Brian Communications

What Brian Communications does

Brian Communications is a privately held, full-service strategic communications agency founded in 2010 by Brian Tierney and headquartered at 123 South Broad Street in Philadelphia, with additional offices in Ardmore and West Conshohocken. The firm offers integrated capabilities across advertising, public relations, creative services, and digital/social media — including brand strategy, crisis and issues management, media relations, executive visibility, content production, and major event execution. Its client base is concentrated in enterprise and mid-market organizations across six primary verticals: healthcare, sports and entertainment, higher education, financial services, nonprofit/advocacy, and consumer/technology, with named clients including Independence Blue Cross, Cencora, Comcast Spectacor, PokerStars, Pennsylvania Lottery, Philadelphia Inquirer, Uber, Deloitte, Aramark, Villanova University, World Meeting of Families, and News Media Alliance.

The agency operates under a professional services revenue model — project-based engagements and retainer-style arrangements — without publicly disclosed pricing or rate cards. It has no proprietary technology platform; delivery is people-led and relationship-driven, leveraging a deep bench of senior advisors with C-suite and government backgrounds (former White House Communications Director David Demarest, former Disney/Microsoft/Activision executive Eric Hollreiser, former PepsiCo/Aramark SVP Tod MacKenzie, Emmy-winning journalist Lisa Thomas-Laury, and Obama 'Champion of Change' David W. Brown). The firm maintains a specialized healthcare subsidiary called Futuretense Health and operates the annual HealthKey Summit healthcare conference (400+ attendees in 2024) plus the Withology thought-leadership podcast. There are no disclosed funding rounds, acquisitions, or external institutional investors; ownership appears concentrated with the founder.

The go-to-market motion is sales-led and relationship-driven: business development flows from founder Tierney's Philadelphia network, senior advisor relationships, the HealthKey Summit, thought-leadership content, and referrals from existing enterprise clients. Distribution is direct-to-client engagement with no self-service or marketplace channels. The firm represents clients both regionally (Northeast US) and nationally/internationally, including prior work on the 2015 Papal Visit and the 2016 Democratic National Convention, with active involvement in FIFA World Cup 2026 Philadelphia programming.

Name

Brian Communications

Legal name

Brian Communications

Website

https://briancom.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2010

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

51–100 employees

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Public Relations & Strategic Communications

NAICS

Public Relations Agencies (541820), Advertising, Public Relations, and Related Services (5418)

SIC

Services-Engineering, Accounting, Research, Management (8700)

akta.pro primary industry

Corporate & Financial Communications (BPAFADAA)

akta.pro secondary industries

Brand Campaign & Integrated Communications Agencies (MPAAAAAC), Event PR & Communications Support (BPAFADAO), Digital PR & Social Media Communications (MPAAADAJ)

Keywords

• Strategic communications agency
• Public relations services
• Crisis management consulting
• Brand strategy advertising
• Digital social media marketing

Headquarters

HQ city

Conshohocken

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

Revenue model

1. Strategic Communications Consulting: Brian Communications generates revenue through professional services fees for strategic communications consulting, public relations, crisis management, branding, advertising, creative services, and digital/social media marketing. Services are tailored to each client and likely structured as project-based engagements or ongoing retainer arrangements typical of mid-to-large strategic agencies.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels8 records

Core offering

Brian Communications is a strategic communications agency that delivers integrated advertising, public relations, creative, and digital/social media services to enterprise and mid-market clients. The firm provides brand strategy, crisis and issues management, media relations, creative design, digital strategy, content marketing, and major event execution across healthcare, sports, entertainment, financial services, higher education, and nonprofit sectors. It also operates a dedicated healthcare division (Futuretense Health) and hosts the annual HealthKey Summit conference.

Product overview

Brian Communications is a strategic communications agency offering a comprehensive suite of services organized around Advertising, Public Relations, Creative, and Digital & Social Media. The agency's service offerings include brand strategy and positioning, crisis and issues management, media relations, creative design, digital strategy, and content marketing. The agency also operates a healthcare-specific division called Futuretense Health and hosts the HealthKey Summit healthcare conference. Their branded podcast, Withology, extends their thought leadership content. The agency serves clients across healthcare, finance, sports, media, higher education, and nonprofit sectors.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Advertising Services
• Public Relations Services
• Creative Services
• Digital & Social Media Services
• HealthKey Summit
• Futuretense Health

Quantifiable outcome

• Over 1 billion global media impressions for the 2015 World Meeting of Families/Papal Visit
• +7 more outcomes

Named customers24 records

Segments6 records

Ideal customer profiles5 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Scale indicators2 records

Recent moves1 record

Expansion highlights5 records

Broad incumbents

• Weber Shandwick: Top-tier global communications network with deep healthcare, consumer, and corporate practices. Represents the larger-scale competition Brian encounters on multi-region enterprise RFPs.
• Edelman: World's largest independent PR firm with global footprint, broad sector coverage, and integrated creative/digital capabilities. Represents the incumbent benchmark Brian competes against for enterprise communications mandates.
• APCO Worldwide: Global advisory and communications consultancy with strong corporate, crisis, and public affairs capabilities — overlapping with Brian Communications' executive counsel and crisis management offerings at a much larger scale.

Direct peers

• Sloane & Company: Mid-size strategic communications firm specializing in corporate communications, investor relations, and crisis support for enterprise and financial-services clients — directly overlapping Brian's Corporate & Financial Communications positioning.
• Inkhouse: Independent mid-size public relations agency with enterprise technology and B2B focus. Comparable in senior-counsel-led model and integrated storytelling approach targeting similar enterprise buyer profiles.
• Finn Partners: Large independent strategic communications and public relations firm founded in 2011, comparable in mid-market positioning, full-service integrated offering (PR, creative, digital, social), and enterprise client focus across healthcare, technology, and consumer verticals.
• Padilla: Independent integrated communications firm with comparable scale (~250+ employees) and similar service breadth across public relations, branding, and digital — including a dedicated healthcare practice that competes directly with Futuretense Health.
• 5W Public Relations: Mid-size independent PR agency serving consumer, corporate, technology, and healthcare clients. Comparable in service model, enterprise client focus, and senior-counsel-led engagement approach.
• Zeno Group: Mid-size integrated communications agency with strengths in healthcare, consumer, and technology. Zeno's enterprise storytelling model and emphasis on senior-led client engagement closely mirrors Brian Communications' go-to-market approach.
• Carmichael Lynch Relephant: Mid-size creative and PR agency (formerly Tierney Communications, Brian Tierney's prior firm). Direct historical and operational lineage — multiple Brian Communications executives (Ed Mahlman, Matt Broscious, Tim Spreitzer) previously worked at Tierney/Carmichael Lynch.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/BrianComms
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/brian-communications

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles14 records

Subsidiaries1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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 Brian Communications