(Annual Income of $60 Million or More)
Winner: APCO Worldwide
If a company, large or small, manages to increase global revenue by 13%, and U.S. revenue by 25%, it is safe to call that a very good year. If it’s also able to expand its business by opening a new location in San Francisco and acquiring new assets in London and Dubai, then it can be upgraded to a great year. Not only was APCO Worldwide able to achieve these aforementioned successes, but it also managed to execute several significant campaigns for its global clients, including the merger of United Airlines and Continental Airlines and the Clinton Global Initiative’s annual meeting in New York. APCO Worldwide also furthered its position as a leader in the market by introducing two new innovative measurement platforms: the Return on Reputation Indicator, a reputation management tool that provides concrete suggestions on how a company or industry can enhance its reputation; and Social EQ, a model developed in partnership with The Huffington Post that assesses the effectiveness of a company’s social media efforts. —SP
Fast Fact: APCO Worldwide's work for the Clinton Global Initiative's annual meeting increased online and print coverage of the event by 80%.
Honorable Mentions:
GolinHarris: This year GolinHarris made headlines when it said goodbye to all of its VPs, SVPs, EVPs, account executives and account supervisors. Actually, the PR agency dropped the job titles, not the people associated with them.
Ketchum: While Ketchum achieved double-digit organic growth boosted by 320 new business wins at a 65% win rate, it also introduced new and innovative resources, including the relaunch of Ketchum University—complete with 1,500 hours of available courses—and creative idea and solution cultivation services like Mindfire and Ide8.
Ogilvy Public Relations Worldwide: The agency retained 100% of its top 20 clients, grew its multi-office client base by more than 15%, increased employee and client engagement efforts with a day-long "Powerful Storytelling" event and launched the world’s first bespoke Islamic branding practice with Ogilvy Noor.
Waggener Edstrom Worldwide: Waggener Edstrom demonstrated an impressive client retention rate that allowed the agency to maintain 98% of its client revenue base from 2009. At the same time, WE won 57% of its prospects pitched—a success rate that brought in 70 new clients.
Weber Shandwick: Weber Shandwick achieved nearly 10% growth in new and expanding current business revenue. The firm further solidified its digital communications capabilities by launching Inline Communications, a marketing platform that integrates digital and traditional media activity for clients, and FireBell, a crisis communications simulator that prepares clients to be ready for crises.