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September 13, 1999 Issue of PRWeek

CBS-Viacom merger may force out IR firm

NEW YORK: Last week’s announcement of the dollars 37.3 billion Viacom/CBS mega-merger likely signaled the beginning of the end for Robinson, Lerer & Montgomery’s (RLM) longtime relationship ...

Sears halves PR staff in dollars 1m budget slash

CHICAGO: Sears, Roebuck and Co. is trimming annual PR expenses by more than dollars 1 million as part of a company-wide effort to rein in expenses.

Hachette rebuts ’George’ spin allegation

NEW YORK: Publishing giant Hachette Filipacchi moved quickly last week to denounce a published report that it has turned to a PR firm to put a positive ...

Speakes to chair PRWeek judging

NEW YORK: PRWeek has named veteran communicator Larry Speakes chairman of the judging panel for its upcoming industry awards.

Ventura pro talks with Beatty team

WASHINGTON, DC: While actor Warren Beatty’s presidential campaign is still little more than a pipe dream, he has lured William Hillsman, the PR mastermind behind Jesse Ventura’s ...

NEWS BRIEFS

ACTON, MA: BBL Advertising has hired former journalist Ed Vasquez as director of West Coast operations, a role that will require extensive contact with the trade press ...

Ford unveils Vella for key position in communications

DEARBORN, MI: The Ford Motor Company has appointed Jim Vella as director for global news and information, a key communications post.

Threat to can Beanie Babies divides pros

OAKBROOK, IL: Announcing the discontinuation of its cherished Beanie Babies might have been the savviest PR move yet by toy giant Ty.

Mavericks net communications VP

DALLAS: A new communications VP will be in charge of the PR playbook when the Dallas Mavericks hit the basketball court next month.

Weber appointed to fifth Net board

NORTH HAMPTON, NH: Weber Group prexy Larry Weber has been appointed to the board of Internet sporting goods retailer WorldWideSports.com, which is counting on the impact of ...

FedEx, Denny’s win Page awards

WASHINGTON, DC: The Arthur Page Society has chosen Federal Express and Advantica Restaurant Group - owner of Denny’s - as winners of its National Public Relations awards. ...

If you love horses and gambling, Arlington top job could be for you

CHICAGO: Long-shuttered Arlington International Race Course, once one of the premiere horse racing sites in the US, is searching for a public relations director as it prepares ...

Feuding Clinton PR camps cause White House snafus

WASHINGTON, DC: The Clinton White House, which has weathered more than its share of communications crises over the last seven years, has found itself torn by an ...

IMF taps Edelman for needed media relations revamp

WASHINGTON, DC: The International Monetary Fund is being advised by a PR firm and is looking to beef up its internal communications team, leading observers to believe ...

Howard revamps top management

CLEVELAND: In the wake of the long-expected announcement that chairman Stanley Ulchaker will step aside, Edward Howard & Co. has revamped its management structure.

Connors scores with three stellar Internet accounts

SAN FRANCISCO: Connors Communications of New York has inked three high-profile new media and e-commerce ventures - including CNET - and has added a new SVP to ...

INTERNATIONAL NEWS: Philip Morris taps printing pro for newly created director position

LAUSANNE: US tobacco manufacturer Philip Morris has appointed Roddy Child Villiers to the newly created position of director of communications.

INTERNATIONAL NEWS: Firefly fights four to land Net forum

LONDON: Firefly has been selected over AugustOne, Hill & Knowlton and Miller Shandwick to promote the first World Internet Forum, a summit discussing the impact of the ...

INTERNATIONAL NEWS: GCI acquires top Dutch PR agency

GOUDA: GCI Group has beefed up its presence in The Netherlands by acquiring Van Dantzig & Lichtenveldt Group (VD&L).

INTERNATIONAL NEWS: Oneworld flight alliance is on hunt for global agency

LONDON: Oneworld, a global airline alliance whose members include British Airways and American Airlines, is seeking its first worldwide consumer and corporate PR agency.

INTERNATIONAL NEWS: Crash teaches airline tough lesson in crisis planning

BUENOS AIRES: Lineas Aereas Privadas Argentinas, a private Argentine airline, is practically writing the book about how not to handle crisis communications in the wake of a ...

INTERNATIONAL NEWS: AstraZeneca pegs H&K for first Greek work

ATHENS: Global pharmaceuticals giant AstraZeneca has tapped Hill & Knowlton as its first corporate PR agency in Greece.

INTERNATIONAL NEWS: FH London loses key player to BM

LONDON: Deborah Saw, a key figure in Fleishman-Hillard’s struggling London operation, has left the firm after four years to rejoin Burson-Marsteller.

INTERNATIONAL NEWS: Britannica hands B&B Net branding

LONDON: Encyclopedia Britannica has named Band and Brown (B&B) Communications to rebrand the publisher as a digital presence and exploit the potential of the Internet.

New VP hire beefs up Forbes PR unit

NEW YORK: Former Forbes PR chief Elizabeth Ames has set up her own firm, iMedia Communications, and taken her old employer with her as a client.

With market expected to double, Brodeur spins off health tech arm

BOSTON: Hoping to take advantage of the opportunities afforded by the increasing convergence of healthcare and technology, Brodeur Porter Novelli has formed a health technology practice - ...

Teen-targeted companies need PR boost for causes

BOSTON: Teens favor companies that align themselves with causes, but believe that most are not doing enough to support the causes they care about.

Hi-tech boutique - Coopers steals a heavy-hitter head

SAN DIEGO: In what amounts to a major hiring coup for a hi-tech boutique, Coopers Iverson Marketing has snagged Qualcomm senior marketing manager Carolyn Brown to head ...

Genentech promotes two of its own to fill corporate PR vacancies

SAN FRANCISCO: Bay Area biotech giant Genentech has promoted from within to fill two key vacancies in its corporate communications department.

Four partners buy full-service Ryan

PORTLAND, OR: Ryan Advertising, one of the Pacific Northwest’s oldest marketing companies, has been sold to four long-time partners. No billings were disclosed.

Pfizer and Telestra among first coups for StrategyOne

WASHINGTON, DC: StrategyOne, a recently formed Edelman subsidiary specializing in public opinion research, has nabbed Telstra and Pfizer as two of its first clients.

Eastwick seizes four Net start-ups

REDWOOD CITY, CA: Eastwick Communications has landed four new clients in recent weeks, adding between dollars 1.2 and 1.5 million in annual fee revenue to agency coffers.

FRB LA office loses fifth staffer to H&K

LOS ANGELES: Hill & Knowlton has quietly built its Los Angeles office at the expense of the Financial Relations Board/ BSMG Worldwide, hiring away a fifth senior-level ...

Traditional Medicinals taps Rowland to grow its herbal tea brands

NEW YORK: Traditional Medicinals has awarded a six-figure-plus brand-building program to Rowland Communications.

Duffey grabs longtime Falcons vet

ATLANTA: Duffey Communications has added a feather to its sports-marketing cap by hiring longtime Atlanta Falcons PR pro Charlie Taylor.

TateAustin stuffs its hi-tech purse with local wins worth dollars 250k

AUSTIN: TateAustin Public Relations has won four new hi-tech accounts over the course of the last month, which will enrich the agency’s coffers to the tune of ...

Teen People woos Revlon PR honcho

NEW YORK: Time Warner’s Teen People title has recruited former Revlon PR chief Denise Keegan as its new director of public affairs.

800.com lures Disney vet and shifts its PR to Brodeur

PORTLAND, OR: 800.com, a Net start-up peddling consumer electronics, has added a high-level Disney marketing exec to its staff and shifted PR firms.

In Brief

NEW YORK: Bliss Gouverneur & Associates has recruited senior media specialist Jo-Anne Sinnott away from ECOM consultants, where she was an EVP. Dominique Palumbo also joins the ...

Editorial: A warm welcome to hard statistics

The PR industry has always been lacking in statistics, and has made a business out of ’touchy-feely stuff.’

The Big Pitch: Can the FBI rehabilitate its credibility in light of the recent Waco revelations?

Brian Gaudet

PR 101: PR 101: from hack to flack and back again

For the first three months of 1999, I took a leave of absence from my job as a reporter to handle a PR project. A musician ...

THINKPIECE: If It takes a corporation to grow a CEO, why is succession planning so spotty in PR industry?

Begin with this fact: America’s corporate boards of directors are now starting to tie as much as one-third of CEO bonuses to the development of a succession ...

PR’s poor public standing has been fueled by a fusillade of government lies. Oh no, not Waco ... : BELTWAY

Waco (as in Wacko) is back in the news, and big questions are being raised about truth, justice, and the ’American Way.’ In this case, truth is ...

ANALYSIS: Client Survey - Wanted: quality pros, good writers, results

If your approach to getting new business is to dazzle potential clients with two-hour multimedia extravaganzas touting your global reach, Internet-savvy and vast research machinery, maybe it’s ...

ANALYSIS: Profile - Hope: event marketing’s home run hitter/Bob Hope might have ended up an accountant, but it’s a good thing he got into PR. If he hadn’t, baseball fields would be bland and colorless, and no one would know who Ted

He was working his way through Georgia State University by literally pushing paper at the Mead plant in downtown Atlanta. It was good work, but it was ...

ANALYSIS: Weekly Web Watch - For Microsoft, it is an endless chain of accusation and denial

Over the past few weeks, Microsoft has suffered not one but several PR disasters that would sink lesser companies. Towards the end of August, a team of ...

MEDIA: Fox News Channel: making TV headlines of its own - After a rocky start in 1995, Rupert Murdoch’s Fox has gained a lot more respect in the local TV media. Claire Atkinson tells you how to get a New York news minute or two

Take the escalator to the basement of 1211 Avenue of the Americas, turn left at fast food joint Wendy’s and you’ll find a huge news generator.

Media Watch: New Campbell’s Soup label gets canned by press

It’s a classic design. An artistic icon. Yet even an All-American symbol is no longer sacred. Campbell’s recent announcement that they were to ’revamp’ the distinctive style ...