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May 06, 2002 Issue of PRWeek

Bush's mental health parity stance forces HMOs' PR balancing act

WASHINGTON: Leading mental health organizations have been publicly applauding President Bush for his recent endorsements of mental health parity - the belief that HMOs should treat, and ...

NEWS IN BRIEF: Weiser Group opens office through merger

WASHINGTON: Chicago-based agency The Weiser Group has opened a DC office through a merger with Cambridge Strategic Partners, a local public policy and telecommunications consulting firm. The ...

NEWS IN BRIEF: KCSA names managing director

NEW YORK: KCSA has named Ann Higgins managing director of its consumer practice. Higgins joins KCSA from STC Associates, where she was SVP, director of PR. Prior ...

NEWS IN BRIEF: Widmeyer picks up healthcare clients

WASHINGTON: Widmeyer Communications has picked up four new healthcare clients: The National Association of Children's Hospitals and Related Institutions, the American Medical Association, the Department of Health and ...

NEWS IN BRIEF: Brouillard chosen to handle PR

NEW YORK: Brouillard Communications has been chosen to handle PR and advertising for Dassault Falcon Jet, a subsidiary of Dassault Aviation that manufacturers civil aircraft, including the ...

NEWS IN BRIEF: Bailey Gardiner works on program

SAN DIEGO: Bailey Gardiner is working with San Diego's Association of Government (SANDAG) on an integrated marketing program linking public relations, community relations, and advertising. The $500,000 contract ...

NEWS IN BRIEF: Niadyne appoints Keating PR

MILLBURN, NJ: Niadyne, a pharmaceutical technology company, has appointed Keating PR to handle strategic media relations. Specifically, Keating will help Niadyne bring patented skin-care products to market ...

NEWS IN BRIEF: Medialink announces Q1 results

NEW YORK: Medialink has announced its Q1 results, recording $11.1 million in revenue and an earnings-per-share (EPS) loss of dollars .12. Net loss for the same ...

NEWS IN BRIEF: Omnicom results show income climb

NEW YORK: Omnicom Group's Q1 results show that net income climbed to $128.6 million from $95.3 million during the same quarter in 2001. It had a 31% ...

CuresNow works with GCPN to bring its pro-cloning crusade to TV

LOS ANGELES: The debate over human cloning is coming to the small screen, with a new series of ads featuring Harry and Louise, the down-home couple that ...

H&K goes within to fill top DC post

WASHINGTON: Alisa Fogelman-Beyer will soon fill the long-vacant general manager's seat at Hill & Knowlton's DC office.

Euro RSCG merges bottom line of all US comms shops

NEW YORK: Euro RSCG Worldwide has lifted individual P&L responsibility from its 11 US marketing communications firms, combining them into two, fully integrated operations comprising all disciplines from ...

Burson drops $2m Gatorade account to up Coke efforts

CHICAGO: WPP's Burson-Marsteller has walked away from a $2 million account with Gatorade amid speculation that the agency would have been booted in the near future as ...

Ongoing analyst scandal forces PR rethink at Merrill

NEW YORK: Merrill Lynch has quickly and deliberately shifted its PR strategy regarding the analyst scandal that has besieged the firm for nearly a month. A source ...

AARP lends hand in fight to combat rising drug costs

WASHINGTON: The AARP has joined the fight against rising prescription drug costs for seniors, and has embarked upon an extensive communications push to get its message across.

Piracy bill prompts techies to speak out

WASHINGTON: Advocates for the technology industry are battling Hollywood in an effort to shift the piracy debate away from government regulation.

MultiVu selected as name for new PR Newswire arm

NEW YORK: PR Newswire has revealed the name of its newly formed broadcast company, which opened last week (PRWeek, April 29). MultiVu, named by the company's president ...

Newsweek adds consumer focus, debuts Tip Sheet

NEW YORK: Newsweek, one of the magazine industry's most venerable titles, will unveil a new stage for the latest products and services when it debuts Tip Sheet, ...

INTERNATIONAL NEWS: US scandal prompts UK church's PR drive

LONDON: The Catholic Church of England and Wales is set to institute its first set of PR guidelines to tackle child sex-abuse scandals.

INTERNATIONAL NEWS: Ex-Royal Family media adviser to lead ABC comms

SYDNEY: Geoffrey Crawford, the Queen's former press secretary, has been named director of corporate affairs at leading Australian TV network ABC.

INTERNATIONAL NEWS: Coca-Cola GB set to start search for new director of PR

LONDON: Beverage giant Coca-Cola GB has begun its search for a new communications director to replace Andrew Coker, a two-year incumbent who left the firm for personal ...

INTERNATIONAL NEWS: Le Pen works media in pre-election blitz

PARIS: Far-right leader Jean-Marie Le Pen's campaign strategist Martial Bilt waged a media relations war as the second round of the French presidential elections loomed.

Qwest looks to an analyst to head up IR in difficult times

DENVER: Embattled telecom giant Qwest Communications has hired a new SVP of IR, following the retirement of Lee Wolfe.

INTERNATIONAL NEWS: LaForce to handle PR for Sears' fall launch of new Covington label

CHICAGO: Sears is taking on New York-based LaForce & Stevens to handle what's likely to be a major national PR campaign to highlight the launch of its ...

INTERNATIONAL NEWS: Ketchum driving Declaration's road tour through USA

ATLANTA: Famed TV producer Norman Lear had no intention of buying the Declaration of Independence in 2000. He just went to the Sotheby's auction in Los Angeles ...

INTERNATIONAL NEWS: CRT asked to help nonprofits raising funds for phones

RICHMOND, VA: The Wireless Foundation, a Washington, DC-based nonprofit organization, has selected Carter Ryley Thomas to initiate a grassroots program that will help other nonprofits raise money ...

INTERNATIONAL NEWS: PHA defends itself against PR overspending charges

PHILADELPHIA: The Philadelphia Housing Authority (PHA) has been charged with overspending and misappropriating more than $1 million dollars over the past two years to seven PR consultants.

INTERNATIONAL NEWS: CA minorities say they prefer media with ethnic slant

LOS ANGELES: A full 84% of Hispanics, African Americans, and Asian Americans in California - that's 14.2 million residents - tune in to ethnic TV, radio, and ...

INTERNATIONAL NEWS: Small films look for big role in Tribeca PR

NEW YORK: As host of several highly-anticipated debuts - including the East Coast premiere of Star Wars: Episode II - and benefitting from the support of power ...

INTERNATIONAL NEWS: New security firm names CPRi as its agency of record

TETERBORO, NJ: The Homeland Security gold rush continues, with General Defense Systems (GDS) naming CPRi Communications its agency of record.

INTERNATIONAL NEWS: Golin takeover of Nixon yields new anti-tobacco jobs

MIAMI: Golin/Harris International's March takeover of the Nixon Group is already producing dividends. Golin's Miami office, the former Nixon Group, has won new assignments from three state ...

INTERNATIONAL NEWS: US public diplomacy head hits back at Beers' critics

WASHINGTON: In an exclusive interview with PRWeek, Harold Pachios, chairman of the US Advisory Commission on Public Diplomacy, praised the work of undersecretary Charlotte Beers. But he ...

INTERNATIONAL NEWS: New partnership looks to promote clients on screen

LOS ANGELES: Rogers & Cowan (R&C) has teamed with parent company Weber Shandwick Worldwide's destination travel division for a new venture aimed at promoting clients through entertainment ...

Qorvis pleased by Saudi ads despite some negative ink

WASHINGTON: Ads produced by Qorvis Communications for the royal family of Saudi Arabia made national headlines last week when it was reported that up to nine national ...

EDITORIAL: Learning to avoid an Andersen-like crisis

Andersen is mortally wounded. Once the criminal indictment and investor lawsuits do their damage, there will likely be nothing left as member firms establish new alliances and ...

COMMENT: Thought Leader - Out with the old, in with the new: the press release gets a 21st century facelift

"I know not whether any man in the world has had more influence on its inhabitants or affairs.

ANALYSIS: Marketing Overseas - Message strength withers when borders are crossed

Messages that work in the US may fall flat elsewhere, so they must be tailored to fit local audiences. John N. Frank looks at why US success ...

ANALYSIS: PAUL HOLMES - The fact that the Pope is CEO doesn't change how the Catholic church should handle crisis

"If homosexuality is something we should all accept, and if priests should be allowed to have sex, and if the Boy Scouts should have gay scoutmasters, then ...

ANALYSIS: Corporate Case Study - Coca-Cola swallows its pride and sets out new PR goals

PUBLIC AFFAIRS

ANALYSIS: Media Watch - Gates' words fail to impress despite improved court demeanor

The Microsoft antitrust trial has been underway for nearly four years, and the software giant has already been found guilty of violating the Sherman Anti-trust Act. After ...

MEDIA RESTAURANTS: Media Roundup - Restaurants vie for the top table in an overfed media

With the competition among restaurants hotter than ever, David Ward discovers that local diners, national chains, and five-star establishments alike are seeking unique offerings to whet reporters' appetites

MEDIA PROFILE: New Journal section lends a human face to Wall St numbers

Though intentionally different in tone and content from The Wall Street Journal, Paul Cordasco finds that those who anticipate more lenient editorial standards from the Personal Journal ...

PROFILE: Neiman Marcus' PR gets Downing's personal touch - Ken Downing's love of fashion carried him into PR at Neiman Marcus, where he puts his fingerprint on all the posh events that show off the store's lavish goods

Ken Downing is hard to miss. Standing a slim 6'4", his hair in a straight blond bob, and always dressed to the nines, he gets noticed ...

POSITIONING: A big hand for the brand - How do positioning and branding support each other?

While Mazerov believes that positioning lays the foundation for brand-building, he also sounds a theme that is familiar to all marketers who constantly have to resell the ...

NIRI tackles mistrust with new ethics code

NEW YORK: The National Investor Relations Institute (NIRI) has significantly strengthened its ethics code with a dozen do-or-die practice obligations that are to apply to every IR ...

MARKET FOCUS FOOD & BEVERAGE: Food forethought - A tough economy and tighter news cycle has food companies thinking up new PR angles - from comfort to colors to concerts - to gain media and public interest

Americans are increasingly interested in hearing about food, even though they may not be cooking more, Leong says. Editors were asked, "Has American interest in food increased ...

PR TECHNIQUE PRODUCT PLACEMENT: Getting a product in front of the cameras. Placing a product on a TV show or in a film involves finding a good fit with the material. But getting an expert's help first is critical

With the 20th anniversary of Steven Spielberg's alien blockbuster ET hitting theaters this summer, audiences will be treated not only to a bit of childhood nostalgia, but ...