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September 20, 1999 Issue of PRWeek

Neurological institute taps Ogilvy DC for dollars 8.2m job

WASHINGTON, DC: The National Institute of Health’s Institute for Neurological Disorders and Strokes has awarded a five-year, dollars 8.2 million contract to Ogilvy’s DC office.

Journalists: grudging respect for PR execs

NEW YORK: Journalists don’t have that much respect for PR pros. No surprises there. But while the love/hate relationship between these interdependent communities often spills over into ...

C&W chops posts for ’leaner’ office

NEW YORK: Cohn & Wolfe has overhauled its US regional structure, resulting in the departure of three top executives.

Big tobacco job scored by team Arnold

WASHINGTON, DC: After a speedy but exhaustive search that started in July, the American Legacy Foundation has picked a team led by Arnold Communications to direct its ...

Publicis acquires tech firm Purdom

SAN FRANCISCO: Publicis Dialog has made good on its promise to pursue expansion aggressively, buying highly regarded hi-tech shop Purdom Public Relations.

NEWS BRIEFS

DANBURY, CT: Industrial gas company Praxair has named Scott Cunningham as director of IR. Cunningham, who stepped into the position last week, previously served as general manager ...

NPR undergoes PR makeover with fresh VP at helm

WASHINGTON, DC: National Public Radio is undergoing a radical re-evaluation of its PR philosophy under newly promoted VP of communications Cheryle Robinson.

Ruder Finn grabs dollars 2m tech clients, still looks for firm

NEW YORK: As the agency continues its search for a Boston acquisition, Ruder Finn has picked up the hi-tech pace with dollars 2 million in new business.

Girl Scouts overhaul ’nice’ image with PR

NEW YORK: The Girl Scouts of the USA, known for little more than cookies, camping and crafts, is about to unveil its first image revamp in years.

Multimillion-dollar deafness campaign names head

WASHINGTON, DC: The Deafness Research Foundation (DRF) has named Elizabeth Foster as director of its National Campaign for Hearing Health, a new five-year, multimillion-dollar PR and education project.

FRB head denies any staffing woes

LOS ANGELES: Responding to allegations that Hill & Knowlton’s Los Angeles office had stolen away five of its prized employees (PRWeek, Sept. 13), Financial Relations Board prexy ...

Ford loses battle over fan web site

DETROIT: A federal district court judge has ruled against Ford in its widely publicized effort to quash blueovalnews.com, which the company claimed to be a secret-spilling web ...

Toy site switches firms to Ketchum

LOS ANGELES: After three years with Alexander Ogilvy, Santa Monica-based eToys announced this week that it has handed the reins for its PR account to Ketchum.

Beltway pro alleges Indian group is discrediting him

WASHINGTON, DC: Jim McCarthy, a DC-based PR pro, is accusing the Department of Interior’s Bureau of Indian Affairs of initiating a campaign to discredit him.

Forget the celeb, support a cause

NEW YORK: Agencies planning a cause-marketing campaign should ditch the high-priced celebrity and get their employees out there supporting a timely issue.

Schwartz steals MS&L tech vet for SVP

SAN FRANCISCO: Just months after rival independent FitzGerald Communications snagged a Silicon Valley PR veteran from a top-10 agency, Schwartz Communications has followed suit.

Burson’s Cogman goes over to Y&R

NEW YORK: Another Burson-Marsteller senior executive has followed Tom Bell over to parent Young & Rubicam.

PRWeek secures award sponsors

NEW YORK: PRWeek has secured sponsors for all but 10 of its Awards 2000 categories. The sponsors are: Rubenstein Associates (B-to-B campaign of the year); TVN (cause-related); ...

INTERNATIONAL NEWS: GCI moves top UK manager to Asia

HONG KONG: In an effort to better integrate the Asia/Pacific region into its worldwide operations, GCI Group is shifting one of its top UK managers into the ...

INTERNATIONAL NEWS: Insurance firm taps H&K for two country accounts

BEIJING: Insurance company Sun Life of Canada (SLC) has awardedHill & Knowlton its Chinese and Canadian corporate PR accounts.

INTERNATIONAL NEWS: For fight against the euro, lobby group grows team

LONDON: As the debate over the European single currency heats up, the anti-euro lobbying group Business for Sterling is expanding its in-house communications team and seeking PR ...

INTERNATIONAL NEWS: Ogilvy acquires dollars 1 m financial and corporate shop

LONDON: Ogilvy PR Worldwide has acquired Sector Public Relations, a dollars 1 million financial and corporate communications practice.

INTERNATIONAL NEWS: Drug giant signs Burson Latin Am

SAO PAOLO: Hoechst Marion Roussel (HMR) has signed an agreement with Burson-Marsteller’s Latin American headquarters to develop a pan-regional positioning campaign for its line of analgesics.

INTERNATIONAL NEWS: Golin beefs up Euro office with new managing post

LONDON: Golin/Harris has recharged its European operations by promoting Mary Bartholomew to the newly created position of managing director/European region.

INTERNATIONAL NEWS: Amazon on hunt for UK director to replace lost staff

LONDON: Online bookseller Amazon.com, which recently lost its UK managing and marketing directors, is seeking its first-ever UK PR director as part of an expansion program.

INTERNATIONAL NEWS: Joe PR tapped for Hard Rock London

LONDON: The Hard Rock Cafe has hired Joe Public Relations (JPR) to revitalize its brand image within the ailing theme-restaurant market.

NEWS: CA tech group opens shop in hotbed Austin

AUSTIN: The California-based Technology Network, a public policy group that fosters communication between politicians and CEOs, venture capitalists and other hi-tech industry leaders, has expanded into the Lone ...

NEWS: Low-cost wire fills Ohio news niche

CLEVELAND: A veteran of the Cleveland PR scene is launching a newswire aimed at nonprofits, municipalities and small business owners in Ohio.

NEWS: McCain gains new PR pro, just in time for positioning

WASHINGTON, DC: One presidential candidate’s loss became another’s gain last week when politico Mike Murphy moved over to the team of Sen. John McCain.

NEWS: Start-up Zantaz hires solo PR pro

PLEASANTON, CA: Solo PR pro Mary Shank Rockman, who left Sybase in late July to start her own firm, has won the PR account for Zantaz.com, a ...

NEWS: Clarke promotes Delaney to head

BOSTON: After experiencing its best fiscal performance in years, Clarke & Company has named Brian Delaney as its president.

Kamber sells off PRCG to Haggerty

NEW YORK: Conceding that their two-year marriage was not working, The Kamber Group last week sold The PR Consulting Group (PRCG) back to former owner James Haggerty.

MountainZone PR director job goes to Starbucks vet

SEATTLE: MountainZone.com, a Seattle-based outdoor adventure sports news and retail web site, has nabbed former Starbucks PR pro Lisa McCrummen for its director of marketing post.

Crowne Plaza NY grabs Fallon for relaunch

NEW YORK: Fallon McElligott PR has been selected to be an integral part of the May 2000 relaunch of the Crowne Plaza Hotel in Times Square. Projected ...

Corporate lobbyists rank among highest-paid pros

WASHINGTON, DC: A new survey commissioned by the Foundation for Public Affairs has found that Washington’s corporate lobbyists are among the top-paid people in the communications profession.

MarketMatch embarks on East Coast challenge to Silicon Valley tech reign

NEW YORK: MarketMatch has been charged with a daunting task: promoting three East Coast cities as legitimate challengers to Silicon Valley’s hi-tech supremacy.

IN BRIEF

MINE HILL, NJ: Landice Treadmills, which has never mounted a concerted PR effort, has tapped Catan Communications for media relations. Catan has also been hired by Lugz, ...

Editorial: Even a survey on spin can be spun

This week’s ’spin special’ is a veritable spinmeister’s dream. For as well as discussing one of the most discussed issues of the PR pros, it also contains ...

The Big Pitch: If Warren Beatty really wants to be president, how should he position himself?

Ryan Donovan

ANALYSIS: Journalist Survey - Journalists paint grim picture of PR industry/Gather a bunch of writers, mention ’PR’ and see what happens. Claire Murphy takes a qualitative and quantitative look at our journalist survey

The relationship between PR pros and journalists is mainly a love/hate one. Get a bunch of PR pros together and the conversation will soon turn to gossip ...

THINKPIECE: Politicians didn’t invent spin, but watch for its excessive use in the race for the presidency

With the presidential election cycle starting earlier than ever, we’ll be hearing more from - and about - spin doctors than ever. So it’s important to remember ...

INSIDE THE BELTWAY: From public affairs to government liaison: no matter how it’s spun, a lobbyist is still a lobbyist

Lobbying - the very word suggests intrigue, if not corruption. Who among us when asked our occupation answers, ’I’m a lobbyist,’ as others might say, ’I’m a ...

Cause-Related Marketing: Targeting GenY: grab a cause and build PR - Corporations have beefed up their cause-marketing budgets over the past few years, but nobody has bothered to see if the future consumers of America are listening. Rebecca Flass finds ou

They don’t know what it’s like to live in a world without AIDS.

ANALYSIS: Profile - Black community’s voice of healthy living/Wendy Campbell has certainly chosen a path less-traveled in PR: talking frankly to the black community about health problems. Steve Lilienthal takes a stroll with this public relations

Wendy Campbell recalls the day her painter took a break. ’He said he had to stop and eat because of his diabetes.’

ANALYSIS: Weekly Web Watch - Boo.com’s launch nightmare shows that seeing is believing

You’ve probably all heard of Boo. com by now. It’s that online clothing outfit run by a bunch of Swedes who raised more than dollars 100 million ...

MEDIA: Wired.com: technology news that’s easy to swallow - If you send a compelling consumer pitch via e-mail, you’ll get the attention of the Wired.com news editors. Claire Atkinson finds out what’s fueling this tech site

The staff at Wired News is fed bagels and cream cheese in the morning, treated to candy mid-afternoon and bestowed with a keg of beer and pizza ...

MEDIA: Media Watch - MCI WorldCom takes crash course in spin control

Last month, MCI WorldCom suffered a 10-day disruption in its data network. Thousands of companies claimed to have lost a substantial amount of business due to the ...

Who’s spinning who?: PR pros are often called the sultans of spin. But what exactly is spin? And how often is it done? Adam Leyland argues it’s more complex than reporters allow

Spin. It’s a hated word in public relations. But like it or not, the public has indelibly linked the word, the practice, to the PR profession.

MARKET FOCUS FLORIDA: PR shines in Florida market - To what extent is the Sunshine State a hothouse for PR? And is it still the gateway to Latin America? Jeff Zbar reports

Though not known as a hub of Corporate America, Florida has its share of businesses based in the Sunshine State. Tropicana is in Bradenton; Burger King, Carnival ...