PR Week (US) back issues from April 2008:
New Al Gore campaign applies ads, media for grassroots effort.(Alliance for Climate Protection)
Apr 07, 2008 ... WASHINGTON: The Alliance for Climate Protection is teaming with Al Gore on a new effort titled 'We Campaign,' which will use media outreach and advertising to drive initial interest. The dollars 300-million campaign aims to build a grassroots movement to halt global warming, according to ...
Michelin taps H&K for US tire division.
Apr 07, 2008 ... GREENVILLE, SC: Michelin chose Hill & Knowlton to oversee its Michelin brand passenger and light truck replacement tire division in the US after a 13-firm review that began in January. Incumbent firm Cohn & Wolfe, which worked on the account since 2005, was among the firms that ...
Three firms in Visa IPO.
Apr 07, 2008 ... SAN FRANCISCO: Fleishman-Hillard, ICR, and Brunswick Group handled the financial communications for the Visa IPO, the largest in US history. ICR, which has worked with Visa for five years out of Westport, CT, provided technical financial communications counsel. Brunswick, which ...
Destination DC goes on 'Power Trip' to tout city.
Apr 07, 2008 ... WASHINGTON: Destination DC, formerly known as the Washington Convention and Tourism Corporation, launched a branding effort on April 2 to promote the city's 'hidden' attractions, as well as its famous locales. Burson-Marsteller's DC office will lead the dollars 2.5 million ...
InfoSpace taps Peppercom to boost brand awareness.
Apr 07, 2008 ... BELLEVUE, WA: Technology company InfoSpace has selected Peppercom as its AOR to work on brand awareness and corporate communications. Picked by the company after a multiple-round RFP process, Peppercom's efforts aim to raise awareness of the Dogpile search engine ...
News brief: MWW adds MoleSafe to roster.(Brief article)
Apr 07, 2008 ... EAST RUTHERFORD, NJ: MWW Group has added MoleSafe to its client roster. MWW will lead a campaign to support MoleSafe's introduction in the US, as well as help increase brand awareness ...
News brief: Ingres selects Atomic as AOR.
Apr 07, 2008 ... SAN FRANCISCO: Ingres, an open-source database technology company, selected Atomic PR as its global AOR. Atomic will provide strategic consultation, classic PR services ...
News brief: Newsweek employees accept buyouts.
Apr 07, 2008 ... NEW YORK: More than 100 employees at Newsweek have accepted buyouts over the past couple of weeks. CBS News and its local affiliates said they intend to slash jobs, as well. CBS News disclosed that it ...
News brief: Kofax names Westbound AOR.
Apr 07, 2008 ... ORANGE, CA: Kofax, a European-based provider of information capture technology, recently named Westbound Communications ...
News brief: Golin-Harris appointed AOR.
Apr 07, 2008 ... LOS ANGELES: The JW Marriott Hotel to be built in downtown LA hired Golin-Harris as its AOR for pre- and grand-opening activities. The ...
News brief: Publicis rebrands arm.
Apr 07, 2008 ... PARIS: Publicis Groupe rebranded its India and Singapore-based marketing arm from Solutions to Solutions Digitas. The change is a step in the international deployment of the Digitas global network. The ...
News brief: Sharp adds new clients.
Apr 07, 2008 ... NEW YORK: Sharp Communications added seven new clients for Q1 2008 Among them are: Centris, a market research and information company; North Shore ...
News brief: Geary Inter-active acquires Fathom.
Apr 07, 2008 ... SAN DIEGO: Geary Inter-active, a full-service digital firm, has acquired ...
News brief: Pierce Mattie adds clients.
Apr 07, 2008 ... NEW YORK: Pierce Mattie PR added three clients. It will lead campaigns from its New York office for CLEAN Perfume, a luxury beauty brand, as ...
News brief: Deveney joins Worldcom.
Apr 07, 2008 ... NEW ORLEANS: Deveney Communication joined the Worldcom Public ...
News brief: Concept Communications AOR.
Apr 07, 2008 ... SAN FRANCISCO: UpTake (formerly Kango), a travel search and ...
News brief: Correction.(Correction notice)
Apr 07, 2008 ... In the March 31 Organizational Profile, the Council for Responsible Nutrition's ...
Shine aims to fill void in women's Web sites.(Website overview)
Apr 07, 2008 ... SUNNYVALE, CA: Yahoo launched a new Web site March 31 that targets women between the ages of 25 and 40. The site, Shine (shine.yahoo. com), features original content created by an in-house editorial team, as well as syndicated news and features from Hearst publications, ...
NARCA taps WE in new push.
Apr 07, 2008 ... WASHINGTON: The National Association of Retail Collection Attorneys (NARCA) launched a campaign in March, developed by Waggener Edstrom (WE), to show that members act responsibly in their efforts to collect debt. Research prior to the launch showed the public had no awareness of ...
McAfee promotes 'spam' diet.
Apr 07, 2008 ... SANTA CLARA, CA: McAfee launched a global '30-day spam diet' campaign on March 31 to point out the possible dangers of responding to spam e-mail. The effort, dubbed the Global S.P.A.M. (Spammed Persistently All Month) Experiment follows 50 participants for 30 days as they ...
Launch Pad: The Houston Astros go 'earth friendly' at its home stadium.
Apr 07, 2008 ... Objective: The Astros Play Green campaign aims to draw awareness to environmental initiatives and earth-friendly efforts in the Astros' hometown of Houston, specifically at the ballpark. The Astros' marketing department created the campaign, but its front office pitched in, as well. The ...
News Analysis: Juicy Campus causes a stir with students.
Apr 07, 2008 ... At 60-plus colleges, and growing, administrators try to figure out how to handle the gossip site. As the college gossip Web site Juicy Campus continues to stir up controversy, university administrators find they can only do so much to curb negative posts and press. While some ...
Analysis: Newsmaker - Williams gets creative with in-flight 'Pink' bash.(Air New Zealand Ltd.)
Apr 07, 2008 ... Most adults hate the airport. Even if they're excited about a vacation, getting there is often tedious. But for a night, Air New Zealand tried to change that on its 'Pink Flight' from San Francisco to Sydney in celebration of the Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras. The February ...
Companies: Organizational Profile - TechnoServe rebrands, clarifies identity.(Google Inc.)
Apr 07, 2008 ... After 40 years of work with global poverty, the nonprofit attempts to reach a new audience. When TechnoServe received close to dollars 50 million in donations from Google.org and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation (BMGF), executives at the nonprofit knew the organization had ...
Companies: The Agency Business - Healthcare brings stability for Bay Area firms.
Apr 07, 2008 ... The Bay Area has long been synonymous with tech in the PR industry. But since the devastating tech crash in 2002, many firms have diversified to include healthcare - especially biotech. But with more economic uncertainty on the rise, healthcare is once again emerging as a major-business ...
Editorial: Efforts must focus more on action than celebrities.(Editorial)
Apr 07, 2008 ... Al Gore's dollars 300-million climate change push has been sometimes called an ad campaign. Yet, if this initiative - considered one of the biggest public-advocacy campaigns ever - wants a multi-million-dollar fundraiser, it should go beyond a big ad spend and engage people in a way that ...
Opinion: Op-Ed - Accountability is key in recessions.(United States. Federal Reserve Board)
Apr 07, 2008 ... Over the past several months, headlines all over the world have alerted us to the recessionary fallout from the sub-prime, liquidity, and credit crises; and the housing bubble. Many believe that all of the above created a perfect storm that the Federal Reserve can tame. If we ...
Opinion: Op-Ed - Social media is crucial for an agency.
Apr 07, 2008 ... I spent much of the summer and fall of 2007 assembling my first electronic book on social-media strategy, There Is No Secret Sauce. I wrote the book because while there are thousands of brands that can afford to work with agencies like mine to devise its social-media strategy, there are ...
Opinion: Shine is an extension of print magazines, not the downfall.
Apr 07, 2008 ... Yahoo's recent launch of Shine, a women-focused media portal, is bound to make some magazine publishers nervous. Billing itself as a place that 'features the best writers and bloggers in women's publishing,' as well as a form of social networking, Shine.yahoo.com looks like the future of ...
Opinion: Apologies simply won't cut it when promises aren't kept.
Apr 07, 2008 ... The old aphorism - 'Under-promise, over-deliver' - remains timely. But it's never been so relevant as it is now during an age when systems of all kinds are growing ever-more complex. Witness a classic bad-PR event that has been on the front pages of London's newspapers and ...
Opinion: Fact File - McDonald's makes a play for global youth with new game.
Apr 07, 2008 ... IN THE NEWS McDonald's on March 14 kicked off its media launch for alternate-reality Olympic-themed game, The Lost Ring (TLR), but the game was already in progress, with the company's involvement downplayed. Combining offline and online components, blogosphere buzz was initially ...
Media: Analysis - Online mags increase videos, readership.
Apr 07, 2008 ... While it's no surprise that online magazines are trying to provide fresh content to readers, many publications - most of which are traditionally text-based - are increasingly employing video to escalate readership. When launching a video-specific Web site, or a portion of an ...
Media: Journalist Q&A - Scott Hensley, Wall Street Journal.
Apr 07, 2008 ... <Pre> Name: Scott Hensley Title: News editor, health and science Outlet: Wall Street Journal health blog Preferred contact method: healthblog@wsj.com Web site: blogs.wsj.com/health/ </Pre> PRWeek: How has your coverage changed to meet public demand for more flexible, up-to-date ...
Media Research: Online Hispanic opinion-makers.
Apr 07, 2008 ... Conducted by: Burson-Marsteller Sample: 1,013 Hispanic-American adults (late 2007) Goal: To determine the comms behaviors of Hispanic-Americans online KEY FINDINGS: 6.0 hours per week influential Hispanics ...
Media Roundup: Spanish outlets grow amidst downturn.
Apr 07, 2008 ... The contrast couldn't be more startling. Amid a flood of stories about the struggles of newspapers - including a recent feature in The New Yorker containing a prediction that 2043 will be the year print newspapers finally die in the US - comes a study finding that Spanish-language dailies ...
Media: Critical Hit - 'Times' story helps Maca product.
Apr 07, 2008 ... - Who is your client and what are its media goals? Dean Draznin: Enzymatic Therapy is a Green Bay, WI-based manufacturer of dietary supplements and natural medicines. Distribution ranges from health-food stores to Wal-Mart, (so) they wanted to drive national awareness with the ...
Media Ups and Downs.
Apr 07, 2008 ... - Former New York Times reporter Linda Greenhouse finds a new job: Journalist-in-residence at the Yale Law School - Dow Jones CEO Les Hinton says that The Wall Street Journal's increased attention to national and political news doesn't mean it will cut back on financial reports ...
Media: Inside Information - RSS feeds provide a broader base to pitch story ideas.(rich site summary)
Apr 07, 2008 ... Although reporters and editors commonly rely on newswire Web sites as a primary source of story ideas, many are also turning to feed or news aggregators, such as Google Reader, to create custom information sources. Therefore, many communications pros, as well as newswire ...
Cover Story: Global accents.
Apr 07, 2008 ... Lenovo's global communications team works together to create a worldwide brand identity through focused messaging. The sun never sets on the global communications team of PC maker Lenovo Group Limited. The company has no headquarters, but instead key offices around the world, ...
Regional Focus: South Africa - Gateway to a continent.
Apr 07, 2008 ... Although the PR industry isn't entirely new to South Africa, the market still has room for further development. Marc Longpre reports. When considering South Africa's emerging communications industry, it's important to keep in mind just how young it truly is. While nearly every ...
PR Technique: Traditional avenues still impact teens.
Apr 07, 2008 ... Teens always seem to be online, but many offline options exist to reach this audience. The amount of time US teens spend online, whether on the Internet, mobile phones, or on video-game systems, might lead one to assume that is the only place to reach them. But there ...
Campaign: Cool Globes takes artistic view.
Apr 07, 2008 ... <Pre> COOL GLOBES PR Team: Cool Globes, Jasculca/Terman and Associates (both Chicago) Campaign: Cool Globes: Hot Ideas for a Cooler Planet Duration: June 1 - ongoing Budget: dollars 145,000 </Pre> 'We found a gap between what scientists were saying and the general public, who ...
Campaign: Sergeant's Pet Care starts a riot with flea medication.
Apr 07, 2008 ... <Pre> SERGEANT'S PET CARE PR Team: Sergeant's Pet Care Products and Swanson Russell Associates (both Omaha, NE) Campaign: Sergeant's Gold and Tick Squeeze-On for Dogs Duration: January-May 2007 Budget: dollars 108,443 </Pre> Sergeant's was confident its product had the elements ...
Campaign: Embassy lets consumers help keep rooms 'private'.(Emanate PR)(Brief article)
Apr 07, 2008 ... <Pre> EMBASSY SUITES PR Team: Embassy Suites Hotels (Memphis, TN), Emanate PR (NY) Campaign: Embassy Suites Hotels Do Not Disturb Contest Duration: September-December 2007 Budget: dollars 20,000 </Pre> STRATEGY The PR team focused on Embassy Suites' playful brand ...
PR Toolbox: Improving research efficiency, mat release placement, more.
Apr 07, 2008 ... Coverage research With a growing client list, we are finding that our staff members are spending more time researching coverage opportunities. How can we reduce time spent on this activity? Successful pitching requires knowledge of publications and the staffs, ...
Careers: Expert Advice - Steve Seeman, VP, Makovsky & Company.
Apr 07, 2008 ... When I interview for a position, how can I determine if it will be a good fit for me?. A: When searching for a job, there are two important questions to ask yourself: Is the firm's corporate culture right for me? And will the client work be challenging and allow me to grow? ...
Careers: People Moves - Edelman.(Brief article)
Apr 07, 2008 ... NEW YORK: Katie Levinson, former communications director and chief spokeswoman for the Rudy Giuliani Presidential campaign, has joined Edelman as SVP and political director for its New York ...
Careers: People Moves - Northwestern Mutual.
Apr 07, 2008 ... MILWAUKEE, WI: Northwestern Mutual hired Kimberley Crews Goode as VP of communications, effective March 31. Goode's previous positions include Kellogg VP of worldwide ...
Careers: People Moves - Brunswick Group.(Brief article)
Apr 07, 2008 ... NEW YORK: Michael France has joined Brunswick Group as partner, effective May 1. France will oversee corporate reputation work Previously, France worked for 12 years at Business-Week. He most ...
Careers: People Moves - General Motors.
Apr 07, 2008 ... SOMERS, NY: General Motors has promoted Travis Parman to Northeast communications manager, effective April 1. Parman will handle ...
Careers: People Moves - Westbound Communications.(Brief article)
Apr 07, 2008 ... ORANGE, CA: Westbound Communications hired Rick Milten-berger as SVP for its Orange, CA, office. He will focus on expanding the agency's technology, healthcare, and business-to-business practice ...
Careers: People Moves - FD.(Brief article)
Apr 07, 2008 ... NEW YORK: FD appointed Thor Valdmanis as SVP of the firm's special situations group, which handles crisis communications. He will report to Doug Donsky, MD and head of the firm's financial services and special situations groups in the US ....
Careers: People Moves - Weber Shandwick.
Apr 07, 2008 ... BLOOMINGTON, MN: Weber Shandwick promoted Aaron Pearson to SVP of its technology practice in the Minneapolis-St. Paul office. Pearson ...
Careers: People Moves - The Council for Responsible Nutrition (CRN).
Apr 07, 2008 ... WASHINGTON, DC: The Council for Responsible Nutrition (CRN), a dietary supplement trade association, has promoted Judy Blatman to SVP of ...
Careers: People Moves - W2.
Apr 07, 2008 ... WALTHAM, MA: W2 Group hired Rich Blewitt as a senior advisor Blewitt will focus on supporting the growth of Racepoint Group's World 2.0 global reputation ...
Careers: Feast your eyes on this.(Old Homestead Steak House)(Brief article)
Apr 07, 2008 ... How many people ordered Serendipity's dollars 1,000 sundae? It doesn't matter because news of the dessert swept the media. Old Homestead Steak House is following a similar, but more affordable model with its new dollars 81 burger. It hopes to raise the ...
USDA spurs firms to use food pyramid in promos.
Apr 21, 2008 ... WASHINGTON: The US Department of Agriculture's (USDA) Center for Nutrition Policy and Promotion (CNPP) is launching a new campaign to encourage its partners to use its iconic food pyramid for their own promotional work. The campaign, called Partnering with MyPyramid: Corporate ...
Blockbuster courts press.
Apr 21, 2008 ... DALLAS: Blockbuster reached out directly to media after making its public offer to acquire Circuit City at dollars 6 per share in cash. The company invited reporters to speak with CEO Jim Keyes about the offer after issuing an early morning press release April 14. It also held a ...
Mass cancellations prompt direct outreach from AA.
Apr 21, 2008 ... FORT WORTH, TX: American Airlines (AA) said it focused on direct engagement with passengers after cancelling 3,079 flights in four days due to a Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) request for more inspections. The company enlisted its seven-person PR team, other staffers, and ...
Adecco employs MWW for million-dollar account.
Apr 21, 2008 ... EAST RUTHERFORD, NJ: Adecco Group North America, the Fortune 500 staffing and HR service provider, selected MWW Group as AOR. The one-year contract is worth more than dollars 1 million. Adecco, which has more than 7,000 offices worldwide, considers PR an important part of its ...
PA State Dept. boosts voter education efforts.(Pennsylvania. Department of State)
Apr 21, 2008 ... LANCASTER, PA: Pennsylvania's Department of State used the long run-up to the closely watched primary on Tuesday, April 22, to build buzz for its voter-education push that targets minority communities, first-time voters, and older voters. The department worked with Harrisburg, ...
Washington Group trial due to go into mediation.(Brief article)
Apr 21, 2008 ... WASHINGTON: A lawsuit filed last fall by Ketchum-owned lobbying firm The Washington Group against a former SVP for allegedly stealing clients is due to go into mediation May 1. The Washington Group, which seeks more than half a million dollars in damages, alleges that Harry ...
Electrolux hires Weber Shandwick.(Brief article)
Apr 21, 2008 ... NEW YORK: Electrolux hired Weber Shandwick to promote its new North American-exclusive kitchen line as part of a comprehensive Web, print, and broadcast campaign. WS' integrated PR campaign for the Swedish appliance ...
Job losses at MGM Mirage.
Apr 21, 2008 ... LAS VEGAS: MGM Mirage cut 440 jobs this week in a cost-saving move, and PRWeek has learned that includes three positions from the internal PR ...
Brunswick Group serves as media contact.
Apr 21, 2008 ... NEW YORK: The Brunswick Group is serving as media contact for Delta Air Lines during its acquisition of Northwest Airlines. On the Delta ...