SEATTLE — Atomic has opened an office in Seattle led by SVP Nick Olsson -- the latest in a series PR market movement in the Pacific Northwest.
Atomic works with several Seattle-based clients, including the Surf incubator and hands-free video camera maker Contour. The firm recently concluded its work with Clipboard, a platform that lets people organize their online lives, which was bought by Salesforce and subsequently discontinued last month.
“If you look at the footprint that Amazon and Microsoft have created and the talent they’ve attracted,” Olsson said. “You have a lot of people now going off and starting their own thing.”
In particular, enterprise software has become a sweet spot for Atomic’s Seattle operations with new wins like Biamp Software and K2.
While heavyweights like Waggener Edstrom, Edelman and Weber Shandwick have long dominated the Pacific Northwest, in recent months there’s been an uptick of smaller agencies raising their profiles in market. The San Jose-based Hoffman Agency opened a Portland office earlier this year and the Massachusetts-based Matter Communications acquired the Portland-based Hollenback Group last month as its entry to the West Coast. Porter Novelli also recently revamped its Seattle-based testing lab.
In addition to Olsson, Atomic’s Seattle operation will include two other team members with additional support from San Francisco and its other offices. Atomic, which is owned by Grayling, reported $18.7 million in fee income in 2012. Its other clients include SideCar, a ride-sharing service that rivals Uber and Intuit, among others.