McKinney Bets on Earned Media with New Integrated PR Practice

DURHAM, NC – February 23, 2026 – Full-service creative agency McKinney today announced a significant strategic expansion with the launch of a new consumer public relations practice. The move, aimed at redefining integrated marketing communications, is spearheaded by the appointment of Jae Siercks, a former Senior Vice President at global PR giant Weber Shandwick, who joins as the practice's Executive Director. This initiative signals a deliberate shift by the award-winning agency to embed earned media at the core of creative strategy, positioning it as an essential tool for brands navigating an increasingly fragmented and saturated attention economy.

For 57 years, McKinney has built a reputation for bold, culturally resonant work. This new chapter represents a calculated evolution of its service model. "As we partner with clients to navigate an even more fractured ecosystem, launching a consumer PR practice allows us to use earned media to break through a landscape that's increasingly difficult to buy your way into," said Joe Maglio, CEO of McKinney. The launch reflects a broader industry trend where brand leaders are seeking to consolidate agency partnerships to ensure seamless and consistent messaging across all consumer touchpoints.

The New Blueprint for Brand Breakthrough

The decision to build an in-house PR capability addresses a common pain point for modern brands: the inefficiency and strategic disconnect that can arise from managing multiple, siloed agencies. By integrating paid, earned, and owned media under one strategic umbrella, McKinney aims to offer clients a more holistic and potent approach to brand building.

Jae Siercks, the new head of the practice, articulated the problem with the fragmented model. "So often, brands are working with multiple agencies to cover paid, earned and owned channels, with everyone trying to thread the needle and create value individually, missing an opportunity for integrated marketing communications and meaningful impact," she stated. The alternative, she explained, is a more collaborative and efficient process. "When you focus on collaboration through the lens of efficiency and effectiveness and start from the beginning with a singular strategy that has a clear narrative and inherent value across platforms, you can take a creative idea further than you ever expected — maximizing efficiency and results along the way."

This philosophy is central to the new practice. The goal is to engineer ideas that are inherently designed to travel, amplified by seamless storytelling that resonates organically with audiences. For McKinney, this means extending its knack for creating 'unfair attention' for clients from the creative and paid spaces directly into the earned media landscape, ensuring that a campaign's core idea is powerful enough to generate its own momentum through news coverage, social conversation, and cultural relevance.

Earning Attention in the AI Age

McKinney's investment in human-led, earned media is also a direct response to the dual challenges of a shrinking attention economy and the explosion of AI-generated content. As artificial intelligence makes it possible to produce content at an unprecedented scale, the digital landscape has become overwhelmingly noisy, making authentic connection more difficult—and more valuable—than ever.

"Right now attention is at a premium, AI enables infinite volume in the form of huge amounts of content and creator culture has turned every consumer into a broadcaster," explained Gretchen Walsh, President of McKinney. "In this landscape, brands can't just 'buy' their way in, they have to earn it, and that can't be an afterthought." Walsh emphasized that the integration of a PR practice led by a seasoned expert like Siercks enables the agency to design holistic campaigns from their inception, built specifically to cut through the digital clutter.

The strategy posits that as consumers become more adept at tuning out traditional advertising, the credibility and authenticity of earned media—stories validated by journalists, influencers, and genuine public interest—become paramount. This pivot is less about abandoning paid media and more about creating a symbiotic relationship where paid investment amplifies a story that has already proven its worth in the earned sphere, leading to a greater return on marketing investment and deeper brand trust.

A Leader with a Proven Track Record

The success of this new venture hinges on leadership, and in Jae Siercks, McKinney has secured a leader with a deep and proven background in executing high-impact integrated campaigns. With a decade of experience at Weber Shandwick and previous tenure at Ogilvy PR, Siercks has been at the forefront of combining PR with broader marketing efforts for major global brands.

Her work with General Motors stands as a testament to this expertise. To celebrate the 85th anniversary of the Chevrolet Suburban and the launch of a new model, Siercks and her team conceived and executed a campaign that positioned the iconic vehicle as "Hollywood's longest-working actor." The strategic PR push culminated in the Suburban receiving its own star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, an achievement that generated massive, positive media attention. The campaign resulted in over 2.3 billion unique media viewers across 238 earned stories and 19.5 million social media impressions, with a 99% positive sentiment—a result that far exceeded the coverage typical for such events. This is the kind of 'unfair attention' McKinney aims to replicate for its clients through the new practice.

McKinney's leadership cited Siercks' personal and professional qualities as key to her selection. "Jae's commitment to her people and her craft were clear from our first meeting," added Walsh. "She really cares for people and for finding that balance of where to push and pull as a leader, and you can tell that the work is better for it." For her part, Siercks pointed to the agency's culture and resources as a perfect match. "From a culture standpoint, the agency is a perfect fit. Their commitment to 'smarts & hearts' was evident right away," Siercks said, also noting the powerful backing of the Cheil Agency Network as a critical asset for delivering value to clients.

This strategic hire underscores a vital industry truth: in the agency world, talent is the primary catalyst for innovation and capability expansion. By bringing in an established leader, McKinney is not just launching a new service but is injecting proven expertise directly into its creative process, accelerating its ability to compete and win in the integrated marketing arena.

The Network Effect and Future Outlook

McKinney's new practice is further bolstered by its position within the Cheil Agency Network, a global collective that provides significant resources and reach. This affiliation offers a strategic advantage, allowing the consumer PR practice to tap into a worldwide pool of talent, data, and market insights, thereby enhancing its ability to execute complex, multi-market campaigns for its diverse client roster, which includes names like Popeyes, Samsung, and Little Caesars.

By formalizing its PR offering, McKinney is solidifying its promise to provide a holistic, client-centric experience. The move is a forward-looking strategy built on a foundation of consistent creative excellence, as evidenced by its repeated recognition on Ad Age's A-List and as a Best Place to Work. The launch of the consumer PR practice is the latest step in the agency's continuous evolution, ensuring it remains equipped to help brands not only participate in the cultural conversation but to actively shape it.