Y&R PR has rebranded as Goodfuse, with a new name, logo, website and color palette all launching on Wednesday.
The name Goodfuse comes from the idea of “infusing humanity into communications,” the agency said in a statement announcing the change.
“We took a step back and said, ‘What is the thing that defines who we are?’” Fleming explained. “What we were thinking about is that we essentially bring humanity to brands. [The name] is about infusing humanity into comms in a way that is not jargony or expected.”
WPP launched Y&R PR in 2013 to serve Pfizer, a client of ad agency Young & Rubicam, which was merged with VML in 2018. The former Y&R PR is part of BCW Group. Fleming moved from BCW predecessor Cohn & Wolfe to lead the firm and was named CEO in 2017.
“The Y&R name has served us very, very well,” she said, noting that the firm was planning to reband earlier this year but waited because of the COVID-19 pandemic. “We are great partners with Y&R, but they changed their name to VMLY&R in 2018, and we knew at some time we would change the name and knew we would change it to one that better represented who we are rather than one based on the financial structure.”
The agency also hired Gregg Trueman for the new role of EVP, creative and technology solutions, to launch its West Coast presence in San Francisco at the start of September. The design and development work for the rebranding was done in-house, much of it by Trueman, so costs were minimal, Fleming said. Y&R PR initially hired Trueman’s company, Humanize, as a vendor while it was working on the name.
“We were actually working on a project together and I remember thinking that [he] should just join us,” she said.
Trueman will handle traditional, social media and media relations, as well as technology work like website and app development. The agency plans to build its West Coast presence around him.
“We have several clients in the Bay Area as well as in Los Angeles and the West Coast,” Fleming said. “My thought is we will grow this around [Trueman].”
