What ICON Media Group does

ICON Media Group is a privately held, women-owned public relations and media relations firm headquartered in the Nashville/Middle Tennessee area, founded in 2012. The firm serves mission-driven authors, publishing houses, entertainment studios, consumer brands, celebrity personalities, and nonprofits operating within the faith, family, and justice sectors. Its client roster spans the largest Christian publishing houses (HarperCollins, Penguin Random House, Hachette, Tyndale, Zondervan, Thomas Nelson, Baker Publishing Group, Harvest House, B&H Publishing, Ave Maria Press), major film studios (Universal Pictures, Sony Pictures, Lionsgate, Angel Studios), and nonprofits such as Convoy of Hope, Global Christian Relief, and UPPERROOM.

The firm delivers traditional publicity and communications consulting services rather than a technology platform: core offerings include Media Relations, Publishing Consulting, Earned Media Placements, Crisis Communications (including a 24/7 crisis response team), Podcast Tours, Strategic Plans for Self-Published Authors, Media Materials & Writing, and Local Media Tours. The offering is built on human-driven media relationships—claimed to span more than 500 podcasters and major national outlets (GMA3, FORBES, Essence, Shondaland, Fox News, CNN, MSNBC, PBS)—rather than on proprietary software or automation. Track-record claims include orchestration of publicity campaigns for more than 100 NYT, USA Today, and WSJ national bestsellers, hundreds of faith-based bestsellers, and three of the top ten faith-based films in history.

ICON operates a professional services, project-based revenue model with no publicly disclosed pricing. Go-to-market is direct sales, primarily inbound via the website contact form, supplemented by referral and client-logo-driven credibility marketing. The core team is small (1–10 employees) and led by co-founding Partners Paige Collins and Shanon Stowe, supported by Senior Media Strategist Jonathan Merritt and Publicity Administrator Jennifer Jordan. There is no disclosed institutional funding, parent company, or acquisition activity, and the firm commits 10% of revenue to causes supporting women, anti-trafficking, and rural hunger relief.

Name

ICON Media Group

Legal name

Icon Media Group

Website

https://iconmediagroup.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2012

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

ICON Media Group is a Nashville-area, women-owned PR and media relations firm delivering traditional publicity campaigns, crisis communications, and publishing consulting to mission-driven authors, publishing houses, entertainment studios, brands, and nonprofits in the faith, family, and justice space.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Public Relations and Media Relations Services

NAICS

Public Relations Agencies (54182), Public Relations Agencies (541820), Advertising, Public Relations, and Related Services (5418), Media Representatives (54184)

SIC

Services-Advertising (7310)

akta.pro primary industry

Media Relations & Press Office Services (MPAAADAI)

akta.pro secondary industries

Media Relations & Press Office Services (BPAFADAF), Thought Leadership & Executive Visibility (BPAFADAG), Nonprofit & Cause Communications (BPAFADAK), Publicity, PR & Media Relations (Artists) (MPAIAGAG), Corporate Reputation & Thought Leadership (MPAAAOAF), PR, Reputation Management & Earned Media Platforms (BPAMALAO)

Keywords

• Public relations agency
• Media relations services
• Crisis communications consulting
• Book publicity campaigns
• Earned media placements

Headquarters

HQ city

Nashville

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. PR and Communications Services: Professional services revenue generated through media relations, publicity campaigns, crisis communications consulting, publishing consulting, podcast tours, media materials development, and local media tours for authors, brands, entertainment clients, and nonprofits.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels3 records

Core offering

ICON Media Group is a media relations firm offering traditional publicity campaigns and communications consulting for authors, brands, entertainment entities, celebrity personalities, and nonprofits operating within the faith, family, and justice space. Core services span media relations, publishing consulting, earned media placements, crisis communications, podcast tours, local media tours, and development of strategic plans and media materials for self-published and traditionally published authors.

Product overview

ICON Media Group is a media relations firm offering traditional publicity campaigns and communications consulting services. The company operates as a single unified service offering rather than a platform-plus-modules architecture. Their core services include Media Relations, Publishing Consulting, Earned Media Placements, Crisis Communications, Podcast Tours, Strategic Plans for Self-Published Authors, Media Materials + Writing, and Local Media Tours—all coordinated through their team of experienced publicists. The company specializes in serving brands, authors, entertainment, celebrity personalities, and nonprofits within the faith, family, and justice sectors. ICON Media Group is a women-owned business that donates 10% of revenue to causes supporting safe employment for women, abolition of human trafficking, and addressing rural hunger in America.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Media Relations Building and maintaining positive relationships with journalists and media outlets to increase brand exposure and credibility, including targeted campaigns to meet media goals and objectives for mission-driven authors, brands, and organizations.
• Publishing Consulting Executive consulting covering the publishing process end-to-end, including timelines, communication tips, best practices, and pitfalls to avoid, aimed at authors and publishers seeking strategic guidance.
• Earned Media Placements Outreach to podcasts, online, and national television programs to book interviews, coordinate articles, excerpts and op-ed placements through relationships with journalists and producers.
• Crisis Communications Advising and assisting clients in communicating during sensitive seasons and transitions, navigating challenging crisis situations with confidentiality using strategic initiatives tailored to unique scenarios.
• Podcast Tours Targeted podcast promotion strategy leveraging personal relationships with more than 500 podcasters spanning a variety of genres to reach distinct audiences for clients.
• Strategic Plans for Self-Published Authors Comprehensive publicity plans for self-published authors focused on increasing visibility, reaching potential readers, and developing strategies targeting desired audiences.
• Media Materials + Writing Development of strategic pitch materials and press kits including press releases, in-depth biographies, suggested interview questions, and Op-Eds for national media placement.
• Local Media Tours Earned media opportunities within single local markets including online, print, and broadcast coverage for brands and authors with local messages, events, or geographic relevance.
• 24/7 Crisis Response Team Round-the-clock crisis response team available on a standalone engagement basis to support clients facing crisis situations.

Quantifiable outcome

• 100+ New York Times, USA Today, and Wall Street Journal national bestsellers orchestrated
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers24 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

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• The Kimberly Agency: Boutique book publicity firm representing authors with the national media. Overlaps with ICON on traditional publicity campaigns, podcast tours, and bestseller-driven media strategy.
• JKS Communications: Book publicity firm that builds national campaigns for authors and small publishers, with a reputation for working across Christian and general market titles. Closely comparable to ICON in author/publisher focus and faith-adjacent positioning.
• Smith Publicity: One of the best-known independent book publicity firms in the U.S., serving authors and publishers across mainstream and niche categories. Highly comparable to ICON in its core book publicity offering, though Smith Publicity is broader and not faith-focused.
• The Lemoine Company: Faith-based public relations and marketing agency serving Christian authors, publishers, ministries, and nonprofits. ICON's closest direct peer in terms of both client verticals and the faith, family, and values-based positioning.
• Burst Creative: Book marketing and publicity agency that runs national bestseller campaigns for authors and publishers. Directly comparable to ICON's publishing/PR work in scope and client type (authors and publishers), though without the faith specialization.
• Media Connect (part of Pilot Stuff): Long-running book publicity firm that orchestrates media tours, podcast bookings, and national bestseller campaigns. Directly comparable to ICON in service mix (earned media, podcast tours, media tours) and book industry client base.
• Five Q: Faith-based communications and marketing agency serving Christian publishers, churches, and nonprofits. Closely comparable to ICON's nonprofit and publishing clients, with overlapping capabilities in publicity, messaging, and cause-driven communications.

Broad incumbents

• Edelman: Global communications firm with a large public relations and reputation practice serving corporations, brands, and entertainment clients. Not a specialist in faith-based publicity but competes for large brand and crisis communications budgets that ICON also targets.
• 42 West (and Full Picture): Entertainment publicity and communications agency representing film studios, streaming platforms, and talent. Comparable to ICON's faith-based film publicity work, though at much larger scale and with a generalist studio roster.

Emerging players

• Converge: Faith-focused marketing and PR agency that works with ministries, Christian publishers, and values-driven brands. Comparable to ICON's nonprofit and ministry client work and to its faith-based positioning, though typically more marketing-led than publicity-led.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks7 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/weareiconmedia

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles4 records

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 ICON Media Group