From traditional press relations to cross-channel visibility

Düsseldorf-based PR agency zeron is celebrating its 15th anniversary and sees modular content kits, AI visibility and community relations as new areas of relevance for PR


On 1 July 2026, the Düsseldorf-based PR and content agency zeron celebrates its 15th anniversary. When Vivian Stürmann founded zeron in 2011, traditional press relations were still very much the focus of professional PR. Fifteen years on, the owner-managed agency sees itself as a strategic communications partner for cross-channel visibility.

The 14-strong all-female team works with leading companies, brands, associations and trade fairs in the B2C and B2B sectors across the food & beverage, living & lifestyle, retail & food service, building & housing, telecommunications and energy industries. Clients include, amongst others, Henkell Freixenet, Lieken, Söbbeke, Gira, Wenko, Primagas, Johnson Controls, Messe Düsseldorf and the Federal Association of the German Glass Industry.

zeron’s range of services extends from strategic PR consultancy and corporate PR, through brand and product communication, to content development, social media, corporate publishing and crisis communication.

PR is becoming more relevant – with and because of AI

Over the past 15 years, the demands placed on professional PR have changed fundamentally. Traditional press relations, social media, corporate content, owned media, influencer relations, SEO and AI-driven visibility are now more closely intertwined than ever before.

“PR has become broader, faster and more complex,” says Vivian Stürmann, founder and managing director of zeron. “The key question today is no longer simply: How does a topic make it into the media? But rather: How does a company, with its topics, become visible, credible and relevant overall – in newsrooms, on platforms, in communities, in search engines, on its own website and, in future, in AI responses too? And that is precisely where the strength of good PR lies.”

PR orchestrates content and visibility

From zeron’s perspective, the role of professional PR is shifting significantly: away from purely engaging with the media and towards community relations and orchestrating visibility. Traditional media remain important, however, as they provide credibility, context and relevance. At the same time, a company’s own channels, corporate websites, social media, LinkedIn, search engines and AI platforms are becoming increasingly important.

“PR today has to operate across many different spheres,” says Vivian Stürmann. “Media relations remain essential, but they are no longer enough on their own. Our task is to develop topics in such a way that they work well in newsrooms, resonate within communities, can be found on owned media, generate engagement on social media, and are understood by search engines and AI systems.”

Content kits complement the traditional press release

According to the agency’s observations, the increasing convergence of PR, content, digital visibility and brand communication is changing not only the work of communications departments, but also the demands placed on journalists. This is demonstrated, amongst other things, by a survey of journalists conducted by zeron in September 2025, which involved 2,500 journalists.¹

A key finding: the traditional press release remains an important ‘door opener’ in media relations.² At the same time, however, editorial teams are looking for supplementary content modules. “The press release remains important, but it has long been part of a larger system. Communications work must be approached in a more strategic, interconnected and cross-channel manner,” says Vivian Stürmann.

zeron responds to this with modular content kits. Rather than providing the media with solely individual press releases, the agency also develops various text and image modules that editorial teams can use for online content, social media, newsletters or other formats.

Setting up an agency with an extraordinary amount of trust placed in it

zeron has its roots in the former advertising agency cayenne. It was there that Vivian Stürmann, as Head of PR and Deputy Managing Director, set up a PR unit from 2004 onwards. When the agency was sold to the Japanese network Dentsu in 2011, she decided to strike out on her own. The launch took place under extraordinary circumstances: all of her clients at the time, as well as the entire PR team of ten, followed her to the newly founded agency, zeron.

“Setting up an agency with such a vote of confidence was a great gift – and, at the same time, a huge responsibility,” recalls Vivian Stürmann. “The fact that the world of PR and media has changed so much since then makes our work extremely exciting to this day. I see many challenges in this, but above all great opportunities. I want to play an active part in shaping this change with zeron.”

_{¹Source: zeron surveyed 2,500 journalists; the response rate was 5.4 per cent.
²Source: When asked how relevant press releases are to them and their editorial team, participants awarded an average rating of 4.39 out of 5 stars.}