A Republican campaign comms firm that counts Nikki Haley’s super PAC as a client is expanding into the corporate world with a new shingle.
Citadel Communications, an offshoot of Pittsburgh-based ColdSpark, will focus on public affairs and pitch for work from corporate, nonprofit and association clients. The main selling point: the parent company’s campaign heritage.
“What we have found is that the skill sets, the rigor, the urgency of political campaigns — these types of talents are in demand and definitely have a competitive advantage compared to the traditional communications and public affairs space,” said Mike DeVanney, a founding partner at ColdSpark. “So this really was a natural creation out of clients coming to us and saying: ‘we would like to use your services in this way.’
“And we believe that with the formation of Citadel and with the talented players we’re bringing in there, we’re going to be able to use those skills that we’ve honed over years in the political sphere to really help a lot of new and diverse clients.”
Jeremy Neuhart, a two-decade veteran of corporate public affairs, is leading the new shingle. While being separate entities, Neuhart noted, they’ll share staff resources. “[Being] able to walk in with an in-house digital and creative shop ready to go is pretty nice blessing,” said Neuhart, who spent the last year working under the ColdSpark shingle.
Despite the economic pressure on news organizations, which comms shops have traditionally relied on as outlets for their clients’ efforts, Neuhart was bullish on his shop’s potential for growth.
“The volatilization of information out there,” he said. “People really need to take a more proactive approach to managing their story and connecting with their stakeholders in an environment where it seems everything has become political. So the natural marriage of ColdSpark’s background with what Citadel wants to do is a pretty good blend and serves a diverse range of anybody who needs that type of public affairs or communication support.”
DeVanney said the expansion is “organic growth based on need.”
“As more clients came to us seeking these service who were outside of our traditional market base, that became the opportunity and the need for this,” he said, noting that ColdSpark has grown from three people to some 40 in 13 years.
“This also allows us to diversify the type of professionals that we bring to service these clients.”
Meanwhile, Neuhart described the new firm’s approach this way: “[It’s] looking at the entire stakeholder base, the entire portfolio of media that’s available to us, whether it’s traditional media relations, but [also] digital channels, whether organic or inorganic, and even direct mail.”
He added: “We take a holistic integrated approach and pull the levers that we can pull to get the desired effect.”
