PR Week (US) articles from June 2004

PR Week (US) archives from June 2004

Nissan kicks off its largest N. American event targeting journalists.
June 7, 2004... SAN FRANCISCO: Nissan has launched the largest media event that it has ever held in North America. Over the next three weeks, it plans to host more than 500 journalists and industry analysts from more than 30 countries for what it's dubbed...

Dome in talks with several potential buyers for agency.
June 7, 2004... CHICAGO: Dome Communications, once one of the hottest consumer PR shops in the Midwest, is talking to several potential suitors about a sale. But Doug Dome, agency founder and CEO, denied a report in the Chicago Tribune last week that Hill...

Ford taps Holleran for job as its chief comms officer, VP.
June 7, 2004... DEARBORN, MI: Charlie Holleran, former SVP of corporate communications at Computer Associates, has joined the Ford Motor Company as VP and chief communications officer. The move comes as Jim Vella, Ford's VP of public affairs and chief of...

Heinz names Edelman agency of record.
June 7, 2004... PITTSBURGH: H.J. Heinz has selected Edelman as its AOR for corporate and consumer communications, switching from longtime agency Ketchum. Ketchum in February became ConAgra's first AOR. ConAgra and Heinz are competitors in the nation's...

PRWeek planning NYC forum on the procurement gap.
June 7, 2004... NEW YORK: The second in a series of breakfast panel discussions will focus on the issue of procurement, featuring participants from corporate purchasing, PR firms, and corporate communications. The PRWeek/Peppercom series 'Closing the Gap'...

H&K survey reveals belief corporate trials aren't fair.
June 7, 2004... CHICAGO: More than three-fourths of respondents in a survey of general counsels at Fortune 150 companies said they do not think corporations can get fair trials because of negative publicity about companies since the economic downturn and...

Trailblazer of Hispanic PR Oaxaca dies.
June 7, 2004... LOS ANGELES: Fernando Oaxaca, a pioneer of Hispanic PR, has passed away. Oaxaca was the founder of Coronado Communications, one of the first agencies in the Southern California area to specialize in Latino PR. A diverse entrepreneur,...

Broadcast PR pro takes issue with new FCC rules.
June 7, 2004... WASHINGTON: One broadcast PR specialist is sounding alarms over the FCC's current crusade against indecency, warning that it could discourage TV and radio producers from scheduling live interviews with unfamiliar spokespeople. New fines...

UK tech firm Lewis PR opens up new Washington office.
June 7, 2004... WASHINGTON: Lewis PR last week became the latest in a series of globally established agencies to open a DC office. Lewis, a UK-based tech firm founded in 1995, joined M&A specialists Financial Dynamics and healthcare firm Chandler Chicco as...

News Brief: Fleishman-Hillard hires two.
June 7, 2004... LOS ANGELES: Fleishman-Hillard's Los Angeles office has made two senior-level hires in its corporate communications division, highlighting a shift of focus away from its former core area of public affairs. David Krawitz, formerly a partner in...

News Brief: PRSA hires director of PR.
June 7, 2004... NEW YORK: The Public Relations Society of America (PRSA) has hired Janet Troy as director of PR. Troy will be responsible for developing and directing overall strategic communication plans to advance both the PRSA and the PR profession.

News Brief: Wertheim joins Schwab.
June 7, 2004... SAN FRANCISCO: Alison Wertheim has joined Charles Schwab as VP, corporate PR, overseeing reputation and visibility initiatives for the company's b-to-b services. Prior to Schwab, she was a consultant for Bank of America.

News Brief: High Point Communications selected.
June 7, 2004... BOW, NH: MVP Health Care has selected High Point Communications Group to develop an integrated marketing and PR campaign as the independent health insurer enters the New Hampshire marketplace.

News Brief: Burson-Marsteller AOR.
June 7, 2004... CUPERTINO, CA: Security-software company Symantec has named Burson-Marsteller as its Latin America AOR. Burson's Miami office will lead the account and will focus on raising the awareness of the company's brand and products in Mexico, Brazil,...

News Brief: Jeffrey names Kaufman MD.
June 7, 2004... BUENOS AIRES, ARGENTINA: The Jeffrey Group has named Diego Kaufman as MD of its office in Buenos Aires. Kaufman, who had been an SAE at Ketchum Argentina, replaces Roberta Querol, who held the position before relocating to the US earlier in the...

News Brief: Kupper Parker hired.
June 7, 2004... ST. LOUIS: Geotechnology, an environmental-services firm, has hired Kupper Parker Communications to handle PR and marketing. The 20-year-old company wants to increase awareness of its services outside its home market of St. Louis, said Steve...

News Brief: Susan Magrino hired.
June 7, 2004... NEW YORK: Nautica Enterprises, maker of clothes, furniture, and a range of other products, has hired the Susan Magrino Agency to handle its PR. The company spoke with five agencies before selecting Magrino because of its fashion and lifestyle...

News Brief: Cohn & Wolfe adds.
June 7, 2004... NEW YORK: Cohn & Wolfe has added brand planning to its areas of expertise. Its MindWorX offering combines training for account managers as well as research tools to help clients connect with their target audiences.

News Brief: LexisNexis to stream XML.
June 7, 2004... NEWTON, MA: News-database company LexisNexis US and Cymfony said that LexisNexis will stream XML content into Cymfony Dashboard, the measurement company's application that monitors media coverage.

News Brief: PayPerClip launched.
June 7, 2004... CALIFON, NJ: The Stephenson Group has launched PayPerClip, a new pay-for-placements PR agency.

News Brief: Singer adds new clients.
June 7, 2004... SAN FRANCISCO: Singer Associates has added several new clients and projects: ChevronTexaco, to develop a communications program for one of its refineries; Genentech, for communications consulting; the San Francisco Examiner, as AOR; Airis, to...

News Brief: Lewis PR appointed.
June 7, 2004... NEWPORT BEACH, CA: PivX Solutions has appointed Lewis PR to run the company's media and analyst relations programs. PivX develops security technology for PCs and computer networks.

DKC working with Reader's Digest to tout repositioning.
June 7, 2004... NEW YORK: Reader's Digest has hired Dan Klores Communications to publicize a new business positioning to be unveiled in upcoming months. As part of the repositioning, the title will hire an ad agency, mount a trade PR campaign, and get...

Movie partnership considers ways to push Moore's film.
June 7, 2004... LOS ANGELES: Fahrenheit 9/11, Michael Moore's controversial film, will hit theaters on June 25, creating a tight three-week window for the project's PR and marketing campaign. Last week, Bob and Harvey Weinstein announced they were creating...

Vitamin firm taps Lexicon to fight lead fears.
June 7, 2004... PASADENA, CA: Northwest Natural Products, a children's vitamin maker, has brought in crisis management agency Lexicon Communications to allay fears surrounding alleged lead content in one of its products, Gummy Vite vitamins. The company...

Starkman criticizes writer of FT letter blasting Grasso.
June 7, 2004... NEW YORK: On May 26, the Financial Times published a letter from Brian Maddox of Dobbs Ferry, NY, blasting the huge paycheck of Richard Grasso, the now-beleaguered former chairman and CEO of the New York Stock Exchange. The letter didn't...

Athens 2004 seeking to show Olympic readiness.
June 7, 2004... ATHENS, GREECE: Athens 2004, the organizing committee for the 2004 Summer Olympics, wants to communicate to a nervous world that it's ready for the Games in mid-August, despite concerns about terrorism and a lack of infrastructure. Athens...

Pitts ends stint at FDA to lead MS&L's health affairs unit.
June 7, 2004... NEW YORK: Peter Pitts, who holds the top communications post at the US Food and Drug Administration, will become MS&L's SVP of health affairs. Pitts will join the agency on June 21. A successor has not yet been named at the FDA. At...

French firms to tout food and wine in US.
June 7, 2004... NEW YORK: A coalition of French companies planned a major PR push this month to broaden the appeal of French wines, spirits, and foods among consumers in the US. The New York office of Sopexa, a French marketing and communications firm, is...

Sitrick & Co. taps Lloyd to head East Coast operations.
June 7, 2004... NEW YORK: In a move to make further inroads into high-level PR work in New York, Sitrick & Co. has relocated 12-year company veteran Jeff Lloyd from its Los Angeles headquarters to run its East Coast operations out of Manhattan. The New...

CA plum board to issue RFP for help with global effort.
June 7, 2004... WASHINGTON: The California Dried Plum Board is preparing to issue a dollars 200,000 RFP seeking help developing a global push promoting what are more commonly known as prunes. The RFP calls for three tasks and acknowledges that that might...

Keating to aid Nuvio with profile boost.
June 7, 2004... FLORHAM PARK, NJ: Nuvio has hired Keating & Co. to helm a nationwide PR effort to increase awareness of its services and to further establish corporate credibility in the market. Nuvio offers voice-over internet protocol (VoIP) technology...

Israir Airlines names Geoffrey Weill Associates its US PR counsel.
June 7, 2004... NEW YORK: Geoffrey Weill Associates has been appointed US PR counsel to Israir Airlines. The self-proclaimed 'other' airline for Israel will begin service to and from the US this month. Ann-Rebecca Laschever, an agency SVP, cited the...

MO sewer district to hire Vandiver for customer survey.
June 7, 2004... ST. LOUIS: The Metropolitan St. Louis Sewer District expects to hire the locally based Vandiver Group to conduct research on perceptions that customers have about the district. Initial spending is projected at dollars 47,975, with a reserve...

Groups team up to launch Hispanic editorial service.
June 7, 2004... MIAMI: Hispanic PR Wire and Metro Creative Graphics and Editorial Services have launched ConTexto Latino, a Hispanic editorial features service. The resource provides marketers with story development, features distribution, and guaranteed...

American Legacy set to launch 'Bob Quits' effort in DC.
June 7, 2004... WASHINGTON: The American Legacy Foundation will be bringing its 'Bob Quits' anti-smoking campaign to the Washington, DC, area after 130,000 people logged in and followed the first campaign in the New York City area. The DC effort also will...

Editorial: Agencies that recognize and learn from their competitors' strengths can benefit from them.
June 7, 2004... Agency X will tell a PRWeek reporter that it's having its best year since 2000, it is looking at upper-single-digit growth, it's hiring at every level, and it's expanding rapidly in several global markets. Nonsense, retorts Agency X's...

Op-Ed: PR pros can find value in doing their own sales research.
June 7, 2004... When was the last time you were a detective and role-played Starsky and Hutch with one of the salespeople? I'm talking about actually going out in the field with the sales force and listening to how they uncover a prospect's pain points, build...

Analysis: Same-sex marriage - Groups up efforts after MA same-sex marriage ruling.
June 7, 2004... After Massachusetts' legalization of same-sex marriages, groups on both sides of the issue are beefing up efforts to affect what happens in other states. On May 17, same-sex marriage became legal in Massachusetts. Media outlets across the...

Paul Holmes: Yum's tardy involvement in FL labor dispute was a blown opportunity to be a true leader.
June 7, 2004... A couple of years ago, I quoted in this space Jonathan Blum, SVP of Yum Brands, the parent company of Taco Bell and Kentucky Fried Chicken. 'We are not now, nor ever, going to get involved in a labor dispute between third parties,' Blum...

Organization Case Study: Bold approach helps Humane Society gain coverage.
June 7, 2004... Thanks to a more aggressive PR approach and new PR director Nicholas Braden, the Humane Society of the United States has been able to raise its coverage as it works to promote animal rights. The adage that any story featuring kids or...

The Agency Business: Agencies finding benefits in clients' procurement divisions.
June 7, 2004... PR firms are coming to grips with the role of procurement in account reviews, and some agencies are beginning to embrace it as a key factor in clarifying business relationships. Agencies over the past two years have come to understand that...

Media Roundup: Race issues seek steady coverage.
June 7, 2004... Many minority leaders look to increase the prominence of race-relations issues in major media outlets throughout the country. In the four years since The New York Times produced its landmark series 'How Race is Lived in America,' the media...

Media: Journalist Q & A - John McManus.
June 7, 2004... Outlet: Grade the News Title: Director Preferred contact method: jmcmanus@stanford.edu Website: www.stanford.edu/group/gradethenews/index.htm Grade the News, affiliated with Stanford University's graduate journalism program,...

Media Watch: Bush unconvincing in message on Iraq.
June 7, 2004... On May 24, President Bush addressed the US Army War College to lay out a plan for the transfer of sovereignty to Iraqis on June 30. Increasing violence and the scandal over the abuse of prisoners by the US military have pushed his approval...

Media brands: As the blogging story develops, the media also should remember smaller operations.
June 7, 2004... For a lot of good reasons, journalists love to tell stories to people. Even when it comes to business stories that should be told with numbers - dollars and cents that back up the author's pronouncements - narratives get reduced to...

Profile: Ek's journalism savvy upgrades PR at Priceline.com.
June 7, 2004... Brian Ek, VP of strategic communications for Priceline.com, has been building a reputation for himself as one of the best PR pros in the industry since the time he got his first computer. Brian Ek's first computer affected his career far...

The new relationships.
June 7, 2004... Healthcare companies are asking their PR firms to think beyond typical medical audiences. With the economy showing signs of improvement, healthcare companies are gearing up to reach audiences beyond traditional scientific communities. ...

Market Focus Multicultural: Banking on diversity.
June 7, 2004... Financial institutions find creative ways to reach multicultural audiences. Step into any Bank of America branch in Los Angeles, and you're likely to find a multicultural montage with as much diversity as the city outside. During a recent...

PR Technique: Handling Senior Departures - Managing a graceful executive exit.
June 7, 2004... Whatever the reason behind the departure, Craig McGuire finds that it's crucial for PR to step up when a senior exec steps down. Whether it is an expected executive retirement or a sudden C-level coup d'etat, managing senior staff...

Campaign: Brainerd focuses on media to boost TMNG awareness.
June 7, 2004... PR team: The Management Network Group (Overland Park, KS) and Brainerd Communicators Inc. (New York) Campaign: Wireless Number Portability Market Leadership Time frame: June to November 2003 Budget: dollars 60,000 The...

Campaign: Bombardier takes jetTrain on tour to grab rail contract.
June 7, 2004... PR team: Bombardier Transportation (Montreal, Canada) and Stanton Communications (Washington, DC) Campaign: jetTrain's Florida Tour Time frame: September through October 2003 Budget: dollars 50,000 Florida voters had approved...

The Publicist: Fox displays foresight with PR push for 'Day After Tomorrow'.
June 7, 2004... As the summer movie season was being officially launched last weekend, two studios were performing tricky high-wire acts with their opening releases. Fox very effectively tightroped its way to an dollars 86 million opening-weekend...

PR Play of the Week: Martha seeks 'clean' start before sentencing.
June 7, 2004... When it comes to the benefits of a little positive PR, some people just get it. Then there are those who need to be facing 10 to 16 months in a federal prison before they see the light. Martha Stewart, who resisted making even the slightest...

Toy Box: Carchip won't fix your fear of auto repair.
June 7, 2004... Ok, quick show of hands. Who actually likes taking their car in to a repair shop? When I do it, I usually feel like I should just leave my wallet and hope they give me enough back so I can buy a small crust of bread on the way home. ...

Book Review: Much can be learned from 'The Children'.
June 7, 2004... The Children tells the passionate story of the civil-rights movement through the eyes of the children who led by example and great courage. It recounts the initial sit-ins in Nashville, TN, and takes the reader to Birmingham, AL, Selma,...

Cone to promote Starbucks as a socially responsible coffee buyer.
June 14, 2004... SEATTLE: Coffee-house king Starbucks has hired Boston-based Cone to handle PR for a new initiative to communicate that Starbucks buys coffee in a socially responsible way. The campaign will be directed at key influencers, such as NGOs,...

Reagan's funeral prompts 'mammoth' effort by PAOs.
June 14, 2004... WASHINGTON: The death of former President Ronald Reagan prompted the first state funeral of the cable age last week - and one of the largest ever military public affairs efforts outside a war zone. The US Army Military District of...

Hehir moving into new chairman job at Regester Larkin.
June 14, 2004... LONDON: Former Porter Novelli International chairman Peter Hehir has made a return to the UK PR scene, assuming the chairman role at Regester Larkin. Hehir's appointment comes as the crisis communications and reputation management firm...

Hill & Knowlton set to purchase Dome Communications.
June 14, 2004... CHICAGO: Hill & Knowlton said Thursday it has signed a letter of intent to buy Dome Communications, one of the leading consumer agencies in Chicago. Doug Dome, founder and CEO of Dome Communications, will become president of Dome/Hill &...

CEO trip deepens crisis at Canadian bank.
June 14, 2004... TORONTO: Canada's largest bank is still in damage-control mode after a massive computer glitch created an eight-day customer-relations nightmare. Though the problem now appears fixed, both Royal Bank of Canada customers and PR experts are...

CEO's openness prompts a delay of Salesforce.com IPO.
June 14, 2004... SAN FRANCISCO: For many companies, having a gregarious CEO can mean lots of positive press. That certainly was the case for CRM company Salesforce.com. Until now. Chairman and CEO Marc Benioff's media noise during the quiet period has...

Anthem commences search for agency.
June 14, 2004... INDIANAPOLIS: Anthem, the US' fourth largest publicly traded health insurer, has issued an RFP to a 'select group' of PR firms. Debbie Davis, communications director for physician and hospital relations, declined to discuss the length of...

Activists take to reality TV to advance their causes.
June 14, 2004... LOS ANGELES: PR professionals from two high-profile activist organizations are taking to reality television to spread their organizations' messages in a mock run for the White House. Bruce Friedrich, director of vegan campaigns at People...

Peppercom lands dollars 1m task to boost SUV driving safety.
June 14, 2004... NEW YORK: Peppercom will handle a dollars 1 million PR campaign to promote safe SUV driving. The firm won the business in a joint pitch with advertising agency Bartle Bogle Hegarty, a Publicis company, beating out agency teams from Havas...

News Brief: Weber Shandwick hired.
June 14, 2004... HONG KONG: Weber Shandwick has been hired by The International AIDS Society to manage a global media relations campaign for the XV International AIDS Conference. The conference, jointly hosted by the IAS and the Thai Ministry of Public Health,...

News Brief: Ruder Finn tapped.
June 14, 2004... NEW YORK: Ruder Finn has been tapped by the Marianas Visitors Authority to promote tourism to the Northern Mariana Islands of Saipan, Tinian, and Rota - a US commonwealth - to the Chinese market.

News Brief: StrongForce taken over.
June 14, 2004... CHICAGO: Integrated firm Slack Barshinger has taken over the StrongForce Group, a Chicago PR firm that specialized in tech work. Two former PR21 executives who founded StrongForce two years ago - Paul Battaglia and Mark Smith - will join Slack...

News Brief: Kupchella joins Tunheim.
June 14, 2004... MINNEAPOLIS, MN: Leslie Kupchella, former press secretary to Minnesota Governor Tim Pawlenty, will be joining Tunheim Partners, working in the public affairs area. She spent the past year and a half as the governor's press secretary. Tunheim is...

News Brief: Thomson hires Golden.
June 14, 2004... STAMFORD, CT: The Thomson Corporation has hired Frank Golden as VP of IR. Golden recently served as SVP of IR for Cablevision Systems Corporation.

News Brief: MWW hires Genden.
June 14, 2004... EAST RUTHERFORD, NJ: MWW Group has hired Kurt Genden as SVP of consumer marketing. Prior to joining MWW, Genden was an SVP at PR21, where he led the firm's consumer practice in New York.

News Brief: Brodeur Worldwide hires and promotes.
June 14, 2004... BOSTON: Brodeur Worldwide has made several senior hires and promotions in recent weeks. In its Washington, DC office, Brodeur hired David Fish as an SVP. Fish came from tech think tank The Progress & Freedom Foundation. Thom Brodeur - no...

News Brief: Connect PR adds clients.
June 14, 2004... PROVO, UT: Connect PR has added five new tech clients seeking media and analyst relations counsel: Avidian Technologies, ClickFox, GT Software, Oversight Technologies, and Trusted Network Technologies.

News Brief: Kirshenbaum Bond wins account.
June 14, 2004... NEW YORK: Judith Leiber, purveyor of luxury handbags and accessories, has awarded its integrated ad and PR account to Kirshenbaum Bond & Partners. The firm will develop a communications campaign for the fall in support of the brand's growth and...

News Brief: BlowSearch selects Trylon.
June 14, 2004... NEW YORK: BlowSearch, a provider of internet search tools, has selected Trylon Communications as its PR AOR. Trylon will handle PR to support the company's efforts to become a leading Meta-PPC search engine.

News Brief: Borsum GM.
June 14, 2004... LOS ANGELES: PainePR has hired Eric Borsum as GM. He formerly served as Hill & Knowlton's US director of social marketing and corporate social responsibility.

News Brief: Michael A. Burns selected.
June 14, 2004... DALLAS: Benihana, the Miami-based restaurant chain, has selected Michael A. Burns & Associates to provide PR counseling and related services in North Texas.

News Brief: Ketchum moves offices.
June 14, 2004... NEW YORK: Ketchum has moved its Manhattan offices from Third Avenue to Rockefeller Center, at 1285 Avenue of the Americas.

News Brief: Biz360 enters alliance.
June 14, 2004... NEW YORK: Research firm Biz360 has entered an alliance with pollster Roper Public Affairs to allow it to query consumers about clients' messages and add that data to its market intelligence. Roper's Newsflow measures the reach and impact of...

Ogilvy, WS recruit new directors for their health units.
June 14, 2004... WASHINGTON and NEW YORK: Two PR agencies have made executive-level hires in healthcare, both heading social-marketing practices. Weber Shandwick said that Pam Jenkins had joined the agency from Ogilvy Public Relations as president of health...

Applied Materials names Bite its AOR for North America.
June 14, 2004... SANTA CLARA, CA: Applied Materials has selected Bite Communications as its North America AOR, focusing on corporate media relations. The semiconductor equipment maker was looking for an agency that could help the company continue to tell...

Langone op-ed says Spitzer's 'suit will fail'.
June 14, 2004... WASHINGTON: Ken Langone is beginning to fight back. On Thursday, the former chairman of the New York Stock Exchange compensation committee published a blistering attack on his nemesis, New York Attorney General Eliot Spitzer, in a Wall...

Tough road ahead for PR at Ford, Computer Associates.
June 14, 2004... DEARBORN, MI, and ISLANDIA, NY: Ford's new corporate communications head and the PR professional tapped to fill his old job as corporate communications head at Computer Associates face tough, though different, challenges. Charlie Holleran,...

Dairy council ups efforts as milk prices keep rising.
June 14, 2004... ROSEMONT, IL: The National Dairy Council hopes that consumers will associate summer with dairy foods, but rising milk prices are threatening to sour the story. June is Dairy Month, and the national organization and local chapters of the...