingerich © Copyright 2018 Published by the J.R. O’Dwyer Co., Inc. 271 Madison Ave., New York, NY 10016 (212) 679-2471 www.odwyerpr.com Publisher: John O’Dwyer Printed in U.S.A. Library of Congress Catalog Number 70-86913 ISBN: 978-0-9976910-2-3 ISSN: 0078-3374 2018_directory.qxp_pages 6/4/18 9:15 AM Page 2 TELL YOUR STORY / STRATEGIC COMMUNICATIONS / SARDVERB.COM 2018_directory.qxp_pages 7/9/18 10:51 AM Page 3 CONTENTS Foreword 5 PR Firms Newly Listed in the Directory 5 PR Firm Ranking Instructions 6 Ranking of PR Firms with Major U.S. Operations 7 List of Major Holding Companies and their PR Subsidiaries 13 Leading Gainers Among the Ranking of PR Firms 15 Ranking of PR Firms by Cities and Regions 17 Ranking of PR Firms by Specialty 21 Index to Public Relations Firms with Specialized Skills 29 Geographical Index to PR Firms Based in the U.S. 75 Geographical Index to PR Firms and Branches Outside the U.S. 84 How to Hire and Get the Most From Outside PR Counsel, by Jack O’Dwyer 86 How to Hire a PR firm: The Corporate View, by Fraser Seitel 87 Proper RFPs Help Clients to Find Right Agency, by Robert Udowitz & Steve Drake 90 Nine Top Reasons to Get a PR Agency Valuation, by Rick Gould 91 10 Myths About PR Firms Being Acquired, by Art Stevens 92 2018 Tax Changes for PR Owners and Their Agencies, by Richard Goldstein 94 Index to Advertisers by Type of Service 96 Listing of PR Firms (alphabetical order) 97 Cross-Index to Client Companies of Listed PR Firms 223 Advertiser Index 5W Public Relations - 10 Konnect Agency - 33 APCO Worldwide - Inside Back Cover KYNE - 45 BackBay Communications - 55 LaVoieHealthScience - 77 BizCom Associates - 37 Lou Hammond Group - 83 Bliss Integrated Communication - 31 Marketing Maven PR - 20 Bravo Group - 35 Merritt Group - 24 Buchbinder - 95 Nat’l Investor Relations Institute - 43 Cashman + Katz Integrated Communications - 79 Padilla - 8 Coyne Public Relations- 18 PAN Communications - 41 Edelman - PR Rankings Divider, between pgs. 6 & 7 Pearson, The Practice of PR - 89 Fahlgren Mortine - 65 Peppercomm - PR Firms Divider, between pgs. 96 & 97 Feintuch Communications - 61 Racepoint Global - 4 Gould+Partners - 12 rbb Communications - 67 Gregory FCA - 26 Health Unlimited - Inside Front Cover Sard Verbinnen & Company- 2 Hotwire - 51 Sitrick And Company - 14 Hoyt Organization Inc., The - 13 Sloane & Company - 39 ICR - 22 Spark - 49 Inkhouse - 47 Spectrum - 53 Jarrard Phillips Cate & Hancock, Inc. - 71 Stevens Group, The - 16 Joele Frank, Wilkinson Brimmer Katcher - 69 Weber Shandwick - Specialty Index Divider, between pgs. 28 & 29 Kaplow - Back Cover WordWrite Communications - 81 2018 O’Dwyer’s Directory of PR Firms • www.odwyerpr.com 3 2018_directory.qxp_pages 6/4/18 9:15 AM Page 4 2018_directory.qxp_pages 6/4/18 9:15 AM Page 5 fOrEwOrd The 2018 edition of O’Dwyer’s Directory of Public Relations Firms contains listings of public relations firms and public relations departments of advertising agencies worldwide. Readers should cross-reference the directory with the “Find a PR Firm” database on odwyerpr.com for the latest updates to listings as well as newly-added firms not found in the printed directory. The rankings of PR firms are intended to allow the reader to draw rough conclusions regarding growth year over year. Only firms that list clients are included in the rankings. Outside CPAs of the firms were asked to do a “special report” on the figures involved (see page 6 for complete rules). While not the same as a full audit, such a report, also referred to as an “agreed-upon-procedure,” carries the full endorsement of the CPA firms. The rankings should be regarded as an expression of the directory’s opinion, rather than a statement of fact. The rankings are only intended to be approximations in the directory’s judgment of a firm’s standing within the industry, and are not warranted to comply with any specific objective standards. The directory’s geographical index reflects the fact that many PR firms operate from multiple office locations. This sorting is carried over into the PR specialty index which identifies firms with skills in 23 areas such as beauty and fashion, food and beverage, healthcare, investor relations, professional services, sports and entertainment, technology, and travel. Multiple articles in this year’s directory address hiring a PR firm, preparing a PR RFP, ins and outs of PR firm mergers and acquisitions and 2018 tax changes that will affect PR firm owners. The last section of the directory, an exclusive cross-client index, lets you look up a company and determine its outside PR counsel. The editors of the directory thank all the PR firms for their cooperation in providing data for the rankings as well as their listings of accounts, PR professionals, addresses, etc. We believe the availability of fuller information about the PR counseling industry will help clients who seek to employ firms and will help the industry to grow faster. John O’Dwyer Publisher June 2018 pr fIrmS NEwly lISTEd IN ThE dIrECTOry Agency H5 DRIVEN360 Mediafy Communications B Public Relations EAFocus Inc. Merryman Communications BAM Communications Germinder & Associates/GNFP Digital Millerschin Group, The Barracuda Public Relations GG Benitez & Assoc. PR, Inc. Nadel Phelan Inc. Bellmont Partners Grandone Media Strategies National Strategies Public Relations Berk Communications HeraldPR Paragon Public Relations Big Communications Herd Strategies PROI Worldwide Bospar Hollywood Agency Prosio Communications Boyle Public Affairs Hume Brophy Bradford Group, The Hundred Stories Red Fan Communications Cheer Partners iMiller Public Relations Robar Public Relations D & D PR INK Communications Co. Thomas Collective, The Decker/Royal Agency LLC, The JG Black Book Tigercomm, LLC DPA Communications Madison Alexander PR, Inc. Violet PR Dragon Horse Media LLC Marketing Works Winger Marketing 2018 O’Dwyer’s Directory of PR Firms • www.odwyerpr.com 5 2018_directory.qxp_pages 6/4/18 9:15 AM Page 6 pr fIrm rANkINg INSTruCTIONS Your firm can be an O’Dwyer ranked firm—a prime new business tool—by filling out the form below and e-mailing it to [email protected]. Send top page of latest income tax return and W-3 for 2018. Your ranking will be posted on odwyerpr.com and you can use it in new business pitches. Clients have come to rely on firms in the O’Dwyer rankings. Deadline for rankings based on ‘18 fee income: Fri., Mar. 8, 2019 Letter from the CPA of the PR firm as follows: (This form may be photocopied and used by CPA) To the Board of Directors of ______________________________________________ (city, state) _____________________________: We have performed the procedures enumerated below, which were agreed to by you solely for the purpose of ranking the PR firm named above with O’Dwyer’s based on 2018 results. This engagement to apply agreed-upon procedures was performed in accordance with the standards established by the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants. The sufficiency of the procedures is solely the responsibility of the PR firm. We make no representation regarding the sufficiency of the procedures described below either for the purpose for which this report has been requested or any other purpose. Our procedures were as follows: A. Net fee income is defined as basically charges for PR counseling and time spent preparing and placing stories in media. Mark-ups for out-of-pocket expenses and mark-ups and/or profits from collateral activities such as graphics, video production, printing, public opinion research, etc., are included as actual amounts. Such amounts do not exceed the limit of 7.5% of total fees. We compared fee income, as defined above, to the appropriate fee billing records and found that for the 12 months ended Dec. 31, 2018: Net fee income for 2018 was: $ _________________________________ Net fee income for 2017 was: $ _________________________________ Percentage gain (loss) was: ____________________________________ B. Gross billings for calendar 2018 aggregated _____________________________ (total income plus reimbusables). C. We determined from the payroll records that __________ employees were employed full-time as of Dec. 31, 2018 (employees who worked at least 35 hours a week and had F.I.C.A. taxes withheld). D. Wages paid as reported on enclosed form W-3 for 2018 totaled: $ __________________________. E. Enclosed is the first page of the latest Federal income tax return of the PR firm signed and dated by both us (the CPA) and __________________________________ (CEO of PR firm). F. The PR firm named above is (is not) owned, affiliated or in any way related to an advertising agency or individual owners of an advertising agency or any other company. The name of the parent or affiliated company is _____________________________ (tell what industry the parent company is in). G. Net fees of the PR firm named above in one or more of 12 PR specialties are given below to rank the firm in that specialty category. We are providing names of accounts to show the firm’s expertise in these areas.