Mexico PR Consultancies of the Year 2024

2024 Mexico PR Consultancies of the Year

The 2024 LatAm PR Consultancies of the Year are the result of an exhaustive research process involving numerous submissions and meetings with the best PR firms across the region.

The Consultancy of the Year winners are honoured at our annual Latin American SABRE Awards event, which will take place in Sao Paulo, Brazil, at the Tivoli Mofarrej São Paulo Hotel on September 24, in partnership with Brazilian trade association ABRACOM. Event and registration information can be found on the dedicated event site.

Finalists

Addvox (Independent)

Backstory

After serving as Golin Mexico’s GM, Jaime Flores launched Addvox in the throes of the pandemic with a really big client — Amazon Prime Video and Music — and the gumption it takes to make that kind of move when the odds are stacked against it. Four years later, Addvox is very much a player in the market, with 40-plus-person team servicing clients in the tech, consumer, financial, automotive and healthcare sectors, while expanding operations throughout Latin America.

Locations

Addvox is headquartered in Mexico City and does business in Colombia, Chile, Argentina, Peru, Ecuador, Paraguay, Dominican Republic, and Brazil.

Performance

In 2020, at the height of the Covid pandemic, Addvox opened for business with 15 employees and the goal of crafting and executing communications that drive lasting relationships with stakeholders — customers, media and influencers among them. Following through on that mission has led Following through on that mission has led to Addvox being the robust business it is today, with a 40-plus-person staff working with clients in the gamut of industries including tech, consumer, financial automotive and healthcare. Key clients include: Amazon Music, MG Motor, and Bupa Global Latin America. New clients in 2023 include financial services company Afore
Banorte Siglo XXI and Buk.

People & Culture

Jaime Flores started Addvox after a five-year run as general manager of Golin Mexico (he opened that office, too) and continues to lead the agency’s daily operations, with a focus on regional operations. Flores has grown the firm by adhering to his commitment to creating communications strategies that matter — i.e., impacting people in positive ways. Flores is supported by Felipe Aranzeta, who also has been at Addvox from start. His success leading Mexico PR for Amazon Prime Video resulted in Addvox handling PR for the streaming service across Latin America. Other key people include media relations head Ernesto Olmos and Fernando Noriega, who leads client relations.

Thought Leadership & Work

With a top-notch tech team, Addvox has developed tools that have enabled the firm to expand service offerings, Among them: voice amplifiers that optimize content strategies, and an executive influence tool, that allows Addvox to position clients’ c-suite executives as experts in their fields. In 2023, Addvox’s best work included managing the high-profile premiere of Amazon Music’s “Pesero Show” and launching MG Motor’s ZS EV, the company’s first all-electric vehicle.

— Diana Marszalek

Another Company (SEC Newgate)

Backstory

In November 2022, Jaspar Eyears and Rodrigo Peñafiel sold a 70% stake of another, the agency they co-founded 18 years earlier, to SEC Newgate with an eye on using the Milan-based communications group’s support to accelerate growth. Less than two years later, another continues to flourish under the watch of Eyears as CEO and Peñafiel as president. another permeates Latin America with operations in 18 countries from Peru and Argentina to Guatemala and Costa Rica. The firm is motivated by the notion that powerful communications lead to change, facilitated with a mix of research, analytics, and creativity. In 2014, the forward-looking firm was the first in the region to launch an influencer marketing offering.

Locations

Another is headquartered in Mexico City and oversees SEC’s robust operation in Columbia. The agency also has a physical presence in Brazil, Panama, the Caribbean, Chile, Peru, Argentina, Uruguay and Costa Rica.

Performance

SEC Newgate bought a majority stake in November 2022, but the fruits of the deal really took hold throughout 2023, when the companies fused together, worked on unifying the two cultures and leveraging each other’s expertise, reach and capabilities. SEC Newgate’s Latin America operations, including another and the company’s Colombia operation, saw fee income rise to $33.2 million from $30.9 million the previous year. Another’s Brazil office grew by 35%. The agency’s 174 people across the region served an impressive list of clients including Adidas, Diageo, Huawei, Nespresso, Amazon, AbInBev, Sanofi, Copa Airlines, Samsung, Turkish Airlines, W Hotels, BeGrand, inDrive, Unilever, P&G, Nestlé, Prada, Cartier, New Era, Casa Dragones, Edrington, Ikea and Siigo.

People & Culture

Another continues to operate independently under the watch of Eyears as CEO, while Peñafiel has moved into an associated director role. The senior leadership team also includes CSO, Karina Barcellos CSO, partner Mateo Mora, SEC Colombia CEO Claudia de Francisco and senior VP Yusuf Laroussi. A regional leadership fosters synergies between key Latin American markets and SEC hubs in Europe, MENA and APAC — leveraging local expertise and ending the practice of leading all of another’s operations out of Mexico City. Benefits include another’s CuriosaMENTE package, a company-paid program that provides employees with access to therapists, nutritionists, select podcasts and webinars.

Thought Leadership & Work

Another regularly publishes cultural insight reports that analyze consumer behaviors and trends, leveraging expertise and insights of company leaders such as Eyears (a member of the LatAm board for the PRCA Americas committee) and regional general manager Xochitl Bonilla, a public supporter of women’s issues such as gender equity. One of another’s goals as it grows across the region is developing and sharing best practices to advance the comms industry. The agency also has developed influencer content pieces to advise influencers and brands on how best to monetize their content, the importance of CSR for brands to connect with their audiences and how to get the metaverse right.SEC Newgate was shortlisted for 16 SABRE Awards this year, landing right behind Weber Shandwick, which had 17. The year’s best work included another’s Huawei Lights Up Central America and Samsung’s Bringing Bespoke AI to the Masses campaigns. SEC Colombia ‘s initiatives including supporting the country’s first Ikea store and integrating FCF football jerseys.

— Diana Marszalek

Weber Shandwick (IPG)

Backstory

It’s always a little strange to make the case that a giant global behemoth like Weber Shandwick—one of the world’s three largest public relations agencies—can be a disruptor. But in the case of the Mexican market at least, it’s a valid claim. In the nine short years since Weber Shandwick Mexico opened its doors with a five-person team, the firm has built itself into a 120-person operation that combines the ability to handle high-stakes corporate reputation and public affairs assignments with highly creative consumer and digital work, that is praised by clients for both its robust data and analytics capabilities and its agile problem-solving, earning it Mexico Agency of the Year honors in 2022 and 2023.

Locations

Weber Shandwick now has 125 people in its Mexico City headquarters, and is part of Weber Shandwick’s vast global network, with a regional footprint that includes branded operations in Brazil and Colombia, and affiliates in Argentina, Chile and Peru.

Performance

Coming off of two consecutive Mexico Agency of the Year wins, Weber Shandwick has perhaps outgrown the startup culture that enabled it to grow so rapidly in its first few years, but continues to demonstrate a hunger that fueled 10% growth in fee income last year, cementing its status as a top five firm in a market where multinationals have generally struggled. The firm represents several of Mexico ́s top companies and employers and has positioned itself as the Latin American hub for key clients such as: Nintendo, Tik Tok, IBM, Oppo and Mattel. The agency’s sports division saw 2023 growth with new business from the Mexican Federation of Football, Monterrey football club Rayados and the Kings League, which Weber launched in LatAm. New corporate clients include PPG/Comex), Oracle and Nielsen Ibope. Weber Shandwick Mexico has also been given oversight of the agency’s Columbia office, which saw double-digit growth last year.

People & Culture

Amanda Berenstein, who launched Weber Shandwick in Mexico nine years ago, is one of the agency’s rising stars and has been given oversight of all the company’s agencies in Mexico (Weber, Golin and Current Global) and, as of last year, Weber’s Colombia office as well. She is supported by a strong local leadership team including managing director Johanna Palacio. After losing mid and senior-level staff to in-house jobs, the agency doubled down on boosting employees skills through executive coaching and an all-staff
“back to basics” training program on writing, pitching news stories, media training and AI. Weber Shandwick Mexico amplified its position as a champion of inclusivity and being anti-racist through pro bono work for the Museum of Memory and Tolerance and deepened its relationship with Mexican NGO Cambiando Modelos, whose mission is seeing the inclusion of people with disabilities in advertising and among influencers.

Thought Leadership & Work

Bracing for Mexico’s 2024 presidential election, Weber Shandwick was one of the first agencies in the market to take on issues like misinformation that could sway the election. Among Weber Shandwick’s 17 SABRE Award-shortlisted campaigns (the agency led our LatAm SABRE nominations), is Picalenguas, the agency’s initiative with independent news platform Animal Politico. The effort included creating a very spicy salsa, called Picalenguas, with a QR code on the bottle that directed users to El Sabueso, afact-checking platform with the latest election news. Weber distributed the bottles to thousands of taco shops to increase traffic. Other key work included handling the LatAm launch of Kings League, a non-traditional football league from Spain.

— Diana Marszalek

Zimat Consultores (Independent)

Backstory

Now in its 40th year, Zimat is distinguished from its competitors in Mexico both by its size—it is one of the top two firms in the market, and the only indigenous firm in the top five—and by its approach: Zimat is one of only a handful of Latin American firms that doesn’t compete on price, having established itself as a strategic advisor capable of charging a premium for the senior corporate and public affairs counsel it provides to both private and public sector clients. Over the years, the firm has handled high-profile events such as presidential transitions; the visit of Pope Francis; the renegotiation of the North America Trade Agreement; and safety measures during the Covid pandemic.

Locations

Zimat is based in Mexico, with owned offices in Mexico City and Monterrey—the latter a new addition in 2021. The firm operates throughout Latin America and the US via a network of independent partner agencies and 2023 saw the opening of Zimat Consulting USA, the firm’s first physical presence in the North American market.

Performance

Zimat does not share financial information, but with a headcount of 178 it remains a major force in Mexico, and it is still the most awarded agency in the market: number one in Merca 2.0 Mexico's PR Agencies Ranking in 2022 and 2023, and named one of the Marketing Best of the Best in three straight years. Major clients include premium Mexican brands and global names: Grupo Bimbo, the world’s largest bakery, has been with the agency for 25 years; Constellation Brands; Woodside Energy;. Sigma Alimentos; América Móvil; Grupo Posadas; Fresnillo; TEC de Monterrey. New clients over the past year include Dell, TicketMaster, Ternium, Masari Casa de Bolsa, Carroll, Médica SUR, UDEM, First Majestic, and Caprobi.

People & Culture

Zimat is owned by four women, all mothers, and it is tempting to find a connection between this fact and the firm’s commitment during Covid to the safety and wellbeing (both physical and emotional) of its team members. The leadership team today includes founder and CEO Marta Majia; Andrea Castro, a former chief of staff for the public opinion and image office of President Vicente Fox; Jaime Ramírez, an expert in crisis management and public affairs; and former journalist Araceli Muñoz. The firm’s commitment to diversity and inclusion goes beyond gender, with a working environment based on teamwork with flexible hours and hybrid work. Last year saw an expansion of the DEI efforts, promoting "Inclusive Communication” through guides, workshops, and training to ensure inclusive practices within the company and to encourage our clients to adopt them.

Thought Leadership & Work

The firm continues to work on important public initiatives and corporate campaigns, with high-profile examples in the past 12 months including work for Reinserta, a respected nonprofit provides care and to juvenile offenders to help transform the lives of children marked by violence, creating awareness of the recruitment of more than 250,000 boys and girls by drug cartels. Bakery giant Bimbo partnered with Zimat to celebrate the 60th anniversary of its youth focused Futbolito Bimbo with a boost of registration numbers to pre-pandemic levels. And the firm supported Mota-Engil through the development and communication stages of The Aztlán Urban Park project, an amusement park in the iconic Chapultepec Park in Mexico City, addressing urban social justice and environmental and cultural awareness issues.

— Paul Holmes

News direct to your inbox