15 Years of Wise

A look back at Wise after 15 successful years of business with a vision towards the future.

The team at Wise Collective is proud to announce that this month we are celebrating our 15th anniversary, and after all these years of helping clients make confident business decisions things are only getting better at Wise Collective.

As we celebrate this milestone, we have sincere appreciation and profound gratitude to all that made it possible. First and foremost we would like to thank our staff members near and far, current and former staff members, who are the most passionate and dedicated in the industry and who helped make Wise what it is today - and what it will be tomorrow. 

We would also like to thank our current and former clients, who we succeed with together; we’re also grateful to our network of suppliers and partners, who perform fantastic work and keep us at a competitive advantage. 

What started as one guy working out of a small office in downtown Manhattan has evolved into a distinct team of the most talented and dedicated communications and marketing professionals. Of course, this is all self-proclaimed, but we feel like it’s true.

Looking back over the past decade and a half, we cannot believe how quickly time has gone and how many great people we have had the opportunity to work and partner with. We’ve evolved our company to meet the demands of our clients, while also working to make as much of an impact in our local community we can. For us, combining and applying our diverse range of talents and capabilitiees to help others gives us purpose.

Like everyone else, these last two years have been extremely challenging, as the COVID-19 Pandemic has changed the way that society lives and works. Our team and business underwent a number of changes and contractions in response. Perhaps the timeless classic Who Moved My Cheese said it best: “Change happens. Keep moving with the cheese.” And that’s exactly what we did. There have been numerous challenges, opportunities and successes that our team has encountered, but we continue to adapt and work our asses off to be the best partner and resource we can be, for both our clients, team and our communities.

Looking ahead, we have continued to embrace change, enhancing our company, our brand, processes and services with the addition of some fantastic new team members that each bring a wealth of knowledge and experience. They each possess our characteristic ‘no one works harder’ mentality and work-ethic. 

We’ve also implemented some operational enhancements, such as switching our Project Management System and utilizing technology and automation to help streamline our workflows and deliverables. It’s safe to say we keep moving with the cheese. 

We’re extremely honored to have the opportunity to celebrate our 15 year work anniversary, and want to thank all of our friends, family, vendors and clients for your continued friendship and support through the years. And while we take a minute to recognize the past 15 years, please believe that our team is even more excited for the next leg of this journey, and the people, projects and opportunities that await.

Because one thing is for sure: We will continue to work our asses off to be the best integrated marketing agency and partner for our staff, clients and community, and look forward to seeing what we can create together.

If there’s one lesson worth sharing I learned throughout these last 15 years, it is the need for humility. Many of our orthodoxies from past decades have been upended, and the need to continually evolve and learn has never been clearer, so that we can continue to adapt to today’s challenges or crisis and prevent and prevail through the next one.

A Timeline of Wise

2007

- Wise Public Relations founded.

2009

- Wise PR handles crisis comms for the U.S. Airline Pilots Association (USAPA) in the wake of Flight 1549 - aka the Miracle on the Hudson. We secured a Newsweek cover story, appearances on Charlie Rose and David Letterman, a Vanity Fair feature and a host of other top tier media opportunities, capped off by a ceremony at City Hall where Capt. Sully & 1st Officer Jeff Skiles received Keys to the City. Here’s CEO Harrison Wise next to Mayor Bloomberg a few minutes before the ceremony/press conference. 

2011

- Admeld (a Wise client) acquired by Google

2013

- Spindle (a Wise client) acquired by Twitter

- Wise PR opens San Francisco office

2014

- Liverail (a Wise client) acquired by Facebook

2015

- Yieldex (a Wise client) acquired by AppNexus

2016

- ConvertMedia (a Wise client) acquired by Taboola


- Wise enters the Cannabis Industry;
Launches MedMen 

2018

- Grapeshot (a Wise client) acquired by Oracle

2019

- Wise opens LA office

- Wise handles STIIIZY DTLA Dispensary Opening

- Zimmerman Strategic Communications & Wise merge

2020

- Wise handles the launch of Chil Mixers during a global pandemic 

- Wise PR rebrands as Wise Collective

2021

- Wise Collective named a Top-100 Elite

- Wise named Top 10 Digital Marketing Services Firm by CIOReview

- Remains in the Top 5 Cannabis PR Agencies for Best Marijuana Guide

- Named Best Integrated Marketing & Communications Agency by CorporateVision.

- Two honorable mentions in the PRNews 2021 Digital & Social Media Awards.