List of the 100 largest communications & PR consultancies Germany [2024]

List of 3 large PR and communications consultancies in Germany

A good public image is becoming increasingly important for companies beyond marketing, since price and performance are no longer the only factors that count when making a purchase. PR and communication consultancies offer professional guidance and support for this. The companies on which we have written news are part of our list of the largest PR and communications consultancies in Germany.

1. fischerAppelt AG, Hamburg

fischerAppelt was founded in 1986 as ‘Media Concept Öffentlichkeitsarbeit Fischer-Appelt GmbH’. The company’s founders were the two brothers Andreas and Bernhard Fischer-Appelt, who are still active in the company’s management. Initially, the company focused on communication on the topic of sustainability in waste management. In the following years, the communication spectrum was significantly expanded, among other things through acquisitions. Today, fischerAppelt sees itself as a broadly positioned agency for marketing, PR and advertising. The company employs around 700 people at nine German locations and two offices in New York and Doha (Qatar). Group sales in 2020 were just under 90 million euros.

Update 2024: Personnel change at Fischer-Appelt: Torben Hansen has recently ceased to be Chief Strategy Officer (CSO) and was only in office for around one year.

2. serviceplan Group SE & Co. KG, Munich

Serviceplan has been in existence since 1970. The Serviceplan Group SE & Co. KG in Munich forms the corporate umbrella for a total of 40 advertising agencies with around 4,200 employees, which are active in other European countries in addition to Germany. Group sales in the 2020/21 financial year were a good 295 million euros. The Group operates on the market under the Serviceplan, Serviceplan Solutions, Serviceplan Consulting Group, Mediaplus, Plan.Net and Facit brands. The consulting spectrum is broad and ranges from classic advertising to direct and online marketing to PR, events and market research.

3. Achtung! GmbH, Hamburg

Achtung! was founded in 2001 as a Hamburg PR agency and now stands as the name for six agencies in the Achtung! Family with altogether 190 coworkers. The Hamburg Achtung! GmbH, with 120 employees, represents the core company and now sees itself as a PR, creative, digital and event agency. Other members of the Achtung! Family: Achtung! Neo (Hamburg) – data-based creative agency; Achtung! Mary (Düsseldorf) – strategic consulting, corporate and brand communications, content marketing and social media; Achtung! Broadcast (Berlin) – podcast agency; Achtung! Alive (Cologne) – live communications and digital content agency; and Achtung! InnoHealth (Düsseldorf) – special agency for healthcare startups.

Picture source: Sam McGhee via Unsplash (26.09.2023)

This information is included in the database

• Company name
• General contact data (address, e-mail address, telephone number, URL)
• Serial letter suitable for addressing the management (e.g. “Sehr geehrter Herr Dr. Müller”)
• Name of the management
• Ranking by size, relevance and experience from A to E
• Services offered: Public relations, branding, events, content marketing, influencers, sponsorship, social media, employee communications, etc.
• References and naming of clients

Public relations and communications consulting: Partners for companies of all sizes

Public relations is one of the supreme disciplines of communication in the corporate environment. Due to the importance of external communication, public relations consultancies occupy an important position with companies of all sizes. Start-ups as well as medium-sized companies and global corporations rely on experienced partners in areas such as press relations, branding, sponsoring or event communication. The PR consultancies work either directly with the management or with specialists from external communications. In smaller companies, public relations is often covered by the marketing team, while in larger companies the investor relations department plays an important role in this context.

Picture source: Julius Drost via Unsplash (26.09.2023)

Range of services: press relations, branding, events, reputation, publishing, etc.

PR and communications consultancies cover a wide range of services that go far beyond classic press relations. Public relations requires close observation and analysis of the market environment and is accompanied by constantly changing requirements. For this reason, successful reputation management requires a wide range of measures, which are covered by the largest German PR consultancies. The areas of brand communication and branding, for example, are pursued through a variety of actions that are increasingly taking place in the digital environment. For example, influencer marketing or social media marketing are increasingly part of the range of services offered by experienced PR consultants. However, analog communication also continues to play an important role in the PR consulting industry. Product PR and brand PR, for example, take place within the framework of events and functions that are initiated specifically for this purpose. Communication with stakeholders and politics also takes place within the framework of public affairs consulting and is excellently mastered by some of the largest PR consultants in Germany.

From global consulting firms to specialized boutiques

The largest and most important PR consultancies in Germany include companies with very different profiles. International consulting firms are just as much part of the most relevant companies as smaller owner-managed consulting boutiques. Smaller PR consultancies do not necessarily serve less important clients, but usually specialize in certain aspects of public relations. Thus, it is not uncommon for corporations and large companies to work with several communications consultants who cover different topics. Thanks to the ranking in our list, the consultancies can be easily sorted by size and relevance, so that you can immediately identify the right consultants for your project.

Picture source: Pablo Heimplatz via Unsplash (26.09.2023)