Leveraging a Huge Talent Roster, IPG Merges 2 Hollywood Mega PR Firms

Two of IPG's most prominent Hollywood PR agencies, Rogers & Cowan and PMK-BNC, will be merged into one entity. The yet-to-be-named company will support a roster of more than 500 prominent and influential actors, musicians, producers and athletes. Additionally, the combined firm has over 30 global brands to its credit. The company will become part of IPG's Octagon Sports and Entertainment Network and be led by current PMK-BNC chairman Cindi Berger, Rogers & Cowan CEO Mark Owens and its co-president, Alan Nierob, who will become chairman of the entertainment division. "With our diverse roster of creative and brand clients, and seasoned management, this partnership provides a remarkable opportunity for us to take our clients and campaigns to new levels," said Berger. "I have watched within IPG the great work that our now partners PMK-BNC, under Cindi's leadership, have accomplished for an incredible list of talent and brand clients and felt the timing was perfect to align and create an even more compelling offering," added Owens. For its part, Rogers & Cowan was part of the team that won an entertainment Grand Prix at Cannes Lions for 5B, the Johnson & Johnson-underwritten feature documentary about the nation's first hospital unit created in San Francisco to treat people with AIDS. [kickout id="1"] Lauding the work, Scott Donaton, the jury president for the category in Cannes said: "We need more stories like this in the world right now. Stories of compassion, care and human connection. Over and over again in our jury, we kept hearing that we need other brands to see that they have stories worthy of sharing … that they can take a risk, stick their neck out, be brave and tell those stories that make the world a better place." PMK-BNC has many campaigns under its belt as well, one of which caught significant buzz when it launched in August 2014. The "Barely Legal Pawn" Emmys promo for Audi reunited Breaking Bad co-stars Bryan Cranston and Aaron Paul and co-starred Veep's Julia Louis-Dreyfus, who tried to pawn one of her trophies. [kickout id="2"] "We knew we had a great concept, a winning team and a client, Audi, who understood the value of this type of content," said Joseph Assad, executive producer at PMK-BNC, when the video launched. "We flew in the face of convention by putting out a video at six minutes, but with the high-caliber acting and the quality of the idea, we knew we could push some boundaries." Shirely Hughes will manage the brand marketing practice. Global brands represented include Activision, Audi, Hasbro, Mastercard, McDonald's, Microsoft, Samsung, Vice Media, YouTube, Verizon and others. The company's talent roster has some of the biggest names in entertainment and sports such as Robert Redford, Katy Perry, Elton John, Kobe Bryant, Brie Larson, Liam Hemsworth, Stephen Curry and more. "This merger allows us to combine the most talented client roster with the most talented group of individuals representing them," noted Nierob. The combined company will have offices in Los Angeles, New York, Nashville, Miami and London.