The majority of Orange County’s largest public relations firms on this week’s Business Journal list—27 out of 37—added staff or retained their existing number of employees in the past 12 months as their work increased in the reviving economy.
The total number of positions among OC’s firms grew from 354 to 370, a 4.5% increase.
“The climate for PR has strengthened in 2013 as compared to last year, and I’d have to say it’s directly related to the improving economy,” said Hilary Kaye, president of Tustin-based HKA Inc. Marketing Communications, which moved from No. 11 to No. 10 on the list. “The general atmosphere for PR in OC is much more upbeat. Companies are more willing to expand or even add PR to their marketing mix.”
The Brand AMP
n The Brand AMP of Seal Beach managed to retain the top spot in terms of staff size, even though it shed 11 employees in a split from Roswell, Ga.-based Leader Enterprises Inc. in January.
The firm’s PR staff was “right-sized” from 35 to 24 based on client assignment, said Todd Brooks, who cofounded the rebranded PR shop with his former co-workers, Charley Fitzwilliam and Marc Altieri.
Some staff left with Leader, while others transitioned to other jobs. The Brand AMP remained at the OC office.
“We had an opportunity to purchase our book of business for clients we wanted to continue working with,” Brooks said. “Leader knew that this was something we wanted to do. We had a vision to run our own shop, and they allowed us to that.”
The Brand AMP acquired three accounts since the split: Red Bull GMBH for extensive project work; National University as the school’s PR agency of record; and Qualcomm Technologies Inc. as the company’s consumer PR agency of record.
“We’re planning to add three to four more positions,” Brooks said. “We’ll get back to [35].”
n Idea Hall of Costa Mesa and Bluetone Marketing & Public Relations of Laguna Niguel moved up the ladder. Bluetone doubled its PR staff to 10 and leaped from No. 32 to 13, while Idea Hall moved from No. 7 to No. 3 with six new hires, a 50% increase.
“We are growing quickly,” said Jonathan Abramson, Bluetone’s president.
He said the agency landed a PR campaign for Beforeplay, a public health initiative partly aimed at reducing unintended pregnancy rates in Colorado. It also added five retainer clients over the past six months.
“I initially wanted to keep Bluetone Marketing and Public Relations as a boutique agency, but we are growing fast,” Abramson said. “… We’re not just pure PR services anymore.”
n Idea Hall benefited from the recovery of the commercial real estate and financial markets, which have been the core of its business for the past 10 years, said Rebecca Hall, the agency’s chief executive.
“We continue to serve long-term clients, such as Bixby Land Co. and Heger Pacific Properties, and add new, such as Equity Office and Irvine Company,” Hall said. “We have [also] diversified and won [business from] leading nonprofit organizations, such as the Alzheimer’s Association and Boy Scouts of America.”
n Fifteen agencies reported increases to their number of public relations employees, while 12 others had the same number of staff as last year, including Morgan Marketing & Public Relations LLC of Irvine.
That may soon change, according to Melinda Morgan Kartsonis, the agency’s owner, who’s looking to hire two PR staffers. “My clients have increased their budgets across the line.”
Aside from the hiring increase, HKA’s Kaye said she’s seen “an explosion of content” in PR workloads due to the plethora of platforms.
“Today, a story is communicated so many different ways, stretching over time, reaching even more audiences. … Content marketing is a boon to PR firms, as we now have so many more arrows in our quivers to communicate what is different and/or better about our clients’ products and services.”
Morgan Kartsonis added that PR agencies are “all over” social media, making it a huge part of their skill sets.
“Lines are blurred between advertising and PR,” she said. “We’re doing the creative [work for social media ads] and developing the strategy.”
Includes the 2013 OC’s LARGEST PUBLIC RELATIONS FIRMS list for download (pdf)
Download the 2013 OC’s LARGEST PUBLIC RELATIONS FIRMS list (pdf)
