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May 15, 2000 Issue of PRWeek

Ruder Finn launches new glossy magazine: its own

NEW YORK: Most PR agencies aspire to little more than getting their clients into glossy magazines. Ruder Finn, however, has decided to publish one of its own.

Coke caps quest for No. 2 in Holleran hire

ATLANTA: Coca-Cola has finally found its long-coveted chief communications officer, naming Charles Holleran to its number-two PR post.

New Big Dig boss gives heave-ho to six PR and lobbying agencies

BOSTON: When Andrew Natsios took over Boston’s ’Big Dig’ last month, he promised to start with a clean slate. One of his first targets was the massive ...

PR behemoths to be united by WPP, Y&R deal - if final

LONDON: The on-again, off-again acquisition of Young & Rubicam by the WPP Group seemed to be on again last week, with the WPP offer of a dollars ...

NEWS BRIEFS

NEW YORK: Sports Illustrated has promoted PR manager Joseph Assad to director of PR. In his new role, Assad will be responsible for all PR and publicity ...

Biotech foods PR debate heats up

WASHINGTON, DC: The debate over genetically engineered foods may be ripening on the vine, but fresh developments are drawing the mainstream attention PR pros on both sides ...

PN beats five for ZDTV dollars 500k job

SAN FRANCISCO: ZDTV, a 24-hour cable and online network dedicated to technology news and programming, has selected Porter Novelli as its new PR agency of record.

Shandwick lands Reciprocal push

ROCHESTER, NY: Digital rights management firm Reciprocal has handed its mid-six figure PR account to Shandwick.

PR PLAY OF THE WEEK: Saks taps twins to lift new Ultimo bra

Advertising has long had a high-profile sister act in Wrigley’s Doublemint Gum twins. Thanks to Saks Fifth Avenue, however, PR now has its own set of cute-as-a-button ...

Citing growth, GCI reorganizes management team

NEW YORK: Fueled by 48% growth in 1999 and continued good fortunes in 2000, GCI Group has restructured its global management team.

NRW quietly wins Nordstrom .com

SOUTH SAN FRANCISCO: While undoubtedly still mourning the loss or resignation (depending on who you ask) of its flagship Yahoo! account, Niehaus Ryan Wong has at least ...

PeopleSoft hands dollars 1m to Phase Two

PLEASANTON, CA: PeopleSoft, which severed ties with Edelman and put its estimated million PR account up for review in February, has handed its product and corporate business ...

Love Bug bites PR industry; chaos, opportunity ensue

BOSTON: Ten days after it paralyzed computer systems across the globe, the Love Bug has already been eulogized as a mixed blessing for PR pros.

After a decade of losses, Peapod turns to Edelman

SKOKIE, IL: Fresh from being rescued from financial disaster by Dutch company Royal Ahold, online grocer Peapod has turned to Edelman for corporate PR work.

Spector sues ad firm over conduct

CHESTER, NJ: The relationship between PR boutique Spector & Associates and ad agency Grafica has soured in a very public way, with Spector suing Grafica for wrongful ...

UA unites online biz under Middleberg

CHICAGO: United Airlines, which prides itself on its e-commerce savvy, has tapped Middleberg + Associates for online PR.

Inside.com lures Spin exec as site gets set to launch

NEW YORK: Heavily hyped media Web site Inside.com has taken the spin out of Spin, hiring Jason Roth away from the music magazine to serve as its ...

Burson wins Hong Kong rebranding

HONG KONG: Hoping to reposition the city of Hong Kong as a key Asian business hub, the Hong Kong government has hired Burson-Marsteller for a dollars 1.2 ...

Drury lands Aer Lingus privatization push

DUBLIN: The Irish Department of Public Enterprise has hired Drury Communications to handle PR for the expected privatization later this year of national airline Aer Lingus.

London mayor’s press sec called potential ’liability’

LONDON: Newly elected London mayor Ken Livingstone is on the verge of granting ’special advisor’ status to press secretary Emma St. Giles - despite her lack of ...

Celador hires PR vet for executive ’Millionaire’ post

LONDON: Celador Productions, the producers of Who Wants to be a Millionaire?, has hired Ruth Settle as head of press and PR.

Top execs at Ford shift to new posts

DEARBORN, MI: Continuing the reorganization of its top voices, Ford has reassigned two high-level PR executives to new posts.

China trade relations showdown spurs vocal PR, lobbying efforts

WASHINGTON, DC: The showdown in the House of Representatives over whether the US should establish permanent normal trade relations with China is fast approaching, and PR pros ...

Newsletter to offer media aid for biotech companies

FORT WAYNE, IN: An Indiana PR and marketing agency has launched a newsletter designed to help the life sciences industry better respond to concerns about biotech foods ...

Rayovac charges B-M with IR push

MADISON, WI: Rayovac, the country’s third largest battery maker, has hired Burson-Marsteller to handle what likely will be a mid-six-figure IR and media relations program.

Emotional connection key to brand success, says Marketing Forum

NEW YORK: Whether Bill Gates is a hero or not is debatable - but the world could use more ’local heroes’ like him.

Illinois governor launches statewide image charge

CHICAGO: Illinois governor George Ryan has launched a PR offensive to counter negative publicity resulting from an ongoing investigation of the secretary of state’s office.

Gift List hands out 2000 contact info

ALTADENA, CA: Offering PR pros an alternative to the hundreds of calls it takes to reach the right holiday editors, The Gift List has announced the availability ...

Ex-pro adds fuel to Chevron PR fire

HONOLULU: In the wake of allegations that Chevron willfully obstructed the state’s gasoline price investigation, the company is struggling to put out a potentially deadly PR fire ...

NY hospital moves to fight racism flap

ALBANY, NY: Fearing the magnification of an innocent mistake, the Bellevue Women’s Hospital in Albany moved last week to quash charges of racial discrimination after several black ...

NEWS IN BRIEF

WASHINGTON, DC: Former Porter Novelli SVP Thomas Goodwin has joined The Hawthorn Group as EVP. Goodwin, whose first public affairs posts were at the Federation of American ...

Damning SF Examiner testimony throws Hearst into PR hot water

SAN FRANCISCO: Hearst, which publishes at least a dozen major US dailies including the San Francisco Examiner, has found itself in PR hot water due to damning ...

EDITORIAL: WPP’s purchase: how will PR fair?

If, as expected, the dollars 5.7 billion sale of Young & Rubicam to WPP is approved by shareholders, it will be the largest deal in the history ...

EDITORIAL: Press for PR ethics is no bad thing

When The New York Times reported on the results of PRWeek’s ethics survey (PRWeek, May 1), the CEO of a leading PR agency, meeting at the Counselors’ ...

THE BIG PITCH: What can tech pros do to counter the negative press the sector has received?

CONNIE CONNORS

VIRTUAL PR: Can a virtual PR firm provide real service? - PR pros have been buzzing about the newest virtual PR agencies that offer a la carte PR services. Are these companies doing a disservice to clients and the PR industry, or do they fill a lucrative

Smaller PR agencies have for years spoken out against larger agencies that only take clients who can pay a high monthly retainer. But recently a new breed ...

THINKPIECE: Instead of telling potential clients what they need, how about asking them what they want?

Imagine you’re interviewing candidates for a key position. You’ve narrowed the selection based on resumes and your staff’s recommendations.

BELTWAY: Ex-journalists: start polishing your resumes! PR will be for psychologists and statisticians

At a recent meeting of the Counselors’ Academy of the PRSA, a prescient American PR executive (OK, it was my boss, Tom Hoog of Hill & Knowlton), ...

CLIENT PROFILE: Dueling sites fight for bit of female attention Women.com and iVillage have been battling for female eyeballs and wallets for over five years now. With the consumer dot-com sector in a tizzy, who’s winning the PR war? Aimee Grove r

What a difference a year makes. Up to and through the 1999 holiday season, Internet content and e-commerce companies dominated the headlines with glowing puff pieces celebrating ...

ANALYSIS PROFILE: Finn: for 50 years, raising PR to an art form. PR folk are known for tooting their own horn. But when you count JFK and John D. Rockefeller III among your clients, you probably don’t need to Larry Dobrow sits down with David Finn

To spend an afternoon with David Finn is to bask in the warmth of a once-in-a-generation mind. It is to listen to his recollections about family, history ...

WEEKLY WEB WATCH: Pro athletes’ Web sites are not a field of dreams for league execs

Professional sports leagues like the NBA and NFL are banking a lot on the Internet. And mostly, it’s about money. As if the amount they get from ...

MEDIA: NBC’s Today rocks steady at the plaza - The Today show has been at the top of the ratings for the past six years. Claire Atkinson finds out why

The inside of Katie Couric’s intestines is probably the last thing anyone would expect to see on the nation’s favorite morning show, Today.

MEDIA WATCH: Time Warner, ABC spat puts both giants in bad light

Time Warner took ABC off the air for more than 24 hours on May 1, bringing a private dispute with Disney over payment for broadcasting into the ...

Can software really help in a crisis?

Software has long been a staple of disaster planning in industries like petrochemicals or nuclear energy, where computerized scenarios can plot everything from the spread of hazardous ...

MARKET FOCUS: NEW ENGLAND - Hi-tech spreads throughout historic New England. Boston still rules the New England PR scene, but - with the tech craze - outlying agencies are starting to expand. Rebecca Flass reports

Historic New England enjoys a healthy and diverse economy, but that economy is not so historic. Much of the hi-tech excitement in Boston and Cambridge has seeped ...

PR TECHNIQUE: VNRs - The media relations skills you need to pitch a VNR. Competition to get VNRs aired is fierce. Success requires the media relations skills of an expert - targeted at the right people at the right outlets. Tony Seideman offers some tips

In today’s increasingly crowded media market, video outlets are choosier than ever about the VNRs they air. That makes the art of pitching as important in the ...