WE Communications (previously Waggener Edstrom) and commonly known as WE is a global

public relations Public relations (PR) is the practice of managing and disseminating information from an individual or an organization (such as a business, government agency, or a nonprofit organization) to the public in order to influence their perception. P ...

and integrated

marketing communications Marketing Communications (MC, marcom(s), marcomm(s) or just simply communications) refers to the use of different marketing channels and tools in combination.Tomse, & Snoj, 2014 Marketing communication channels focus on how businesses communicate ...

firm often associated with its largest client,

Microsoft Microsoft Corporation is an American multinational technology corporation producing computer software, consumer electronics, personal computers, and related services headquartered at the Microsoft Redmond campus located in Redmond, Washing ...

. The firm was founded in 1983 by Melissa Waggener Zorkin.

History

The Waggener Group was founded in 1983 by Melissa Waggener Zorkin. In 1984, Pam Edstrom joined the firm, which was renamed Waggener Edstrom. Edstrom previously worked for

, which became one of the agency's first clients. The firm acquired PR.com in 2001, Maloney & Fox in 2003, Shout Holdings in 2004, Patzer PR in 2012, Buchan in 2016, Red Bridge Consulting and WATATAWA in 2017, Avian Media in 2018 and Codeword in 2019. In September 2015, the company re-branded as WE Communications. Pam Edstrom died in March 2017 and later that year was posthumously inducted in the PR Hall of Fame.

Services

WE Communications focuses on three sectors —

healthcare Health care or healthcare is the improvement of health via the prevention, diagnosis, treatment, amelioration or cure of disease, illness, injury, and other physical and mental impairments in people. Health care is delivered by health profe ...

, consumer and technology. Its services include

media relations Media Relations involves working with media for the purpose of informing the public of an organization's mission, policies and practices in a positive, consistent and credible manner. It can also entail developing symbiotic relationships with medi ...

, corporate and executive communications,

digital marketing Digital marketing is the component of marketing that uses the Internet and online based digital technologies such as desktop computers, mobile phones and other digital media and platforms to promote products and services. Its development duri ...

, creative,

social media Social media are interactive media technologies that facilitate the creation and sharing of information, ideas, interests, and other forms of expression through virtual communities and networks. While challenges to the definition of ''social medi ...

and content strategy,

crisis communications Crisis communication is a sub-specialty of the public relations profession that is designed to protect and defend an individual, company, or organization facing a public challenge to its reputation. Crisis communication is aimed at raising awarenes ...

, insights and analytics,

corporate social responsibility Corporate social responsibility (CSR) is a form of international private business self-regulation which aims to contribute to societal goals of a philanthropic, activist, or charitable nature by engaging in or supporting volunteering or ethicall ...

, brand purpose and reputation.

Notable clients and campaigns

Notable clients include Microsoft,

Volvo The Volvo Group ( sv, Volvokoncernen; legally Aktiebolaget Volvo, shortened to AB Volvo, stylized as VOLVO) is a Swedish multinational manufacturing corporation headquartered in Gothenburg. While its core activity is the production, distributio ...

Boehringer Ingelheim C.H. Boehringer Sohn AG & Co. is the parent company of the Boehringer Ingelheim group, which was founded in 1885 by Albert Boehringer in Ingelheim am Rhein, Germany. As of 2018, Boehringer Ingelheim is one of the world's largest pharmaceutical ...

, VSP,

Honeywell Honeywell International Inc. is an American publicly traded, multinational conglomerate corporation headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina. It primarily operates in four areas of business: aerospace, building technologies, performance ma ...

, Tencent, Cisco, McDonald's, Tabula Rasa, Brother, Amgen, Gilead, iRobot, RSA, Lenovo, the

Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation (BMGF), a merging of the William H. Gates Foundation and the Gates Learning Foundation, is an American private foundation founded by Bill Gates and Melinda French Gates. Based in Seattle, Washington, it was l ...

, AT&T and others. WE Communications is often associated with its work for Microsoft, one of its first clients. In the firm's early years, this relationship led to it working primarily with other technology companies, before expanding into healthcare, consumer and other sectors. For more than a decade, WE Communications supported

Mercy Corps Mercy Corps is a global non-governmental, humanitarian aid organization operating in transitional contexts that have undergone, or have been undergoing, various forms of economic, environmental, social and political instabilities. The organizatio ...

on a pro-bono basis after CEO Waggener Zorkin took on the client after visiting the Good Shepherd orphanage in

Ghana Ghana (; tw, Gaana, ee, Gana), officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country in West Africa. It abuts the Gulf of Guinea and the Atlantic Ocean to the south, sharing borders with Ivory Coast in the west, Burkina Faso in the north, and To ...

. In 2007, a WE Communications employee accidentally sent '' Wired'' journalist Fred Vogelstein his own thirteen-page briefing sheet. The document included commentary about his reporting and interview style being "tricky" and "sensational...though he would consider them to be balanced and fair." In 2018 WE Communications handled the PR for the McDelivery Day 2.0 and was shortlisted for PRWeek Global Award.

Awards

* In 2010 WE Communications was named the Technology Agency of the Decade by The Holmes Report. * In 2015, Volvo's Greatest Interception Ever campaign, executed in partnership with Grey New York, won two Cannes Lions awards as well as the Cannes Lions Grand Prix for Campaign. * In 2016, WE Communications was named one of PRWeek Asia's Best Places to Work in the medium agency category. * CEO Melissa Waggener Zorkin was inducted into the PRWeek Hall of Femme in 2017 and Pam Edstrom was posthumously elected to the PR Hall of Fame. * WE Buchan won the Large PR Agency of the Year Award at the Mumbrella CommsCon Awards in 2018 and 2019. * WE Communications was shortlisted for PRWeek U.S.'s Outstanding Large Agency award and for the PRWeek Global Awards' Best Agency in Asia-Pacific in 2019.

References

External links

{{portal, Companies
WE
Privately held companies based in Washington (state) American companies established in 1983 Marketing companies established in 1983 Public relations companies of the United States Companies based in Seattle 1983 establishments in Washington (state)