This week’s episode of The PR Week podcast features 2026 predictions from our editorial team: Editorial director Steve Barrett, news editor Diana Bradley, associate news editor Jess Ruderman and reporter Julia Walker. 

They talk about what's in-store for the year ahead in relation to consumer marketing trends, agency dynamics and the impact of AI.

PRWeek executive editor Frank Washkuch also joins the podcast remotely from CES in Las Vegas. He shares his insights and snippets of conversations he had with PR pros on the ground at the event, such as Jennifer Hartmann, John Deere’s global director of corporate reputation and brand marketing; Sona Iliffe-Moon, Yahoo’s chief communications officer; and Joseph Gallo, PayPal’s director of communications and head of communications for crypto and PayPal Ads.

The team also discusses the biggest industry news of the week, including Allison Worldwide hiring Wendy Lund as global CEO; ICR appointing Anton Nicholas as CEO; Chris Chiames’ retirement from his role as Carnival Cruise Line’s chief communications officer; Universal Music Group naming James Steven as EVP and chief communications officer; and WPP launching Agent Hub on its AI marketing platform WPP Open. 

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Another year has come and gone for The PR Week podcast, and this year has once again been filled with top guests and key insights. 

Check out this highlight reel of some of the year’s best episodes, including leaders from top agencies such as 

The Weber Shandwick Collective and in-house teams such as Walmart and Ford. 

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The guest on the latest edition of The PR Week podcast is Kim Sample, president of the PR Council, a national trade organization that works on behalf of agencies. 

As a year of massive change for the agency landscape wraps up, Sample talks about what her industry partners are thinking while entering 2026. She also chats about the effects of Omnicom’s acquisition of Interpublic Group, as well as other industry and economic trends. 

Plus the biggest marketing and communications news of the week, from a range of high-level people moves at organizations from 

OpenAI to Intel and Netflix to reaction to Vanity Fair’s profile of the White House staff. 

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The guest on the latest, wide-ranging edition of The PR Week podcast is Dan Bartlett, executive vice president of corporate affairs at Walmart. 

He joins the podcast during an important week for Walmart, after the retail giant eschewed the New York Stock Exchange for the Nasdaq. Bartlett talks about that and discusses the communications skills and preparation ethic of Walmart CEO Doug McMillon. He also reflects on his time crafting the public communications strategy of former President George W. Bush. 

Plus, the biggest marketing and communications news of the week, such as the latest from Omnicom’s acquisition of Interpublic Group, Publicis Groupe’s 100th birthday celebration, the affordability debate and new communications leaders at Duolingo and Insulet. 

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It’s a seismic change for several industries. 

Omnicom Group closed its $9 billion acquisition of Interpublic Group last Wednesday. In the days since, the deal has resulted in many job reductions as Omnicom tries to reach promised cost savings. 

For the PR sector, the deal means former Interpublic agencies Golin and The Weber Shandwick Collective are joining Omnicom PR, which includes FleishmanHillard, Ketchum, Porter Novelli and other firms under the leadership of CEO Chris Foster. 

Joining this week’s podcast are Campaign’s Luz Corona and MM+M’s Jameson Fleming, who explain what the holding company mega-deal means for the creative and medical marketing sectors, respectively. 

Plus, some of the biggest marketing and communications news of the week, such as WPP delaying employee pay reviews until next spring and PRWeek’s Best Places to Work 2025.

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Welcome to a special edition of The PR Week podcast from a very special night. 

PRWeek’s Julia Walker chats with every member of the 2025 PRWeek Hall of Fame Class: Torod Neptune, Kathy Bloomgarden, Vanessa Broadhurst, Pat Ford, John Saunders and Jim Weiss. 

The 2025 Hall of Fame class was honored last Thursday night at a ceremony in New York City, including video tributes to all of the new inductees. Congratulations to the 2025 class!

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The latest guest on The PR Week podcast is Paul Cohen, CEO of Attention Comms. 

Cohen launched the firm this year after it spun out of U.K.-based Milk & Honey PR. He talks about U.K.-headquartered firms expanding to the U.S. with varying degrees of success, as well as the trends he’s seeing in the current economic and political environment. 

Plus, the biggest marketing and communications news of the week, including the end of R&CPMK as its staff joins Acceleration Community of Companies; executive moves including the new U.S. CEO of Ogilvy and FleishmanHillard’s first chief creative officer in the Americas; and the political and brand implications for McDonald’s after President Donald Trump spoke at its Impact Summit. 

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This week’s guest on The PR Week podcast is Paul Wood, an alum of Ketchum and the chief marketing and communications officer at the Cohen Veterans Network. 

He gives us the lowdown on why his nonprofit was founded to help post-9/11 veterans and how it provides mental health services to veterans when they return from active-duty service. Wood also discusses breaking the stigma of embracing mental health services. 

Also on the agenda, the biggest marketing and communications news of the week, from people moves at 

Allison Worldwide, Praytell and Verizon to PRWeek’s Health Influencer 30 list. 

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AI Deciphered is back for a second year!

On Thursday, November 13, three Haymarket Media publications – PRWeek, Campaign and MM+M – will reunite for a daylong conference focused on the ongoing AI revolution.

Attendees will get to hear from leaders across a variety of industries and sectors about how AI is impacting their work and what the future holds for these innovations.

The opening keynote will feature the chief data scientist at The New York Times and the closing keynote speaker will be the global head of generative AI at The Coca-Cola Company.

To preview the second annual AI Deciphered conference are the three editorial leads from Haymarket Media: PRWeek editorial director Steve Barrett, Campaign editor-in-chief Luz Corona and MM+M editor-in-chief Jameson Fleming.

Register here for tickets to the 2025 AI Deciphered conference.

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PRWeek VP and editorial director Steve Barrett is back in New York after meeting with top PR and communications leaders last week in Seattle, where he had the chance to chat with Dominic Carr of Starbucks and Katie Townsend of the Seattle Kraken. He also spoke at a LaGrant Foundation event with Frank Shaw of Microsoft and Amazon’s Drew Herdener. 

Plus, the biggest marketing and communications news of the week, from Unilever’s new campaign with NFL legend Marshawn Lynch

 to major people moves at Acrisure, The Weber Shandwick Collective, DuPont and Twitch. 

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