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August 23, 1999 Issue of PRWeek

Weber tipped to have bought biggest Latin American firm, Nueva

nullCAMBRIDGE, MA: Rumors continue to fly that Weber Public Relations Worldwide has acquired the largest PR firm in Latin America, the Argentina-based Nueva Communicacion, for a price ...

MS&L buys Agnew to form dollars 6m Boston firm

BOSTON: After resisting a number of offers from other firms, Agnew, Carter, McCarthy has been acquired by Manning, Selvage & Lee.

PRWeek launches industry awards

PRWeek today launches a new set of awards to celebrate the very best of public relations.

Publicis prowls for three city targets

SEATTLE: Publicis Dialog, the PR arm of French holding company Publicis, is aggressively searching for acquisition targets in New York, Chicago and San Francisco. But two of ...

Weber jumps off Gateway ship for competitor Micron

NAMPA, ID: In the wake of reports that Gateway was seeking a PR agency to replace The Weber Group, the agency has beaten the computer giant to ...

NEWS BRIEFS

WHIPPANY, NJ: Gilbert, Whitney & Johns has named Miguel Gonzalez as its VP of ethnic marketing, a role in which he will direct the firm’s ethnic PR ...

Pros say ’wait and see’ as drug promo laws open up

WASHINGTON, DC: A recent District Court ruling has thrown open the door for PR firms to promote pharmaceuticals more aggressively - but healthcare pros are advising clients ...

Net software firm taps Allen & Caron

SANTA ANA, CA: ZLand.com, provider of Internet software applications, has tapped Allen & Caron for PR and corporate communications.

PR mergers on course to smash previous records

WASHINGTON, DC: With 1999 on track to smash 1998’s record number of mergers and acquisitions, the term ’privately held PR firm’ is on the way to becoming ...

Ogilvy taps market explosion with dollars 1.5m hi-tech haul

NEW YORK: Three months after formally launching its own technology practice, Ogilvy PR Worldwide has landed dollars 1.5 million in new business.

BM puts branding vet in top PR spot

NEW YORK: Burson-Marsteller has tapped marketing veteran Joe Fisher to fill a vacancy atop its PR practice.

H&K nabs Ketchum healthcare pro Itkin

NEW YORK: Hill & Knowlton last week added critical mass to its senior-level healthcare management by snatching longtime pro Valerie Itkin away from Ketchum.

Quaker drops Ogilvy for oatmeal work

CHICAGO: The Quaker Oats Company has chosen Ketchum over five other Chicago shops as agency of record for its Quaker Oatmeal brand. The account will jointly be ...

Wall Street ranks staff relations dead last

NEW YORK: PR firms can make all the noise they want about the importance of employee communications, but Wall Street still isn’t listening.

WPP bonus may net PR bosses millions

NEW YORK: The heads of two WPP-owned PR agencies are set to rake in millions from a new bonus scheme announced last week by CEO Martin Sorrell.

United Nations grabs Finn to pitch film and TV ideas

NEW YORK: Hot on the heels of its newfound media accessibility (PRWeek, August 16), the United Nations has enlisted David Finn to pitch film and TV concepts ...

Software bigwig Beyond.com will select from three

WASHINGTON, DC: One of the nation’s largest online vendors of software, Beyond.com, has narrowed its choice of potential PR partners to three firms.

Mara Buxbaum to establish a New York office

NEW YORK: IDPR, a Los Angeles-based publicity shop, has lured Mara Buxbaum away from PMK Public Relations to establish a New York office.

Inside teams with Outside music PR

LONDON: Recently launched music promotions company Inside Media has partnered with celebrity PR outfit The Outside Organisation, to create a music marketing behemoth.

Airline alliance chooses FH for corporate account

HONG KONG: Star Alliance, the world’s largest airline affiliation, has handed its corporate PR account for Hong Kong and southern China to Fleishman-Hillard. The agency won the ...

Arnold joins Snyder ad firm for UK opening

LONDON: Arnold Public Relations has teamed with its Snyder Communications sibling Partners BDDH to open a London office specializing in integrated marketing communications.

H&K doubles business in Chile, covets LatAm shops

SANTIAGO, CHILE: Just one week after announcing the opening of its Central American base in Guatemala, Hill & Knowlton has acquired a second firm in Chile.

Argyle Rowland lands five clients

TORONTO: The newly global Argyle Rowland Worldwide (ARW) last week welcomed five new clients to its roster, including four international companies.

After four-way fight, Joe PR wins AOL’s Netscape work

LONDON: AOL Europe has picked Joe Public Relations (JPR) to launch its youth-targeted Netscape Online brand.

Amnesty snares media head from another nonprofit

LONDON: In a distinctly non-charitable move, human rights charity Amnesty International has poached Greenpeace’s acting media head for its top global communications job.

Golin forms staff relations group

CHICAGO: Acknowledging the increasing importance of workplace communications, Golin/Harris International has created its first-ever unit specifically designed to improve clients’ relations with their employees.

GOP kicks off PR strategy review for new media age

WASHINGTON, DC: With several key congressional seats up for grabs in November and a major election looming in 2000, GOP consultants are planning to retool their party’s ...

Sports Illustrated taps media firms for event

NEW YORK: Last week was a busy one on the PR front for Sports Illustrated, which hired two agencies to help publicize an awards ceremony, and lost ...

In Brief

CINCINNATI: The Bob Sumerel Tire Company has tapped Freedman, Gibson & White as its agency of record. Sumerel recently expanded its car-care offerings beyond tires, and the ...

Budget taps car pros JMPR for ’green’ vehicle roll-out

LOS ANGELES: Budget Rental Cars has handed an off-beat, high-profile new project - hyping the national roll-out of its line of alternative-fuel vehicles for rental - to ...

Book vet expands reach in new jobs

NEW YORK: Publishing specialist Jane Wesman PR has been recruited to work on four new projects, two of which expand the agency’s reach beyond the publishing sector.

Horn global partnership pays off with Origin win

BRAINTREE, MA: The Horn Group’s partnership with European firm Herald Communications, made formal a month ago, has already paid off in terms of new business.

MediaMap launches ’timesaving’ tool

CAMBRIDGE, MA: MediaMap has introduced its new Intranet 2.0 system, a distribution tool which, according to the company, will allow PR professionals to slip into cruise control ...

Online access company appoints Sterling

LOS ANGELES: Zyan Communications, which provides Internet access via digital subscriber line (DSL), has tabbed Sterling Communications as its first full-service PR firm.

For anti-tobacco finalists, two reps will select winner

WASHINGTON, DC: The American Legacy Foundation has named the selection committee charged with finding a marketing agency for its dollars 300 million PR account.

Strauss radio firm seeks director for new Internet spot

WASHINGTON, DC: Strauss Radio Strategies (SRS), a Washington, DC-based firm specializing in broadcast tours, has announced plans to expand its Internet operations, creating a new position to ...

Golin, BSMG score big with wine and spirits business

STAMFORD, CT: United Distillers and Vintners/North America (UDV) has awarded lucrative regional PR contracts to BSMG and Golin/Harris, leaving only the Northeast contracts to be decided.

RFA names first 30 clients

RALEIGH: Richard French & Associates (RFA) has hit one out of the park with the naming of the first 30 clients in its new sports legends division. ...

Veggie food supplier tabs FH to reposition one brand

COLUMBUS, OH: Worthington Foods, a supplier and marketer of vegetarian and other health-conscious foods, has tabbed Fleishman-Hillard as the agency of record for its Morningstar Farms brand.

EDITORIAL: Stocks shouldn’t be an option in PR

It must be hard not to feel a twinge of envy when another dot-com start-up makes a killing on the stock exchange. The tale of the fresh-faced, ...

THE BIG PITCH: Is Colonel Gadhafi’s image beyond repair, and would you take him as a client?

ANGELA HARRINGTON, Harrington Communications, Springfield, NJ.

MEDIA RELATIONS: UN media guidelines are only the first step - While the UN has bridged part of its gap with the press in its first-ever media guidelines, Claire Atkinson finds out that it still has a long way to go

The United Nations made a historic move last week, unveiling the first-ever set of written guidelines for dealing with the media. The rules, aimed at improving the ...

THINKPIECE: Is the press release dead? Nine times out of 10, an individual pitch wins hands down

Those of us who make our living by being dependent on the media’s attention to our clients, learned long ago the value of the press release - ...

INSIDE THE BELTWAY: As Democrats and Republicans get in on the spin race, everyone’s a winner these days

The Washington version of PR, known as spin, kicked off last Saturday evening when the results from the Iowa Straw Poll became public, and the final gun ...

PR ETHICS: The pre-IPO question: to offer stock or not? ’Friends and family’ pre-IPO offerings have raised serious ethical questions Aimee Grove polls some PR pros to define their company policies.

San Jose Mercury News hi-tech business reporter Chris Nolan has long been both feared and revered in Silicon Valley, where her thrice-weekly ’Talk is Cheap’ column was ...

ANALYSIS: Profile - A big picture CEO who still sweats details Ogilvy CEO Bob Seltzer may have made it to the top, but he’s noT afraid of looking down. This hands-on, can-do manager chats with Larry Dobrow about leadership, challenges and pink cha

The first things Bob Seltzer points out when you enter his spacious office in Ogilvy’s new Manhattan headquarters are the two chairs. ’They’re not official Ogilvy red,’ ...

WEEKLY WEB WATCH: Customers have put their trust in no-nonsense Web banking

Can you imagine how a bank would fare if it couldn’t provide its customers with access to ATMs, or refused to let its customers conduct transactions over ...

MEDIA: Considering all things on radio - From human interest stories to current events, NPR’s ’All Things Considered’ show indeed covers a wide range of topics. But that doesn’t make it an easy pitch Claire Atkinson tunes i

When weary commuters pack into their cars or board the train, the radio is often the only distraction from the grueling journey home. But finding something interesting ...

MEDIA WATCH: Bad publicity forces swift sweatshop settlements

If there is one corporate issue that is guaranteed to yield unfavorable publicity, it is an association with factories labeled as ’sweatshops.’ Earlier this month, Nordstrom, J. ...

THE TROUBLE WITH PRESS RELEASES: Journalists are drowning in press releases. There are too many. They’re too long. And sometimes, they’re not even aimed at the press. Isadore Barmash reports

Ask any journalist what they think about the standard of modern press releases and they will almost certainly find fault. They’re not all bad, of course, but ...

MARKET FOCUS: ST. LOUIS - New spirits of St. Louis Fleishman-Hillard dominates the St. Louis PR scene. But there is more to the city on the Mississippi than one giant agency. John Frank reports.

Surviving in the backyard of a giant requires being nimble. Just ask the PR firms based in St. Louis, hometown of PR giant Fleishman-Hillard International Communications. Fleishman’s ...

PR TECHNIQUE: PNRs - How to get the most from your PNRs. A picture is worth a thousand words. So for your next product promotion or event, why not use a photograph instead of a written press release? Debra S Hauss explains how to capture the perfect PNR.

Forget lengthy press releases, canned quotes and boilerplates. Sometimes all it takes to capture the media’s attention is a visually compelling image and a short caption.