It was June 1, 2001. Google was just a pup and Facebook and Twitter hadn’t been born yet. Advertisers were still purchasing print media. As far as creative services firms were concerned buyers had a clear delineation between marketing and PR shops. June 1, 2001 was also when I sold my CPA firm and started…
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Category: News
3 PR M&A Trends to Watch in 2018
It’s just a few weeks into the new year, but the media M&A field is starting to percolate already. There were two deals in early January alone. Highwire PR, one of the fastest growing tech independent firms, acquired Inner Circle Labs and merged the two San Francisco-based agencies, while the Association of National Advertisers (ANA)…
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The PR Trifecta: Growth, Profitability and Billing Rates Stalling
In light of this solar eclipse this week, the constellations have started to align for the PR industry. But it’s not a pretty picture, with all the major financial indices down and little sign that the industry has started to make headways in order to reverse the declines. Just check out the tale of the…
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Online Video: Take Your Best Shot
PR firm owners know the scene. They land a new account and sit down with the buyer(s) for an initial strategy session. After exchanging niceties PR firm owners reach into their portfolio and offer a package of services that would best align with the client’s goals and/or financial objectives. Assuming budget is available PR executives…
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Gould+Partners Releases 2017 Benchmarking Survey
Gould+Partners is pleased to announce the release of its 2017 PR Benchmarking Survey, which focuses on several key metrics critical to PR firm owners and C-level executives. The goal of the survey is to collect financial stats stemming from many areas that are relevant to PR agency growth, profitability, operations and building value for the…
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NJRPR Acquisition by MMGY Global
Gould+Partners is pleased to announce that managing partner Rick Gould advised NJFPR in the PR firm’s sale to MMGY Global, which combines two of the top PR and marketing firms specializing in the travel and hospitality sectors. NJFPR, founded by Nancy J. Friedman, will now be able to offer clients PR strategy as part of…
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Gould+Partners Launches Email Newsletter
Gould+Partners has announced the launch of Gould+Partners Inside Edge…Business Strategy for PR, Media & Creative Service Agencies, an email newsletter catering to creative service agency owners and senior executives. The email newsletter will focus on agency management, M&A issues and best practices, profitability, valuations, executive retention and media and marketing trends. It generally will have…
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SHIFT Communications Acquisition by NATIONAL Public Relations
NEW YORK, NY, MAY 6, 2016 – Gould+Partners is pleased to announce that it represented SHIFT Communications in the transaction between NATIONAL Public Relations and SHIFT Communications, an integrated communications firm with offices in Boston, New York City, Austin and San Francisco. NATIONAL’s acquisition of SHIFT, which was officially announced Wednesday, brings together Canada’s top…
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Infographic: Corporate Newsrooms Not Up to Snuff
PR pros are supposed to make journalists’ lives easier, right? In a post-digital age, don’t be so sure. Only 6 percent of journalists say digital newsrooms meet their expectations, with more than 65 percent saying that most online PR resources fail to meet their needs, according to a recent survey by Isebox. What is more,…
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PR / Communications Report: Promise and Peril
A new report on the PR field shows a profession that is getting richer, faster and more strategic. But it also shows a sector fraught with hesitation, and a seemingly paralyzing inability to measure its performance and provide solid returns to clients. For example, PR leaders saw the adoption of new technologies (4.1 on a…
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Demos: Gen Z Vs. Millennials
PR agency owners and managers can be forgiven if they think that Gen Z, or people born starting in the mid-to-late 1990s through the 2010s, share some of the digital characteristics of millennials, or folks born between the early 1980s and 2000s. Sure, Gen Z members cherish their hand-held devices, adore their social networks and…
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Is the M&A Party Over? It Could Just Be Starting for PR Field
Following two consecutive years of high-volume global mergers and acquisition activity, 70 percent of U.S. dealmakers surveyed expect a decrease in North American activity this year due to economic conditions and wobbly stock markets, according to a the 9th Annual Brunswick M&A Survey. Globally, however, it’s a different story, with most dealmakers (66 percent) optimistic…
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