Faces and Markets of PRGN is a new series of blog posts in 2024 that puts PRGN member agencies and their markets in the spotlight.
Each week, expect to read about a market from an economic, business and communications point of view, brought to you by the very people living and working on the ground in that country, state or region.
The blog pieces illustrate the vast amount of in-depth knowledge of business, media, communications and marketing PRGN brings together having presence in more than 40 countries and 70 cities on six continents through its member agencies globally.
In this week’s blog post, Sean Dowdall, President of Landis Communications, Inc. (LCI), describes the business and communications environment in San Francisco and offers advice to businesses navigating his home market.
Business environment in San Francisco
The San Francisco Bay Area is the economic engine of Northern California. Although well known for its tech and tourism industries, the nine Bay Area counties are also innovation hubs for the autonomous mobility, food & beverage, life sciences/biotech, medical device and finance sectors.
San Francisco, California
The area is home to a $1.2 trillion economy and a thriving member of the Pacific Rim. Known as the birthplace of technology, the Bay Area is also home to the driving economic factors in tech development – venture capital and product incubators. Fed by the concentration of higher education institutions such as Stanford and UC Berkeley, young entrepreneurs and inventors can find talent and funding here to power their dreams.
The City and County of San Francisco welcomes close to 22 million visitors each year, spending $8 billion annually. That influx feeds local tourism in San Francisco, Carmel and the Wine Country. Northern California is a foodie destination, with visitors enjoying local specialties such as sourdough bread and local wines.
These facts combine to create a business environment that is at once plentiful and competitive. Having a partner well-versed in national and local communications within these highly charged industries is vital to cutting through the clutter and making your messages known.
Communications, media and PR market in San Francisco
The thriving communications agency marketplace is very segmented in Northern California. Many agencies or small consultancies specialize in narrow market segments such as tech or life sciences. While this is an advantage for some clients, the level of creativity and opportunity for breakthrough messaging can be limited.
The media marketplace is divided between three distinct DMA’s – San Francisco, Oakland and San Jose. All three national networks have local affiliates in the area, in addition to a few independents. Business media like Financial Times, CNBC, New York Times and the like all have San Francisco/San Jose based news bureaus. The New York Times even has a special California-only newsletter and editorial division with a heavy emphasis on data reporting.
Key expertise of Landis Communications
With over 33 years of experience, Landis Communications has touched on many industries and represented the biggest brand names in the U.S. Currently, our client focus areas include environmental, biotechnology, healthcare, autonomous mobility and gaming/hospitality.
Our services include key messaging, media training, public relations, digital marketing, social media, crisis communications, content marketing, influencer marketing and video production. Landis currently represents Amgen, Save the Redwoods League, Graton Casino Resort, POST (Peninsula Open Space Trust), Centre for Neuro Skills, Stanford Blood Center and others.
Top 3 advice for foreign companies to navigate the media and communications environment in San Francisco
1. Local knowledge is power: The U.S. is the largest market in the world, and California alone is the 6th highest GDP globally. It’s vital to understand each marketplace when you’re doing business within them – business in San Francisco is vastly different than Chicago, New York or Miami. Seek a partner who knows the ins-and-outs of their hometown for a competitive advantage.
2. Never stop making new relationships: Knowing a reporter is great – but continually knowing new ones is better. The media landscape is constantly changing. Changing with it, is the key to success.
3. Earned + Paid = more than the sum of its parts: Earned media has always enjoyed greater legitimacy, but if you’re not supporting an earned campaign with paid digital, you’re missing out on exponential returns. Work with agencies that understand the paid AND pay-to-play universe. The results will be compounded.
Most influential media for consumer communications in San Francisco
Depends entirely on what your goals are and the industry you’re interested in reaching. For mass consumer outreach, lean on social channels (Instagram and Tik Tok for audiences 40 and under, Facebook for older viewers, X for everyone, YouTube for longer form video) and support with print and broadcast.
Most influential media for corporate communications in San Francisco
The specialty publications (tech trades, healthcare trades, green media, etc.) are hugely influential for applicable clients. For mass business outreach, the Wall Street Journal, New York Times, CNBC and CNN Business are the tops in terms of audience.
Most important international events in San Francisco in 2024
Moscone Center in downtown San Francisco is the U.S.’s premier convention center. It hosts major tech conventions (RSA, Semicon, TechCrunch Disrupt, Dreamforce), healthcare meetings (American College of Surgeons, Anesthesiologists, ASCO), consumer events (FanExpo, North American Volleyball Championships) and more.
Additionally, San Francisco hotels host invitation-only meetings such as the JP Morgan Healthcare Conference and Cybersecurity and Cloud Conference.
English (plus populations that speak 8 Asian dialects, Spanish, Russian, French, German and Portuguese primarily)
Religions (% of population)
Christian (48%) – of which Catholic 25% - no religion (35%), Hindus (5%), Jewish (3%), Buddhist (2%), Muslim (1%)
GDP per capita (in USD)
$210,235
(Real) GDP growth rate
3.4%
Inflation rate
1.5%
Unemployment rate
2.8%
Key sectors and industries:
In order of prominence: Information Professional & Business Services, Government, Financial Activities, Educational & Health Services, Manufacturing, Construction, Other Services, Trade, Transportation & Utilities, Leisure & Hospitality
Sean is a 30-year public relations, marketing and sales executive specializing in the innovation, creation, and successful delivery to market of strategic initiatives, ongoing capabilities, and fully-integrated campaigns. While overseeing the agency, he also provides strategic counsel to Landis clients, manages the marketing and digital practice areas, and supervises financial management for the agency.
The son of a banker, he started his banking career at his father’s local bank on the Flathead Indian Reservation in his hometown of Polson, Montana. Sean most recently was Chief Marketing Officer for Rabobank, N.A., the American retail bank affiliate of Dutch financial services giant, the Rabobank Group. During his 4 year tenure, the bank doubled in size through three acquisitions and double-digit organic growth of its deposit and business lending portfolios, it received the “Highest in Customer Satisfaction with Retail Banking in California” from J.D. Power and Associates for three years in a row and became known as a leader in agriculture financing and community involvement.
At Rabobank, Sean built and expanded the digital channel management, marketing, public relations, and product development teams. He was a key spokesperson for the bank and developed a leading public relations capability focusing on the agriculture industry and hyper-local branding. Prior to Rabobank, Sean headed a variety of marketing, sales, public relations, and digital/Internet functions at Wells Fargo Bank and Bank of America covering consumer, wealth, and small business segments. He has led successful public relations campaigns to launch the Loans.com brand and new products. Also, Sean led strategic media partnerships with Meredith Publishing, Sunset Magazine, and Yahoo.
At Landis, he currently works on a number of clients in the healthcare, environmental, technology and nonprofit arenas.
He graduated from Santa Clara University (BS in Finance) and the Pacific Coast Banking School at the University of Washington (Seattle, WA). He also studied in Tokyo, Japan, during his junior year of college. He served as President of the Board of ODC San Francisco for 5 years during two $10 million capital campaigns to expand the ODC campus supporting more than 200 dance classes every week and an active 200-seat performing arts theatre. Sean is married to David Landis, the retired Founder of Landis.
