Digital marketing specialist Click Communications will acquire veteran PR executive Carl Samrock’s publicity firm to create full-service agency Team Click.
The new entity is aimed at combining the experience in traditional publicity from the team at Carl Samrock Public Relations with Click Communications’ online marketing expertise. Click founder Mac McLean made the announcement Tuesday.
Click and CSPR had already been in partnership for more than six years by working on projects for Warner Bros., Walt Disney Studios, Sony, Universal, Lionsgate and DreamWorks Animation.
“Across today’s new PR landscape, no effective marketing strategy exists without the addition of social media, and the company’s integrated approach of proactive collaboration successfully bridges an all-too-common gap between the marketing and publicity departments,” the new company said.
Mac McLean and his wife, co-founder and partner Dinah McLean, will lead Team Click along with digital leaders Brigid Margeson and Emily Ronkar. Samrock will continue in an ongoing consultancy role. Karen Penhale, who runs CSPR’s home entertainment division, will oversee traditional publicity strategies that include national print and broadcast media as well as elements of social media.
Samrock spent 15 years as VP of National Publicity at Warner Bros. Pictures, where he managed a 16-member staff responsible for some 30 films in production or release annually, including “Batman” and its sequels; the Lethal Weapon franchise; and Best Picture winners “Driving Miss Daisy” and “Unforgiven.” Samrock formed CSPR in 1997 with his wife Carol Samrock, a former advertising executive.
McLean formed Click Communications in 2007 in response to an increasing demand for comprehensive online publicity. Since then, Click has delivered digital campaigns for over 1,500 releases.
Prior to founding Click, McLean was the Director of Online Publicity at national advertising agency Terry Hines & Associates, specializing in online media for Buena Vista Home Entertainment.
