Entertainment industry PR and brand marketing agencies Rogers & Cowan and PMK-BNC will now "operate as one entity," according to Mike Fleming Jr. of DEADLINE.com The two agencies are "pooling a collective client roster that exceeds 30 corporate brands and 500 individual clients" that include athletes like Stephen Curry, Kobe Bryant, Chloe Kim and Jimmie Johnson. The move "bucks a recent trend in the entertainment industry where clusters of publicists have peeled away from bigger agencies with their clients to form boutiques." The merge of these firms is "made easier considering that both agencies are owned by the Interpublic Group of Companies, and are part of Octagon Sports and Entertainment Network" (DEADLINE.com, 7/30). The combined entity, which has "yet to be named," will be led by Chair Cindi Berger and CEO Mark Owens, with Alan Nierob serving as Chair of the entertainment division (HOLLYWOODREPORTER.com, 7/30). Owens and Berger "will report" to Octagon Chair & CEO Rick Dudley (PRWEEK.com, 7/30). In L.A., Ryan Faughnder notes Berger and Nierob "first discussed the idea of combining" their agencies "about six months ago." Rogers & Cowan "has a sports department, an area in which PMK-BNC was previously lacking." Rogers & Cowan clients like Bryant and Curry have "made inroads in entertainment" (L.A. TIMES, 7/31). In N.Y., Brooks Barnes notes the agencies also have an "array of corporate clients that includes McDonald’s, Microsoft, Royal Caribbean, Samsung, Verizon, YouTube, Audi, Hasbro and Mastercard" (N.Y. TIMES, 7/31).
