SAN FRANCISCO: Lewis PR will now simply be known as Lewis as the agency rebrands to reflect its full service offering.
Lucy Allen, EVP and chief strategy officer, said the firm spent the past year extending "through acquisition and organic growth a range of additional services beyond our core domain of PR," including organic and paid social media and advertising, as the walls between specialties continue to come down.
One factor driving the company’s transition is its 2013 purchase of integrated PR, marketing, and business strategy firm Davies Murphy Group in Boston, which will now be rebranded as Lewis. DMG leaders Eric Davies and Andy Murphy become Lewis' strategic counsel and global brand strategy officer respectively.
Lewis’ research group and Lewis Pulse, its digital specialty, will also be included in supporting efforts for clients. Other acquisitions in recent years include digital firm Piston this year and PageOne PR in 2010.
"We still have PR at our core, which is important," said Allen. "Nowadays marketing is all about relevance and PR professionals are experts at dynamic, context-aware programs [through which] you get exactly the right message to the right individual at the right time, where they most want it."
The firm is training staff "to make sure our teams are oriented around the client, rather than the skill set, so clients get to work with an individual who can help them navigate the entire marketing landscape and apply whatever tactics are needed to meet their goal," added Allen.
The firm turned 20 in 2016 and posted global revenues of $65 million in the 12 months to July 31, up 13% organically on its prior fiscal year.
New hires in the period included chief information officer Kevin Bram, UK consumer lead Ranj George, and director of insight and research Matt Robbins.
