BEST AND WORST STATES TO BUILD YOUR BRAND
Prism PR named agency of record for Gaia, the world’s leading wellness streaming service, discover how this partnership is shaping the future of wellness media.…
PR News has named me one of its 2026 People of the Year, in the Data and Digital PR Disruptors category. The honorees were celebrated on October 6 at the PR News Platinum Awards and People of the Year Gala at The Lighthouse at Chelsea Piers in New York.
I share the category with communications leaders from Aflac, the U.S. Postal Service, EvolveMKD, Rational 360, and Narrative Strategies, and the wider class includes leaders from Yahoo, Havas, and M&T Bank. It is an honor to be in that company, and an honor for our digital PR agency.
The award is also a good moment to answer a question I hear more and more: why are companies worth $7 billion and $100 million hiring a boutique digital PR agency instead of a holding-company giant?
What the Data and Digital PR Disruptors award recognizes
PR News describes this category as professionals who harness data and analytics to drive strategy. That is a fair description of how our digital PR agency works.
Almost every Prism campaign starts with data. We build original, data-driven studies, usually ranking all 50 states, and pitch them to reporters at national, local, and trade outlets. The study gives a reporter a new number and a reason to write now. The coverage earns our clients do-follow links, and those links help them rank in Google and show up in AI answers. We explain how that works in Data-Driven Content That Earns National News Coverage.
Across our clients, Prism has placed more than 25,000 stories and earned 20,000 backlinks.
How a campaign at our digital PR agency works
People often ask what a data-driven campaign looks like from the inside. It has four parts.
1. We find the question
Every study starts with a question that a client’s customers, and reporters, already care about. Where is the best place to retire? Which states are hit hardest by online scams? Where are older Americans still working? The question has to matter to readers, not only to the client.
2. We build the study
We use data a reporter can trust, usually federal and official sources, and rank all 50 states. Each study runs about 1,500 words with 5 to 10 infographics, so a reporter can see the story at a glance and an editor can use the charts. Every number traces to a source a reporter can check.
3. We pitch it, nationally and state by state
The national finding goes to national reporters. Each state’s result goes to the reporters who cover that state. A national study becomes 50 local stories, and local relevance is one of the strongest reasons a reporter says yes.
4. We make the coverage work twice
When a story runs, we check that it links to our client. If it mentions the brand without a link, we ask for one. That link is what turns a news story into a lasting asset in Google and in AI search. It is also why our pay-for-performance clients pay only for the links we secure.
This is the work PR News recognized. It is also the reason a small team can compete with the largest agencies in the country: a good study does not care how big your agency is.
Who is hiring our digital PR agency
Genworth Financial and CareScout
Genworth is a longtime Fortune 500 company with more than $7 billion in annual revenue. It hired Prism to run PR and SEO linkbuilding for CareScout, its long-term care brand, and we are its forward-facing agency. PRWeek covered the account win in May.
The relationship started with Seniorly, a senior living company we represented from 2020. Our data-driven campaign put Seniorly in 317 stories with backlinks in 2025 alone, in outlets including CNBC, Yahoo, AARP, Newsweek, Fortune, and Mashable. In October 2025, CareScout acquired Seniorly, and our results played a key role. Genworth kept us on.
“When Seniorly was acquired by CareScout, it was a total no-brainer to continue working with Prism PR,” Christine Healy, CareScout’s head of brand, told PRWeek. You can read the full story in our Seniorly case study.
Gaia
Gaia is a Nasdaq-listed streaming company with nearly $100 million in annual revenue. It came to us with press coverage that was almost entirely negative.
Over a 12-month campaign, we placed 491 stories, and coverage went from nearly all negative to 100% positive or neutral. The Wall Street Journal and The New York Times Magazine sent reporters to Gaia’s events for the first time.
“We’d worked with other PR agencies before,” said Gaia CEO Kiersten Medvedich, “but we never managed to achieve the level of positive media coverage we were hoping for. Prism PR was different.” See the Gaia case study.
Centerfield
For Digital Ventures, we earned 1,489 editorial backlinks across four affiliate sites in a single year. Centerfield then acquired the sites at a significant profit, and offered to acquire Prism too. We chose to stay independent.
That makes two clients acquired after a Prism campaign.
Why they hire a boutique digital PR agency
Senior executives only
At many agencies, the senior people disappear after the pitch. At our digital PR agency, every client works directly with senior people. I lead our biggest accounts myself, including CareScout, with a team of seven. There is no junior staff learning on your budget.
No bait and switch
The people who pitch you are the people who do the work. Big agencies often send their stars to the pitch meeting and hand the account to a junior team the week after you sign. We do not.
Trained by the biggest brands in New York
I spent more than 25 years at top New York PR agencies and in-house at the NBA and NASCAR. At the NBA, our campaign for the league’s first official visit to India led to its first broadcast deal in the country, after a Sony executive read our front-page story in the Financial Times. For NASCAR Chairman Brian France, positive coverage rose 394% and his improved image helped sign Monster Energy at $20 million per season. I wrote about what those campaigns taught me in How to Get Media Coverage: Lessons From the NBA and NASCAR.
Our team learned from the best, on multibillion-dollar brands. Now our digital PR agency brings that experience to every client, from the Fortune 500 to fast-growing companies. Our client list includes the NBA, the New York Yankees, Gatorade, Nike, BMW, FedEx, and P&G.
We win in Google and AI search
For a digital PR agency, coverage is only half the job. Every campaign is built to earn do-follow links from trusted outlets, so our clients rank in Google and show up when buyers ask ChatGPT and other AI tools for a recommendation.
For Social Catfish, that work earned 3,862 editorial backlinks and helped drive 372% revenue growth and a spot on the Inc. 5000. We explain how earned media shapes AI answers in AI Search Visibility: Is Your Company in ChatGPT’s Answer?
What a boutique digital PR agency means for you
If you are weighing a digital PR agency, here is what this model gives you in practice:
- A senior team on your account. The people you meet are the people who write your pitches and call reporters.
- Stories built on data. Original studies give reporters a reason to cover you, even if you are not a household name.
- Links, not just mentions. Every campaign aims for do-follow editorial links that keep working in Google and AI search.
- A low-risk way to start. Our pay-for-performance linkbuilding pilot bills only for the links we secure. No links, no invoice.
- Room to grow. When you are ready, full-service PR adds media relations, executive visibility, and 6 to 12 studies a year.
The bottom line
The PR News award recognizes data and digital PR. What our clients want from a digital PR agency is simpler: senior people, no bait and switch, New York training, and results that show up in search, in AI answers, and on the balance sheet.
Thank you to PR News, to our clients, and to the Prism team who do the work.
Want the same team working for you? Schedule an intro meeting.
Frequently asked questions
What is the PR News People of the Year award?
It is an annual PR News program that recognizes communications professionals across categories such as agency leadership, crisis management, media relations, and data and digital PR. The 2026 honorees were celebrated on October 6 in New York.
What does a digital PR agency do?
A digital PR agency earns coverage in online news outlets, usually with links back to the client’s website. The coverage builds credibility with buyers, and the links help the client rank in Google and appear in AI answers.
Why hire a boutique digital PR agency instead of a large agency?
At a boutique agency, senior people do the work. At many large agencies, senior staff lead the pitch and junior staff run the account.
How does Prism charge?
Clients can start with pay-for-performance linkbuilding, where studies start at $1,999 and links are billed only when secured. Full-service PR starts at $7,500 per month on a 12-month engagement.
