The Weber Shandwick Collective

What The Weber Shandwick Collective does

The Weber Shandwick Collective (TWSC) is a strategic communications and consulting organization with Weber Shandwick as its core brand, operating across 60+ global markets through 10+ specialist agency brands including That Lot, Flipside Group, United Minds, Element Scientific Communications, and Resolute. The firm is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Omnicom Public Relations, part of Omnicom Group (NYSE: OMC), with U.S. headquarters in Chicago and EMEA headquarters in London. TWSC organizes capabilities into three practice pillars: Weber Advisory (strategy, reputation, public affairs, crisis, financial communications), Weber Create (earned creative, integrated media, influencer and social, content), and Weber I/O (data, AI, digital transformation, performance marketing).

The firm's technology stack is anchored by HALO, the first AI-native enterprise platform purpose-built for the communications industry and developed with Google Cloud's Gemini Enterprise. AI capabilities extend into generative AI crisis navigation, simulated audience agents, NLP-based competitive intelligence for pharmaceutical clients, and custom real-time digital twin video technology. The client base is concentrated among Fortune 500 enterprises across healthcare/pharmaceuticals, consumer goods, financial services, technology, and government, with named marquee clients including IKEA, Novartis, Pfizer, Amgen, Sanofi, McDonald's, IBM, HSBC, Walmart, and HealthCare.gov.

Revenue is generated through professional services fees billed on project-based, quote-driven engagements typically structured as multi-year contracts with customized scope and team deployment. The agency acquires clients through senior leadership relationships, competitive pitches, and inbound RFPs. A leadership transition is underway: Susan Howe will retire as CEO on September 1, 2026, with Karen Pugliese, currently Global President, succeeding her. The firm has accrued 225+ Cannes Lions and held four consecutive years as the most awarded PR agency at Cannes Lions.

Name

The Weber Shandwick Collective

Legal name

Weber Shandwick

Website

https://thewebershandwickcollective.com

Company type

Private

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1,001–5,000 employees

Short description

TWSC is a global strategic communications and consulting organization serving Fortune 500 and government clients across 60+ markets through integrated practice pillars (Advisory, Create, I/O) and the HALO AI-native platform.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Chicago

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices16 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: Professional services fees for strategic communications, public relations, crisis management, and marketing consulting to enterprise clients across industries

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

The Weber Shandwick Collective is a strategic communications and consulting network that provides earned-first public relations, public affairs, crisis and issues management, corporate reputation, and business transformation services to large enterprises and government clients. The firm sells integrated advisory, creative, and data/AI-driven engagements through brands including Weber Shandwick, Weber Advisory, Weber Create, Weber I/O, United Minds, That Lot, Flipside Group, Element Scientific Communications, and Resolute, with service delivery powered by its HALO AI-native platform.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Weber Shandwick: Core communications and PR agency brand
• Weber I/O
• Weber Create
• Weber Advisory

Products and services

• Weber Shandwick Core Communications Agency The core communications and public relations agency brand of The Weber Shandwick Collective, offering earned-first strategic communications services to Fortune 500 clients across major industry sectors and 60+ global markets.
• Weber Advisory Advisory practice guiding corporate strategy and reputation, public affairs, social impact and sustainability, leadership and organizational change, crisis and issues, and financial communications and transactions for enterprise clients.
• Weber Create Global hub for data-driven creativity and analytics, offering cultural intelligence and strategy, earned creative, integrated media, influencer and social, content, and campaigns and activations services.
• Weber I/O Data, technology, and AI division offering AI acceleration, digital strategy and experience, performance marketing and measurement, and intelligence and analytics services to support modern marketing transformation.
• HALO AI Platform The first AI-native enterprise platform for the communications industry, built with Gemini Enterprise from Google Cloud, enabling AI-powered crisis management, audience simulation, scenario planning, and communications optimization for enterprise users.
• That Lot Social media agency within The Weber Shandwick Collective, delivering social-first creative and engagement services to consumer brands such as Drambuie.
• United Minds (Business Transformation) Specialist business transformation and change management practice within Weber Shandwick, delivering corporate culture change, M&A transformations, employee engagement, and organizational design services for enterprises.
• Flipside Group Creative services sub-brand within The Weber Shandwick Collective, delivering strategic, full-service brand solutions on a global scale.
• Element Scientific Communications Scientific communications sub-brand within The Weber Shandwick Collective, providing strategic guidance and scientific storytelling for healthcare clients.
• Resolute (Performance Marketing) Performance marketing sub-brand within The Weber Shandwick Collective, offering modern performance, measurement, and commercial strategy solutions.

Quantifiable outcome

• Reduced uninsured Americans from 48 million to ~25 million through HealthCare.gov campaigns
• +6 more outcomes

Named customers40 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 capability8 records

Feature5 records

Partnerships

Three partnerships are on record, tiered major, core and campaign-specific.

• RedditmajorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 9 July 2026Joint research partnership with Reddit to decode modern women's health content discovery journey. Released collaborative report 'The New Health Ecosystem' based on survey of nearly 900 U.S. women, providing framework for understanding health content discovery behavior and implications for healthcare communication.
• Google Cloud (Gemini Enterprise)coreTechnology or IntegrationTechnology partnership for HALO platform - the first AI-native enterprise platform for the communications industry, built using Gemini Enterprise from Google Cloud. Enables advanced AI capabilities for crisis management, audience simulation, and communications optimization.
• Shelter (UK Housing Charity)campaign-specificStrategic or Co-development PartnerCharitable partnership for IKEA 'Unwelcome Home' campaign addressing child housing emergency in England. Shelter serves as charity partner to amplify campaign impact and policy advocacy.

Scale indicators14 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• Brunswick Group: Specialist critical-communications advisor for C-suites with deep overlap in M&A, crisis, and financial communications. Comparable in senior-counsel orientation and reputation-management work.
• Ketchum: Major global PR firm under Omnicom, with overlapping capabilities in earned media, public affairs, and digital communications. Often named in the same enterprise agency reviews as Weber Shandwick.
• Edelman: The world's largest privately held PR firm, offering earned-media, corporate reputation, and creative services to Fortune 500 enterprises. Direct head-to-head competitor for many of Weber Shandwick's marquee clients (e.g., corporate reputation, healthcare).
• MSL Group: Publicis-owned global PR network with comparable enterprise client base and earned-first positioning. Competes head-to-head for integrated communications and influencer marketing engagements.
• FTI Consulting (Strategic Communications): Publicly traded professional services firm with a significant Strategic Communications segment covering crisis, financial communications, and public affairs — directly overlapping in crisis and transactions work.
• FleishmanHillard: Global PR and communications agency part of Omnicom (alongside Weber Shandwick); competes directly for enterprise AOR and public affairs mandates across healthcare, technology, and consumer sectors.
• Hill & Knowlton: Global strategic communications firm (now part of Burson but historically independent), competing for public affairs, crisis, and corporate reputation mandates in healthcare and government.
• Ogilvy PR: WPP-owned earned media and PR practice within Ogilvy, offering comparable corporate communications, social impact, and brand strategy services to Fortune 500 clients.
• Burson (Burson Cohn & Wolfe): Large global PR and public affairs agency formed via the merger of Burson-Marsteller and Cohn & Wolfe (also Omnicom). Direct competitor in corporate reputation, healthcare, and crisis communications.

Broad incumbents

• WPP (Publicis Groupe / Interpublic Group): Global advertising and communications holding companies whose portfolio brands (Ogilvy, MSL, McCann, etc.) compete across the same enterprise marketing and communications spend pools; broader in scope but overlapping in PR and brand strategy.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks7 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xtwitter.com/webershandwick
• YouTubeyoutube.com/user/webershandwickglobal
• Facebookfacebook.com/WeberShandwick
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/the-weber-shandwick-collective
• Instagraminstagram.com/webershandwick/?hl=en?hl=en
• TikToktiktok.com/@weber_shandwick

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles20 records

Subsidiaries5 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 The Weber Shandwick Collective