Narrative Strategies

What Narrative Strategies does

Narrative Strategies is a full-service strategic communications and public affairs firm headquartered in Washington, D.C., with additional offices in New York and West Palm Beach, Florida. Founded in September 2019 by three former CGCN Group veterans, Ken Spain, Patrick O'Connor, and Ed Mullen, the firm serves enterprise corporations, trade associations, advocacy groups, and organizations facing high-stakes reputational and policy challenges across healthcare, financial services, technology, energy & infrastructure, and manufacturing verticals. Service offerings span strategic communications and counsel, public affairs and issue management, crisis and reputation management, media relations, corporate and executive communications, grassroots and coalition management, creative design and video production, and advertising and digital marketing.

The firm's principal proprietary asset is NEXUS PRO, a real-time intelligence platform that combines custom elite-audience surveys with AI-modeled synthetic audience versions built from real survey responses, enabling continuous message, creative, and communications strategy testing without repeated field cycles. Supporting products include NEXUS Survey (annual business perception research) and NEXUS Pulse (quick-turn vertical-specific polling, e.g., private credit and data centers). NEXUS PRO applies predictive analytics to measure reputation drivers by audience segment and to forecast audience reactions to messaging. The platform is a differentiating feature within a primarily professional services business.

Narrative Strategies generates revenue through senior-led consulting engagements delivered on a project or retainer basis, sold via direct enterprise sales and a relationship-driven business development model led by partners and managing directors. In February 2024, the firm received a strategic investment from Clarion Capital Partners to fund growth, market expansion, and service diversification. The firm has accumulated multiple industry accolades, including four consecutive years on PRNews Agency Elite Top 120, the 2024 PRNews Platinum Agency of the Year, recognition in the 2026 Chambers Crisis & Risk Management Guide, and inclusion on PRovoke Media's 100 Best Agencies in the U.S.

Name

Narrative Strategies

Legal name

Narrative Strategies, LLC

Website

https://narrativestrategies.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2019

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

51–100 employees

Short description

Narrative Strategies is a full-service strategic communications and public affairs firm headquartered in Washington, D.C., serving enterprise corporations, trade associations, and advocacy groups across healthcare, technology, financial services, and energy. The firm combines senior-led consulting with its proprietary NEXUS PRO real-time intelligence platform.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Strategic Communications Consulting

NAICS

Public Relations Agencies (54182), Advertising, Public Relations, and Related Services (5418), Management Consulting Services (54161), Marketing Research and Public Opinion Polling (541910)

SIC

Services-Advertising Agencies (7311), Services-Management Consulting Services (8742)

akta.pro primary industry

PR, Corporate Communications & Crisis Management (BPAFAAAL)

akta.pro secondary industries

Crisis Communications Planning & Response (MPAAAOAD), Media Relations, Monitoring & Rapid Response (MPAAAOAK), Reputation Measurement, Auditing & Sentiment Analytics (MPAAAOAO), Crisis Communications & Issues Management (MPAAADAF), Content & Messaging Strategy (Positioning, Narrative) (MPAAAFAK), Content Strategy & Planning (BPAFAIAG)

Keywords

• Strategic communications consulting
• Crisis communications services
• Public affairs advocacy
• Reputation management advisory
• Media relations counsel

Headquarters

HQ city

Washington

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices3 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Strategic Communications Consulting: Narrative Strategies generates revenue through professional services engagements focused on strategic communications, public affairs, crisis management, and reputation advisory. Services are delivered through senior consultants and are priced on project or retainer basis.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

Narrative Strategies is a full-service strategic communications firm that delivers strategic communications counsel, public affairs and issue management, crisis and reputation management, media relations, corporate and executive communications, grassroots coalition management, advertising and digital marketing, brand development, creative design, and insights research. Services are priced on a project or retainer basis and delivered by senior consultants to enterprise corporations, trade associations, healthcare organizations, financial services firms, and other clients facing high-stakes reputational, policy, and crisis challenges. The firm augments these services with its proprietary NEXUS PRO platform, which provides real-time stakeholder intelligence, custom elite audience surveys, and AI-modeled synthetic audience testing.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• NEXUS PRO: Dynamic Intelligence Built for Speed and Control - a research and stakeholder intelligence platform offering real-time audience testing and decision-grade intelligence for communications strategy.
• NEXUS Survey
• NEXUS Pulse

Products and services

• Strategic Communications & Counsel Senior-level strategic communications counsel and planning for organizations navigating reputational, policy, and messaging challenges. Targeted at corporate executives and communications teams.
• Public Affairs & Issue Management Policy advocacy, legislative campaigns, and coalition building designed to influence policymakers and shape public opinion on key issues. Targeted at trade associations, advocacy groups, and corporations facing regulatory or political risk.
• Media & Public Relations Media strategy, earned media placement, and press engagement services for organizations seeking to shape coverage and amplify their message across national and trade outlets.
• Crisis & Reputation Management Rapid-response crisis communications, reputation defense, and special situations counsel for executives, boards, and senior communications teams during high-stakes incidents. Targeted at organizations facing cyberattacks, regulatory actions, or reputational attacks.
• Corporate & Executive Communications Executive positioning, corporate narrative development, and leadership visibility programs for C-suite leaders and corporate communications teams.
• Insights & Intelligence Practice Dedicated research and analytics practice providing custom polling, focus groups, A/B message testing, and stakeholder research to inform communications strategy. Targeted at organizations needing decision-grade intelligence.
• Creative Design & Video Production In-house creative services producing video, design, and branded content assets to support campaigns and executive communications programs.
• Grassroots & Coalition Management Grassroots mobilization and coalition management services that organize stakeholders, third-party validators, and advocacy networks to influence policy debates and public campaigns.
• Advertising & Digital Marketing Paid advertising, digital marketing, and campaign execution services supporting broader strategic communications initiatives.
• Brand Development & Activation Brand strategy, identity development, and activation programs designed to align corporate positioning with stakeholder expectations.
• NEXUS PRO Proprietary real-time intelligence platform that fields custom surveys to elite stakeholders and builds AI-powered synthetic audience models for continuous message, creative, and communications strategy testing. Targeted at organizations engaged in contested policy or reputation battles.
• NEXUS Survey Annual survey research product delivering insights on business perceptions, policy shaping, and stakeholder attitudes.
• NEXUS Pulse Quick-turn polling research product delivering frequent, topic-specific insights including private credit industry perceptions, data center community sentiment, and creative concept testing.

Quantifiable outcome

• Successfully shifted crisis news cycle within one week for federal technology contractor following cyberattack
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers5 records

Segments7 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

AI capability6 records

Feature1 record

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• Brunswick Group: Global strategic communications firm specializing in corporate reputation, crisis management, and public affairs. Brunswick directly competes with Narrative Strategies on enterprise crisis and C-suite advisory mandates, particularly in regulated industries and financial services.
• Finsbury Glover Hering: Global strategic communications and advisory firm focused on reputation, crisis, and public affairs. FGH directly competes with Narrative Strategies on high-stakes crisis engagements, healthcare communications, and policy-shaping mandates for corporate and financial clients.
• SKDK: Washington-based public affairs and strategic communications firm with deep political and corporate expertise. SKDK is a direct peer, sharing Narrative's positioning at the intersection of politics, policy, and corporate communications with similar client profiles.
• CGCN Group: Strategic communications and government affairs firm founded by former Hill staff. CGCN is a direct peer as the former employer of Narrative's three co-founders, and operates in nearly identical policy advocacy and corporate communications territory.
• Hamilton Place Strategies: Washington-based strategic advisory firm focused on economic policy, corporate communications, and stakeholder engagement. Directly comparable to Narrative in targeting financial-services and corporate clients navigating regulatory and political scrutiny.
• DCI Group: Washington-based strategic communications and public affairs firm known for issue advocacy, coalition management, and stakeholder engagement. DCI directly competes on the same advocacy, healthcare, and corporate-reputation mandates that anchor Narrative's book of business.
• ROKK Solutions: Public affairs and strategic communications firm with strong roots in policy advocacy and corporate reputation work. ROKK is a direct peer operating in adjacent verticals (financial services, healthcare, technology) with comparable senior-led engagement models.

Broad incumbents

• Edelman: Largest global communications firm with deep crisis, public affairs, healthcare, and financial-services practices. Edelman is a broad incumbent that competes with Narrative across most verticals while offering far greater scale, geographic reach, and integrated creative capabilities.
• Burson (Burson Cohn & Wolfe): Global communications agency formed from the merger of Burson-Marsteller and Cohn & Wolfe. Burson is a broad incumbent with extensive crisis, public affairs, and healthcare practices that overlap heavily with Narrative's service offering.

Regional players

• FP1 Strategies: Republican-aligned political consulting and public affairs firm with strategic communications capabilities. FP1 is comparable to Narrative's political and public-affairs work but with stronger partisan positioning and a more campaign-centric delivery model.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xtwitter.com/NarrativeDC
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/narrative-strategies

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles14 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds1 record

Investors1 record

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Narrative Strategies