Michael Nyman

Michael Nyman is an authority on cultural change and consumer behaviors across media, marketing, and entertainment.

For nearly four decades, he has shaped generational shifts in the cultural exchange between brands and audiences, from leading the publicity powerhouse PMK-BNC to launching Acceleration Community of Companies (ACC). Nyman pioneered PR, influencer marketing, and branded entertainment, and now he’s helping companies adapt to the needs of Gen Z and Alpha while curating a portfolio of agencies that execute the culture-forward brand savvy on which he’s built his career.

As founder and CEO of ACC, Nyman is upending the traditional agency holding company model with a collective of best-in-class agencies across disciplines that deliver what legacy firms don’t: speed to market, client-centricity, bespoke expertise, and collaboration.

Since launching ACC in 2018, he has scaled the company to over 500 employees across 12 offices. Agencies include MKG, Ad Age's 2023 Experiential Agency of the Year; Pink Sparrow, the design and fabrication studio awarded by BizBash, Event Marketer, and more; the legendary PR network DKC; influencer marketing agency Pixly; data-focused Stripe Theory; PR agency Trailblaze; creative agency Hangar Four; the in-house consultancy ACC/Advisory; and Ingenuity Group, a recently announced talent and brand consultancy. Clients across ACC’s portfolio include Pepsi, Netflix, Google, Spotify, Stanley, Amazon, Nissan, Delta, and Roblox.  

Nyman founded the iconic Los Angeles PR agency Bragman Nyman Cafarelli in 1989 and sold it to Interpublic Group in 2001. The agency then merged with PMK, with Nyman leading the combined entity, PMK-BNC, as chairman-CEO until leaving to start ACC.

A sought-after speaker on topics ranging from brand architecture and creator strategy to crisis communications and corporate reputation, Nyman has been extensively profiled in media, including The Wall Street Journal, Adweek, AdAge, PR Week, Variety, and The Hollywood Reporter. He has spoken at NATPE and SXSW, among others. In 2025, the Los Angeles Business Journal named him one of the 500 Most Influential Business Leaders in LA. Previously, he was named an Adweek Media All-Star and to The Holmes Report’s inaugural Innovator 25 list.

Nyman, University of Southern California graduate, serves as co-chair of the Board of Councilors for USC’s Annenberg School of Communications and Journalism. There, he’s helped to develop a think tank dedicated to understanding younger generations, and led a landmark 2024 study unpacking the comprehensive behaviors of Gen Z.

He also serves on the Board of Governors at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, and most recently served as Chairman of the California Film Commission. Nyman received the 2019 Alumni Merit Award from the University of Southern California Alumni Association and has been a member of YPO for 22 years. He is an alumnus of Harvard Business School, earning a degree in from the Executive Education Presidents’ Program in Leadership (PPL).

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