NEW YORK: Porter Novelli has launched a content-creation and brand-publishing service called PNConnect to help clients tell stories across earned, owned, and paid media.
Digital teams at Porter and subsidiary agency Voce Communications collaborated to develop PNConnect. Rich Cline, senior partner and digital practice leader at Porter, is managing the group. The Omnicom agency acquired Voce in February 2011.
Cline said the idea for PNConnect came from the firms' “comprehensive approach to digital.”
He explained that agencies should have developers on staff that can create web platforms, applications, and other products, and then layer them within social media consulting, content creation, and traditional communications efforts. With PNConnect, the agency can help clients develop and publish content on platforms created by the team. It will also help the firm push out content for brands at strategic times to boost engagement levels with stakeholders and target audiences.
Cline said PNConnect publishes 500 to 1,000 pieces of content a day for brands across various channels. He said the firm cannot disclose the exact number of staffers working on the offering, but it includes employees in each Porter office. Cline added that the firm is seeking talent in the “premium content” space because the trend of brands becoming their own publishers is growing.
Porter has introduced PNConnect in offices around the world over the last 18 months, but it is revealing the service externally now that digital capabilities are in place.
Other large agencies have debuted or bolstered content-creation offerings in the past year. Last month, Weber Shandwick launched a creative services offering called GoLive that works to showcase client content through live storytelling, social distribution, and digital broadcast production. GoLive is part of Mediaco, Weber's content-creation and distribution unit that launched in March.
Hill+Knowlton Strategies acquired digital consultancy Group SJR last month in an effort to expand its offerings in digital and content creation. Group SJR will maintain its brand and operate as an independent company owned by H+K.
