Seed PR Joins Forces with Mainland to Revolutionize Franchise PR and Marketing

Miami-headquartered Seed PR & Communications has merged with Chicago-based integrated marketing firm Mainland* in a move company leaders say will help them better serve their client base of franchisors and franchisees.

Mainland Founder and CEO Nick Powills and Seed Founder/CEO Chad Cohen have a friendship and professional relationship going back more than a decade. This new partnership, they said, reflects the complementary skills and shared passion both executives have for innovating within the public relations and marketing space.

“Whoever said to keep personal and business separate must have really disliked their business friends,” Powills told 1851 Franchise, a subsidiary of Mainland. “I am excited that my friend, Chad Cohen, and Seed have joined forces with Mainland to bolster our account and PR services. Chad is an amazing person and a great leader in franchise marketing. This is another step toward us impacting the full franchise lifecycle for franchisees and franchisors."

Mainland has established itself as a trailblazer in the franchise world through its innovative storytelling approach to PR and content marketing. Besides 1851 Franchise, a content platform dedicated to covering the franchising industry, Mainland produces three other online publications: Estatenvy (real estate), Room 1903 (upscale travel and hospitality) and StacheCow (personal wealth and finance).

Seed PR & Communications has pushed the boundaries of what a PR agency is to its clients by acting as a true business partner. At the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, for example, Seed helped its clients navigate the brand new and fast-moving world of Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) and emergency U.S. Small Business Association loans. It also drafted rental-relief letters for its clients and helped them establish relationships with online retail and delivery platforms.

“The pandemic made me realize that PR doesn’t have to be just the traditional definition,” Cohen told 1851. “A true PR agency and PR professional is kind of a jack of all trades and is able to do anything and everything a brand may need.”

It’s that combination of innovation and client partnership that will elevate the offerings of the newly expanded business, which will continue to operate under the Mainland umbrella, according to the companies.

“I've built something with Seed PR that I love, and Nick has built something brilliant,” Cohen said. “I want to be able to take it to the next level. Being able to share that institutional expertise and wisdom with my existing client base as well as new businesses is a sure recipe for winning.”

Cohen has been named senior vice president of franchise brands.