NEW YORK — Marketer Dari Marder and celebrity branding veteran Nicole Winnman have teamed up with PR and comms pro Maria Dolgetta to launch Creative Playground LLC., a new branding and marketing agency. Creative Playground specializes in celebrity branding, marketing and communications across the fashion, entertainment, beauty and wellness industries. Additionally, the company has also announced Creative Playground Productions, a strategic partnership with award-winning production company 3 Ball Entertainment. 3 Ball will provide production services for Creative Playground's projects involving long and short-form video content developed for both linear television and digital platforms. Creative Playground Productions is currently in development on several series in the home improvement, lifestyle and fashion genres. 

LONDON — PROI Worldwide has partnered with UK based independent tech agency Wildfire in an effort to strengthen their combined tech offering. PROI Worldwide consists of 75 independent comms agencies across five continents with over 5,000 employees serves over 6,000 clients worldwide. Wildfire's global expertise spans the business technology, consumer tech, digital marketing, electronics and telecoms sectors. 

WASHINGTON, DC — Washington Media Group (WMG) has launched a social audio practice intending to help clients successfully enter the growing social media sector. The offering is led by former broadcast journalists, allowing WMG clients to enhance public affairs campaigns and reach target audiences in a unique way. Utilizing WMG's in-house professional recording and editing studio, clients have affordable access to the tools needed to engage in conversations with audiences in the DC area as well the global social media network. 

WASHINGTON, DC — Brussels public policy and PR consultancy Cambre Associates and US-based association management company Drohan Management Group (DMG) have partnered to bolster their association management services and increase their offer on both sides of the Atlantic. The partnership aims to allow both firms to assist associations who want to increase their global presence, offering strategic support to ensure they are legally and financially compliant, and ready to advocate and represent their interests in DC and Brussels. 

WASHINGTON, DC — APCO Worldwide has announced the expansion of its North America paid parental leave policy to three months. APCO's expanded parental leave policy is part of a complete set of employe benefits and programs that includes the APCO Global Exchange Program, which allows staff to experience difference parts of the APCO global network, and a full time global mobility coordinator who is tasked with helping staff move between global markets. The firm also offers an on-boarding program, The APCO Academy, and various learning and development resources for staff. 

NEW YORK — Lexaria Bioscience Corp., a company licensing proprietary technology for deliver of bioactive compounds including cannabinoids, has engaged the corporate communications exerts of NetworkNewsWire (NWW). NWW is tasked with generating greater brand awareness for the company. NWW is a financial news and publishing company that delivers social communication solutions, news aggregation and syndication, and enhanced news release services.