Toronto-based PR agency Media Profile has joined PRGN (Public Relations Global Network), an association of agencies from every continent that work as partners to offer their services at a global scale.

Conceived in 1992 as a collective of American PR firms, PRGN now has more than 50 members across the globe.

“It’s a group of independently owned agencies that have banded together to compete against some of the multinational agencies with a real point of difference,” said Alison King, Media Profile president (pictured seated at centre). That difference, she said, is that each has local expertise and a strong working relationship with other PRGN partners.

The partnership is not a financial one – it is not an acquisition. King said her team was approached by the organization, which was seeking a Canadian partner.

“The GDP value of Canada represents 2.5% of the world economy, so having a strong presence there is imperative,” said Evelyn John Holtzhausen, president of PRGN, in a statement.

However, in order to join, King and her team presented case studies to the network’s members and faced a panel of potential partners who, King said, “asked some very pointed, very tough questions. It was great.”

PRGN has worked with Google, P&G, 3M and dozens other international brands. Media Profile’s client base includes the Canadian operations of several global companies such as Honda and Google.

“I suspect what will be great for us will be seeing business coming to us from the U.S., because a lot of those companies are looking for North American agencies and Canadian partners,” King said.

Media Profile was recently named PR Agency of the Year by strategy.

From Marketing