Spinning the AOR is a marathon, not a sprint:

ASICS America, designer and manufacturer of athletic footwear, apparel and accessories, has selected Allison+Partners as its public relations agency. A+P will promote the company’s product launches, events and sponsorships as well as its cause marketing initiatives and its legacy-inspired Onitsuka Tiger collection of shoes and apparel. (If that left you breathless, wait until the next sentence):

The agency will also implement a national campaign incorporating athletic, business and consumer-focused media relations, awards and road tests, in addition to celebrity and influencer relations tied to numerous sponsorship opportunities including the New York City and Los Angeles Marathons.

Wellies Well, Well:

Hunter Boots, the UK’s leading wellington brand, recently launched a new global Facebook campaign from global social media agency We Are Social.

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Avigilon, a Canadian video surveillance solutions company, has chosen Ogilvy PR as its AOR in the U.S. after a competitive search. The firm’s work will focus on corporate communications, thought leadership, media relations targeting business and tech trade publications, and promotions for Avigilon products. The company also has plans to go public in the U.S. (It already trades on the Toronto Stock Exchange.) The goal is to raise awareness among decision makers, including those at the C-level, and prospective investors.

Buy.com has chosen Hotwire (the PR agency, not the travel site) for a branding campaign that will emphasize the company’s “friendly, transparent and honest” value proposition and to raise awareness of the e-commerce site. Hotwire launched in 2000 and has offices across Europe and Australia. The firm came to the U.S. in 2011 and now has offices in New York and San Francisco.

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Allison+Partners SVP Jonathan Heit has been promoted to president and senior partner, in charge of daily firm operations. The move frees up founding partners Scott Allison, Andy Hardie-Brown, and Scott Pansky to tackle the wide-ranging items that impact the future of the firm. Allison, chairman and CEO, will focus on internal management, the profile of the firm, and its business progress; Hardie-Brown, COO, will focus on strategic direction, such as global expansion; and Pansky, senior partner, will focus on cause marketing, values programs and firm culture, professional development, and related areas.

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WhaleShark Media, which says it’s the largest online coupon and deals site around, has chosen Allison+Partners to promote the company’s RetailMeNot brand and its corporate comms program. GSD&M was chosen as the company’s ad agency. Both were selected after a competitive review.

Incapital, an underwriter and distributor of various financial products, has chosen CJP Communications as its AOR. The company is looking for greater brand awareness as it adds staff and expands across North America. Work will include media relations, thought leadership, and executive visibility efforts.

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MDC Partners reported Q1 revenue of about $236 million, an increase of 9.7 percent versus 2011. The company also reported organic growth of 5.4 percent. However, the company also reported a number of losses for the quarter.

Operating loss was at about $11.7 million versus a profit of $2.56 million year-over-year. Net loss was about $24.6 million compared with $7 million in 2011.

Adweek also notes the Q1 drop in EBITDA of 51 percent, from $15.4 million last year to $7.5 million this year. The company has purchased or taken a stake in a number of firms over the past couple of years, including Kwittken & Company, Allison+Partners, London’s Epoch PR, and ad agency Anomaly.

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Allison+Partners has chosen Adopt-A-Classroom for its annual pro bono program, donating $150,000 in PR services for 2012 to the nonprofit organization. Adopt-A-Classroom works with community partners to provide teachers with funding for school supplies and other resources. Allison+Partners has already started working with the group; Adopt-A-Classroom launched the “Help Henryville” program with OfficeMax on March 2 to benefit a Henryville, IN school that was destroyed by a tornado.

Allison+Partners chose Adopt-A-Classroom using a proprietary evaluation system, the Cause Marketing Accelerator, which matches a cause program with the values and brand of the agency.

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Mobile, mobile everywhere. News from the mobile space keeps coming as the technology and business of mobility continues to sort itself out. For PR pros, it’s an area rife with opportunity.

In today’s guest post, Jonathan Heit, partner and head of digital media and technology, Allison+Partners, takes a closer look at some of the big stories and trends in mobile moving forward.

Click through for his thoughts and click here for more on the firm’s Naked Culture blog. And if there’s anything you’d like to add to the conversation, the comments section is open.

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