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COPYRIGHT 2001 The Dallas Morning News
Byline: Cheryl Hall
May 27--MIDWEST PR FIRM SHOOTS STRAIGHT TO NO. 1: A few weeks ago, John Graham, chairman and chief executive officer of St. Louis-based Fleishman-Hillard Inc., gathered his 3,100 troops via telephone and congratulated them on being crowned the world's largest public relations firm.
In two conference calls to 78 offices around the globe, including one in downtown Dallas' Chase Tower, he pointed out that $343 million in worldwide revenue last year had vaulted the agency past its three biggest competitors: Burson-Marsteller, Hill & Knowlton and Weber Shandwick Worldwide, according to audited statistics compiled by the Council of PR Firms.
Mr. Graham savored the moment of personal triumph and vindication.
When he took over as president and CEO in 1974, Fleishman-Hillard took in less than a million dollars in fees as it struggled to establish its Midwestern name in an industry dominated by Eastern giants.
"I'd go to New York -- even into the '80s -- looking for firms to be our affiliates and help with our clients. They'd start out the conversation with, `Now, you're Fleishman-Hillard based in St. Louis? We've never heard of you. Why should we be interested in you?'"
So yes, Mr. Graham's congratulations were meant to inspire the corporate fold. But this was also a Show-Me-state guy reminding his staff to stay true to the firm's heartland values.
"Our biggest challenge is to remember how we got to where we are," he says, sitting in the conference room of the Dallas office...
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