Mobile Version Subscribe Issue Archive Contact Us About Us Advertise

December 06, 1999 Issue of PRWeek

More disclosure boosts stock price

NEW YORK: Banks and insurance companies usually hold their cards close to the vest, but increased disclosure of non-financial, intangible information can boost their stock prices.

Nielsen enters PR realm with Porter Novelli deal

NEW YORK: The search for the elusive measurement ’Holy Grail’ was joined by a mighty player last week when Nielsen Media Research agreed to share its audience ...

Novelli takes AARP public affairs post

WASHINGTON, DC: Industry legend Bill Novelli is leaving the Campaign for Tobacco Free Kids to become one of the top PR players at the American Association for ...

Nissan revamps PR with agency face-off

LOS ANGELES: In an effort to trim marketing costs, Nissan Motor Company has decided to consolidate its PR account under one roof.

Omnicom adds Cone to holdings for $12-15 million

BOSTON: In a deal that adds cause-related and consumer marketing to its extensive list of offerings, Omnicom last week acquired Cone for an estimated $12-15 ...

NEWS BRIEFS

NEW YORK: Vorhaus & Company has lured Julie Schumacher Ciardiello away from Porter Novelli to serve as an SVP in its consumer group. Ciardiello, who led PN’s ...

CDB grows in California with dollars 1.6m CSP acquisition

CORONA, CA: Creamer Dickson Basford (CDB) bolstered its Southern California operations late last month with the acquisition of CSP Communications, a 15-person, dollars 1.6 million firm.

Shugart adds cash to PR in hybrid firm

SOQUEL, CA: Seagate Technology’s notorious founder and former CEO Al Shugart has hit the convention trail hyping what could be the first of its kind: a hybrid ...

Kohn bags Illinois job for Academy of Dermatology

SCHAUMBURG, IL: The American Academy of Dermatology has picked a veteran of the Washington, DC public policy scene as its new associate executive director of communications.

Goodman Media snatches PBS vet to lead new office

WASHINGTON, DC: Former PBS PR executive Elise Adde is joining Goodman Media as president of a new Washington, DC office due to open next year.

BRIEFS

BOSTON: International consulting firm Smythe Dorward Lambert (SDL) has been selected by Boston musician Bleu to sponsor the release of A Bing Bang Holidang, a CD featuring ...

Gucci calls in Ketchum for internal PR

LONDON: Gucci, the world’s third-largest fashion business, last week hired Ketchum to handle its internal communications across Europe.

Korean airport taps Burson in dollars 5m deal

INCHON CITY, SOUTH KOREA: The Inchon International Airport Authority has awarded a dollars 5 million-plus PR account - believed to be one of the biggest ever awarded ...

Ogilvy snaps up Magellan Medical

LONDON: Acquisition-happy Ogilvy has closed another deal, buying London-based healthcare shop Magellan Medical Communications.

High Road creates four new divisions for move into technological fast lane

TORONTO: Canadian hi-tech specialist High Road Communications has restructured to exploit some of the fastest-growing technologies in the marketplace.

PeopleSoft lands VP for head post

PLEASANTON, CA: TriValley Growers VP of corporate communications Steve Swasey has bailed from the struggling agricultural cooperative to take the top PR spot at PeopleSoft.

Gillespie and Quinn create policy shop

WASHINGTON, DC: Ed Gillespie and Jack Quinn, two of the most highly regarded DC-based public policy hotshots, announced plans last week to form their own agency.

Rival burger giants duke it out with big-dollar promos

LOS ANGELES: McDonald’s and Burger King have once again raised the stakes in their battle for PR supremacy, with multi-million dollar Pokemon and Toy Story 2 campaigns ...

PN-C&B alliance grabs tech clients

BOSTON: The Porter Novelli/Copithorne & Bellows alliance has already begun to pay off, with the newly formed PN Convergence Group (PNCG) capturing three hi-tech clients worth more ...

Hayslett lures old allies away from Porter Novelli and Chauncey

ATLANTA: Hayslett Sorrel last week reinforced its staff by hiring away two established pros from Porter Novelli and The Chauncey Group.

O’Rourke leaves B-M for Morgan Stanley MD post

NEW YORK: After 20 years with Burson-Marsteller, managing director Ray O’Rourke has headed for new pastures.

Restaurant service survey predicts customer ’revolt’

PALM BEACH, FL: Poor internal communications in America’s restaurants may soon start taking their toll at the cash register.

TechMarcom and Read-Poland join in hi-tech alliance

AUSTIN, TX and WESTFORD, MA: General PR and public affairs shop Read-Poland and one-person hi-tech boutique TechMarcom have announced a strategic alliance aimed at servicing tech start-ups ...

FH ’99 shopping spree continues with two acquisitions by year end

ST. LOUIS: Independent agencies watch out. John Graham is once again getting ready to take out his checkbook.

GE Capital taps CDR vet Moretti for PR post

STAMFORD, CT: Twelve-year Citigate Dewe Rogerson (CDR) vet Marissa Moretti has left the agency to serve as GE Capital’s manager of corporate communications.

Bandai drops H&K for Porter Novelli

CYPRESS, CA: Bandai America, marketer of such popular toys as Power Rangers action figures and Tamagotchi virtual pets, has tabbed Porter Novelli as its PR agency of ...

Goodman reunites with old flame Weber Group as Blanc & Otus fling breaks up

CAMBRIDGE, MA: Less than six months after joining Blanc & Otus, Reed Goodman has announced that he will be returning to The Weber Group, where he was ...

Kamber ’facing reality’ as suitors move in for the kill

WASHINGTON, DC: The Kamber Group, which bills itself as the largest DC-based independent public affairs firm, is on the block, with a sale possible within upcoming months.

MediaMap mails free e-newsletter

CAMBRIDGE, MA: MediaMap has announced the launch of a free weekly newsletter that will provide media information about web sites.

ASAE realigns PR division to elevate external profile

WASHINGTON, DC: In an unusual departmental reorganization, the American Society of Association Executives has shifted its PR division from under the domain of its communications arm and ...

Hillary cohort Caputo opts out of campaign position

NEW YORK: Longtime Hillary Clinton friend and advisor Lisa Caputo effectively ruled herself out of a full-time PR position with Clinton’s Senate campaign late last month by ...

Cause-related shopping on the rise, survey reveals

BOSTON: An increasing number of holiday shoppers are planning on purchasing a product from companies that donate a percentage of their profits to a cause, with women ...

GM veteran quits over fraud felony

DETROIT: A 15-year veteran of General Motors’ PR and marketing staffs has resigned following the revelation that he pled guilty two years ago to a fraud felony ...

Boys & Girls Clubs selects Publicis for pro bono work

ATLANTA: The Boys & Girls Clubs of America (BGCA) has chosen Publicis over two other integrated agencies for its PR business, the organization announced late last month.

Editorial - Green questions, jaundiced replies

Is the environment dead in the water as an issue? It seems piteous to suggest this is so, when there are so many environmental advocates - and ...

The Big Pitch - Are there clients you would not work for under any circumstance and why?

Glenn Karwoski, Karwoski & Courage Public Relations, Minneapolis

Client Profile - After all these years, is Levi’s washed up? - The future looked profitable, but then the American icon hit a slump when styles morphed. Aimee Grove examines a PR team in full-crisis mode

On June 12, 1996, Levi Strauss & Company chairman Bob Haas announced a new incentive plan for employees. Under it, every worker would receive a bonus equal ...

THINKPIECE - Full disclosure by corporations can serve the dual purpose of good PR and good business

One of the challenges we in public affairs and PR face is that new technologies have enabled us to reach so many more people with our messages ...

INSIDE THE BELTWAY - E-life or just e-hype? Look around the country and you’ll run into far more space than cyber

Former White House adviser Dick Morris, who hasn’t been right about anything for a few years, weighed in the other day with a powerful prediction - neatly ...

Hi-Tech PR - Agencies play name game but who wins? - Over the past month, Porter Novelli joined forces with C&B to form the PN Convergence Group, TSI divided into three separate agencies under GlobalComm, and Cunningham split into six distinct compa

’It’s all about building and maintaining the brand.’ Hi-tech PR firms have hammered this mantra into clients’ minds for years, but a recent spate of agency name ...

ANALYSIS - Profile - Powell: new power behind Shandwick DC - Shandwick’s purchase of Powell Tate has thrust Jody Powell into the driver’s seat at Shandwick PA. Can he bring disparate companies together and expand the practice at the same t

A banner in the lobby of Powell Tate’s DC office boasts: ’The most powerful city in the world has a new leader. Shandwick Washington.’ But who leads ...

Weekly Web Watch - Old-fashioned bank Natwest is on e-commerce cutting edge

What’s a poor bank to do when the Internet is teaching its customers new tricks - and not just its personal banking customers but also its merchant ...

MEDIA - Good Housekeeping: not just the mag for your mom - Classic GH has entrenched itself with women aged 30 to 55. But as Claire Atkinson finds out, the magazine is undergoing a facelift

Clean, spacious offices are just what you’d expect at the 114-year-old Good Housekeeping: the orderly desks and lemon walls make the place seem too neat to be ...

Media Watch - Kids, adults and media go crazy over Pokemon fad

Kids across the country are losing their heads over Pokemon. The fad first appeared several years ago as a Nintendo game and has since expanded into a ...

Why has environmental PR faded? - From nuclear energy crises to the Exxon Valdez oil spill, environmental issues used to constantly grab the media headlines. Now all - or practically all - is quiet on the environmental front. Have PR professionals been th

Where have all the environmental stories gone?

MARKET FOCUS WASHINGTON, DC - Capital PR - Public affairs in DC is on the rise but as Steve Lilienthal reports, healthcare is huge and hi-tech sizzles

When Shandwick announced it was acquiring the huge government affairs firm, The Cassidy Companies, for a reported dollars 70 to dollars 80 million (see Jody Powell profile, ...

PR TECHNIQUE INTERNAL COMMUNICATIONS - Business TV: ’I know - let’s put on a show!’ - Companies that run their own internal TV networks find them a great way to stay in touch with employees and boost morale. But it’s not ea

When Warner-Lambert and American Home Products announced a planned merger in early November, Warner-Lambert employees didn’t need to turn to CNN or CNBC to get the details. ...