WASHINGTON: 463 Communications has rebranded as Vrge to evolve with the ever-expanding technology landscape and the increasing number of disruptors within it.
463 was initially founded to help policy makers in Washington, DC and technological mavens in Silicon Valley meet in the middle, but revamped Vrge will do more than that, according to a company statement.
"Vrge is focused on a much broader question – how should companies and organizations navigate the political, policy, regulatory, and social impact that disruptive technologies and business models have on the world around us," the company statement reads.
Led by founders and partners Josh Zecher, Mark Blafkin, Scott Gerber, and Tom Galvin, Vrge has offices in Washington, Seattle, and San Francisco, with plans for future growth.
Gerber told PRWeek that since innovation isn’t confined to a single city, the firm might have to work in a place like Albany, New York or Boston.
"I think to be effective we have to be able to operate in all of those cities," he said. "For some of the areas, we’ll add people and some we’ll partner with firms."
Vrge is under the Next Fifteen Communications Group umbrella, Zecher said, which is a "great resource" domestically and abroad.
"When we say ‘navigating,’ that means helping a company develop a real position, a message, a point of view, and a story for us to leverage channels," said Zecher, which may span media relations, social media, or other third parties.
Vrge is not about "picking winners and losers," Zecher said, because some companies might start out as a disruptor and end up being "the disrupted."
Where 463 was a niche firm, Vrge runs the gamut, with expertise to help companies in any space, whether finance, transportation, or healthcare, said Galvin. The revamped agency is also launching Vrge Analytics, which is the result of working with Redshift Research.
