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February 17, 2003 Issue of PRWeek

Anti-terror program adds oversight amid outcries from watchdogs

WASHINGTON: The Pentagon's Total Information Awareness (TIA) project was handed a revised logo and two oversight boards last week following intense pressure from a diverse ...

Hydrogen tech firms step up PR after Bush address

ROCHESTER HILLS, MI: With hydrogen-powered cars in the news thanks to President Bush's State of the Union address, two companies involved in hydrogen technology have ...

Grates to move into full-time role at GM

NEW YORK: Gary Grates, president of GCI BoxenbaumGrates, is transitioning into the full-time role as head of General Motors' global internal communications.

IFC hires Frankel to put image into focus

NEW YORK: In the same week it received two Academy Award nominations, the Independent Film Channel (IFC) has appointed a new communications head charged with ...

'Nylon for Guys' to break next month

NEW YORK - Nylon, the edgy fashion magazine for young women, will break into men's publishing in March with the first issue of Nylon for ...

NEWS IN BRIEF: Grey acquires Darwin Medical

NEW YORK: Grey Healthcare Group has acquired Darwin Medical Communications to form Darwin Grey Communications. The new company, led by CEO Stuart Smith, will focus ...

NEWS IN BRIEF: Ketchum says good-bye to director

WASHINGTON: Ketchum's Washington office is saying good-bye to a one-time director and 12-year veteran Marc Schannon. The former Monsanto corporate PR head surrendered the director's ...

NEWS IN BRIEF: Xenophon launches Airport services

WASHINGTON: Xenophon Strategies is launching Airport Industry Services, a practice catering to airports and the companies that do business with them. Holly Arthur, former aviation ...

NEWS IN BRIEF: Veteran joins Ruder Finn

NEW YORK: Beverly Simons, 28-year healthcare communications veteran, has joined Ruder Finn's corporate branding practice as EVP. Most recently at Ketchum, Simons will report to ...

NEWS IN BRIEF: Russell launches author division

TUCSON, AZ: Expanding into the literary market, the Russell Public Affairs Group has launched an author promotions division that offers a range of publishing and ...

NEWS IN BRIEF: Cooksey signs up clients

DALLAS: Cooksey Communications signed up several new clients in January, including Omaha-based Bozell & Jacobs Advertising & PR, for which it will provide national media ...

NEWS IN BRIEF: Holben leaves Hill & Knowlton

SACRAMENTO, CA: SVP Chris Holben is leaving Hill & Knowlton to join Runyon Saltzman & Einhorn as director of PR and public affairs. VP Rich ...

NEWS IN BRIEF: Onyx selects Reidy

BELLEVUE, WA: Onyx Software has selected Reidy Communications to provide PR services. Onyx develops CRM software and services.

NEWS IN BRIEF: Cleveland Botanical Garden hires James J. Roop

CLEVELAND: The Cleveland Botanical Garden has hired the James J. Roop Company to handle media and community relations, as well as graphic-design services. The garden ...

NEWS IN BRIEF: Kucharski named to Worldcom directors

MINNEAPOLIS: Matt Kucharski has been named to the Worldcom Public Relations board of directors. Kucharski leads the technology practice at Padilla Speer Beardsley, a founding ...

NEWS IN BRIEF: Canon selects Positio

SAN JOSE, CA: Canon USA's semiconductor equipment division has selected Positio Investor and Public Relations to provide PR services. The semiconductor equipment division develops photolithography ...

NEWS IN BRIEF: PRtrak launches tool

PHILADELPHIA: PRtrak has launched an online measurement tool that shows impressions and media values for the top 10,000 websites. The new database integrates audience data ...

Press secretary 'fraternity' mourns loss of Ziegler, 63

WASHINGTON: Ron Ziegler, White House press secretary during America's most infamous Presidential scandal, died of a heart attack in his California home last Monday. He ...

PRSA chief Byrum forms alliance with GCI

AUSTIN, TX: National PRSA president Reed Byrum last week settled into office space at GCI Read-Poland under a consulting arrangement.

Education effort seeks to curb misuse of antibiotics

WASHINGTON: The Council for Affordable Quality Healthcare (CAQH), a nonprofit alliance of US health plans and networks, with Weber Shandwick has launched an initiative to ...

Health-education company brings in Copithorne as CMO

BOSTON: Eight months after stepping down as Porter Novelli's CEO, David Copithorne has joined Outside the Classroom as CMO. The three-year-old company provides online health-education ...

Ruder Finn snares Switzer to bolster Bay Area outpost

SAN FRANCISCO: Ruder Finn has acquired Switzer Communications, more than doubling the staff in its Bay Area office and boosting its technology practice.

CMO survey marks PR as a top priority among tech firms

PALO ALTO, CA: A recent survey has found that more and more hi-tech marketing executives are relying on PR. The CMO Council, made up of ...

Celebrity upstart In Touch boosts PR effort

NEW YORK: Celebrity news magazine In Touch Weekly has named Mark Allen & Co. its agency of record.

Tech tumbles, bikes roar in Harris survey on reputation

ROCHESTER, NY: Technology giants that were once repositories of consumer trust suffered significant blows to their brands last year, according to annual survey that measures ...

Coble under fire following comments on internment

LOS ANGELES: Comments last week by a North Carolina congressman approving of the internment of Japanese Americans during WWII have sparked a highly publicized response ...

ExxonMobil taps WS to extend reach

FAIRFAX, VA: ExxonMobil has hired Weber Shandwick to add PR muscle to its lubricant and petroleum specialties marketing efforts.

Delphi updates its image to highlight hi-tech approach

TROY, MI: Delphi has shuffled its corporate communications staff to better align its brand with the hi-tech industry.

Boutique Murphy O'Brien adds Vegas Ritz to roster

LOS ANGELES: Murphy O'Brien has signed the new Ritz Carlton Lake Las Vegas to an AOR deal for media relations.

Fashion Week hosts magazine launches

NEW YORK: No longer the exclusive domain of designers hawking their newest creations, Fashion Week is fast becoming a popular forum for magazine launches.

Edelman brings in Pass to head up NY entertainment unit

NEW YORK: Edelman has hired Audrey Pass as SVP in charge of New York entertainment marketing operations.

Survey shows web use on the rise for IR conference calls

NEW YORK: A survey of 500 public companies conducted by IR teleconference provider MessageBank found that companies have been leveraging internet technology in recent years ...

Annie's and Uno Restaurants sign Cone

BOSTON: Marketing PR agency Cone has won two new food clients that together should generate annual fees in the high six-figure range.

Beverly Hills hires Weber Shandwick for tourism boost

LOS ANGELES: The Beverly Hills Conference and Visitors Bureau has selected Weber Shandwick as its agency of record, filling a year-long PR gap.

Dr Pepper to put PR muscle into milk drink

PLANO, TX: Dr Pepper/Seven Up is using a combination of media relations, sampling events, and internet exposure to generate interest in its new milk-based line ...

PN merges public affairs units into a single entity in CA

WASHINGTON: Porter Novelli is folding its three public affairs units into a single office, Porter-Novelli Public Affairs (PNPA).

Edelman boosts healthcare arm by formalizing life sciences practice

NEW YORK: Edelman has formalized a life sciences practice to service its biotechnology, biopharmaceutical, biomedical research, medical devices, medical diagnostics, and health technology clients.

Beef council fires up push to increase summer sales

DENVER: The National Cattlemen's Beef Association plans to spend $2.8 million this year on its Summer Grilling Promotion, an integrated effort to prompt Americans to ...

B HI names former Xbox AE to lead its video game group

LOS ANGELES: Bender/Helper Impact (B/HI) has hired a new VP to head its video game division, replacing two gaming veterans who departed to start their ...

Beer wholesalers tap Hill veteran Semones to head public affairs

ALEXANDRA, VA: The National Beer Wholesalers Association (NBWA) has named Michelle Semones its new director of public affairs. She will report to David Rehr, president ...

Elsevier plans on hiring firms to lift global PR efforts

AMSTERDAM: Publishing giant Elsevier is looking to crank up its global communications, with pitches for agency support expected within months.

Lake Tahoe kicks off 'Blue' campaign to draw visitors

LAKE TAHOE, CA: The Lake Tahoe Visitors Authority (LTVA) is launching a $2.5 million marketing campaign to make people feel blue.

JS2 named AOR for coffee franchise, LA movie theaters

LOS ANGELES: JS2 Communications has signed a prominent theater chain and a growing coffee franchise to agency-of-record deals.

EDITORIAL: Passing of Ziegler elicits discussion about the conflicting role of Presidential press secretary

The death of Ron Ziegler, former Richard Nixon press secretary (see story here) has put the role of White House spokesperson in the spotlight. ...

OP-ED: NASA hits the right note in response to latest crisis

Less than 48 hours after the Space Shuttle Columbia fell from the sky in flames, an extraordinary headline appeared in The New York Times: "Lessons ...

ANALYSIS: Learning from past errors is vital to current crisis PR

The volatile nature of crises makes PR mistakes possible. But these errors prove valuable when used to fortify current communications tactics.

PAUL HOLMES: Rising involvement of procurement people is a reality corporate PR pros have to deal with

PR firm principals aren't happy these days. The recovery many of them anticipated in the fourth quarter of 2002 failed to materialize, and the prospect ...

CORPORATE CASE STUDY: Local approach helps Shell assume Texaco's place

With its exclusive rights to Texaco's brand ending next year, Shell is concentrating PR efforts locally in order to win public and owner acceptance as ...

MEDIA WATCH: Critics attack Bush's budget for prioritizing military too much

Fresh on the heels of his pitch to end the double taxation of dividends in his State of the Union address, President Bush submitted his ...

MEDIA ROUNDUP: State budget coverage a victim of reporter deficits

Fewer reporters than ever are covering state-government stories, but with the right timing and a human face on the story, the state capital can even ...

MEDIA PROFILE: Latest technology gets put to the test in the pages of eWeek

EWeek isn't just for techies. It covers both the technology and business aspects of enterprise hardware and software. And pitching eWeek simply involves being very ...

PROFILE: Business acumen drives Allen on her road to Dell

Though she entered the business world to become a financial journalist, Elizabeth Allen uncovered the ability to develop relationships that has led her to a ...

MARKET FOCUS: Corporate high five

Paul Cordasco looks at how five flagship in-house PR teams make a difference.

PR TECHNIQUE: Get on a morning show, and you'll rise and shine

It's a fierce battle for placement on the network morning shows. But if your story is hot enough, you might end up fighting off the ...

CAMPAIGNS: PlaceWare locates the perfect spot to raise its exposure

PR Team: PlaceWare (Mountain View, CA), Trainer PR (Danville, CA), Euro RSCG Middleberg (New York) and the Robin Randall Group (Chicago) Campaign: PlaceWare's Times Square virtual ...

CAMPAIGNS: Citizens set sail on a PR push to claim Governors Island

PR Team: Governors Island Group (New York) and Ruder Finn (New York) Campaign: Governors Island: For the People Time Frame: January-June 2002 Budget: Pro bono ($40,000 for expenses)

CAMPAIGNS: Molson Canadian finds unique way to label itself in US

PR Team: Molson USA (Golden, CO) and Wheatley & Timmons (Chicago) Campaign: Molson Canadian Twin Labels Time Frame: October 2002 - ongoing Budget: $70,000

THE PUBLICIST: Bad publicity is better than no publicity, unless you're Jacko

I've generally always believed in the old adage that there's no such thing as bad publicity. Being criticized teased, mocked, or ridiculed is still, in ...

PR PLAY OF THE WEEK: Latest terror alert offers more than color

NEW YORK: When the Bush administration raised the national terror alert level to "orange" from "yellow," something that had been lacking in previous alert upgrade ...

TOY BOX: Looking to alleviate stress? Just bead it

My assistant feels I am too tense.

BOOK REVIEW: Reputation plays key role in CEO Capital

New Coke could have ruined Coca-Cola CEO Roberto Goizueta's career. The introduction of a new formula was a marketing disaster, but as Gaines-Ross tells it, ...