Rapp Strategies

Name

Rapp Strategies

Legal name

Rapp Strategies, Inc.

Website

https://rappstrategies.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1982

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Public Affairs Consulting

NAICS

Public Relations Agencies (54182), Advertising, Public Relations, and Related Services (5418)

SIC

Services-Management Consulting Services (8742)

akta.pro primary industry

PR, Corporate Communications & Crisis Management (BPAFAAAL)

akta.pro secondary industry

Crisis Communications & Issues Management (BPAFADAE)

Keywords

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

Headquarters

HQ city

Minneapolis

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. Strategic counsel and communications services: Retainer and project-based professional services engagements covering strategic counsel, risk/reputation management, scenario planning and crisis communications preparation, digital strategy (web development and social media management), grassroots engagement, material development, media relations, and opinion research. Revenue generated through fee-for-service engagements with major businesses, trade groups, nonprofits, and government agencies.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

Rapp Strategies is a public affairs and strategic communications consultancy that counsels businesses, nonprofits, trade associations, and government agencies on strategic communications, risk and reputation management, crisis response, media relations, opinion research, grassroots engagement, and digital strategy. The firm sells senior practitioner time and integrated advisory engagements rather than discrete products, delivering counsel across stakeholder, public, and political audiences.

Product overview

Rapp Strategies operates as a single integrated public affairs consultancy rather than a multi-product software platform. Its offering is organized around four branded pillars — Shape Understanding, Manage Risk, Strengthen Reputation, and Advance Good Ideas — that bundle its core service lines: Strategic Counsel, Risk and Reputation Management, Scenario Planning and Crisis Communications, Digital Strategy (Web Development and Social Media Management), Grassroots Engagement, Material Development, Media Relations, and Opinion Research. Together, these service lines work as interconnected modules that the firm's account team (led by President/CEO Todd Rapp and Managing Director/Chief of Staff Todd Stone) assembles around each client's goals, with material development and digital/social delivery feeding the media relations and grassroots engagement work, and opinion research plus scenario planning underpinning the strategic counsel and crisis communications practice.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Strategic Counsel

Quantifiable outcome

• 40+ years of continuous operation in Minnesota public affairs since founding in 1982
• +2 more outcomes

Segments6 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Four partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• Morris LeathermancoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 2 March 2020Morris Leatherman partnered with Rapp Strategies to conduct the Campaign 2020 statewide public opinion survey, with Rapp Strategies publishing a methodology document on the joint research effort. This represents a recurring opinion-research partnership that supports the firm's opinion research capabilities.
• Faegre Baker Daniels LLPcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 28 February 2019Faegre Baker Daniels is the former firm of Rich Forschler, who joined Rapp Strategies as Senior Counselor effective March 1, 2019 after retiring from Faegre on December 31, 2018. The relationship provides Rapp Strategies with access to Faegre's network and former colleagues (e.g., joint lunches for retired partners), and Faegre clients including IBM, Minnesota Wild, Target, Mortenson Construction, and Wells Fargo have historical ties to Forschler.
• AAA - The Auto Club GroupminorOthersAAA - The Auto Club Group is referenced as the prior employer of Meredith Mitts (public affairs specialist for AAA in Minnesota and Iowa). Not an active commercial partnership but represents an industry relationship the firm brings through staff expertise in traffic safety, media relations, government relations, and award-winning campaign work (Public Affairs Council Communications Innovation award; AAA Traffic Safety and Advocacy award).
• Minnesota Public Radio (MPR)minorGTM or Marketing PartnerTodd Rapp serves as a regular political analyst for Minnesota Public Radio (MPR) and is frequently invited by other media and organizations to share perceptions on state and national politics and emerging policy debates, providing the firm with ongoing earned-media visibility.

Scale indicators5 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights2 records

Broad incumbents

• Faegre Baker Daniels (now Faegre Drinker): National law and government affairs firm and former employer of Rapp Strategies' Senior Counselor Rich Forschler. Comparable because it offers integrated government advocacy and strategic communications capabilities for enterprise clients in regulated industries — the same buyer Rapp Strategies serves — but at vastly greater scale and with a broader geographic footprint.
• Weber Shandwick: Top global public relations firm and part of the Interpublic Group, offering integrated communications including public affairs, media relations, digital, and crisis. Comparable to Rapp Strategies in service offerings and target buyers (major corporations and trade groups), but vastly larger, global, and operating across many geographies and categories.
• Edelman: Largest global public relations firm, with substantial public affairs, government relations, and crisis practices. Comparable to Rapp Strategies because it serves the same enterprise buyer with strategic counsel, opinion research, and crisis communications, but at global scale and with proprietary research assets (Edelman Trust Barometer) Rapp Strategies cannot match.
• Public Strategies (now part of Hill+Knowlton Strategies): Strategic communications and public affairs consultancy (originally a Texas-based firm) now integrated into Hill+Knowlton Strategies, with deep practice in government affairs, media relations, and crisis. Comparable in service mix to Rapp Strategies but at multi-state and international scale.

Direct peers

• Mercury Public Affairs: Global public affairs and strategic communications firm combining public affairs, public relations, and crisis management. Directly comparable to Rapp Strategies because it sells senior-led strategic counsel and crisis communications to corporations and trade groups, but operates nationally and globally rather than regionally in Minnesota.
• Targeted Victory: Republican-aligned public affairs and communications firm offering media relations, digital strategy, and crisis communications. Comparable to Rapp Strategies because it sells an integrated strategic communications and public affairs package to enterprises and advocacy groups, but with a national political/policy lens rather than a Minnesota-specific one.
• FP1 Strategies: Republican-aligned public affairs and public relations firm with deep ties to political and corporate clients. Directly comparable in service mix (strategic counsel, media relations, crisis, digital) and in senior-practitioner-led engagement model, but operates at a national scale rather than Minnesota-only.
• Capitol Hill Consulting Group: Bipartisan government affairs and public affairs firm based in Washington, D.C., offering strategic counsel, advocacy, and communications to corporate and association clients. Comparable to Rapp Strategies in its integration of government affairs and strategic communications, but operates at the federal rather than state level.
• Hamilton Place Strategies: Strategic communications and public affairs firm offering counsel on policy, communications, and reputational issues for corporate and investor clients. Directly comparable to Rapp Strategies in senior-led strategic counsel and policy communications, but national in scope rather than Minnesota-focused.

Regional players

• broadhead. Minneapolis-based independent marketing and communications agency serving consumer and B2B brands. Comparable because it is a Minneapolis-headquartered agency of similar scale competing for similar Minnesota client budgets, but its focus is more on consumer marketing than public affairs, government relations, and crisis communications.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/rapp-strategies-inc
• Xx.com/RappStrategies
• Facebookfacebook.com/Rapp-Strategies-1766085130308399

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles14 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 Rapp Strategies