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February 07, 2000 Issue of PRWeek

Dot-com Super Bowl ads score few points

nullNEW YORK: It was hyped as the ’Dot-com Super Bowl,’ but most Internet firms fumbled away the chance to develop any brand recognition during the NFL’s championship ...

EPA to unleash RFP for lucrative Energy Star project

WASHINGTON, DC: Trying to make the US a greener country could mean lots of greenbacks for a PR firm with Washington clout.

PRSA shoots down CFO’s application

LOS ANGELES: Cerrell Associates CFO Steve Bullock wants to join the PRSA. But serving as a top executive at a sizeable PR agency apparently isn’t enough to ...

Edelman seizes Nissan business

LOS ANGELES: Edelman has won the Nissan agency face-off, seizing the consumer and trade portions of the auto giant’s PR business from Shandwick.

NEWS BRIEFS

HOPKINTON, MA: EMC Corp., a provider of enterprise storage systems, software and services, has promoted Polly Pearson from director of investor relations to VP, global investor relations. ...

Suspension doesn’t stop the Rocker reverberations

NEW YORK: When Major League Baseball commissioner Bud Selig suspended Atlanta Braves pitcher John Rocker last week for racist and homophobic comments made in an interview with ...

Edelman wins three-way race for Xenical account

NEW YORK: Edelman won the Xenical derby last week, beating out Ogilvy and Manning Selvage & Lee for the coveted multimillion-dollar account for Hoffman-La Roche’s anti-obesity treatment.

Sprockets.com launches its new deadline management tool

BOSTON: What do the B-52s and deadlines have in common? Generally not much, but the two will converge on Wednesday night when Sprockets.com launches its new deadline ...

Rubenstein joins advocacy group

NEW YORK: Senator Chuck Schumer has added Howard Rubenstein to his ’Group of Thirty,’ a commission created to address the lack of affordable retail and commercial space ...

Army set to salute its soldiers of PR

WASHINGTON, DC: Retired officers who excelled on the public affairs battlefield will find themselves in the spotlight this week at the US Army’s 2000 Worldwide Public Affairs ...

Porter Novelli in tobacco switch

WASHINGTON, DC: The American Legacy Foundation, formed from the master settlement agreement between 46 states and the tobacco industry’s heaviest hitters, has decided not to renew a ...

AARP gives multimillion job to FH

WASHINGTON, DC: The AARP has awarded its multimillion-dollar PR account, one of the biggest ever meted out, to Fleishman-Hillard.

Dow PR VP elevated to head major unit

MIDLAND, MI: In another example of PR pros being recognized for more than just their communication savvy, Dow Chemical has promoted global public affairs VP Elin Miller ...

StarMedia seeks third firm in three years

NEW YORK: Top Hispanic Web portal StarMedia is on the hunt for its third PR agency in three years after wrapping up a year-long relationship with Alexander ...

McCain’s win ups stakes, may draw more scrutiny

WASHINGTON, DC: With his stunning victory over George W. Bush in the New Hampshire GOP presidential primary, John McCain received a major boost to his campaign. But ...

Coke continues its PR push on heels of reorganization

ATLANTA: Coca-Cola continued its long climb up the PR hill last week by allowing members of the media to attend and cover a briefing before 200 Wall ...

PeopleSoft cuts tie with Edelman, cites frustration

PLEASANTON, CA: Business management software giant PeopleSoft has ended a two-year relationship with Edelman and is putting its estimated dollars 1 million account up for review.

BSMG grabs dollars 4.6m PR shop in Germany

HAMBURG: BSMG took a substantial step towards becoming one of Germany’s preeminent financial and corporate PR practices last week by acquiring Management Profile Consulting (MPC), a 45-strong, ...

Lighthouse eyes next buy

LONDON: Lighthouse Global Network appears ready to add to its rapidly expanding portfolio by acquiring public affairs consultancy GJW.

Ogilvy’s European president leaves post

LONDON: Ogilvy is on the hunt for a European president following the departure of Paul Philpotts, who left on January 21 to become a partner at financial ...

Volkswagen hires new Rolls director

WOLFSBURG, GERMANY: Volkswagen has appointed Sarah Perris to the newly created position of worldwide communications director for Rolls-Royce and Bentley Motor Cars.

Rasky/Baerlein Group acquires Wortman Works, opens DC office

BOSTON: The Rasky/Baerlein Group has expanded its reach with the opening of an office in Washington, DC and the acquisition of Wortman Works Media and Marketing in ...

New site gauges ad value of clips

HOUSTON: Publicity Valuation Research (PVR) has developed a service, ClipValue.com, that provides advertising value equivalencies for media placements.

Illinois governor proposes dollars 1 billion hi-tech makeover

CHICAGO: Illinois has not traditionally been known as a tech hotbed.

NEWS IN BRIEF

SAN FRANCISCO: Cynthia Lohr, a Niehaus Ryan Wong alum who helped launch Yahoo! in 1996, has joined Alexander Ogilvy as a VP and account director. Lohr arrives ...

Martin PR opens up in Northern VA

RESTON, VA: With its eyes set on the booming DC-area hi-tech market, Martin Public Relations is planning to become the next agency to lay down roots in ...

PRSA schedules Tech 2000 symposium for tech-heavy Boston

BOSTON: The PRSA’s Technology Section has settled on Boston as the site for its ’Tech 2000’ symposium.

US orthopedic surgeons to inject dollars 2 m into PR push

ROSEMONT, IL: The American Academy of Orthopedic Surgeons (AAOS) has embarked upon an ambitious marketing push, with plans to pour dollars 2 million into PR this year.

NewsQuest to exit NY, charge flat fee

DENVER: Broadcast clipping and monitoring service NewsQuest is closing its New York office as part of a cost-cutting plan. But another move may prove a boon for ...

Ruder Finn Chicago bags five hi-techs accounts, spins off new units

CHICAGO: Ruder Finn’s Chicago outpost closed out January with dollars 1 million in new business from five hi-tech clients - accounts that have already spurred changes in ...

USA Today suffers a page one prank

WASHINGTON, DC: Readers of USA Today in the nation’s capital got an interesting surprise on the Friday following President Clinton’s State of the Union speech when guerrilla ...

Public dishes out support for Ben & Jerry’s

SOUTH BURLINGTON, VT: The counterculture attitude for which Ben & Jerry’s is renowned was alive and well late last month when several of the company’s franchisees continued ...

Hi-tech powerhouse TCW plans for the road ahead

BURLINGTON, MA: Two weeks after Fleishman-Hillard’s stunning acquisition of Lois Paul & Partners and the subsequent creation of hi-tech behemoth Technology Consulting Worldwide, details about the deal as ...

Rogers promotes Doll to leadership position

LOS ANGELES: Rogers & Associates, one of California’s few remaining independently owned public affairs agencies, has promoted long-time EVP and partner Lynne Doll to president.

Service911.com taps MS&L for aid

WESTLAKE VILLAGE, CA: Service911.com, a site offering computer service and online tech support, has chosen Manning Selvage & Lee’s global technology arm over a host of multinationals ...

Democrats surf the hi-tech wave

WASHINGTON, DC: The House Democratic Caucus has scored a PR coup in its quest to put its party and members in the passing lane of the information ...

Gay activists take grass-roots push to legislators

BOSTON: Gay activists fighting for same-sex marriage rights in Massachusetts are continuing their campaign on a much more hopeful note following a ground-breaking decision by the Vermont ...

O’Keeffe brings in dollars 558k in new biz

MCLEAN, VA: DC-area hi-tech specialists O’Keeffe & Company started off 2000 on a high note, winning dollars 558,000 in new business during the last weeks of January.

EDITORIAL: When is a PR pro not so? Ask PRSA

Imagine, for a moment, that you are Steve Bullock, CFO of Cerrell Associates. You’re a 13-year veteran of a well regarded agency who has led account teams, ...

EDITORIAL: PR educators in need of PR

Publication of our feature on ’The Future of PR Education’ was well-timed (see page 20), for it coincided with the final stage of PRWeek’s competition to find ...

THE BIG PITCH: How can Coca-Cola use PR to weather the tough times it is currently facing?

JAMES O’ROURKE, The Eugene D. Fanning Center, University of Notre Dame.

ANALYSIS: Client Profile - Sensational: the PR battle behind the art. Was ’Sensation’ a sensational bit of PR by the Brooklyn Museum of Art? Jessica Sung looks behind the scenes at the thin line between a crisis and great publicity

In the fall of ’99, the little-known Brooklyn Museum of Art (BMA) became a household name when it presented ’Sensation: Young British Artists from the Saatchi Collection.’ ...

THINKPIECE: The public knows your brand, but they speak to your employees. Are the two working together?

Internal branding seems to be the flavor of the moment in the corporate communications field. A number of recent articles promote the wisdom of considering the employees ...

INSIDE THE BELTWAY: The nomination races are over, or perhaps not It all depends on how you read the media spin.

The New Hampshire primary is 24 hours away as this is written, but however the fortunes of the candidates emerge, there are some lessons we may all ...

BRANDING: Marketing takes aim at the consumer soul - It’s obvious that people get attached to their cars and other prized possessions, but is it really possible to have an emotional connection with soap? Proponents of experiential marketing believ

Remember the capitals of all 50 states? You were taught them in school. You’ve heard many of their names since. But the information just doesn’t stick.

ANALYSIS: Profile - Bill Novelli gives voice to PR’s conscience Social marketing pioneer Bill Novelli may have given up the fight against Big Tobacco to work for the AARP, but don’t take that as a sign that he’s slowing down. Steve

’See how new I am,’ says Bill Novelli, pointing to a sign by the elevator.

WEEKLY WEB WATCH: Super Bowl ads are forgotten, but the PR lingers on and on ..

The Super Bowl is one of the great American tribal rituals, if not the greatest. You read and hear about the contenders for weeks beforehand: the favorites, ...

MEDIA: For USA Today, Money buys a whole lot of happiness. USA Today’s Money section is locked in a battle with a huge and worthy opponent, The Wall Street Journal. Claire Atkinson reports

The color-coated USA Today and the black-and-white Wall Street Journal are bitter rivals for the title of top-selling newspaper in the United States.

MEDIA WATCH: Eaton’s retirement exposes DaimlerChrysler fears

While co-chairman Robert J. Eaton’s retirement from DaimlerChrysler late last month was not especially surprising - at the time of the merger Eaton had announced he would ...

THE FUTURE OF PR EDUCATION: A recent report has laid out guidelines for curricula in undergraduate, graduate, continuing and distance PR education. Experts say the study is a good start but may not go far enough. Steve Lilienthal and Ana Vargas investigat

Nearly a half-century ago, PR educators Scott Cutlip and Allen Center wrote that university-level training in PR was ’young, ill-defined and experimental.’

MARKET FOCUS TRAVEL & TOURISM: Cruise industry full steam ahead with PR. The cruise industry has learned the importance of PR, mostly for damage control in the face of a series of crises. Now it is effectively using PR in a more positive fashion to

Ship fires. On-board crimes (including rape). Allegations of dumping.

PR TECHNIQUE: RESEARCH & EVALUATION - TV Hits: tracking PR coverage on television. PR pros are using everything from computer chips to ’clipping’ services to monitor their TV coverage. And as Claire Atkinson reports, they don&rsquo

Monitoring TV mentions in a 500-channel universe is no easy task. Corporate communications departments and PR agencies face a daily battle to track the way their companies ...