Mobile Version Subscribe Issue Archive Contact Us About Us Advertise

November 18, 2002 Issue of PRWeek

Ketchum's former ties with Visa help secure Bank One business

WILMINGTON, DE: In the same month as Ketchum lost its grip on the longstanding Visa account, Bank One, one of the largest global issuers of ...

Ailing tech shop Springbok is latest C&W office closing

RICHARDSON, TX: Cohn & Wolfe has finally closed Springbok/Cohn & Wolfe, a year and a half after purchasing the fast-dwindling hi-tech agency.

Domino's new lead comms role raises talk of possible IPO

ANN ARBOR, MI: Domino's Pizza has created the new position of EVP of communications and investor relations, and has hired Lynn Liddle to take up ...

Bush boosts role of spokesman Wilkinson as Iraq situation heats up

WASHINGTON: If troop deployment is an indication of approaching war, then Jim Wilkinson should be giving Saddam Hussein reason to worry.

NEWS IN BRIEF: MS&L adds agencies

NEW YORK: MS&L has added four more agencies to its global network of affiliate firms. MS&L does not own the firms, but works with them ...

NEWS IN BRIEF: CFI hires senior director

NEW YORK: Citigate Financial Intelligence (CFI), the investor relations arm of Citigate, has hired Brooke Wagner as a senior director. Before joining CFI, Wagner was ...

NEWS IN BRIEF: Appointment at Ryder Systems

MIAMI: Ryder Systems has named Paula Musto VP of corporate communications. Musto will manage media relations, employee and marketing communications. She will report to the ...

NEWS IN BRIEF: DealerTrack selects CooperKatz

NEW YORK: DealerTrack, a technology services company that enables finance transactions between automobile dealers and lenders, has selected CooperKatz & Company as its PR agency. ...

NEWS IN BRIEF: O'Connell & Goldberg announces clients

HOLLYWOOD, FL: O'Connell & Goldberg has announced the acquisition of four new clients: Aura Science, CABI Developers, The Fontainebleau Hilton Resort, and FURLA. The agency ...

NEWS IN BRIEF: Yesawich, Pepperdine & Brown completes

ORLANDO: Yesawich, Pepperdine & Brown has completed reacquisition of ownership of the firm from Panoramic Communications. It has also added a new partner, John Russell, ...

NEWS IN BRIEF: M/C/C reestablishes relationship

DALLAS: M/C/C has reestablished an agency-of-record relationship with the newly independent CapRock Services. M/C/C worked with the satellite telecom company before it was purchased by ...

NEWS IN BRIEF: Zilliant taps Stanton Crenshaw

AUSTIN, TX: Zilliant has tapped Stanton Crenshaw Communications for b-to-b marketing communications and analyst relations. Zilliant develops profit and revenue optimization software and services.

NEWS IN BRIEF: BoostWorks selects Walt

SAN FRANCISCO: BoostWorks, a network acceleration services company, has selected Walt & Company as its AOR. The Santa Clara, CA-based firm will provide numerous PR ...

NEWS IN BRIEF: WebGen retains Morrissey

BOSTON: WebGen, provider of the first predictive, proactive energy management system, has retained Morrissey & Company to develop messaging and positioning, provide reputation management, as ...

NEWS IN BRIEF: Faye Rogaski named VP

NEW YORK: Faye Rogaski has been named VP at PR firm Brown Lloyd James (BLJ). She has been with the New York office of BLJ ...

NEWS IN BRIEF: Westwood One contract augmented

NEW YORK: Medialink Worldwide has augmented its contract with Westwood One, adding 500 CBS and CNN stations to its distribution list, for a total of ...

Movielink piques interest of media with low-key launch

LOS ANGELES: Despite a low-key media strategy, Movielink, the downloadable film site backed by five Hollywood studios, launched last week with intense press interest.

McDonald's names Jndeo for Chicago-area Hispanic push

CHICAGO: McDonald's has opted for Jndeo, a Chicago firm, to handle PR and marketing efforts in the Hispanic community for Chicago area and Northwest Indiana ...

Santa Fe initiates PR drive to quell bubonic plague fears

SANTA FE, NM: The County of Santa Fe has begun a PR push to reassure travelers that bubonic plague doesn't pose a tourist risk.

Citigate ups focus on positioning via CXO formalization

PALO ALTO, CA: Citigate Cunningham is spinning off its positioning and thought leadership practice into its own firm.

Carwash Association to tout benefits of professional car cleaning

CHICAGO: The International Carwash Association wants Americans to come clean - or at least get their cars washed.

Cordiant may face MBO from FD brass

LONDON: Senior executives at global financial PR firm FD International are understood to be considering a management buyout from marketing-services parent Cordiant Communications within the ...

Legal beat gets the axe in Journal cuts

NEW YORK: The Wall Street Journal's coverage of legal issues and regional economies will be distributed among a number of beats following the newspaper's elimination ...

KPMG executes its Bearing Point rebranding overnight

NEW YORK: Business consulting firms like Bearing Point pride themselves on helping their corporate clients remain nimble in a business world where change is more ...

Middleberg survey finds media losing trust in executives

NEW YORK: According the ninth annual Middleberg/Ross survey of media, journalists say they have lost a significant amount of trust in stock analysts, CEOs, and ...

Study finds small salary hikes in comms

NEW YORK: According to a new survey by Mercer Human Resource Consulting, the recession has meant smaller pay increases and more reliance on bonuses and ...

Blanc & Otus exec goes to Computer Associates as SVP

ISLANDIA, NY: Dan Kaferle has joined Computer Associates to fill the new position of SVP of worldwide public relations.

New life-sciences group created by FD Morgen-Walke

NEW YORK: FD Morgen-Walke (FDMW) has formed a global life-sciences practice that will coordinate the efforts of account executives in its Boston, San Francisco, and ...

Zion, IL taps Citigate to lure new industry

ZION, IL: The city of Zion has hired Citigate Communications for a $250,000 PR campaign to spur economic development in this city of 24,000.

Golin drives peanut tour beyond US border

ATLANTA: Golin/Harris International has been tapped to take the giant traveling peanut exhibit global.

Executive branch gets own trade outlet

WASHINGTON: Public affairs professionals have been outfitted with a new instrument for penetrating the often-impenetrable walls of federal regulatory agencies and the White House: The ...

Nike Golf links with Duffy & Shanley in first agency hire

PROVIDENCE, RI: Nike Golf has chosen Rhode Island-based PR and advertising firm Duffy & Shanley (D&S) to initiate a grassroots mass-consumer campaign in an effort ...

Burson's Hispanic practice brings in former TV anchor

DALLAS: Burson-Marsteller has reached into the world of Spanish-language television for its latest hire in an effort to expand the agency's Hispanic practice. The agency ...

WHO looks to raise support for solving Africa's meningitis problem

GENEVA: The World Health Organization is spearheading a PR push by NGOs to raise cash to fight a deadly strain of meningitis in Africa.

Ogilvy unit pulls in space station's PR

BRUSSELS: Ogilvy Brand Relations has won the £600,000 ($952,000) PR and branding campaign for the International Space Station (ISS).

Dan Klores to promote new ambulance service in NYC

NEW YORK: Emergacare NY, a New York corporate paramedic service, has hired Dan Klores Communications to handle its PR, public affairs, and branding ahead of ...

Layden joins food group at Edelman

CHICAGO: Bill Layden has left Porter Novelli's Washington office to become the EVP and director of Edelman's US food and nutrition practice.

Ogilvy to help Sacramento explain new format for its high schools

SACRAMENTO, CA: Ogilvy Public Relations has been chosen by E21, an educational reform effort, to handle communications for a new high school model being tested ...

Survey of software firms in CA shows steady PR budgets

SAN DIEGO: A survey of Southern California software firms shows that PR budgets are holding steady despite the battering the industry has taken recently.

Krispy Kreme sticks to its PR recipe in Philly opening

PHILADELPHIA: The line of 200 people contained many who had camped overnight in soggy weather under tents, just to be among the first to enjoy ...

Lincoln Mercury PR operations part of Ford's return to MI

IRVINE, CA: Lincoln Mercury's PR operations will move, along with the rest of its corporate staff, from California back to Michigan as a result of ...

THOUGHT LEADER: Health PR pros hold cure for ignorance about sector

Hamstrung doctors. Disliked pharma companies. Number-crunching HMOs. Slick holistic healers. Understaffed government agencies. Caregiving families. Gatekeeping nurses. Skeptical journalists. Overwhelmed patients.

EDITORIAL: Now that PR's hit the media big time, it must help put an end to 'spin-doctor' references

PRWeek reporters get as excited as anyone when an article about the PR industry appears in The Wall Street Journal. But at the risk of ...

EDITORIAL: Wall Street firms in dire need of PR analysis

Did Wall Street firms supply investors with awful research calls because their analysts were clueless, or because the firms were trying to curry favor with ...

ANALYSIS: Election Reporting: Big election night results in networks drubbing VNS

Election-night coverage lacked predictions due to VNS' reporting overhaul. And the silence since then hasn't helped VNS or its TV network owners.

PAUL HOLMES: Simply having values is one thing, but they are only useful when measured and applied

There's been a lot of talk about values in the wake of the corporate scandals that dominated the first three quarters of the year, much ...

CORPORATE CASE STUDY: CMPB milks PR for all its worth in promoting dairy industry

'Got Milk?' was an instant ad hit, but the California Milk Processor Board's broad thinking and tireless promotion efforts are what made the campaign an ...

MEDIA WATCH: Media sheds no tears over news of Pitt's resignation from SEC

On election night, everyone was expecting that there would be a shake-up among those in power. One thing that was not anticipated was that news ...

MEDIA ROUNDUP: Guns: Gun industry looks to hit mark with general media

While the media covers gun-related issues, its attention span is often small. Having identified lack of knowledge as a main reason, David Ward finds the ...

MEDIA PROFILE: Strong attention to detail goes long way at Information Week

As other hi-tech titles fall, Information Week remains prominent because of its thorough reporters and loyal readers. And, finds Andrew Gordon, PR pitches will only ...

PROFILE: Doorley is selling CEOs on the value of reputation

John Doorley bridged the chasm between Merck and AIDS activists, so it's little wonder that Rutgers students and CEOs alike are paying attention to his ...

PR TECHNIQUE: Generating ideas: Brainstorming ideas for a new campaign

The casual nature of brainstorming sessions often fosters truly creative ideas. But certain "rules" must be kept for such meetings to be both fun and ...

CAMPAIGNS: USPIS delivers the facts about fraud

PR Team: Mullen (Pittsburgh) and the US Postal Inspection Service (Washington) Campaign: National Fraud Against Senior Citizens Awareness Week Time Frame: April-August 2002 Budget: $1 million

CAMPAIGNS: Bethlehem shows steel in hard times

PR Team: Bethlehem Steel (Bethlehem, PA) and The MWW Group (East Rutherford, NJ) Campaign: Bethlehem Steel Chapter 11 Filing Time Frame: June 2001 to mid-2002 Budget: $250,000

CAMPAIGNS: Dove gets a lift with its armpit pageant

PR Team: Unilever (Greenwich, CT) and M Booth & Associates (New York) Campaign: Most Beautiful Underarms contest Time Frame: April-July 2002 Budget: $250,000

CAREERS: Pandora's Problem Page

Q I'm a PR major at a large university, and I'm trying to choose a minor for my degree. My professor recommends that PR majors ...

CAREERS: My Big Break - Dawn Wilcox, APR, is SVP at Ogilvy PR Worldwide in Los Angeles

While I was in my last semester at California State University-Chico in the journalism/PR program, I attended an all-day seminar in Sacramento featuring various PR ...

CAREERS: Where I Work - Susan Urza, Senior account executive, Porter Novelli

How long have you been working there? Three years.

TALES FROM TINSELTOWN: MPAA's initiative to censor bare butts needs to take a back seat

There's a little PR stink floating around Hollywood these days that has made the movie-ratings organization MPAA the butt of a few jokes.

QUESTIONS & ANSWERS: Valerie Denney

With her polished, urbane persona, you'd hardly guess that Valerie Denney was a former steelworker. But this veteran of Mayor Harold Washington's administration approaches her ...

LAST CALL: Elvis event helps put DFW parking business in the pink

Parking. Elvis. Pink cars. Putting these words together makes perfect sense to teens of the 1950s. So is the PR staff at Dallas/Fort Worth International ...