MarinoFor just under 30 years, Marino has been supporting clients across a wide range of industries, from real estate, health, nonprofit and education to lifestyle, sustainability, professional services, technology and cannabis. Recently they capitalized on the mass user behavior shift to online grocery shopping, finding success for their clients via advertising directly with online grocers. The agency also expanded upon their influencer work to provide further expertise on TikTok, as this rapidly growing platform has become pivotal for influencer marketing. Earlier this year, Marino launched its new website, highlighting the firm’s core specialty areas of public relations, public affairs and digital and creative. Most notably, in June of 2020, Marino launched its Dedicated to Diversity Committee to guide the agency’s DEI initiatives. Composed of a cross section of Marino team members at all levels of the agency, the committee works with senior leadership to create vehicles for communication, education, empowerment and action, while taking a deeper look at how Marino incorporates DEI into the agency’s culture, hiring and philanthropic efforts.
Notable long-term clients
Chelsea Market, New York University, McDonald’s, VTS, Derek Jeter’s Turn 2 Foundation
Recent client wins
New Settlement, LISC NYC, The Stone Age, Come Back Daily, and PropTech clients Metaprop, Dealpath and Prescriptive Data
Is there a big industry trend you’re backing in terms of your agency offering, and why do you think this area will continue to grow and influence the PR practice?
In terms of growth and opportunity, there is no industry having quite as big of a “moment” as the cannabis industry. With more states moving to legalize cannabis and establish adult use markets, including New York, New Jersey and Connecticut, and a federal legalization bill on the table, the demand for PR within the industry will continue to grow in several ways. With the challenges of federal prohibition still at play, cannabis businesses will need to invest more in PR and marketing for customized tactics that assist in navigating inconsistent policies, which vary from state to state. Cannabis businesses exist in a variety of capacities and intersect with many diverse industries - all that require individual strategic approaches that must be modified to maneuver the unique challenges that come with the regulations, policy changes, business modeling and marketing limitations within the industry. As the shift towards legalization continues, and an already burgeoning industry continues to expand, the need for cannabis organizations and businesses to invest in a PR agency that has extensive experience in executing media and advertising strategies within the industry will continue to increase and demand for these services will increase. At Marino, our cannabis practice continues to evolve and adapt to the exciting changes happening in the industry, while we continuously diversify and strengthen the tactics and strategy we execute in pursuit of our clients’ goals.
