Backstory

In a year where the tech economy had its biggest downturn for more than a decade and specialist PR agencies were navigating very choppy waters, Axicom and its team of self-proclaimed pirates, led by swashbuckling European president Kate Stevens and Americas president Lisa Sullivan under the global leadership of CEo Matt Lackie, won the sector’s biggest treasure: the coveted AMD account, previously held by Edelman. At a minimum of $7m in fees, it was the biggest global technology pitch for two years and a major proof point that the transformation of a small specialist agency into a global communications force for tech companies and brands with a tech story was complete. Axicom’s mission is to combine technical expertise with data, insights, emotional intelligence and creativity to earn brands a place in business and culture, as well as helping its clients solve grand problems to advance business, people, and society. That was enough to earn EMEA Technology Consultancy of the Year honors, as well as a place on the North America shortlist.

Locations

In the US, Axicom has offices in San Francisco, Austin and New York. It also has 120 employees in the UK, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Spain and Sweden. 

Performance

After increasing revenue by 13% last year, it was a year of scale rather than growth for Axicom, which still grew revenue by mid-single digits in 2023 across all its offices despite the challenging market. The agency this year is building on this momentum globally with the merge of its three regions under Lackie's leadership – including the addition of Brazil and Mexico via the merger with Burson sister agency Ideal. The agency now has close to 300 employees worldwide. Under Sullivan, Axicom’s US operation came into its own after lagging behind its European counterpart. After increasing revenue by 13% last year, it was a year of scale rather than growth for Axicom, which still grew revenue by mid-single digits in 2023 across all its offices despite the challenging market. As well as winning the marquee AMD account after an eight-month pitch process, AxiCom picked up work from the likes of Lavazza, Talk Talk, Outbrain, Capgemini and Razer. 

People & Culture

Last year the agency launched the Axicom Culture Council, made up of employees across its global network to drive culture and DEI efforts, which include CultureAmp, global performance management platform to tackle bias using 360-degree feedback. The agency also has access to sister agency Burson’s Destination Diversity inclusion programme. In the US, Sullivan has brought Axicom’s North America operation up to par with its UK counterpart, supported by Brian Snyder, global president of digital, and senior VPs Jake Green and Mindy Nelson.  

Thought Leadership & Work

Axicom kicked off its work for AMD with a global storytelling campaign around the semiconductor giant’s ‘Advancing AI’ event, which led to 155 English language articles in 36 hours, including in the FT and Tech Radar. AMD's market cap jumped $20 billion in the aftermath. The team also set up a multi-country agency network for Sage – the agency’s big win of 2022 –  which was struggling with message and campaign activation consistency. Three weeks later, the eight agency teams had completed their first global campaign together. A year on, Sage continues to benefit from this global agency approach with established processes for sharing of information, briefing, campaign execution and measurement across earned and media relations both in the UK and in the US.

— Paul Holmes / Maja Pawinska Sims

Backstory

Brands2Life, recently acquired by Nordic holding group Paritee, has grown with remarkable consistency since it was founded by Giles Fraser and Sarah Scales 23 years ago, and has also evolved, from a technology public relations specialist into “the agency for the brands transforming our world,” which has allowed the firm to take on a broader array of consumer and business-to-business clients. There is in-depth expertise in AI, cleantech, fintech, healthtech, and online leaders, supplemented by specialisms in business services, energy, financial services, health & well-being and retail & leisure — all of which revolve around the ‘better stories, bigger impact’ approach. A sophisticated digital practice, furthermore, delivers truly integrated services—social, influencer, creative content and public affairs—to most of its largest clients. Just as important, though, are the communications strategy and organisational re-engineering capabilities that mean B2L operates higher on the value chain than most of its tech-focused peers. 

Locations

Brands2Life is a UK-based agency with 200 people across key markets London, San Francisco, New York, and Minneapolis..

Performance

In a tough environment for tech agencies, Brands2Life’s fee income was effectively flat at $28m, although there was $3.9m in new and organic business, including ESET, Epic Games, Lacework, Hoxton Farms and Pragmatic. The launch of new services, such as full-funnel marketing, SEO, health advocacy and brand identity helped, as did further investment in social, influencer, creative content and public affairs, with each of these teams growing substantially. Key existing clients include CooperVision, Experian, Hologic, LinkedIn, Qlik, Russell Reynolds, Sitecore, Tetra Pak, Vodafone and Broadcom/VMware.

People & Culture

Key hires included corporate and purpose MD Carolyn Irvin and consumer creative director Julian Cirrone. Brands2Life’s commitment to employee culture remains market-leading, across career progression, salaries, rewards and benefits, mental health, and menopause support. The firm has also demonstrated a significant commitment to diversity and inclusion, with 19% of the staff coming from non-white backgrounds, up from 16% in 2022, and a board that is 60% female. There are numerous initiatives aimed at enhancing DEI, including an annual neurodiversity month, and inclusive recruitment training for all hiring managers. 

Thought Leadership & Work

There were eight thought leadership reports over the past 12 months, focusing on such areas as gen AI, integrated SEO, health tech trends and full funnel marketing, along with seven events — featuring the popular Tech Trends forum. Campaign highlights include Experian's Support Hub, Pragmatic's shaping of the UK political & economic landscape, and Hologic's initiative to improve women's health.

— Arun Sudhaman

Backstory

PRovoke Media’s 2023 Global Technology Agency of the Year, The Hoffman Agency is still very much a US firm despite making nearly twice as much money in Asia. Much of is success—especially in Asia—can be attributed to the firm’s growth beyond its B2B technology roots, particularly over the past five years, to encompass consumer marketing, integrated communications and corporate  work, helping it mitigate the worst of the tech slowdown. The firm’s focus on humanising complex companies and tackling business challenges such as employer branding, market entry and fundraising, continues to stand it in good stead, as does the launch of its techplomacy public affairs practice, and specific expertise in such areas as semiconductors and integrated marketing. It was on the shortlist for Tech Agency of the Year in both North America and Asia this year.

Locations

In the US, Hoffman has offices in San Jose, California (HQ), Portland, Oregon and Boston. There are 200 people across 10 Asia-Pacific markets, including Beijing, Shanghai, Shenzhen, Hong Kong, Taipei, Seoul, Tokyo, Singapore, Jakarta and Kuala Lumpur. 

Performance

Hoffman has been doubling down on its operation in the US, where most global remit decisions take place. While most tech agencies took hits last year due to volatility in the industry, Hoffman still grew its revenue 11%, accounting for $8.6 million of the agency’s $26.3 million in global revenue— and that’s after eight startups eliminated their agency budgets and another two reduced them. Asia-Pacific revenue also held steady at 2023 in $16m, despite a significant slowdown in spending from technology business in the region. Even so, headcount grew by 12%, and there was new business from Adobe, Bosch, Samsung Display, LG Energy, Uber, Tony Fadell, Lam Research, BenQ and Heatherwick Studio. 

People & Culture

Proudly independent and with a single P&L, Hoffman is flexible and collaborative, and a strong local management team has turned that into an asset when it comes to recruitment and retention. In Asia, chief global officer Caroline Hsu stepped back in as interim Asia-Pacific MD after Dominque Rose Van-Winther’s short-lived tenure in the role. Hsu is supported by an entirely local (and largely female) leadership team. She has been a vocal advocate for closing the gender pay gap, particularly acute in Asia, and other progressive workforce reforms, in addition to having introduced more flexible approaches to office work in the wake of the pandemic. 

Thought Leadership & Work

A stronger focus on employer branding and talent acquisition has helped broaden the firm’s appeal to such clients as TSMC and ASML, while its Techplomacy public affairs practice continues to provide a compelling thought leadership edge. Hoffman last year helped Lightship launch its all-electric travel trailer (and drive orders) without spending any money on paid media. For Georgia Tech’s engineering school, Hoffman positioned the school against MIT and Caltech after extensive interviews with the campus community, treating the school like a leading technology brand.

— Paul Holmes / Arun Sudhaman

Backstory

Mission North was formally launched in 2020 when partners Tyler Perry and Bill Bourdon rebranded Bateman Group and took over the newly named shop as co-CEOs. Since then, Mission North has operated with a focus on helping its 50-plus mission-driving clients like Zoom and Recursion achieve their goals, from influencing the future of work to drug discovery, through impactful communications. 

Locations

Mission North has offices in Brooklyn and San Francisco.

Performance

Late last summer, Mission North had an impressively big win, when Zoom moved its business to the agency from a the much larger firm, Zeno. The video call platform was one of 22 new “mission-driven” clients that hired the agency in 2023 to tell “their important stories of innovation and transformation.” Others include Commonwealth Fusion Systems, LanzaTech, Mozilla Foundation, Portland General Electric and Rallybio, Mission North’s $23 million in revenue also came from existing clients like Betterment, Canva, Ginkgo Bioworks, Tenable and Upside Foods.

People & Culture

As a benefit corporation, Mission North is built around fostering good, which includes investing more than 2% of its profits and time to support nonprofits. Since launch in 2015, the firm has donated roughly $2 million in financial grants and pro bono services. Mission North prides itself on having a culture of “impact, innovation and curiosity” that draws and keeps top talent. Employee turnover in 2023 was 10%. Early last year, o-founder Tyler Perry launched an industrywide DEI program, Foster the Future, which calls on agencies to provide scholarships, stipends and paid internships to BICOP students interested in PR to participate in the educational component of the program. Mission North benchmarks its own progress around diversity & inclusion. Last year’s metrics showed 80% of employees feel like they belong and 90% feel connected to the agency’s mission, vision and values. An employee Advisory Group includes a diverse group of staffers who act as a sounding board on leadership decisions, guide program introduction and identify issues that warrant attention.

Thought Leadership & Work

As a tech-focused firm, much of Mission North’s 2023 revolved around AI —  and what clients were going to do with it. While addressing its first charge —  making Canva seem accessible versus the likes of Adobe, Google and Microsoft— the agency also unveiled the company’s strategy of embracing AI as the largest tech development in design since the personal computer. The agency launched a campaign to diffuse trepidation around using AI that included storytelling and visual communications centered on humans, not technology. Mission North led more than 15 product launches, produced  research series examining AI's role in today’s visual workplace and elevated Canva executives as thought leaders via high-profile cover stories, op-eds and keynotes. The effort paid off. Canva today has more than 150 million users, 65 million of which joined in the last year.

— Diana Marszalek

Backstory

Best-known for its technology credentials, WE has undergone a rapid transformation in Asia-Pacificin particular, after acquiring top-rated outfits in China (Red Bridge), India (Avian Media) and Singapore (Watatawa). The net effect of this expansion, along with an earlier deal for Australian agency Buchan, is that WE now possesses a regional network that extends beyond technology through healthcare, consumer, B2B and corporate/public affairs, and has doubled in size over the past five years. In EMEA, meanwhile, WE has grown fast, particularly in the UK, while its German and South African operations have also matured and expanded service offerings, including digital marketing, social media strategy, insights and analytics for national and international clients of all sizes. That was enough to earn the firm Asia-Pacific Technology Consultancy of the Year this year, as well as being a finalist in Europe.

Locations

Headquartered in Seattle and with a network across North America, WE is now fully global.
In EMEA it has around 150 people across offices in London (63 people), Frankfurt, Munich (55 combined) and Johannesburg. There are 650 additional WE employees across offices in Australia, China, India and Singapore, the latter of which includes corporate consultancy Watatawa.  

Performance

2023 calendar year revenue grew by 4% to $33m in Asia. As usual, India led the way, up 10% in 2023, with Singapore (+10%), also continuing a significant turnaround. In India, there as specific expansion in corporate reputation and crisis, social impact, insights/analytics and public policy/advocacy.  New business included major wins of LG Electronics, Cognizant and Amazon, along with Castrol, HCL Technologies, and more, joining the liked of Amazon, Deloitte, ITC, Fortis, Sony TV, and Reckitt. Despite the tech slowdown, WE grew 14.5% in EMEA, while headcount expanded by 10% too. New business included Quantinuum, Takeda, Zscaler, FSC, Lewis Pugh Foundation, AstraZeneca, Alcidion and African Parks

People & Culture

With Melissa Waggener Zorkin continuing to lead globally, the Asia team is led by Nitin Mantri in India, with a team that includes India MD Neha Mehrotra, and Chase Asia-Pacific MD Manash Neog, while Girish Huria serves as Asia-Pacific head of growth. The UK is now headed by former deputy MD Laura Gillen, who was promoted to the top job upon the departure of Ruth Allchurch to Ketchum. South Africa is led by Sarah Gooding, while Bianca Eichner oversees Germany. WE’s fiercely independent spirit ensures a strong focus on people and culture, supported by specific initiatives focused on employee wellbeing (including inclusive health insurance for LGBTQI team members and same sex partners), work/life balance, cultural ambassadors and professional development. The firm’s DEI approach empowers local leads to shape programs that are most meaningful to their people.

Thought Leadership & Work

Thought leadership played to WE’s strengths, with the global Brands in Motion study, supported by specific initiatives focusing on ESG (China) and public policy (India), while the Singapore office has developed burgeoning creative stack and AI capabilities. All of which was reflected in impressive campaign SABRE nominated work for McDonald’s, Reckitt, Maruti Suzuki and Singapore Tourism Board.  Campaign highlights in EMEA include an impressive menopause-focused campaign for Astellas, along with work for FSC, Microsoft, the Crown Estate, Sport England, Vodacom, African Parks and FlySafair.

— Arun Sudhaman / Maja Pawinska Sims