What The Messina Group does

The Messina Group (TMG, legal entity TMG, Inc.) is a privately held, full-service strategic consulting firm founded in 2013 by Jim Messina — the campaign manager of President Obama's 2012 re-election — in Washington, D.C. The firm sells battle-tested political-campaign playbooks as fee-based advisory services, covering strategic advisory, campaign management, coalition building, M&A advisory, crisis management, opposition research, data analytics, media buying, and international political campaigns. Its client base spans Fortune 500 corporations, political parties and heads of state, advocacy NGOs, technology startups, and class-action administrators; named clients include Uber, PillPack, Airbnb, Google, Delta Air Lines, Instacart, Strava, Equifax, Takata, and Quantum Energy Partners, with cumulative engagement cited as 300+ clients across six continents and advisory relationships with 13+ Presidents and Prime Ministers.

The firm's operating model is built on four wholly-owned specialty units: Greenbrier Partners (crisis communications, acquired 2018), Amplify Media Strategy (paid media across TV/cable/radio/digital), Signal Interactive Media (analytics-driven class-action notice administration), and Segal Communications (consumer-tech and lifestyle PR, acquired September 2021). TMG monetizes via professional services fees — project-based and retainer engagements — with no published pricing. Core technical capabilities center on data-driven political-style campaign strategy, communications analytics (collecting/analyzing campaign ads, social posts, candidate websites, and Facebook ads), and a recently emphasized AI/data-science practice led by a dedicated VP. The firm has expanded to offices in Washington D.C. (HQ), San Francisco, Denver, London (regional HQ), Los Angeles, Boston, Dallas, Philadelphia, New York, Portland, Vancouver, and Sacramento, and maintains a senior leadership bench of roughly 25 named professionals with backgrounds spanning the Obama and Biden administrations, Capitol Hill, UK Government, Lyft, Uber, and major political campaigns. Distribution is direct enterprise sales supported by CEO thought leadership (The Messina Memo Substack, regular MSNBC/CNN/Bloomberg/Fox/BBC appearances) rather than traditional marketing.

Name

The Messina Group

Legal name

TMG, Inc.

Website

https://themessinagroup.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2013

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

The Messina Group is a privately held, Washington D.C.-based strategic consulting firm founded in 2013 by former Obama campaign manager Jim Messina, selling data-driven political-campaign-style advisory services — including crisis communications, M&A advisory, data analytics, and international political campaigns — to Fortune 500 corporations, heads of state, startups, NGOs, and legal/class-action clients across six continents.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Washington

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices12 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. Strategic Consulting Services: TMG provides strategic consulting services including campaign management, strategic advisory, coalition building, crisis management, and M&A advisory. Revenue is generated through professional service fees, likely project-based and retainer arrangements.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

The Messina Group (TMG) is a full-service strategic consulting firm that helps clients win high-stakes corporate, political, and advocacy battles by applying data-driven, political campaign-style strategies. Services span strategic advisory, campaign management, coalition building, crisis management, M&A advisory, data analytics and modeling, digital strategy, media buying, and international political campaigns, delivered to Fortune 500 corporations, governments, political parties, NGOs, and technology startups.

Product overview

The Messina Group is a full-service strategic consulting firm offering a portfolio of services centered on data-driven, political campaign-style strategies. The core offering is TMG's strategic consulting services covering campaign management, strategic communications, crisis management, coalition building, data analytics, and M&A advisory. The company also operates several specialized subsidiaries and partnerships: Greenbrier Partners (crisis communications), Amplify Media Strategy (media buying), Signal Interactive Media (legal notice for class actions), Segal Communications (consumer/lifestyle PR, acquired 2021), and Global Counsel (policy advisory). These entities work together to serve corporate, political, advocacy, and government clients worldwide.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Greenbrier Partners: Crisis communications firm
• Amplify Media Strategy
• Signal Interactive Media
• Segal Communications

Products and services

• TMG Strategic Consulting Services Full-service strategic consulting encompassing strategic advisory, campaign management, coalition building, crisis management, M&A advisory, narrative development, political/policy/regulatory due diligence, opposition research, data analytics, opinion research, digital and creative strategy, media buying, state and international political campaigns, and executive profile building. Sold to Fortune 500 corporations, political parties, governments, NGOs, and technology startups globally.
• Greenbrier Partners Crisis communications firm advising companies to recover from crises, execute flawless public affairs, and deliver external communication for complex reputational, legal, political, and image challenges. Serves startups, technology firms, and innovators.
• Amplify Media Strategy Media buying firm using modern data techniques to place advertising across TV, cable, radio, satellite, and digital platforms, applying political advertising techniques to commercial advertising for efficient audience targeting. Serves clients making media buying decisions.
• Signal Interactive Media Legal media firm revolutionizing class action notice using analytics and digital strategy, merging complex litigation expertise with commercial advertising and political organizing techniques to increase class member awareness and participation. Serves courts, law firms, and trustees on class actions and bankruptcies (worked on 700+ cases).
• Segal Communications Consumer technology and lifestyle agency specializing in media, influencer relations, and digital marketing to help leading companies, organizations, and individuals establish brands, build reputations, and amplify stories. Based in the San Francisco Bay Area.

Quantifiable outcome

• Reached 90% of 147 million Americans in Equifax class action settlement
• +3 more outcomes

Named customers15 records

Segments5 records

Ideal customer profiles5 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature3 records

Partnerships

Seven partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• Segal CommunicationscoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 8 September 2021Acquired in 2021 and led by Sarah Segal, Segal Communications is a consumer technology and lifestyle agency helping leading companies establish brands, build reputations, and amplify stories. Based in San Francisco Bay Area.
• Greenbrier PartnerscoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerGreenbrier Partners advises the world's leading companies to recover from crises and execute flawless public affairs. Acquired in 2018 (merged with Greenbrier). Provides strategic advice on complex reputational, legal, political and image challenges.
• Amplify Media StrategycoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerAmplify is a media buying firm that works with TV, cable, radio, and satellite outlets. Built around cutting-edge political advertising techniques, Amplify helps clients make smarter decisions faster with flexible, nimble media buying.
• Signal Interactive MediacoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerFounded by Jim Messina and Matt Garretson, Signal is a leading legal media firm redefining class action notice by merging litigation expertise with commercial advertising and political organizing techniques.
• Global CounselminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerGlobal Counsel is a strategic advisory firm bringing together experience across public and private sectors. Helps clients anticipate regulatory and political change, provides due diligence support, and builds evidence-based policy campaigns.
• Navigator ResearchminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerTMG partnered with Navigator Research for the 2018 Congressional Campaign Communications Analysis, collecting and analyzing communications from campaign ads, social media posts, and candidate websites.
• Amazon (PillPack acquisition)minorOthersTMG helped PillPack build a campaign that resulted in the startup being purchased by Amazon, demonstrating successful strategic advisory outcome.

Scale indicators6 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Broad incumbents

• Edelman: Edelman is the world's largest PR firm, serving global corporations with strategic communications and crisis management. It is a broad incumbent offering overlapping services to TMG's Greenbrier crisis communications subsidiary but at vastly greater scale and a non-partisan positioning.
• Weber Shandwick: Weber Shandwick is a global public affairs and communications agency serving corporate and government clients. Greenbrier partner Adrian Durbin previously led crisis communications at Weber Shandwick, evidencing the close talent and service overlap between the firms.

Direct peers

• Blue State: Blue State is a digital agency for causes, campaigns, and brands with strong Democratic-campaign DNA. TMG VP Blaise Nutter previously led communications at Blue State for six years, and the two firms compete for the same advocacy and campaign-strategy mandates.
• Mercury Public Affairs: Mercury is a high-end bipartisan strategic advisory and public affairs firm serving Fortune 500s and political clients globally. It is comparable to TMG on the corporate strategic advisory and public-affairs axis, with a broader bipartisan footprint.
• SKDKnickerbocker (SKDK): SKDK is a top-tier Democratic-aligned strategic communications and political consulting firm serving Fortune 500 clients and political campaigns. It is the closest direct peer to TMG in terms of model, client base, and political positioning.
• 270 Strategies: 270 Strategies is a progressive political consulting firm founded by Obama 2008 organizers, focused on grassroots, data, and campaign execution. TMG VP Grace Turke-Martinez previously led client engagements at 270 Strategies, and the firms share the Obama-campaign talent pipeline.
• GMMB: GMMB is a Democratic-aligned media and strategic communications firm specializing in political advertising and advocacy campaigns. TMG VP Danielle Spencer came from GMMB, evidencing the very tight overlap of talent and service offering between the two firms.
• FP1 Strategies: FP1 is a Republican-aligned strategic communications and advertising firm. It is the partisan counterpart to TMG in U.S. political consulting, comparable in scale, services, and client type but operating on the other side of the aisle.
• Bully Pulpit Interactive (BPI): BPI is a digital-first strategy and creative agency founded by Obama campaign veterans, serving political, advocacy, and corporate clients. It overlaps with TMG on data-driven political-to-corporate consulting and shares alumni networks (e.g., TMG VP Danielle Spencer previously worked at BPI).

Others

• Global Counsel: Global Counsel is a strategic advisory firm helping clients anticipate regulatory and political change. It is listed as a TMG partner, providing policy and due diligence advisory that complements TMG's U.S.-centric political consulting work.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat6 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xtwitter.com/Messina2012
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/the-messina-group

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles18 records

Subsidiaries4 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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

M&A1 record

Investments

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

Frequently asked questions about The Messina Group