(photo credit: Kirk Lisaj)
Community Agency is unveiling a new PR agency called Public/Realm.
The agency says the expansion streamlines its service offering for clients, making it a one-stop shop for fully integrated marketing services across creative, digital, design, experiential and now, PR.
Community Agency CEO Art Mandalas says the new public relations offering “allows us to open new dialogues, and help brands shape not just their narratives, but their presence in the world.”
The agency will come under the leadership of industry veteran Lisa Kwong. As president of Public/Realm, Kwong will join Community Agency’s senior leadership team and be responsible for all aspects of the PR business. She will also play a collaborative role in the day-to-day client services and integrated planning across both agencies.
Kwong brings nearly two decades of agency and client-side experience, working for globally recognized brands in the luxury, fashion, retail, lifestyle and consumer sectors.
“If I look at where PR has been, and where I think it’s going, PR is more powerful when it’s integrated through the funnel from the beginning of a campaign, through to the very end,” Kwong tells strategy. “And this is what we’ll offer clients, seamless access to expertise across creative, digital, design, experiential and PR, all under one roof, with a team who already plays well in the sandbox.”
She joins Community from the luxury multi-brand e-commerce retailer Ssense, where she led the global brand communications and managed agency partners in the United States, Europe and Japan.
Prior, Kwong served as vice president and creative strategist at Veritas Communications and is a former vice president with Pomp & Circumstance.
Throughout her career, she has worked in the fashion for brands including Joe Fresh, Gap, Grey Goose Vodka, Aldo Group and L’Oréal.
Kwong says she has always approached her career with the mindset that life begins at the edge of your comfort zone. “When Community approached me with the idea, I saw two immediate benefits. Yes, the terrifying opportunity to start an agency from the ground up – cue imposter syndrome – but more importantly, the chance to start an agency built on the promise of integration.”
