Backstory

Ogilvy’s ability to blend PR and digital continues to impress in Asia-Pacific, where the social team numbers 400+ executives across the region, including expertise across social media, influencer marketing, content/context, social commerce, paid and realtime marketing. The firm’s position within the broader Ogilvy group gives it access not only to PR and creative expertise, but also to media and brand capabilities and delivery/tech skills — a combination that has proven particularly useful for its for its AI influence and social content Centres of Excellence, along with new offerings focused on B2B influence and TikTok.

Locations

Ogilvy’s digital operations encompass its key Asia-Pacific markets of China, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Thailand, Singapore, Shanghai, Korea, Taiwan, Japan and Sydney. There are 250+ people across the agency’s various content/context hubs in the region, including major centers in Manila and Vietnam and a further 13 studios across the region. 

Performance

There was standout growth from the firm’s CoE’s in Vietnam and Manila, driven by social content expansion (+120%) and influencer revenue (+13%), helping to underpin new business from Changi Airport Group, Samsung, Baidu, Skyscanner, L’Oreal, AIA, Snap, British Council, Moderna, InvestHK, DestinationNSW, AWS, Microsoft, VinaMilk and NBN. The firm launched Southeast Asia’s first healthcare virtual influencer, while its creator studio landed expanded work for AIA, Dove and Unilever. 

People & Culture

Brenda Ho and Anggie Apriilia lead the firm’s influence and content CoEs in the Philippines and Vietnam, respectively, while there were also several promotions and hires that focused on Ogilvy’s creative, content and strategic planning capabilities. Ogilvy’s leadership reflects its belief in Asians overseeing its operations, and most are women, reflecting a workforce that is 55% female, with the 30-for-30 Asia effort challenging female talent to reach their full potential. New research from the firm’s Philippines office is driving a broader inclusion focus, including a region-wide Inclusion Empowerment Committee, and there is Ogilvy’s usual extensive investment in training and development, including the pioneering Pacesetters programme for next generation leaders, along with a wide-ranging regional wellness initiative that has noticeably softened some of the harder edges involved in a network as big as Ogilvy.

Thought Leadership & Work

In tandem with its impressive product innovation around AI influence, creators, content, B2B and TikTok, Ogilvy’s prolific thought leadership operation has been a key factor in the firm’s Asia-Pacific success. A focus on disruptor and DTC brands has paid off in major assignments, while the firm’s social practice demonstrates strong innovation, not least through its AI influencer activity and content/context hubs. Ogilvy’s campaign work continues to reflect these strengths, including 31 SABRE nominations, for such clients as Aldi, KFC, Unicef, the Tourism Authority of Thailand, Unilever, Taya, GE Healthcare, Atlassian, Intel, Swire Coca-Cola, Sabeco, and Mind You Mental Health Systems. 

— Arun Sudhaman

Backstory

It was a pivotal year for Paris-born international agency Jin, which was founded in 2012 by Edouard Fillias, Alexandre Villeneuve and Romain Boudre, who recognised the opportunity to build an agency focused on digital marketing, technology and influence. After raising €3 million in private equity funding in 2021, last year the agency made its first acquisition, buying Opinion Act – a specialist in community analysis and digital strategy founded by Caroline Faillet – with the aim of creating Europe’s leading digital influence and community activation consultancy. The merged firm, which works with clients in sectors including health, finance and food, is now structured around five divisions: corporate reputation; social media brand building; media relations, plus two new divisions focusing on data and insights, and digital strategy. 

Locations

Jin is based in France (Paris, Lyon), UK (London), Germany (Berlin) and in the US (New York), and, post-merger, now has 120 employees across the agency.

Performance

Jin’s fee income grew by around 15% last year to close to €30 million, with a 10% increase in its gross margin, excluding Opinion Act’s numbers. It is expecting 40% income growth across the merged company this year. Client wins during 2022 included Dermapharm and Getty Images, as well as a global investment firm and a leading utility provider, which joined Crédit Agricole, SNCF, Ferrero, Duolingo, Bouygues and Technicolor on Jin’s roster. 

People & Culture

Jin – which has a multi-lingual, culturally-diverse team who are encouraged to work across its offices – has a zero-tolerance policy for all forms of discrimination, sexism, bullying and harassment, and has never had an employee complaint – especially important at a time where French agencies are under scrutiny from Instagram account BalanceTonAgency, which shares testimonials of harassment victims in the advertising and PR agency world. The agency offers a return-to-work bonus of €2000 for mothers and fathers returning from parental leave, has harmonised sick leave rights across its markets, contributes to health insurance and offers yoga classes and gym subsidies. The agency runs the Jin Academy training programme, and after consultation with its young teams has partnered with Hackers without Borders and Techfugees. Senior appointments during the year included Anja Timme as head of augmented PR and Germany country manager, and Hugo Fargeas as head of international; at the start of this year, Fargeas – a prime example of homegrown talent, having started at the agency as a junior in 2016 – also became the agency’s MD in the UK. 

Thought Leadership & Work

Jin was shortlisted for a SABRE award for its Pink October breast cancer campaign for women’s health company Organon. Other outstanding work during the year included differentiating optical retailer GrandVision in a crowded market, increasing social media engagement for pharma Lilly, and impactful corporate and consumer media relations work for electric vehicle charging network Ionity. Thought leadership during the year included the publication of Faillet’s book, ‘Web3, the new digital war’, and the agency has continued its history of tech innovation (it built the PitchBoy VR pitch training tool for sales and customer relationship management in 2018 and has since spun it off into a stand-alone business) working on a soon-to-be-launched AI training product for clients. 

— Maja Pawinska Sims

Backstory

Highwire has established a solid reputation as a Silicon Valley PR firm known for consistently good work and strong leadership. Over its 14-year history, its three co-founders have been committed to constantly transforming its offerings around digital and content innovation and, in 2022, the firm secured a strategic investment from Los Angeles-based Shamrock Capital as a means of furthering the agency’s growth. Agency principals are Kathleen Gratehouse, Carol Carrubba and Emily Borders.  

Locations

Highwire has offices in San Francisco (HQ), New York, Chicago and Boston. 

Performance

For the 120-person shop, revenue grew 16% to $34 million, fueled in part by the firm’s investment in building out digital capabilities over the last few years including the 2022 acquisition of digital marketing agency Wonderscript. In 2022, Highwire’s digital practice drove 61% of the agency’s organic growth, grew 75% year-over-year and is an instrumental pillar in nearly all of the agency’s new business wins. By the end of 2022, 71% of enterprise clients integrated with our digital services, up from 28% at the end of 2021. 2022 also saw Highwire securing a strategic investment from Shamrock Capital, setting up the firm to pursue additions to its healthcare practice and building out its digital data analytics, public affairs and corporate communications capabilities. New business came from Okta and Netlify and an array of healthcare clients — Zocdoc, Primary Health, HiLabs and SimplePractice.  Long-standing partners include Rocket Lawyer (12 years) and Twilio (10 years).

People & Culture

Highwire’s commitment to diversity bore fruit in 2022, achieving 45% racial diversity — exceeding the 40% goal it set in 2020; 32% of leadership is diverse. Highwire, however, continues to roll out new DEI-boosting efforts such as its ‘Sustain the Gain’ program, which focuses on recruiting diverse talent through one-to-one relationship building. In Q1, the agency expanded its roster of employee-led affinity groups with the launch of the BIPOC Collective, whose first product was producing a video showcasing the intersection of food and culture. Highwire also is adding new solutions and systems that will help employees work more efficiently given Highwire’s hybrid work model. Tech leader Jason Mayde has created a chatbot service that provides employees 24-hour tech support. 

Thought Leadership & Work

Highwire’s most interesting 2022 efforts included its work for B2B loyalty marketing company Alliance Data, which had to shift its business model or risk being a causality of changing consumer habits, like the malls and brick-and-mortar stores the company supported.  Alliance did that by reinventing itself as Bread Financial, a consumer-facing digital financial services company. Highwire attainted its goal of reaching Gen Z users with a social media and digital campaign that enlisted Gen Z financial activist Taylor Price and brand ambassadors. 

— Diana Marszalek

Backstory

Until relatively recently, Lippe Taylor was one of a number of New York consumer boutiques, keeping a low-profile and delivering solid earned media results for clients. But over the past decade, the firm has diversified its client portfolio—the healthcare practice is now a formidable player in its own right—and invested heavily in digital and social media capabilities and data and analytics, establishing itself as one of the market’s most forward-thinking brand builders. The payoff has been big, with the firm growing from an $11 million to $50 million operation over the last five years. 

Locations

Lippe Taylor is headquartered are in New York City. The firm’s 210 employees live in 21 different states, with centers of excellence in Los Angeles, Chicago, Minneapolis, Philadelphia, Washington DC, and Atlanta with an upcoming office in London.

Performance

Lippe Taylor saw revenue rise an eye-catching 48% in 2022, making the firm a $50.7 million business versus the $11 million operation it was just five years earlier. Growth was 100% organic, with roughly 81% coming from existing clients including AbbVie, Bayer, Johnson & Johnson, Pfizer, Nestle Health Sciences, Sanofi, Tarsus Pharmaceuticals, Impel Pharmaceuticals, Citigroup and Galderma. New business also was also heavy on healthcare work, with the agency adding Organon, SK Life Sciences. Albireo Pharmaceuticals, Dr. Scholl’s and Claritin to its roster, as well as Constellation Brands, Serta Simmons and Dos Equis. The firm’s scientific credentialing capability is among its 2022 innovations. 

People & Culture

Founder Maureen Lippe and chief executive Paul Dyer have given a lot of thought to the lifecycle of PR firms, the dangers of plateauing, and how to structure a business that empowers people to smash through growth barriers—there has been a new emphasis on giving everyone at LT the confidence and freedom to bring their own entrepreneurial ideas to the firm. It has also created new opportunities for staff with the recent creation of sister agency twelvenote (an expansion and rebrand for the former Shop PR). New additions include chief creative officer Craig Elimeliah, Chief Creative Officer, head of creator marketing Corey Martin, head of strategy and planning Matt Noe and head of pharma center of excellence Aleisia Gibson-Wright. The firm maintains its strong commitment to DEI: BICOP employees make up 39% of staff, a 6% increase from 2021, and the firm continued adhering to its pledge to donate $1 million in pro bono work to Black-owned businesses supporting social justice.

Thought Leadership & Work

Paul Dyer says that Lippe Taylor wants to be “the first earned marketing AOR,” which translates into becoming a PR firm that leads creative and is capable of delivering the earned, share, owned and paid solutions (LT’s acronym is ESOP, which puts these things in their proper order) clients are looking for. It has been making progress in that direction, developing the requisite advertising capabilities and pioneering digital and data tools, with the firm’s capabilities in influencer marketing and metrics among the standouts and scientific credentialing among the new developments. Highlight work included launching Bylvay’s pediatric kidney disease treatment in five counties and Impel Neuropharma’s migraine treatment Trudhessa, and premiering The Gratitude Project at the Tribeca Film Festival for Bayer’s One a Day vitamins. 

— Diana Marszalek

Backstory

Founded in 2000 by Jason Yeo to recognise the fusion of ‘PR and ‘Brain’, Prain has grown to become not only Korea’s biggest PR firm, but one of the largest in Asia, ranking 57th in PRovoke Media’s Global Rankings. The firm owes much of its growth to a smart expansion strategy that has included significant M&A, resulting in nine subsidiary companies that span its four divisions: PR, sports marketing, talent management and luxury.

Locations

Prain’s 300+ people are headquartered in Seoul, but the firm has made specific strides to build its global network in such countries as Indonesia, Singapore and Japan via strategic partnerships. 

Performance

Prain grew 10% to $54m in 2022, despite continued turbulence in Korea’s broader marcomms market. Over the last five years, the firm has surged by 76%, reflecting the benefits of its diversified portfolio, which includes major MNCs such as SK Innovation, SK Hynix, Naver Cloud, and TikTok. In addition, with an expanded focus on digital PR and the growth of the sports marketing business sector, the company has seen a substantial increase in its workforce, with a 41% rise from 219 employees in 2020 to 308 employees in 2022. Digital and integrated work accounts for more than half of the firm’s overall revenue, while Prain’s overall client roster is heavily weighted towards the CPG and healthcare sectors, including Samsung Electronics, SK Telecom, Kakao, Incheon International Airport, Volvo, TikTok, Riot Games, Zespri, MSD, Novartis, and GSK. New business, meanwhile, has come from Mohegan Inspire, HotelsCombined/Kayak, Hong Kong International Airport, Allergan, SK Biopharmaceuticals, Naver Cloud, Epson, SK Innovation, SK Hynix, Samsung Asset Management, SK D&D, and Kia Motors.

People & Culture

Donna Kim joined Prain as president and CEO in 2022 after several years with WPP, working alongside founder Yeo to bring a stronger focus to the firm’s international expansion plans. New talent includes Sangwoo Paul Lee to lead the firm’s research institute, while media specialist Yoonkyoung Kim oversees the issues management division. 72% of Prain’s workforce are women, and policies reflect a focus on gender equity, including flexible working, parentl leave, D&I training, and supplier diversity.  

Thought Leadership & Work

Prain has recently several thought leadership initiatives, including an ESG Communication Index in collaboration with academia and KADPR; an global PR alliance bringing together independent firms from 20 countries; and, a blockchain business unit that aims to lead digital transformation. Campaign highlights included SABRE nominated efforts for Daewoong Pharmaceutical and Yuhan-Kimberley. 

— Arun Sudhaman