The most innovative companies in public relations and brand strategy for 2026

FastCompany: The world of public relations has always been about making a splash. And in an age of more and more media clutter, breakthrough ideas have never been more important. To create that can’t-miss-it buzz, this year’s most innovative PR firms paired an A-list Hollywood actor with an A-list Hollywood director, staged a surprise pop-event in a major urban transportation hub, enlisted some of the biggest stars from the booming world of women’s sports, and employed some creative grammar to stir up social media chatter.

Giant Spoon created a campaign for the emerging electric vehicle brand Lucid that was essentially a short action film, directed by James Mangold ( Ford v Ferrari, A Complete Unknown) and starring Oscar nominee Timothée Chalamet. Jellyfish staged a surprise mini takeover of Grand Central Station to promote Apple TV+’s hit sci-fi series Severance . The Brand Agency not only created a memorable campaign for one of Disney’s most popular animated TV shows that had been on hiatus for nearly a decade, but it also enlisted Bradley Cooper to help the venerable BOSS fragrance line reach a younger audience with its newest scent launch.

In the sports arena, Day One Agency leaned into the growing women’s sports wave by leveraging partnerships with female athletes and leagues for a popular beauty brand and teamed up with legendary tennis star Billie Jean King to promote a ride share service. For Super Bowl LIX, Colle McVoy deployed Paris Hilton to give traditional hot sauce brand Frank’s RedHot a dash of hip, and Alison Brod Marketing + Communications used an intentional typo to help get social media users talking about Coors Light. Black Arts PR helped Britpop mega-band Oasis make its much anticipated reunion tour a hit in its home country.

Moonrock helped brands like Walmart and Ally Bank crack the wildly popular gaming space code. SolComms helped boost sales of contraception and cervical cancer prevention products, all with a greater social purpose in mind. And Weber Shandwick deployed AI bots to help navigate a real-time PR crisis for a major multinational food and beverage brand. 1.

Giant Spoon For turning an ad for an emerging EV brand into a short action film (directed by James Mangold and starring Timothée Chalamet) If you were in New York City in the summer of 2024, you might remember the giant, inflatable dragon wrapped around the Empire State Building promoting HBO’s House of the Dragon. Giant Spoon was behind that. In 2025, the agency pulled off another big stunt: it got Timothée Chalamet, arguably Hollywood’s hottest young star, to be the face of its client Lucid Motors’ marketing campaign.

For Lucid’s “Driven” campaign, the electric car brand partnered with Chalamet and director James Mangold ( Ford v Ferrari , A Complete Unknown ) on a high-octane short film that positioned Lucid’s Gravity model as the symbol of a reimagined automotive future. In the spot, Chalamet’s motorcycle breaks down, leading him and model Larsen Thompson to steal a Gravity SUV to escape. One social media user referred to it as “cinema gold” — and according to Giant Spoon, the campaign resulted in more than a 10% increase in likelihood of buying a Lucid for shoppers getting a car in the next 6 months.

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The article discusses emerging strategies in public relations and brand strategy that are highly relevant for professionals in the industry, showcasing innovative approaches that could significantly influence future campaigns.