2024 Global PR Agencies of the Year

The 2024 Global PR Agencies of the Year are the result of an exhaustive research process involving more than 500 submissions and (virtual) meetings with the best PR firms across North America, EMEA, Asia-Pacific and LatAm.

Analysis of all of the Winners and Finalists across specialist categories can be accessed via the navigation menu to the right or below. Winners are announced at the 2024 Global SABRE Awards, taking place at the 2024 PRovokeGlobal Summit on 28 October.

Finalists

Burson (WPP)

Backstory

The largest agency in the WPP public relations family got a whole lot larger in 2024: WPP announced in January that BCW would merge with sister company Hill & Knowlton later this year, creating a top three brand. BCW was best known for its work in corporate and public affairs, while H&K was a specialist in healthcare and consumer marketing. H&K had lost some luster in North America but was a powerful force in EMEA and Latin America. The combined firm remains strong in the corporate realm—including crisis and employee engagement—and in healthcare, while the expansion of digital and data expertise and new AI tools position Burson to take advantage of the future. It was named our Digital Consultancy of the Year in EMEA.

Locations

Headquartered in New York, Burson has one of the largest global networks of any agency. Its North American operation includes 11 offices in the mainland US. cross the EMEA region, Burson has teams in the UK, Germany, France, the Middle East, Italy, Brussels, Spain, Finland, Sweden, Switzerland, Norway and South Africa.

Performance

Burson is coy when it comes to sharing its financial data, but WPP’s public relations operations—of which the firm is by far the largest part—grew by 1.4% last year and it seems fair to assume BCW’s performance was probably a little lower than that number in what was clearly a transitional year. The firm’s corporate affairs capability—it was named our Corporate Consultancy of the Year last year—has continued its momentum, and healthcare had a strong year too, with 100% client retention. There was organic growth from longtime clients such as Dollar General, The Coca-Cola Company, and Swissport, as well as new business from Mahou USA, Nice, and Starbucks.

People & Culture

Donna Imperato, the architect of the merged BCW brand was replaced in May by Corey duBrowa, who had led Google’s communications since 2018 and previously held CCO roles at Starbucks and Salesforce. In other changes, Kristine Boyden joined the agency from Cruise, the self-driving automotive company, as CEO, Americas (she will hold the same role in the merged Burson) and of course the H&K merger added a wealth of talent including Craig Buchholz as CEO for the US.

Thought Leadership & Work

Burson created a new Artificial Intelligence Working Group tht includes chief innovation officer Chad Latz, chief technology officer Chris Kief, and WPP’s chief AI officer Daniel Hulme. In February of last year, the firm launched Navigate, aimed at assisting clients in charting their course through AI issues, and it is now working on a portfolio of proprietary intelligence and data tools including Decipher, powered by Limbik, which offers message believability testing and predictive virality. Highlights of the firm’s work included positioning Microsoft as a leading voice on AI; developing a fully integrated brand campaign, “Here for What Matters,” for Dollar General; providing media relations and integrated support for Supernus, a biopharmaceutical company specializing in CNS diseases. In EMEA standout work included using a suite of influencer tools to help Wimbledon’s sportswear brand, The Wimbledon Collection, expand into lifestyle fashion; working with Warner Bros to hone messaging for its Discovery channels in South Africa; and supporting Motorola efforts to raise awareness of violence against women in partnership with AC Monza’s football team.

— Paul Holmes

Edelman (DJE Holdings)

Backstory

The world’s largest public relations firm, and the only independent, family-owned firm in the top tier, Edelman was founded in Chicago in 1952 and has grown to become a global powerhouse. In recent years, with digital and social media driving much of the PR industry’s growth, attention has been focused on Edelman’s strong consumer portfolio, which catapulted it into the number one spot, and its creative credentials, which were strengthened with the addition of experts in paid media, digital content creation, and data and analytics. In EMEA, the agency saw the fruits of its three-year drive—started by Ed Williams, now international president and new EMEA chief executive AJ Hesselink—to emphasize organizational design and become more integrated and was rewarded with our EMEA Large Consultancy of the Year honors. It was a winner in Latin America too, a finalist in our Asia-Pacific Large Consultancy category too, as well as winning Creative Consultancy of the Year in the region.

Locations

Edelman is headquartered in New York, remains a market leader in Chicago, and operates a network of 13 offices in the US and an additional five in Canada. Edelman has 1,200 people in 17 offices in 12 markets across EMEA and is the largest full-service agency in the UK, which accounts for about half of its total EMEA revenues. The firm has another 1,100 employees in Asia, with almost 300 in Greater China and a similar number in India.

Performance

While Edelman struggled in North America, which dragged down its global numbers for 2023, EMEA was the brightest spot in the overall story, with fee income up by about 8.1% to $228.6 million. That means a healthy 34% increase in size over the past four years. The Middle East was once again a star performer, with better than 25% growth, while continental Europe was strong generally. The technology and public affairs practices both made a significant contribution, up better than 30%, while the Edelman Smithfield financial brand continued to grow, up 60% in the UK since 2020 and expanding into the Middle East. Edelman continues to work for a host of big names across the region, including several Unilever brands, ASICS, AstraZeneca, DP World, IKEA, Mars Petcare, Microsoft, Shell and Starbucks, and picked up new business such as Lidl and Merck in Germany; ADNOC, COP28 and PepsiCo in the Middle East; Wella in Spain; and Knorr and Siemens in Italy.

People & Culture

In May, Edelman promoted Ed Williams to lead its international operations (everything outside the US) and upped longtime COO AJ Hesselink to CEO in EMEA. There were other significant changes, with Ruth Warder becoming the sole UK and Ireland CEO after the departure of Hugh Taggart; Golin veteran Jon Hughes appointed as new COO; and Edelman Germany CEO Christiane Schulz assuming an expanded role of regional client leader. A major change in US operations came in October when Lisa Osborne-Ross left her position as CEO for the region—a post that was eventually filled by Kirsty Graham, who had been serving as global practices and sectors president since joining the firm in 2020 after joining from Pfizer. 

Thought Leadership & Work

It’s obligatory here to mention Edelman’s continue commitment to its Trust Barometer and all that flows from it: not only the considerable mainstream media attention it receives, but also its expanding diagnostic capability: the combination of two decades of trust data with a significant investment in AI is yielding data that will make the firm’s ability to predict the impact of client actions and positions with even greater certainty. It’s also worth noting that the quality of the firm’s work continues to excel: it took home the Platinum SABRE in Asia for the second straight year, this time for “Empowering Women, Empowering Agriculture: Lay’s Farm Equal” with the Pepsico brand. In EMEA, highlights included “The Squared Ball,” an initiative to draw attention to inequities in women’s football for financial services giant Allianz in Germany, and the introduction of Black hair styles into video games for longtime Unilever client Dove.

— Paul Holmes / Maja Pawinska Sims / Arun Sudhaman

Golin (Interpublic PR Group)

Backstory

Golin has progressed far beyond its Chicago-based consumer roots; these days the IPG firm is expanding across practice areas that also include technology, healthcare and corporate. Across these practice groups, the firm’s expertise spans content creation and production; corporate strategy; crisis management; data & analytics; DE&I strategy; employee engagement; influencer marketing; media relations & training; public affairs; social media; and social purpose. In addition to winning our Large Agency of the Year honors in North America, it was Digital Consultancy of the Year in Asia-Pacific, and was a finalist for Midsize Regional Network in Asia and for UK Consultancy of the Year inEMEA.

Locations

Golin’s North American footprint includes Atlanta, Chicago (HQ), Dallas, Los Angeles, Miami, New York, San Francisco, Toronto and Washington, DC. The firm's global network includes a very strong London operation, along with a smaller presence across Asia-Pacific, EMEA—where the UK office is very much a standout—and LatAm.

Performance

Golin continued to outperform its peers in a challenging 2023, with global fee income up by better than 6%. North America, which contributes about 80% of the firm’s revenues, grew slightly faster than that, with the New York office setting the pace, and the healthcare business making a significant contribution. Golin UK was the fastest-growing office in the global network last year, with growth of more than 30% and very healthy margins. In Asia, Golin’s revenue grew 4% in 2023, a relatively slowdown after two consecutive years of double-digit growth, but getting the firm closer to the $20m barrier. New business in North America came from a host of big names: abbvie, Alliant, amfAR, Celebrity Cruises, Chobani, Diageo, Elanco, FEMA, Fidelity Investments, Pfizer, Tapestry and UnidosUS, spanning every practice area.

People & Culture

The strong performance of the New York office and the healthcare sector were clearly factors when global chief executive Matt Neale named Dawn Langeland and Cori McKeever to co-lead the North America region. Others in new roles include chief client officer Ginger Porter; global president of data and analytics Jonny Bentwood, and three executive creative directors. Still committed to flexibility in terms of the workplace, Golin was our Best Agency to Work For in North America, with an approach encourages people to work in office two days a week. In terms of professional development, the GOLD (Golin Leadership Development) program has been expanded.

Thought Leadership & Work

Golin is making its own targeted investment in AI, with a focus on products like ContentEQ, tracking reactions to content; BrandEQ, tracking conversations around brands; and Verifcat, tackling misinformation and disinformation. The firm has also developed a new executive visibility product, EV360. The work included corporate communications support for Ozempic manufacturer Novo Nordisk, as well as SABRE nominated work like the “Time Portal” and “Grimace’s Birthday” campaign for McDonald’s; and the “Turning Influencers into Interrogators” effort for Adobe, while the UK operation won both a SABRE Award and a Cannes Lion for the “Misheard Lyrics” campaign for Specsavers with sister company Virgo Health.

— Paul Holmes / Maja Pawinska Sims

MSL (Publicis Groupe)

Backstory

There is some debate about whether MSL is a global public relations agency; parent company Publicis seems to prefer that its operations in numerous countries around the world report into local ad agencies, rather than sharing a common leadership structure or cohesive partnership. But many of those local MSL agencies are performing at or close to the top of their game right now: in the US, MSL was nominated for Creative Agency of the Year; in EMEA it was a finalist for Consultancy of the Year in both the DACH region and in Central and Eastern Europe; and most impressive MSL agencies won Consultancy of the Year awards in both China and India—the two largest public relations markets in Asia.

Locations

Headquartered in Paris, Publicis Groupe has a global network of PR agencies that includes leaders in key markets: the US and Canada, the UK and Germany, China and India—as well as a significant presence in many other locations.

Performance

Global revenue was more or less flat last year at around $400 million, enough to rank among the top 12 in the world. In the Americas, MSL grew by a very respectable 6% last year, outpacing its peers, and has now seen fee income increase by 30% over the past three years. The healthcare practice led the way, but consumer was up in the high single digits too. In India, the firm grew by around 11% to an estimated $14.5m, powered by strong returns from its integrated communications and digital/social media practices, and underpinned by a model that has seen increasing revenues from specific products. MSL China submitted a second consecutive year of double-digit expansion, driven by significant new business from Nippon Pain, Cathay Pacific, Chery, SCB, Jaguar, Volkswagen and Wonderful Pistachios.

People & Culture

MSL has been one of the top two midsize firms in our Best Agencies to Work For research for each of the past two years, a reflection of the work CEO Diana Littman and her team have put into building a culture around three core values: leading, loving, and learning. The learning aspect including DEI workshops, a Black talent career development program, and the parent company’s Marcel Career Labs. German CEO Wigan Salazar has presided over the firm’s successful run over the past five years, supported by a strong senior cadre that includes managing partner Birgit Soellner, (featured on our most recent Innovator 25 list). Under the leadership of Amit Misra, MSL India has also placed increased emphasis on its core values—courage, character and creativity—and on three strategic pillars: colleagues, clients and campaigns. 2.5% of revenue is invested in HR/talent initiatives, most notably in a string of programmes that have helped develop a vibrant and inclusive staff culture. In China, a relatively young leadership team reflects an average age of 28 at the agency, with MD Liza Zhang supported by a team of practice area VPs that have all been promoted from within; 50% of current P&L leaders are homegrown executives, while 84% of mid to senior management are female.

Thought Leadership & Work

In addition to being a leader in terms of influencer marketing generally, MSL has also taken the lead on the increasingly visible topic of influencer equity, championing equal compensation for diverse influencers. That’s part of the firm’s commitment to “making every client more influential in the world,” an approach that has led to a massive haul of awards over the past few years. MSL led the entire industry with 10 In2 SABRE wins for its work last year, with Ben Affleck’s Super Bowl ad for Dunkin’ a standout. In Germany, MSL draws on its Brand Protection Navigator, leveraging strategic insights to drive success. The firm had eight pieces of work shortlisted for SABRE Awards this year. Campaign highlights in India included SABRE nominated work for Gates Foundation, Skoda, Tinder and Tourism Australia. In China, MSL benefits from its parent Publicis Groupe’s formidable AI capabilities, along with agency-specific offerings in influence engagement, internal comms, development sector comms and multimedia content. And there has been eye-catching work for Sephora and Weilong.

— Paul Holmes / Arun Sudhaman

Weber Shandwick (Interpublic Group)

Backstory

Today’s Weber Shandwick Collective was founded 20 years ago by the merger of Weber Shandwick (itself a merger of tech specialist Weber Group and acquisitive UK agency Shandwick) and BSMG Worldwide. The second largest public relations agency in the world, Weber Shandwick is a genuinely full-service firm, with a balanced portfolio across corporate and public affairs, consumer marketing—as well as sector strength in health and technology—and us supported by an ecosystem of specialist brands like research specialist KRC, digital content creator flipside, and consulting unit United Minds, as well as dna in the healthcare space, all of which make up the “collective” that is now part of the brand. In addition to winning Asia-Pacific Large Consultancy of the Year, the firm was a finalist for that award in North America and EMEA—the only firm to make the cut in all three regions.

Locations

With 19 US offices and three in Canada, Weber Shandwick has strong coverage across North America, with strong offices in all the key markets, particularly its New York headquarters and its Washington, DC, operations. Weber Shandwick is one of the biggest agencies in the UK, its largest operation in EMEA, and is also among the market leaders in Germany, France, and the Middle East. And there are around 800 Asia-Pacific staffers working across a regional footprint that features major operations in Greater China (350 people), North Asia (160), Singapore (100) and India (180).

Performance

Interpublic’s PR group, of which Weber Shandwick is by far the largest part, reported 2.9% growth in 2023, and it appears that the Collective’s growth was pretty close to that mark, in line with the average among the largest agencies. Some of the specialist brands—dna, Flipside and United Minds—enjoyed solid double-digit growth, as did the New York headquarters office and the Powell Tate public affairs operation. Weber Shandwick saw mid-single digit growth in EMEA, with high double-digit margins and a 50/50 split between organic growth and new business. But Asia was the standout, with Weber Shandwick expanding topline revenue by 8%, propelled by Greater China (+5% including 11% growth in Hong Kong), North Asia (+12%) and Singapore (+18%). The firm’s healthcare practice (+38%) continues to impress, now accounting for 20% of regional revenue).

People & Culture

Weber Shandwick has arguably the strongest leadership team in the business: CEO Gail Heimann (succeeded this year by president Susan Howe); Jim O’Leary, who joined as North American CEO last year from Edelman; veterans like chief brand officer Joy Farber Kolo, chief innovation officer Chris Perry, head of healthcare Laura Schoen and head of public affairs Pam Jenkins. APAC regional chief Tyler Kim is supported by a team that includes chief client and growth officer Vanessa Ho Nikolovski; corporate affairs head Carolyn Devanaygam; strategic planning and intelligence lead Wong Hin-Yan and strong market leaders. In EMEA, after refreshing its approach to talent and its employee value proposition in 2022, TWSC continued its focus on DE&I, with a new talent attraction model, and Michael Frohlich heads a talented regional team.

Thought Leadership & Work

Given that Weber Shandwick is investing heavily in AI—it’s clearly among the industry leaders—it’s interesting to hear the firm talking about an approach rooted in “extreme humanness,” but the idea that public relationships are built on contributing value in order to earn value is at the heart of Heimann’s philosophy—the value of which is underscored by the firm’s new “Primacy of Personal” research study. Noteworthy work in the US last year ranged from high-profile consumer work like “Pop Tarts: The First Edible Mascot” for Kellanova (a winner in Cannes) and purpose-driven work like the launch of the first Barbie doll with down syndrome. In Asia, highlights included SABRE-nominated campaigns for Expedia, Green Food Bank, Anta, Casetify, PVR and Motherhood Women & Childcare Hospital. TWSC was shortlisted for an impressive 16 SABREs this year in EMEA, including work with IMB, Mastercard, Sanofi, Abbott, Mars Wrigley’s Pedigree dog food brand in the Netherlands, and the UAE Ministry of Education.

— Paul Holmes / Maja Pawinska Sims / Arun Sudhaman

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