Diana Marszalek 16 Nov 2018 // 2:41AM GMT
SANTA CLARA, CA — The global cybersecurity company McAfee has consolidated PR duties with Hotwire after a lengthy relationship with Zeno, the Holmes Report has learned.
Hotwire has been acting as McAfee’s global agency of record since earlier this year, handling all aspects of the company’s communications, according to sources familiar with the recent changes.
Zeno confirmed that its relationship with McAfee has ended. “We were proud to represent McAfee for more than five years as one of their PR firms in the US. We wish them well moving forward,” the agency said in a statement.
London-based Hotwire has long served as McAfee’s PR agency in much of Europe. But the agency did not have a big enough footprint in the US to handle the account before its merger with Eastwick Communications in 2016, sources said.
McAfee made the full-scale PR agency switch after successful project work with Hotwire, they said. There was no formal competitive review.
The move also came roughly a year after major changes at McAfee, which then-owner Intel spun off into a standalone company in early 2017. Intel still owns 49% of McAfee, but the majority now belongs to private equity firm TPG Capital.