Castle Communications provides strategic counsel, public affairs, media relations, and crisis and litigation communications services.

We know the vital importance of an organization’s brand. Reputation and facts matter. We help craft and guide the right message when and where it counts, from the local news and social media, to the boardroom, and the halls of government. Our experienced team helps companies and organizations achieve their objectives.

Who we are

Allison Castle, President of Castle Communications, brings a no-nonsense approach to strategic communications, effective policy making, brand building and consumer engagement. During a career spanning the worlds of business, government, nonprofits, and politics, she has earned her reputation as a respected and insightful tactician and trusted advisor.

 As lead of Castle Communications, she advises clients including multi-billion-dollar publicly-traded companies, non-profit organizations, legal teams, diverse coalitions, elected officials and political campaigns helping them build their brands, tell their stories, maximize opportunities shape opinions and affect change. 

 Allison is adept at assessing the state of an organization’s communications structure and helping build opportunities to connect, both externally and internally. 

Focused and diligent in times of crisis, Allison successfully guides clients through responses to everything from public health emergencies and natural disasters to events that threaten brand identity and personal reputations.  

She has served as a senior advisor to the Governor, Attorney General and Comptroller, and at the Texas Department of Insurance. She has a firm grip on the state’s complex policy, legal and budget issues and a sixth sense about the communications implications of pending decisions.

Allison directly advised Gov. Rick Perry for more than six years as his press secretary and communications director. She crafted, guided and executed strategies that gained global attention for the state of Texas, ranging from health care and public safety to establishing Texas as “America’s ‘third coast’ for high-tech innovation” and promoting Texas as the number one state for business. She and her team garnered untold volumes of coverage for the state’s successful economic development efforts to bring global corporations and jobs to Texas.

Allison imposes tight communications discipline, develops effective strategies and maximizes the impact of an organization’s story. Her strong relationships with media, state officials, easy alignment with corporate leaders, and sharp communications skills combine to make her an unparalleled asset to organizations anxious to shape the public conversation.

Allison is a past board member of the Texas Disaster Relief Fund and former executive committee member of the Austin Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors.  

Matt Thompson is a messaging architect with an intuitive talent for crafting and shaping effective communications. From complex policies to abstract concepts to public awareness and fundraising campaigns, his talent brings to life a compelling narrative that conveys how and why they’re important, and how they’ll impact people’s lives. 

Matt helps organizations and individuals convey stories that are both compelling and memorable from the board room to the halls of government to key stakeholders.

The author of hundreds of speeches, letters and opinion pieces for CEOs, U.S. Senators, presidential candidates, governors and agency officials, his work has garnered state, national and international attention. Matt has crafted some of the most highly-anticipated policy speeches in Washington, D.C.

As the lead speechwriter for Texas Governor Rick Perry for four years and the author of the 2013 State of the State Address, Matt’s words helped cast influence across crucial industry sectors and core functions of government. He was responsible for the creation and execution of major publications, including the annual report for the Texas Emerging Technology Fund. He also authored and helped oversee the creative design of the end-of-term book for Texas’ longest-serving governor. 

A trusted advisor, Matt helped manage a 40-plus member team comprised of media relations, web, social media, Spanish-language media and constituent affairs. 

Matt is an award-winning journalist who has worked for six newspapers across multiple states. He recognized the need for newspapers to evolve and communicate with a technology-savvy consumer, helping bring two major Texas newspapers into the digital age.

His writing has appeared in national publications such as the Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, USA Today and the New York Times and his speeches have been presented on three continents.

What We Do

Strategic Counsel

Through years of experience at the highest levels of state government, and working with non-profit organizations, diverse coalitions and multi-billion-dollar, publicly-traded companies, we bring expert advice on how to best tell a client’s story, quickly find and maximize opportunities, and help shape opinions.

Castle Communications offers our clients unique strategies and messaging to achieve success.

Issue Management

Our team has worked extensively on issues at every stage of their development, from initial conception and design to final implementation and beyond, whether preparing for a national PR roll out, statewide public affairs campaign or a case before the U.S. Supreme Court. As such, we develop communications strategies to effectively lay the groundwork for legislative initiatives, to promote good will among stakeholders, and to repair public damage caused by a media crisis.

We know the importance of managing issues within an organization, business or coalition to ensure everyone is on the same page and pulling together toward a common goal.

Media Outreach & Message Delivery

Castle Communications knows how to read a media narrative and plot the trajectory of a story, which is essential in today’s fast-moving media climate. Today’s opportunity to insert a message into a public discussion could be gone by lunchtime. Castle Communications is adept at crafting a message, keeping it consistent and in front of a target audience in productive ways.

Litigation Communications

We work with legal teams on high-visibility and sensitive cases, developing strategies to effectively navigate the court of public opinion throughout the legal process.

Internal Communications & Publications

Employees, boards of directors and stakeholders are fundamental to the success of any company or organization. Communicating effectively internally ensures decision makers are informed, hard work is recognized and achievements are celebrated. From internal newsletters to conference materials to annual reports clients are proud of. We make the most of every opportunity to connect with the people closest to a client’s mission.