The firm was founded in Washington, D.C., in 1972 by
Bill Novelli and Jack Porter,
advertising executives, who worked together to market the
Peace Corps. The company's first major client was the
National Institutes of Health, for whom they created the National High Blood Pressure Education Program. In 1981, an advertising agency in Chicago called Needham Harper Steers acquired Porter Novelli, turning the agency into Needham Porter Novelli, with offices in additional cities. Needham merged with Omnicom in 1988, at which point Porter Novelli expanded internationally. The firm established Porter Novelli International in 1996, partnering with UK firm Countrywide Communications Group, another Omnicom agency. Helen Ostrowski became CEO of the company in 2001, the first female CEO of a top 10 PR firm; she served in that role until 2008. In 2006 most of the company's revenue came from the
Information technology sector, followed by the pharmaceutical sector. From 1988 to 2016,
Hewlett-Packard was a major client of the firm, including when Hewlett-Packard split into
HP Inc. and
Hewlett Packard Enterprise in 2015. The company created a Jack + Bill "popup agency" in September 2008 led by eight younger Porter Novelli employees. In 2008 several senior managers left along with Ostrowski, and Gary Stockman was made CEO. That same year, several senior executives left the firm, including its global digital director, director of global health and regulatory affairs, executive VP for strategic planning and research, senior VP for global digital and PR and its executive VPs for global content director and social media. Departures continued in 2012 with departures of Stockman, the CFO, the chief marketing officer, and the president. Karen van Bergen was selected as the new CEO in December 2012. In November 2013, the
Navy Federal Credit Union filed a complaint against the firm in the
San Diego County Superior Court to collect payment on a contract. Brad MacAfee then became CEO in February 2016, when van Bergen rose to the role of CEO of parent Omnicom Public Relations Group. David Bentley became the CEO in March 2020, replacing Brad MacAfee. In 2017, Omnicom shifted Cone Communications under Porter Novelli, although Cone retains its separate brand. In 2018, Porter Novelli launched a "purpose practice" for organizations focused on
corporate social responsibility. The company has also researched how advertising that features a brand's purpose affects consumer perception. In 2022, the firm co-published research with the National Center on Birth Defects and Developmental Disability and the Oak Ridge Institute of Science and Education, studying the use of a paid digital marketing campaign to promote a mobile childhood developmental tracking
application. Jillian Janaczek, formerly of
Burson Cohn & Wolfe, became CEO in August 2023, following David Bentley's departure in June 2023.
House investigation Between 2017 and 2020, Porter Novelli earned more than $5 million in taxpayer funds to promote the public profile of
Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) Administrator
Seema Verma, a Trump administration official. ==Notable campaigns==