NYC ISSUES $400K RFP TO BOOST BROOKLYN

The New York City Economic Development Corp. has issued a six-month $400K marketing communications RFP to attract corporate tenants to downtown Brooklyn.

The program is especially aimed at lower Manhattan companies that are jittery about their locations in the aftermath of the World Trade Center attack, and considering office space outside the city.

The RFP wants to promote Brooklyn's advantages, such as a five-minute subway ride to Manhattan, affordable rents, extensive mass transit, independent phone and power grids and close access to desirable residential neighborhoods.

Responses are due Sept. 6. Paul Tamboia is the NYCEDC's chief contracting officer for the "Downtown Brooklyn Marketing Plan."

SILVERMAN SUCCEEDS SELTZER AT OGILVY

Ogilvy PR Worldwide CEO Bob Seltzer is stepping down at the end of the month as CEO after a five-year stint as head of the WPP Group unit. He is replaced by Marcia Silverman, who is president for the Americas.

Paul Hicks, managing director for Ogilvy New York, succeeds Silverman as president of the Americas. Kym White, healthcare head, takes over for Hicks in New York.

Seltzer said he is leaving the firm in "good shape." His departure gives him "one more shot" at doing what he believes is what he does best-"fixing agencies."

His departure marks a busy week of executive changes at WPP's PR units. Paul Taaffe succeeded Howard Paster as CEO of Hill & Knowlton on Aug. 9. Steve Aiello stepped down as CEO at Cohn & Wolfe earlier this year, succeeded by Donna Imperato.

MAGNET TUNES INTO JVC

Magnet Comms. has added JVC Americas Corp., a leading consumer electronics co., to its client roster. Paul Jensen, EVP and head of MC's tech practice, and Steve Tomasco, senior A/E, handle the business.

Donald Trapp, JVC's corporate communications manager, cited Magnet's media savvy as a reason for its selection. TSI Comms., which was folded into IPG's Golin/Harris Int'l, had the account of the 75-year-old company that also is known as sponsor of the "JVC Jazz Festival" and World Cup soccer.

Magnet counts IBM, Nikon, and Seiko Instruments as other consumer tech clients.

KWE SHUTS DOWN IN NYC

Karen Weiner Escalara, president/CEO of KWE Assocs., which is headquartered in New York, informed the firm's 12-person staff on Aug. 12 that she is closing the firm.

Escalara told this NL she will reopen a new firm in Coral Cables, Fla., on Oct. 1 as the KWE Group Inc., with a satellite office in New York.

She said the new firm will handle PR for a select group of five or six travel clients. Three clients have already given their commitments to stay with the new firm.

Escalara decided to close the New York office because the commute between her family home in Miami and New York had "gotten to be too much." She flew to New York every Monday and returned home on Friday.

Former KWE president Vickie Feldman de Falco and senior VP Christina Miranda recently set up Redpoint Marketing PR in New York.

SITRICK HANDLES US AIR'S REORG.

US Airways is using Sitrick & Co. to help communicate its restructuring efforts, according to Michael Sitrick, CEO of the firm. He said his firm has handled bankruptcy filings for about 150 companies, including America West, Hawaiian Air, National Steel and Burlington Industries.

Chris Chiames is US Air's senior VP-corporate affairs. The former American Airlines PR executive joined US Air this year from Burson-Marsteller, where he ran the firm's aviation/tourism practice in Washington, D.C.

IPG RESTATES EARNINGS; GETS SUED

Interpublic on Aug. 13 said it failed to count $68.5 million in expenses over the past five years and was sued by Milberg Weiss Bershad Hynes & Lerach (www.milberg.com/cases/interpublic).

The suit notes that IPG purchased True North, NFO Worldwide and BrandHatch Leisure with $2.874 billion of "artificially inflated stock" and invites those who got the IPG stock to join in the suit.

IPG purchased TN with $2.1B in stock in 2001 that was valued at $40.24 a share. IPG sotck has now gone as low as $12.75 recently and is now about $19.

More than 200 firms have been purchased by IPG since 1997 with stock and cash. Financial details

(continued on page 7)

SAUDIS RENEW QORVIS' AD DRIVE

Saudi Arabia plans to relaunch its Qorvis Communications-developed TV ad campaign that depicts the Kingdom as a staunch U.S. ally in the global fight against terror, Michael Petruzzello, CEO of the firm, told this NL.

Sandler-Innocenzi, the Republican party political consultant and media buyer, is making spot media buys in 26 cities (excluding the top New York and Los Angeles markets). Chicago, Atlanta, Boston, Philadelphia, Houston, Phoenix, St. Louis, San Francisco and Washington, D.C., are on the media schedule. Petruzzello said New York and Los Angeles may be covered by a national cable buy.

QC created four ads for Saudi Arabia in the spring. The so-called "flags" and "allies" spots will kick off the new ad cycle, according to Petruzzello. The campaign is expected to run through the Sept. 11 anniversary of the terror attacks carried out by 19 hijackers, of which fifteen were from Saudi Arabia.

QC, a Patton Boggs affiliate, gets $200K a-month from Saudi Arabia. S-I analyzes radio, TV, magazine and newspaper data and availabilities for QC. As a QC subcontractor, it receives a three percent commission on media buys for Saudi Arabia.

OGILVY HANDLES CRISIS FOR EUROCONTROL

Ogilvy PR Worldwide is handling PA and crisis work for Eurocontrol, the Brussels-based 31-nation European air safety organization pushing for a unified air traffic control system for the continent.

Concerned about a backlash from its push to reduce the minimum space between airliners' flight paths, Eurocontrol immediately contacted Ogilvy PR after two airlines collided over Germany in July, killing 71, Eurocontrol managing director Erik Merkel-Sobotta told this NL.

The accident, which occurred in Swiss air space between a Russian passenger plane and a Boeing cargo 757, came six months after European air traffic controllers reduced by half the vertical minimum height between aircraft as part of a program supported by Eurocontrol and publicized by Ogilvy.

Merkel-Sobotta, who heads the Eurocontrol work from Brussels, noted that the organization has been cleared of any fault with regard to the incident.
Merkel-Sobotta said Eurocontrol turned to Ogilvy for the crisis work because of its success handling media relations and messaging for the Reduced Vertical Separation Minimum campaign last October.

Ogilvy is currently handling a media analysis to gauge Eurocontrol's crisis performance in the aftermath of the collision.

The European Union is currently pursuing a plan to bring all air traffic controllers under a pan-European command, called "Single Sky," by 2004. The EU notes in a report on the initiative that synergies with Eurocontrol to establish an agenda for air traffic reform are critical to the Single Sky initiative.

DON'T LINK TERROR IN ISRAEL WITH 9/11

Israel and its supporters should forget about comparing the terror attacks committed there to the horror of Sept. 11, says Republican pollster Frank Luntz in his "Ten Commandments of Effective Communication" report that suggests ways that Israel backers can build support in the U.S.

"Americans see their situation differently, and comparing the two undermines your credibility," says the Luntz Research Cos. Report.

The Arlington, Va.-based pollster says 9/11 "has been forever implanted into the minds and psyches of the American people."

Israeli supporters, however, can capitalize on 9/11 by making a direct contrast between Israeli and Palestinian reaction to that day.

"On that fateful day, Israelis shed tears of pain for the Americans who were killed. But on that day, the Palestinians danced in the streets in celebration," says the LRC Report.

Israeli groups also can empathize with Americans about Sept. 11, the "darkest day in modern American history." The goal is not to "make a direct comparison to 9/11, but invoke the emotions surrounding the event," the Report said.

The LRC Report has been circulating among pro-Israel groups. The GOP has made forging support among Jews, a traditional voting bloc for Democrats, a No. 1 priority.

Luntz has not returned a call.

Threat to Israel is Threat to U.S.

The LRC Report, which is not designed to "judge or recommend policy to the Israeli Government," says pro-Israel groups must explain why a threat to them is a threat to America.

"The reason why Americans are paying attention to the Middle East is not because of the rising level of violence or a personal concern for Israelis or Palestinians," says the LRC Report. "The reason why Americans are paying attention is a fear that somehow the U.S. will get dragged into the conflict and American lives will be lost and gas prices will be higher."

LRC calls the Report a "study of communication effectiveness."

FARR, G/H DECIDE IT'S TIME TO GO

Sue Farr, managing director of Golin/Harris International's U.K. office and Europe regional managing director, is leaving the company by "mutual agreement," said a statement from the Interpublic unit. Barry Leggetter, the office's deputy managing director, succeeds Farr.

CEO Rich Jernstedt praised Farr for guiding the office through difficult economic times since she joined the firm in March 2000.

Leggetter, a former joint MD at Countrywide Porter Novelli in London, joined G/H there after working in New York for two years.

Farr plans to take a vacation before deciding her next PR career move.

POLL SHOWS JOURNALISTS PREFERENCES

Here are the major findings from 150 travel and high technology journalists who responded to Bennett & Co.'s 13th Annual Media Survey:

-27% still get information from PR people via postal mail.

-47% chose e-mail as the preferred means of getting information, and 27% prefer regular mail. Nine percent want fax and three percent like phone calls.

-Despite the recent anthrax scare, 82% said regular mail is still acceptable to them for mailing packages.

-48% of travel media said they don't usually take media FAM tours.

-More than 70% of high tech journalists said having a night, weekend or mobile phone number on a press release is "somewhat" or "extremely" important, as opposed to fewer than 30% of travel journalists.

-Some 88% of tech writers preferred graphics in jpg format, as opposed to bitmap, tif or gif.

When asked if they believe PR firm credibility is growing, 43% said no, and 28% said yes-up 14 percentage points from 2001.

Survey results also reveal 44% of journalists rely on PR firms for 11-30% of their story information and 39% for 1-10% of their story information.

Among the journalists' top five wishes aside from "Don't call to see if I got your release" were: Know your market; create bonds built on trust; become a resource; return calls quickly, and keep releases short and simple, using the inverted pyramid style with the "five Ws" at the top.

SURVEY: 9/11 CHANGED PR-NEWS LINKS

A new survey shows the events of the past year, starting with the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, have had an impact on reporters' relationships with their sources.
Among 301 reporters participating in a survey, 40% said news events had changed the way they report permanently, and 33% noticed differences in information provided by sources.

Changes most often mentioned were a tendency for sources to be more careful with information, more guarded in their comments, and more thoughtful in interviews, yet at the same time more assertive in getting their information into stories once interviewed.

The survey was fielded by the Center for Advanced Social Research at the Univ. of Missouri school of journalism and sponsored by Stanton Crenshaw Communications, a New York-based PR firm.

When asked about changes in their use of sources, the reporters were most likely to mention that they now use a wider variety of sources; that they are more skeptical of information provided, and they make greater use of the Internet when researching stories.

Wayne Wanta, professor in the journalism school, who helped create the survey, said nearly twice as many respondents reported noticing changes in their relationships with public sector sources as with private sources.

"Our sense is that reporters still value professional communicators as sources of information," said SCC's Dorothy Crenshaw. "However, the events of the past year have raised the bar for substance and integrity on both sides."

MEDIA BRIEFS

Avenue, the 28-year-old magazine famous for chronicling the lifestyles of New York's affluent, has been acquired from Stagebill Media by Manhattan Media, publishers of four weekly newspapers, including Our Town and West Side Spirit.

Sun-Sentinel, in Ft. Lauderdale, will publish a weekly Spanish-language newspaper, called El Sentinel, for Broward County's growing Hispanic population beginning in October.

Deborah Ramirez, who has been an editorial writer and columnist for the Sun-Sentinel, is editor of the weekly, which will be distributed free on Saturdays to targeted Hispanic households.

Knight Ridder is accepting applications for its new four-person investigative team based in Washington, D.C., which will pursue stories there, elsewhere in the U.S. and in other countries.

Interested journalists should send applications to Clark Hoyt, Washington editor, or John Walcott, bureau chief at the K R Washington Bureau, 700 National Press Building, Washington, DC 20045-1701.

The Christian Science Monitor has closed its news bureau in Tokyo.

Other media organizations which have recently closed their Tokyo bureaus include The Chicago Tribune, The Independent of London, and Corriere della Sera of Italy.

Playboy TV is starting a weekly news program, Sept. 6, called "The Weekend Flash" on its cable TV network. It will feature a nude anchor, weathergirl and entertainment/lifestyle reporter, who will cover general news, interviews, entertainment, sports and weather.

Tampa Bay Illustrated will be started this January by the Palm Beach Media Group, based in Palm Beach, with an eight-time frequency and 30,000 circulation.

Editorial offices are located in the Pinellas Business Park, 11001 Roosevelt blvd., St. Petersburg, Fla.
Sherman Robbins, who is editor-in-chief of PBMG, can be reached at 561/659-0210 ext. 124.

Greater Cincinnati People magazine will publish its first issue on Sept. 5. Jim Dygert, formerly publisher of two Cincinnati area weekly newspapers, is publisher. He can be reached at 513/769-7888.

(Media news continued on next page)

NEW YORK TIMES NAMES NEW STAFFERS

Carolyn Curiel, 48, has joined The New York Times as an editorial writer, and Jeffrey Gettleman, previously Atlanta bureau chief of The Los Angeles Times, is joining the paper as a national correspondent, based in Atlanta.

Gettleman will be paired with David Halbfinger, the former metro reporter who will take over as Atlanta bureau chief. The two correspondents are expected to range widely across the southeastern U.S. for stories.

Curiel, who is a former U.S. ambassador to Belize and a speechwriter for former President Clinton, has been a visiting fellow on the Times' editorial board this summer.

Gail Collins, who is editor of the editorial pages, said Curiel's experience "will be invaluable, particularly as we deal with issues affecting local government, the environment and foreign affairs."

DWELL PROMOTES ARIEFF TO EDITOR

Allison Arieff was promoted to editor-in-chief of Dwell magazine, succeeding Lara Deam, who was the founding editor.

Previously, Arieff had been senior editor of the San Francico-based magazine, which is devoted to accessible modern design.

Deam will continue with the magazine as chairman.

Dwell will mark its second anniversary when the Sept./Oct. number goes on newsstands this week.

Dwell has boosted its rate base from 50,000 to 150,000 for the first half of 2003.

WALLACE IS EDITOR OF MEN'S JOURNAL

Robert Wallace, 51, is joining Men's Journal as editor on Sept. 4, replacing Sid Evans, who is leaving Wenner Media, which publishes the 10-year-old magazine.

Jann Wenner said he is "looking for Bob to get it (Men's Journal) ready to become number one in the general interest category against GQ and Esquire." The magazine had focused its coverage on the adventure category since it was started.

Wallace, who was executive editor of the now-defunct Talk magazine, had been executive editor of WM's Rolling Stone and a senior producer of ABC's "Prime Time Live."

MJ has an overall average circulation of 620,614.

BROWN NAMED NATURAL HISTORY'S EDITOR

Peter Brown, who was editor-in-chief of The Sciences magazine until the New York Academy of Sciences closed it last year, has been named editor of Natural History magazine.

The 100-year-old magazine of the American Museum of Natural History was recently acquired by several executives in the science publishing community, with the backing of Exeter Capital Partners.

ATLANTA MAGAZINE GETS NEW EDITOR

Rebecca Burns is rejoining Atlanta magazine as editor-in-chief on Sept. 3, replacing Lee Walburn.

Burns, 36, a former senior editor for Atlanta, left in the spring of 2000 to become editor-in-chief of Indianapolis Monthly.

Both magazines are owned by Emmis Communications, which also owns Cincinnati Magazine, Texas Monthly, Los Angeles Magazine and Country Sampler magazine.

Walburn is retiring after 15 years at the monthly.

TECH REPORTER JOINS AP

Rachel Konrad, 31, previously a staff writer and technology reporter for CNET, has joined The Associated Press as a correspondent in San Jose to cover news and technology in Silicon Valley, San Jose and California's coastal region. She replaces Brian Bergstein, who is moving to New York to cover telecommunications for AP.

PEOPLE

Jonah Bloom, editor-in-chief of PR Week, is joining Advertising Age as executive editor on Oct. 1.

Neal Travis, 62, who wrote a daily gossip column for The New York Post, died Aug. 14.

Ed Kelley, 49, has replaced Patrick McGuigan as editorial page editor of The Daily Oklahoman in Oklahoma City.

Art Popham, 52, business columnist for The News Tribune of Tacoma and former PR director for the Oakland Athletics, died July 31.

Mae Cheng, who covers the immigration and demographics beat for the New York City edition of Newsday, was elected president of the Asian American Journalists Assn., during the organizations' 15th annual national convention in Dallas.

Anne Gordon, who has been editor in charge of arts and features coverage at The Philadelphia Inquirer, was named the paper's managing editor.

David Warner, who had been managing editor of IntelliHealth.com, a consumer health website, has joined The Trentonian, a morning newspaper in Trenton, N.J., as editor.

Tammy Leitner, a recent participant on CBS' "Survivor" program, has joined KPHO-TV, in Phoenix, as a reporter for the station's new "Crime Tracker" report. Leitner is a former reporter for The East Valley (Ariz.) Tribune, The New York Post and Corning (N.Y.) Leader.

Steve Post returns to the radio airwaves on Sept. 7 after an 18-month absence as host of "The No Show" on WNYC-FM and AM.

IPG RESTATES; GETS SUED

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but not the names of the firms are given to the SEC.

Individuals named in the suit include CEO John Dooner, CFO Sean Orr, and retired CEO Phil Geier. Milberg Weiss says IPG executives made "material misrepresentations" to the market from Oct. 28, 1997 to Aug. 13, 2002 and also showed that they lacked "adequate financial controls."

IPG had to increase its net loss in 2001 by $5.9M and lower its annual profits from 1997 to 2000 by amounts ranging from $4M to $6.8M.

Misreporting Was in McCann/Europe

Most of the undercharging took place at McCann-Erickson/Europe. The misreporting involved "thousands of transactions" and the total "was much larger than anyone in their wildest dreams had imagined," Orr told analysts. The investigation is continuing, he said.

He gave no hint as to whether the charges involved travel or meal costs or bonuses to IPG staff working at offices other than their own. He only said that "inter-office" activities were involved.

The Milberg suit noted that 17 IPG executives had sold $100 million of agency stock since 1997 at prices that were double or more than current prices. Retired finance head Eugene Beard sold stock worth $35.2M; Dooner, $28M; Geier, $21M in 17 transactions; Frank Lowe of Lowe Lintas, $17M; XVP Barry Linsky, $5.1M in 16 sales, and ex-treasurer Tom Volpe, $3.2M.

Analyst Estimates Missed by 8 Cents

IPG's Q2 EPS of 31 cents was eight cents less than analyst estimates. Revenues fell 8.4% to $1.6 billion. PR was especially hard hit - off 19%. IPG's biggest PR units are Weber Shandwick and Golin/Harris.

IPG was asked for an explanation of the 19% drop but did not respond. Analysts did not raise the issue at a conference call Aug. 13.

The Octagon Motorsports unit of IPG was off 18% in revenues and had a net loss of $17M. Orr said it has high "fixed" costs. Ad sources said IPG owns an auto racetrack and also buys rights to ad sales at many racing events int he U.K. Ad sales were down this summer partly because cigarette ads are now banned at tracks (www.octagonmotorsports.com).

IRS Audits IPG for 1994-96

IPG said the Internal Revenue Service is auditing its 1994-96 income tax returns and that it could be forced to make additional payments. IPG said any payments would not be "material."

The Wall Street Journal, quoting "sources," said IPG was trying to minimize taxes in the mid-1990s.

IPG also said it violated loan covenants and had to pay a 0.5% increase in interest rates on $148.5 million of debt.

SunTrust Robinson Humphrey cut its rating on IPG from "buy" to "neutral," saying "confidence in internal controls needs to be restored." Also cited was the slow economy and problems at Octagon.

JENNISON SELLS, AIM BUYS OMC

Big institutional trades were made in stock of Omnicom in the second quarter, according to 13F filings out today. The institutions had until Aug. 15 (45 days after the close of Q2) to report changes in their stock holdings. OMC had both buyers and sellers according to current filings which are still missing some institutions.

The largest change was the sale of 7.91 million shares by Jennison Assocs. Fidelity Mgmt. sold 5.2 million shares leaving 7.97M, and Morgan Stanley sold 2.64M, leaving 770,768.

Eaton Vance Mgmt. added 4.7M shares for a total of 7.52M. Wellington Mgmt. added 4.71M for a atotal of 4.78M. MacKenzie Financial added 3.8M for a total of 7.6M.

AIM Management, OMC's largest stockholder, added 2.8M bring the total to 11.2M. Brinson Partners added 1.45M to 2.72M; General Electric added 1.4M to 2.3M; Mellon Bank 1.29M to 4.44M, and Renaissance Technology added 1.1M to 1.2M.

About 40 institutions added from 1.1M to 200,000 and more shares.

The exact dates of the trades are not known. OMC stock dropped more than 30 points after a June 12 Wall Street Journal article that raised questions about OMC's accounting. It fell from the $80's to as low as $35 and is now in the mid-$50's.

About 80 institutions purchased OMC stock while about 50 sold it.

ML Investment Cuts Shares

Sellers included Merrill Lynch Investment, which cut 637,579 shares from its holdings to a new total of 1.41 million. In the first quarter, ML Investment and ML Mercury added 305,729 shares for a total of 2.78M. ML Mercury's new total is not yet available.

Lauren Fine, analyst for ML on ad agency stocks, has been one of the biggest supporters of OMC, giving it a "strong buy" both long and short term.

Other sellers included W.P. Stewart, cutting its holdings by 2.7M to 1.75M; American Century, selling 1.27M to 144,000; STI Trust selling 826,231 to 430,981, and Harris Bretall selling 782,087 to eliminate its OMC holdings.

About 20 institutions sold between 500,000 and 900,000 shares while about 30 sold between 100,000 and 500,000 shares.

John Kiker, United Airlines VP-worldwide communications, is joining Edelman PR Worldwide Sept. 16 as EVP/GM of its New York corporate affairs group. He joined UA in 1993 and leaves as parent UAL Corp. says it may follow US Airways into bankruptcy...Hill and Knowlton has registered as lobbyist for sister WPP Group company, Ogilvy and Mather, which is trying to remain in control of the $150M media buying account of the White House Office of Nat'l Control Policy Office. O&M paid a $1.8M fine to settle civil charges that it bilked the government on the account...United Media has retained Catan Comms. to handle media relations for the Charles M. Schultz Museum & Research Center.

"Package" means a new thing in the PR job market. The head of a New York firm said that jobseekers used to ask what "package" the firm would offer them, meaning health benefits, vacation, 401K, etc. "Now they ask if they can handle packages in the mail room," said the source...another PR firm said that monthly retainers of $20,000 and $30,000 have become $5,000, $10,000 and $15,000.

The worst thing, for those following PR, about the Interpublic conference call Aug. 13 (page 7) was the refusal of the IPG execs to explain the 19% drop in PR income. No analyst asked the question so IPG execs said nothing. We gave the question to IPG PR aide Phil Krakowsky but no answer came back, which is typical of IPG...the real worst thing about the call was that IPG admitted not counting $68.5 million in expenses over a five-year period resulting in an almost immediate lawsuit by the Big Daddy of the stockholder litigators, Milberg Weiss Bershad Hynes & Lerach. The suit poses a legitimate question-if IPG's stock was so great, why did the IPG execs sell $100 million of it in the past five years?!

Another bizarre financial question is why is Merrill Lynch ignoring the advice of its own analyst, Lauren Fine, on Omnicom? Fine is the most ardent supporter of OMC, constantly stressing its solid fundamentals, etc. Yet ML's own stocktraders ignore her and sell OMC in major quantities . If ML doesn't believe Fine, why should anyone else? We asked ML PR about this but the unit remains mute...OMC appears to be in total press lockdown. AdWeek did three positive pages on the ad giant Aug. 12 but couldn't reach either CEO John Wren nor CFO Randy Weisenburger. AdWeek says KPMG has given OMC "a clean bill of health" and "absolved" OMC on Seneca, where the ad agency deposited its dot-com companies. Asked if this were true, KPMG said it doesn't discuss client matters. Actually, KPMG has said nothing on the matter.

It may not have found accounting issues but Seneca is a moral issue. OMC dumped stock of a number of dot-coms, including Razorfish and Agency.com, into Seneca. OMC claimed it no longer owned the firms and didn't have to deduct losses in RAZF, ACOM, etc., from its own figures. At the same time, it says it continues to own a major part of the dot-coms via hundreds of millions in preferred stock.

Which is it? RAZF and ACOM were big operations. RAZF once had 2,000 employees and had a loss of $24.8 million in Q1 of 2001. OMC was getting big numbers off its books...the leadership of Wren and other OMC execs gets plenty of praise from AdWeek. But the insiders at OMC are only too well rewarded. Even Merrill Lynch's Fine has said the amount of options OMC execs have given themselves is "staggering."

OMC in 2001 gave Wren options on two million shares at $79.50 which would have been worth $160 million if OMC stock reached the target price of $165 set in the $850M zero-bonds via ML. Buyers of these convertibles, instead of receiving interest, bet that would be the price. They get the chance to demand their money back Feb. 3, 2003...the OMC board this year voted to raise their pay from $24K each to $60K a year and also pay themselves $1,000 for "attending a special meeting by phone."

We bet there are a lot of those these days. Counting other forms of payment to the board, each member is probably getting more than $100K which is about double the pay of directors of other service firms in the $5-$10B category (Conference Board statistic). UBS Warburg has noted the large amount of options OMC and IPG execs have given themselves (about 10% of the outstanding shares of each company).

Ad agencies and even PR firms talk a lot about "branding" these days, meaning creating a warm feeling towards companies, products, etc. The latest annual report of WPP Group has a 16-page essay on branding giving numerous definitions of it. But the press is covering the character of a company and its executives when news hits. Do these executives run and hide from the press? How can these companies or their products be good "brands" if their executives take the Fifth Amendment?

Visitors to the O'Dwyer website were asked if they approved of Edelman PR Worldwide asking its suppliers to join it in advertising in the Sept. 23 Advertising Age in which Edelman has a 24-page 50th anniversary ad. The vote was 104 to 30 against asking for such ads (78% to 22%).

Recent college grads have been asking us for jobseeking advice. One grad, who has spent months in a job search, said a PR firm advised him to bring in some accounts if he wanted a job. We told him to contact local businesses himself and join the junior committees of local charities and political groups to make contacts and possibly start his own business...another grad said, "If you truly want to do well in PR, you probably will not do it working for someone else. Learn to get your own clients." This writer, who majored in PR at Boston University, advised anyone studying PR on the undergraduate level to "change your major, an undergraduate PR degree is worthless." Employers aren't fussy about undergraduate majors but a graduate degree in PR "can be leveraged," said the writer.
--Jack O'Dwyer