HOLLERAN HEADS COKE PR

Charles Holleran, managing director of global communications, PricewaterhouseCoopers, will join Coca-Cola in June as chief communications officer.

Holleran, 55, succeeds Randy Donaldson, who was shifted to Coke/USA's executive offices in January.

Coke has suffered many PR hits in recent months including the short-lived tenure of former CEO Douglas Ivester and its slow response to contamination problems in Europe. It also had problems with its bottlers and was hit with a racial discrimination suit. Facing lower profits, it announced a 20% staff cutback in February. At least one major school system (in Wisconsin) is expected to cancel an exclusive Coke contract this summer.

The stock, which was in the high $80s in 1997, is in the low 50s.

Don Spetner, VP of corporate communications at SunAmerica, is leaving May 15 to start his own consultancy.

SPETNER OF SUNAMERICA TO OWN FIRM

Spetner will set up an office in Los Angeles and specialize in media relations, brand positioning and product launches. He already has three clients set up, but would not disclose their names.

"This is something of a lifestyle change for me," Spetner said.

Along with many of his colleagues at SunAmerica, Spetner was a beneficiary of AIG’s acquisition of the company in January 1999. He claims his SunAmerica holdings have gone up 11,000%.

Spetner joined SunAmerica in 1997, after working at Nissan North America for eight years, first as corporate manager and moving up to director of corporate communications.

From 1987 to 1989 he was VP/COO at GreyCom. He has also worked at Bozell, Jacobs, Kenyon and Eckhardt and Ruder Finn.

A member of PRSA and the Arthur Page Society, Spetner is the author of the 1993 edition of The PR Writer’s Handbook.

At his new firm, Spetner says he will sometimes take payments in equity in lieu of cash.

PUTIN RAIDS RUBENSTEIN'S RUSSIAN CLIENT

Federal agents of Russian President Vladimir Putin on May 11 raided the corporate offices of Media-MOST, the country's largest private media organization, taking boxes of documents, tapes of TV programs and equipment.

Putin said the corporate offices of MOST, which uses Rubenstein Assocs. for PR, do not have the right to violate laws and reiterated his commitment to a free press.

Yuri Luzhkov, mayor of Moscow, told the New York Times May 12 that one reason for the raid was that MOST was disseminating "information which authorities do not like." A member of the Russian Parliament said the "military operation" was "an alarming fact, a demonstration of force that is undermining the authority of Putin, who just took office proclaiming the ideas of democracy."

WPP ACQUIRES Y&R (INCLUDING B-M)

WPP Group is acquiring Young & Rubicam for $4.7 billion in stock, placing the No. 1 and No. 2 PR operations, Hill and Knowlton and Burson-Marsteller, in the same house.

B-M reported $274M in revenues in 1999, up 6.3%, and H&K reported $243M in revenues, up 18%.

Neither agency supplied accounting statements or other backup to support these claims. The "Council of PR Firms," which allows agencies to include advertising commissions to a limit of 49% of the total, collected the figures and supplied them to media. Ten of the 15 biggest "PR"operations gave their figures only to the CPRF.

Early comment from PR pros was that WPP is known for closely supervising any firm that it acquires. Some thought the combination of two advertising/PR giants had little to do with the traditional practice of PR.

They're in a Different Business–Schwartz

Gerald S. Schwartz, who heads G.S. Schwartz & Co., New York, said the WPP/Y&R deal "means nothing to me and the rest of the PR field outside of the global PR firms."

"The giant PR firms are in a different business from everyone else," he said. They have gone heavily into "management consulting and integrated marketing for clients," he added.

"I love what I m doing–publicity, special events, seminars, speeches, etc.," he said. "Our job is to build relationships with our clients and the press," he added.

Schwartz said he would not want to be employed by one of the conglomerate PR operations if a recession should hit. He also feels the big firms have "lots of fat" that could be trimmed.

Jobs Are Chasing People

Some agency PR pros pointed out that the job market is very tight because of the continuing economic boom and that H&K and B-M will have to assure pros that the "cultures" of their firms will endure and that their jobs are secure.

Harry "Hud" Englehart, COO of Kemper Lesnik, Chicago, and former H&K Midwest GM, said the merger of WPP and Y&R means good things for the merged firms and for PR as a whole.

"It s going to make one powerhouse of an organization from a PR perspective," he said. "I think it helps make PR an equal sister to advertising." (continued on page 2 below)

The combined revenues of WPP and Y&R would have been $5.2B in 1999, which would have put it ahead of Omnicom ($5.1B) and Interpublic ($4.6B).

OMC and IPG are still close to or even ahead of WPP in 2000 based on first quarter revenues and IPG's acquisition of the $500M NFO Worldwide.

Y&R stockholders will get 4.175 new WPP shares for each Y&R share, valuing the 72 million outstanding Y&R shares and options on 19 million at $53 each for a total of $4.7B. The original deal was worth $5.7B but the stocks of both firms dropped initially.

Thomas Bell, head of Y&R and former head of B-M, will only stay on until the integration of Y&R into WPP is completed in the fall. Bell is now chairman of Y&R.

Some Negative Comments Made on Web

Some negative comments on the deal were posted on the Y&R message board on Yahoo.

"This deal for the sale of YNR stinks," said one anonymous message, adding the value of Y&R is in the $75-$80 per share range. Others looked for $60-$65. "The YNR board is stabbing shareholders in the back," said another message.

"Once again, the old concept of building value in the interest of the shareholders is forsaken while the golden parachutes rain down on Madison Ave.," said a third message.

Salomon Smith Barney analyst William Bird told Reuters that the price was "somewhat disappointing" and was a "mediocre deal" for Y&R stockholders. If talent "walks out the door," then the buyer has overpaid for the asset, Bird further said.

Analyst Mitch Kurz, pointing out Y&R stock was in the $70s three months ago, told Advertising Age that Y&R stockholders should be disappointed since WPP paid twice as much for Ogilvy. Jerry Della Femina, AA columnist who had sold to non-U.S. firms several times, predicted that "at least one-third" of the 17,000 Y&R employees worldwide would be looking for a job in the next two years.

Della Femina said that in 1978 he tried to buy a new shop called Saatchi & Saatchi in London but soon realized that the way the deal was being structured, S&S would be buying him.

The AA article repeatedly referred to WPP head Martin Sorrell as "Sir Martin," recognizing the knighthood that has been given to Sorrell. WPP once sued AA in Queens Court, London, over a story AA wrote about WPP s finances. There were no further stories on the suit, which was dropped.

Not 'Sir Martin' to New York Post

The New York Times refers to Sorrell as "Sir" but not the New York Post or AdWeek, in keeping with the traditional American distaste for titles. The Wall Street Journal does not use such titles.

The Post, quoting "industry sources," said Sorrell is "likely to dump a number of executives who ve crossed swords with him elsewhere in the past," naming Chris Komisarjevsky, president/CEO of B-M, and Graham Phillips, head of Y&R Advertising. Komisarjevsky was at H&K and Phillips at Ogilvy & Mather when Sorrell took them over. "There was a lot of personality clashing between them and Sorrell and they split to get away from him," said the Post.

At $53 a share, Y&R stock and options held by Bell are worth about $60M. Biggest benefactor from the deal is Y&R chairman emeritus Peter Georgescu, whose stock is worth about $90M.

The interpretation by Y&R executives and WPP was that Y&R needed to be part of a bigger holding company in order to compete and that it was bound to be sold, sooner or later.

However, critics pointed out numerous recent negative developments at Y&R which resulted in a sudden 30-point fall in its stock price last month.

Y&Rs $800M Citibank account is under review and could be lost; it withdrew from the battle for the $114M U.S. Army account, which it had since 1987, and its 6.8 million shares in Luminant went from $300M in December to $60M when the stock crashed from $52 to $8.50 as of May 15. Critics said it was just a good time for the top people to bail out.

Y&R also had other dot-com investments that have become problematical in investors eyes.

Like Auto Company Consolidation–Bell

Bell told the Y&R annual meeting May 12 that the ad industry consolidation is similar to what happened to the auto industry. "There were 40 car companies in the 1920s but only three now," he said.

A creative director with 25 years at Y&R told Bell that morale needed "rebuilding" at the New York office. He said staffers were upset because of press reports that executives are haggling over their buyout offers. The employee wanted to know what guarantees exist for middle management.

Bell said he had talked to hundreds of staffers about the merger and did not detect a morale problem. He said most supported the merger with WPP. Bell said WPP picked 12 Y&R executives and made sure they would stay with the company for two years.

The customary reel of commercials was shown and it was longer than the usual ten minutes. Chief creative officer Ed Vick, commenting on the length, said, "I figured, what the hell, it may be our last." He praised Bell for "doing the right thing" for Y&R.

O'DWYER'S DIR. OF PR FIRMS LISTS 2,400

The 2000 O'Dwyer's Directory of PR Firms, which will be published in June, lists a record 2,400 PR firms and carries 369 agency statements and 359 logos of the firms.

Agencies that take agency statements and logos are placed without charge on the O'Dwyer website.

Agencies can be added to the website at any time during the year. The website, for the first time, carries color pictures and color logos for firms that have supplied them. The Directory, now in its 31st year, lists more than 19,000 clients of the firms. Those placing orders now will receive the book directly from the printer.

FOOD NETWORK WANTS TO TRAVEL

The Food Network has gotten the travel bug, and has begun "going around the world" to shoot programs on location for primetime viewing.

Bob Tuschman, VP/production, who spoke April 4 at a Publicity Club of New York lunch, urged the 130 publicists who attended to call the network s senior producers directly to discuss arranging a trip and story ideas.

"I am not the right person to call," said Tuschman, who oversees all in-house productions.

Gives List of Producers

He provided this list of producers to call: Craig Anderson, "In Food Today," 212/649-6234, fax: 869-8310; Erika Bishop, "Bill Boggs Corner Table," 649-6279, fax: 398-9323; Georgia Downard, "Cooking Live" 649-6338, fax: 649-6266; Irene Wong, "Melting Pot," 649-6207, fax: 549-6266; Karen Katz, "Emeril Live," "Essence of Emeril," 649-6265, fax: 869-8337; Mark Dissin, "Sweet Dreams," 649-6230, fax: 649-6266; Jerry Liddell, "Hot Off the Grill With Bobby Flay," "Grillin and Chillin, " "Molto Mario," 212/549-4495; Julia Harrison, "East Meet West," 203/762-1121.

All of the producers work in TFN's home office at 604 W. 52nd st., New York, NY 10019.

While they can't accept free travel from companies, "we would talk to a tourist board" about underwriting trip expenses, said Tuschman.

He said the Network's "how to" chef shows, which air during the daytime hours, will continue to be shot in the New York studio.

Fabricant Welcomes Calls

Florence Fabricant, a longtime food writer/columnist for The New York Times, welcomes calls from food publicists.
She said she has come to rely on them for fodder for her columns and reports.

She is especially receptive to publicists who provide her with information that is not "one-sided," and know "my interest is news for my readers."

Fabricant said phone calls are okay as long as the publicist is not calling to check on a press release.

The best time to call her is on Wednesday, which is the day the food section—"Dining In"—appears. Mondays and Tuesdays are "tough" days, said Fabricant, who said she returns all her calls, except messages saying: "I have something important to tell you. Please call me."

Fabricant, who likes to get product samples, asked the publicists to check with her before sending them to find out if she wants to get it, and whether the package should be sent to the office or her home.

Zuckerman Likes Gadgets

Jocelyn Zuckerman, senior editor of the "Good Living" section in Gourmet Magazine, said her interests are new food products and kitchen gadgets.

She prefers to be pitched by E-mail and a follow up phone call. She gets lots of press releases.

Zuckerman said staffers can t accept press trips, but they are permitted to negotiate a press rate.

Louise Kramer, a reporter for Crain s New York Business, who just joined the weekly paper from Advertising Age, covers arts, restaurants, hotels and tourism beats.

Kramer is trying to get used to working with PR people. Most of her sources have been ad agency and company ad executives.

She suggested publicists prepare some background information before pitching her a story.

She emphasized that Crain s plays up the "financial aspects" in its news reports, and limits its coverage to businesses in the greater New York area.

Kramer takes phone calls, but she believes e-mail is the best way to pitch ([email protected]).

NYT REVAMPS LOCAL SUNDAY SECTION

The New York Times has redesigned its Westchester County, N.Y., Sunday section.

The new local section, which debuted May 7, features in-depth coverage of local issues and events, up-to-date business news, an expanded calendar of the week s theater, music, dance, art and film schedules, and a new column on suburban life called "County Lines."

The section will also include wine and home design columns, restaurant reviews, and sports coverage.

PLACEMENT TIPS ______________________

The New York Times has started a new column called "Mixing Media" that will be anchored inside the Wednesday food section, "Dining In."

Michelle Slatalla, who will write the monthly column, said she will be "looking at food on TV, on radio, on the Internet and in magazines."

WineToday.com, an online publication from the Internet division of The New York Times Co., has begun a new special section featuring travel stories, tips and recommendations on the most interesting wine regions.

Leslie Sbrocco, editor-at-large for WineToday, has joined San Francisco-based KPIX-TV "Evening Magazine" TV program as a contributor.

Foodie's first issue has been published by Morpheus Publishing in New York.

The publisher expects to sell 4,000 on newsstands and mail another 25,000 to a rented list of names.

The new quarterly, with Sarah McLachlan on the cover, is geared toward 27 to 35-year-old men and women who do not cook.

Gus Floris, who is editor and founder, said publicists can pitch him at 212/889-9036 as long as the information is food-related and is appropriate for the target audience.

Floris and four staffers, who are based in 527 3rd ave., will move to 27 W. 20th st. on June 1.

PLACEMENT TIPS _______________________

"Cross Dressing" author Bill Fitzhugh made a deal with The Seagram Co. for product placement within his book.

Brill s Content reports in the June issue that Fitzhugh rewrote scenes to include Seagram s products and even made a boxed set of vintage scotches an important part of a character s life.

The magazine also looks at how marketers are finding ways to use digitized images in movie product placements to seamlessly integrate products— even within the action of online video games.

Inside.com, an entertainment and media website that just started, will entertain pitches for new books.

Sara Nelson, who heads the book unit, wants to get information about the people behind the books— the authors, the agents, the editors, the publishers, the back office workers, how the deals are made, where they are promoted and who is making the movie.

Inside.com, which is owned by Powerful Media, is located on West 26th st., New York.

Internet.com is interested in news about new websites and important personnel moves, says managing editor David Needle, who runs the Silicon Valley news bureau (siliconvalley.internet.com).

Needle, 46, who was previously West Coast bureau chief for InformationWeek, is essentially editor of the site, which also has bureaus in Boston (boston.internet.com), Washington, D.C. (dc.internet.com), and New York (atnewyork.com), which covers Silicon Alley.

The site was started by Westport, Conn.-based Internet.com Corp.

Needle is based at 601 Gateway blvd., #1140, South San Francisco, CA 94080. 650/745-3647; [email protected].

Robyn M. Sachs, president of RMR Marketing, Rockville, Md., said publicists should consider their appearance when meeting with the media.

"Today, many firms have loosened their dress code and if yours is one of them, great. Just remember that the editor s culture may adhere to coats and ties. Your appearance should match that of the editor you are visiting," said Sachs.

MOVED: Automobile Magazine has moved to 260 Madison ave., 8th floor, New York, NY 10016. 212/726-4300; fax: 917/256-0014.

BOSTON REPORTER RETURNS TO WORK

Robin Washington, a consumer affairs and transportation columnist for The Boston Herald, who was suspended April 30, returned to work on May 14.

Washington was suspended without pay by top editors after he raised the issue of the paper buckling under pressure from Fleet—a Herald advertiser and lender (NL, 5/10).

The suspension had prompted 75 Herald employees to sign a petition to the publisher protesting the "apparent unethical influence of advertisers" in the newspaper s coverage of the merger of two banks, Fleet Financial and BankBoston.

PEOPLE __________________________

Scott Lien was named editor of ShowBiz Weekly, a magazine about Las Vegas tourist attractions.

Jonathan Wolman was promoted to executive editor of The Associated Press, replacing William Ahearn, a 29-year veteran of the news service, who was dismissed by AP president/CEO Louis Boccardi. Wolman, previously AP s Washington, D.C., bureau chief, had been managing editor since late 1998.

Marvin L. Stone, 76, former editor of U.S. News & World Report and deputy director of the U.S. Information Agency from 1985 to 1989, died May 1.

PAPERS ARE KEY TO BURSON'S SUCCESS

Harold Burson, the founding chairman of Burson-Marstller, said newspapers are the reason for his success as a PR professional.

Burson said his "entire life has been intertwined with newspapers" in an article he wrote for a special section of The New York Times May 8.

Burson said his father, who "relished being 'in the know'" read the Memphis Commercial Appeal page-by-page every day, and he used the hometown paper to teach his son how to read, starting just before Harold's fourth birthday.
"My first reading lessons were the department store and grocery ads with their large typefaces," said Burson, who was born in 1921 in Memphis.

"He then had me reading headlines and, eventually, the news columns, including the editorial page,"

Burson, who still starts his day by reading several newspapers, said "I am appalled that more of my business friends haven't discovered my secret."

11 AD/PR GIANTS WILL COMPRESS TO 4-5

The advertising "oligopoly" of 11 giants will collapse further to about 4-5, ad industry analyst David McMurry of Donaldson, Lufkin & Jenrette says in a new 58-page study. (The study came out before WPP Group s purchase of Y&R.)

McMurry says the giants are too big and there are too few firms left to buy for any new global player to emerge. He feels the existing players will use their "abundant cash" (and stock) to acquire specialized firms that help them to reach individual customers.

The 11 are Omnicom, Interpublic, WPP, Havas, Bcom3 Group (combination of Burnett and MacManus), Y&R, True North, Grey, Publicis, Saatchi & Saatchi and Cordiant.

The report says they get about half of the $27B in commissions (averaged at 12%) from the $225B in worldwide traditional media advertising. The share of the 11 in the U.S. is close to 60% with the top four (OMC, IPG, WPP, Y&R) handling 35% of this. DL&J used statistics from IPG s McCann-Erickson.

Worldwide PR Market: $5B

McMurry estimates worldwide PR firm fees at $5B, with the big four claiming $1.74B of this in 1999 or 35%. The total for the 11 is $2.2B or 43%.

He feels the web is a good development for PR. "It is essentially an enhancing technology for purposes of PR...a fast targeted medium for PR people to reach a desired audience, and a low cost way to cultivate and maintain media relationships."

McMurry puts ad industry growth at 7-8% a year, saying there will be an "unprecedented demand" for the full range of (marketing) skills. Clients regard ad/PR as an "investment," not a "cost," he says.

The Internet "is not the death knell for traditional advertising" but he favors companies that show "a track record of early and astute moves" in the web.

Web Banners Not Getting "Click-throughs"

The report says "click-through" rates of banner ads on websites are "well under 1% and falling, showing that the interactivity of banners is not being utilized." He says banners are "little different from a print ad" but do show the marketer is "savvy enough to advertise online."

A major casualty of the web could be market research firms, says McMurry, "The Internet is clearly a faster cheaper, richer tool for research purposes," he says. Existing firms (such as NFO, which was recently acquired by Interpublic) will have to "cannibalize" themselves to compete with other web-oriented research services, he adds. IPG's stock fell from $58 to as low as $38 in the months after it announced plans to buy NFO.

David R. Drobis, CEO of Ketchum, was elected president of the ICO, the international trade association of PR firms.

Drobis is the first non-European to head ICO, which consists of associations in 25 countries representing more than 1,000 firms throughout Europe and the U.S.

IABC INCOME OFF; SPENDING $1M ON WEB

The Int l Assn. of Business Communicators, in a special e-mail to members May 12, reported a "revenue shortfall" due to lower than expected membership renewal and growth rates.

IABC is attacking the problem with offers such as a discount for multi-year renewals and prizes for chapters showing good growth.

The e-mail, which was withheld from the press until it was delivered to members, said IABC has invested "just over $1 million" in building an e-business for members and the general business public. "We remain committed to our visionary and aggressive e-strategy but must rework timelines and funding sources," said the e-mail by chair Dave Seifert. No details of the e-mail business or revenue shortfall were given and Seifert couldn t be reached.

Seifert wrote that member satisfaction is high, based on polls, "making it all the more puzzling that membership growth flattened out." There was also a "calculation error in the budgeting process, discovered by the staff in February, that compounded the revenue variance problem."

IABC lost $339,987 on income of $4.8M in 1999 and had net assets of $519,150 as of last Sept. 30. Thirty-five board members and eight staffers went to the board meeting in London Feb. 18-19, IABC paying staff expenses and $300 per board member.

PR'S 'LOSS OF SOUL' DISCUSSED

U.S. and U.K. PR have become too identified with marketing PR and money-making and have lost the"social dimension" of the profession, said Richard Linning, Brussels counselor and president of the Confederation of European PR Assns. (CERP), which has 26 PR groups and 30,000+ members.

Linning was reached by phone after Boston counselor Terry Clarke, who met with PR pros in Europe and Russia earlier this year, reported that many PR leaders and rank-and-file PR pros there are disappointed with current U.S. PR trends.  One pro asked Clarke, "Where is the soul in your work?"

Linning said the new demoncracies in Eastern Europe see PR as the "method by which the competition of ideas is introduced."  Western PR, he said, seems less concerned with ethics and professional standards and more with growth and profit margins.  He agrees with U.S. counselor Howard Chase (1/12 NL) that marketing has "captured" PR.

The "social dimension" of PR, its role as the "corporate conscience," seems to have been lost, he said.  The "bean counters" are in charge and PR is seen as a business, not a "vocation or calling."

Linning said production of brochures and other collateral is now emphasized by PR firms, which may mark them up by as much as 30% in the U.K.

PR pros in Europe, he added, tend to be highly educated, skilled in languages, and interested in sociology.  They're regular readers of the Harvard Business Review and similar publications.

The acquisition of Y&R by WPP is not only a momentous development for advertising but also for PR since it brings the No. 1 and No. 2 PR operations, Burson-Marsteller and Hill and Knowlton, under one roof. They fought each other for many years for the top position, with B-M emerging as undisputed No.1 in recent years.

WPP is known for the tight control it exercises over its purchases and the likelihood is great that there will be big changes at B-M.

H&K became part of WPP in 1987 when WPP made a hostile takeover of J. Walter Thompson, which owned H&K. Ogilvy & Mather and its PR operation were also taken by force by WPP in 1989, a move that almost put WPP under because of the cost.

Radical changes followed at both H&K and Ogilvy PR. Carl Byoir & Assocs., which had been acquired by H&K in 1986 and which once approached H&K in size, was gradually erased from existence.

The Byoir culture, emphasizing press relations and good writing, had already suffered greatly under previous owner Foote, Cone & Belding. FCB had ordered a mass firing that demoralized the staff and touched off costly age discrimination lawsuits.

Also erased was Dudley-Anderson-Yutzy as a separate unit of Ogilvy. It was the oldest PR firm. All 90 people who made up the corporate/financial unit of Ogilvy PR left.

The mind-boggling union of H&K and B-M under one roof should touch off serious thinking about what PR is and where it is headed.

PR pros should read the DL&J study described on page seven so they will understand the powerful financial forces that affect the lives of everyone in PR. The consolidation of the ad agencies has given the few remaining players enormous power, power that the client side once had. Now it is the agencies that call the shots.

The view from Eastern Europe is that U.S./U.K. PR, under the thumb of the ad/PR giants, has lost its "soul" and has become obsessed with money-making, measuring and counting. This is a proposition that deserves debate on its own and without reference to who is saying it.

PR originally sided with citizens who wanted information from their institutions. But the public service aspect of PR in the U.S. has almost disappeared. PR started losing its mission decades ago when the orthodoxy became that PR is a "management function." This dodge enabled PR to escape its principal duty of being a source of straight facts. Press and relations with the public (not "publics") were downplayed and PR leaders insisted PR s role was to run the company or organization.

Europeans, and especially Russians, who have lived under many repressive regimes, know the value of information. Oddly, two days after we talked to a European about information and PR s role in disseminating it, agents of Russian President Vladimir Putin raided Media-MOST, the country s largest private media organization.

We agree with Gerald Schwartz that what the PR giants are doing bears little relation to what most small and medium-sized PR firms offer clients. His firm emphasizes press relations, special events, seminars and other devices that bring recognition in the media for clients.

The PR giants some years ago switched to management consulting for clients and an integrated approach that uses all forms of advertising and promotion to put across client "messages." There is not much difference between the ad units of the conglomerates and the PR units. Some of the "PR" units openly call themselves "marketing agencies."

IABC provides a good example of an institution withholding information. It has told members there is a sudden "revenue shortfall" requiring emergency procedures but gives no figures on the size of the shortfall, membership renewal rates, etc. It says it s spending $1 million on an e-business but gives no details such as the outside contractor(s), what the service will offer, etc. We were told a release on the subject of the web would go out May 12 but when we called we were told the press would get it only after the members were informed. We consider this "the-members-must-know-everything-first" stance hypocritical since it was this NL that informed the members of the $398K web spending in 1999. That figure was not in the truncated Deloitte & Touche report that IABC tried to palm off on its members (3/15 NL). Members of most organizations would be poorly informed if they relied only on official handouts...We re looking for the PR counselor who will say to a prospective client: "Our job is to give out information and lots of it on your company and if you have something to hide or can t handle this then you shouldn t hire us"...Coca-Cola, the No. 1 brand according to the Interbrand unit of Omnicom, has appointed a new PR head (page one). The advertising might of Coke has allowed it to neglect PR considerations with impunity and has served as an example that many other companies emulate. Coke is famously testy with the press, preferring not to be written about at all. Whether Coke changes its policy will be worth watching. Among the other top ten brands, according to Interbrand, which uses a formula that estimates profit generated by a "brand," are Microsoft, IBM, General Electric, Ford, Disney, Intel, McDonald s, AT&T and Marlboro.