GREY GLOBAL MAY UNLOAD APCO

Grey Global Group is considering selling its 70% stake in its Washington, D.C.-based APCO Worldwide unit in an effort to focus attention on GCI Group. APCO was split from GCI a number of years ago.

The ad/PR conglom acquired APCO, which was Arnold & Porter's PA unit, in 1991. APCO CEO Margery Kraus is responsible for more than 400 employees stationed in a dozen countries. She told this NL billings are close to $50 million in fees.

Her firm has expanded its offerings to include PR, M&As, crisis/issues management, marketing and online communications. That expansion has led to an overlap of service offerings with GCI.

Bear Stearns is advising GGG on the potential deal.

H&K DIALS UP MOBILE TELECOM GROUP

Hill & Knowlton has been tapped to handle worldwide PR for an international trade group of mobile telecom operators, the GSM Association, which is downplaying a study linking new wireless technology to headaches and nausea.

The account runs the gamut of PR, government relations, online and mobile marketing work, in the U.S. and abroad. Sally Costerton, head of corporate comms. in H&K's London office, oversees the work.
GSM, or global system for mobile communications, supports 590 operators of second- and third-generation wireless technology in 200 countries.

Marc Smith, communications director for the Dublin, Ireland-based organization, told this NL the authors of the report found "small statistically significant effects on exposure to 3G signals but no effects from GSM signals."

GSM board members include top execs from Vodafone, AT&T Wireless, China Unicom and T-Mobile.

LAZARD SNAGS SILVERMAN

Honeywell's Richard Silverman has joined investment banker Lazard as its global communications director. He also served as director of global media relations at Merrill Lynch.

Silverman began his career as a journalist at Dow Jones News Service. He put in stints at The Wall Street Journal and Bloomberg News.

Lazard operates in 15 countries, handling mergers/acquisitions, asset management, restructurings and real estate investment banking. It uses Joele Frank, Wilkinson Brimmer Katcher for PR.

ROWLAND, CANON PART WAYS

Canon USA has split with its long-time firm Rowland Communications but is mum on future plans for a firm of record.

The Lake Success, N.Y.-based imaging company is currently using Edelman PR Worldwide for project work, according to PR manager Deborah Szajngarten, who told this NL the "long-tenured relationship" with Rowland officially ended in August.

She said the company is not currently looking for a firm, but declined to discuss future plans.
Calls placed to Rowland president/CEO Mark Weiss and VP Lou Desiderio, who headed the work, have not been returned.

Rowland is a unit of Publicis' Saatchi & Saatchi.
Edelman is currently working on the rollout of Canon's Powershot compact digital camera.

The Japanese company, which employs about 10,000 in the U.S., has become a strong player in the digital imaging and printing market, rubbing sometimes sharp elbows with rivals Hewlett Packard, Sony and Xerox.

Kodak, meanwhile, announced a shift in strategy last week to focus on digital markets, saying it will spend $3B on investments and acquisitions in the next 2.5 years. Ketchum has the reins on Kodak's PR.

KAMER JOINS MS&L

Larry Kamer, chairman of Kamer Consulting Group, is joining Manning, Selvage & Lee as U.S. director-crisis and issues management.

With Sam Singer, Kamer built Kamer-Singer & Assocs. into a 100-member high-tech firm before selling it to GCI Group in 1999. Kamer told this NL that he's had a long relationship with MS&L and its CEO Lou Capozzi. KS&A was an affiliate of MS&L. It shared clients such as Nike. MS&L was outbid by GCI for KS&A, said Kamer.

KCG bills itself as a firm positioned to handle " risk, controversy and crisis." The San Francisco-based firm has counseled ChevronTexaco, Nike, Port of Oakland, Pottery Barn, and Kendall Jackson Wine Estates.

The firm controls rumors, deals with executive departure/death and manages fall-out from "environmental incidents" and "activist intervention," according to its website.

KCG's Marcy Lynn, Ben Drew, Dan Gould and Jane Sacco are also joining MS&L. Kamer said that KCG will remain in existence. "We are exploring the opportunity of using it as a 'conflict shop,'" he said.

CASSIDY LEADS BIG MEDIA'S FIGHT

Cassidy & Assocs. is leading Big Media's fight in support of the Federal Communications Commission's chief Michael Powell's bid to ease restrictions on ownership rules, a move that has been blocked by the Senate.

News Corp. (owner of Fox TV), General Electric (NBC), Viacom (CBS) and Walt Disney Co. (ABC) have retained the services of the Interpublic unit to communicate with Congress and the Administration regarding FCC regulations. The firm also coordinates industry response to groups opposed to allowing Big Media to bolster the number of broadcast stations that it owns.

The FCC, during its comment period, received more than two million responses against its plan.

C&A also is representing Disney in its effort to build relationships with key members of Congress.

SORRELL LIKES FUTURE OF PR OVER ADS

Martin Sorrell, CEO of WPP Group, told a Goldman Sachs Communicopia event Sept. 30 that the ad/PR holding company's focus will move more toward marketing services like PR in the next 10 years and away from its traditional advertising base.

Sorrell singled out PR as a particularly strong area of potential growth, saying he will not sell off any of its units in the sector because editorial coverage is more believable in the public's eye than advertising.

Bear Stearns issued a report on WPP Sept. 29 saying that PR is at least declining at a slower pace than other marketing sectors.

Sorrell rapped Grey Global Group's decision last week to pursue the sale of its public affairs unit, APCO Worldwide, and ripped rival Havas for following a strategy similar to another former competitor, the now-defunct Cordiant Communications.

His comments were first reported by the advertising news site, Mediapost.com.

Sorrell predicted two-thirds of WPP's revenues by 2014 would be derived from non-advertising sectors, like research, PR, consulting and healthcare comms.

WPP's major PR holdings include Burson-Marsteller, Hill & Knowlton and Ogilvy PR Worldwide.

F-H NETWORKS FOR STORAGE MANAGERS

Fleishman-Hillard beat out several firms to handle launch and ongoing PR efforts for a new, national trade group set up by the corporate users of storage networks, who are looking to strike up a national dialogue on the systems that store data.

The Association of Storage Networking Professionals has set up a network of IT managers from companies and organizations like Qwest Comms., Barnes & Noble, Southwest Airlines, and the Mayo Clinic.

Max Shu, VP of the group, told this NL IT technologies are often the biggest challenge and largest portion of budgets for IT departments and the group hopes to demystify the sector and level the playing field between its users and vendors.

U.S. FACES 'PERILOUS TIMES,' SAYS PR PRO

America faces "perilous times" and stands "isolated" because of the Bush Administration's failure to quell widespread conflict in Iraq and enlist broader international and domestic support for restoring stability there, said Robert Dilenschneider.

How things play out in the next few months "will define the shape of our lives for generations to come," said the New York counselor at Vanderbilt University's Chancellor's Lecture Series on Oct. 2.

He warned that the global threat of terrorism has been compounded by the Iraqi mess. "Iraq is beginning to evoke echoes of the Vietnam era and of those two important words that so eroded President Johnson's popularity-credibility and quagmire."

If stability is not restored to Iraq in the very near future, Americans should brace themselves for "stormy and volatile economic and political consequences here in the U.S," he said.

Dilenschneider said it's paramount that the U.N. send peacekeeping troops and money to fund the reconstruction of Iraq. For that to happen, the U.S. must relinquish control over the rebuilding process.

The PR exec feels the Administration needs to apply greater financial and political pressure on the Israelis, Palestinians and neighboring Arab states to push ahead with the road map to peace.

Bush is Likely to Win

Dilenschneider said "political vulnerabilities notwithstanding, President Bush will most likely be re-elected next year."

He called the President a "formidable campaigner" who will be backed by the "biggest war chest in U.S. history."

Bush is also running unopposed in his party.

A word of advice for Bush: "tone down the extreme rhetoric of Congressional Republicans and supporters on sensitive social issues such as abortion, school prayer and gay bashing."

Those conservative positions hurt GOP moderates and turn away independents from supporting the party.

KETCHUM DOWNGRADES PITTSBURGH

Ketchum, which was founded in Pittsburgh 80 years ago, is downgrading that office to a satellite status in an efficiency move at the Omnicom unit.

The firm's Pittsburgh operation, which services H.J. Heinz, Alcoa and Fedex, will be part of the Chicago Midwest regional headquarters.

Jerry Thompson, head of Pittsburgh, is shifting to Atlanta around the beginning of the new year.

Six Pittsburgh staffers were let go last week, leaving an overall force of less than 30 people in the city.

Ketchum/Pittsburgh had $9.6 million in fees and 81 staffers in 2000, the last year it reported financial figures to O'Dwyer's.

During the past two years, the firm merged its San Francisco and Los Angeles offices, and its Atlanta and Dallas units.

HOME DECOR IS A `HOT' MEDIA TOPIC

Home decorating is a "hot" area of coverage, Lou Hammond, president of Lou Hammond & Assocs., told a group of design experts in New York Sept. 30.

"A recent survey found the home is where Americans are spending their money," said Hammond, who noted home decorating stories, especially about trends, were what editors and producers say readers, viewers and listeners want to read and hear about.

"You should pitch one idea a day," Hammond advised the more than 80 designers at the meeting where she moderated a panel, consisting of Mark Mayfield, editor-in-chief of House Beautiful; Wendy Moonan, who currently covers antiques for The New York Times; Marcia Sherrill, a partner of Kleinberg Sherrill, and Suzanne Slesin, former editor of Homestyle, House & Garden and the "Home" section of The New York Times.

Suggests a Media Plan

Hammond said designers should put together a placement plan that includes a list of daily newspapers with a circulation of more than 250,000; weekly newspapers; the top national and regional shelter magazines; home improvement shows on TV, and several feature and news syndicates.

"And don't forget talk radio, either," she told a packed room of designers, who attended a seminar sponsored by the American Society of Interior Designers/N.Y. Metro chapter.

In her introductory remarks, which featured a 15-minute slide show presentation of how to use PR to get results, Hammond made the point of noting that getting "gratis media exposure" is what PR is about.

She said designers should put together press kits with information about their company, photos and biographies of executives.

For her opening question, Hammond asked the panelists how they like to get information.

Send a Letter

Slesin said she "really loves opening mail." While he is busy on a daily basis looking at hundreds of galley photos, Mayfield said he too "loves mail" and takes the time every day to read his mail because he frequently finds ideas there.

Although it is not a good idea to send everything to him, Mayfield said he will forward interesting information to appropriate editors on his staff who might be able to use it.

Slesin said she reads her mail, particularly press releases, to keep abreast of what is going on. "We need to have more contact," said Slesin, who is author of a new book, entitled "Helena Rubenstein -Extraordinary Style, Beauty, Art, Fashion, Design." She also said "nothing replaces getting photos on paper."

`Don't Bore Me'

Moonan said she dosen't care how she gets pitched as long as it is not boring.

Sherrill said it is important for designers to "tailor their pitch to a market," taking into account the magazine, newspaper or TV show's audience.

She also said designers should hire PR professionals to pitch stories for them.

Slesin likes to deal with people who "don't lie" to her. She said a publicist once pitched her a story idea, telling her upfront that the same story had been sitting on an editor's desk for three years.

"I took it anyway and got it published," she said.

NEWS BEATS ADVERTISING IN TRUST ISSUES

Sixty-eight percent of Americans surveyed find news coverage to be more important than advertising when determining their trust of a company, and 23% stated it had the same value. Only 9% said advertising had greater value than news coverage.

"Media coverage continues to be a significant factor in determining the level of trust Americans hold for a company," said Ron Hanser, president of Hanser & Assocs., which commissioned Roper ASW to poll the 1,147 Americans cited in the survey.

PLACEMENT TIPS

"Nightly Business Report'" anchors and staff welcome e-mails.

The program's Miami-based producer said messages sent to [email protected] will be forwarded to the appropriate person.

"While we may not be able to respond quickly because of the volume of e-mail we receive, we welcome your comments," the producer said.

"Eye On Philadelphia with Beverly Williams," a program developed by the former news anchor for CBS 3, made its debut on Sept. 28.

The weekly half-hour show, which will air at 8:30 a.m. on Sundays, features a mix of personality profiles, local issues and places of interest.

Suzanne Hansberry is the show's producer.

Female Entrepreneur, a new national, bimonthly magazine, is starting its first regional magazine: Female Entrepreneur Texas.

The first edition is scheduled to hit newsstands Jan. 2004 and will focus on local companies, personalities and business issues, said Keli Swenson, editor of FE. She is based in Henderson, Nev., at 888/663-2400, ext. 85; e-mail: [email protected].

CASTING CALL FOR SMALL TOWNS

A&E Network is seeking small towns in the U.S. for a holiday-themed "reality contest," currently entitled "Ultimate Holiday Town USA."

All candidate towns must have a winter population not exceeding 50,000 residents and must hold their major holiday celebrations on or before Dec. 6, 2003.

Towns interested in entering the competition should contact the producers, Atlas Media, at [email protected].

(Media news continued on next page)

PLACEMENTS PUBLICIZE NEW $20 BILL

The Bureau of Engraving and Printing is using its first product placement firm and one of Hollywood's top talent agencies to get publicity for the redesigned $20 bill.

Davie-Brown Entertainment and William Morris Agency were paid a flat fee to make the new colorized note a celebrity through PR instead of paid ads, according to The New York Times.

The new bill, which will be introduced this week, has already appeared on "Wheel of Fortune" and "Pepsi Play for a Billion," where its new look and security features were talked up.

The Times also said Jay Leno, David Letterman and other late-night talk show hosts have been making jokes about the new bill, which is exactly what the William Morris Agency was hoping for when it discussed the bill months ago with the shows' writers.

During the introduction week, the bill is likely to be featured on many news and entertainment programs just because it's newsworthy. It will also have a starring role on "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire," with hundreds of new $20 bills doled out to audience members.

The bill will get a category of questions on "Jeopardy" and appear on "America's Funniest Home Videos."

In one of several joint marketing efforts between the Treasury and consumer goods companies, the bill's design will appear on bags of Pepperidge Farm Goldfish crackers, and the crackers themselves will be colored to match the new bills. Images of the new note will pop up on thousands of ATMs, and the bill will be superimposed electronically on the field during college football games on ESPN and "Monday Night Football" on ABC.

"Those are just the appearances that the Treasury knows about," according to the Times, which said Hollywood representatives for the bill have been meeting for months with TV writers to try to land the new bill on a series likes "CSI: Miami," "The West Wing" or "Law & Order."

Burson-Marsteller has been overseeing the PR campaign for the Treasury Dept., which will spend $33 million on advertising, marketing and education programs over the next five years to introduce the world to the $20 bill, and later to color versions of the $50 and $100 bills.

BRITNEY BREAKS COVER EXCLUSIVE PLEDGE

Dan Klores Comms. has dropped Britney Spears for breaking the firm's pledge of a cover story exclusive in Esquire.

On her own, Spears gave interviews to three other magazines, including Rolling Stone, and also canceled appearances on NBC and ABC that had been set up by DKC.

Her repeated sabotaging of the firm's PR campaign for her had compromised his reputation with other clients, Dan Klores told reporters.

Spears will appear on the cover of Esquire's November issue as part of the magazine's "70 Years of Women We Love."

DALY HEADS RED HERRING'S NEWS TEAM

James Daly, founder and former editor of Business 2.0, has been named to head Red Herring's editorial team, based in Mountain View, Calif.

His staff includes former Upside editor-in-chief Richard Brandt, senior writers and reporters from the original Red Herring team, and a broad array of journalists, who have contributed to publications ranging from The Economist to The Industry Standard.

Red Herring will offer wide international coverage and examine the commercial development of technology in companies of every size, Daly said.

The magazine, which was shut down in March, is being restarted as an online magazine covering the business of technology.

The new venture's website, www.redherring.com, which is set to go live imminently, will deliver 90 stories each month analyzing the issues affecting the global IT industry.

Alex Vieux, who acquired Red Herring in April, also is planning to relaunch other parts of the former Red Herring Communications, including a series of subscription-based newsletters on a range of topics.

MSNBC NAMES HEALTH SECTION EDITORS

Molly Masland and Jane Weaver were named editors of MSNBC.com's health section.

Jacqueline Stenson also has joined the new health team as contributing editor, covering fitness.

Masland, who will stay in MSNBC's Redmond, Wash., office, started at MSNBC in 1998 and went to become a news producer, editor and reporter.

Weaver was named health editor after a seven-year career for MSNBC.com, where she was a senior writer who covered business topics, including media, advertising and e-commerce. She is based in MSNBC's Secaucus, N.J., office.

Dean Wright is editor-in-chief of MSNBC.com.

VIBE UPS VALDES TO EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

Mimi Valdes was appointed editor-in-chief of Vibe magazine, succeeding Emil Wilbekin, who was named editorial director/VP of brand development for Vibe Ventures.

Valdes joined Vibe in 1993 as an editorial assistant. In 1998, she was named managing editor then editor-in-chief of Blaze magazine. After Vibe/Spin Ventures suspended publication of Blaze in 2000, Valdes was named executive editor of Vibe, and then editor-at-large.

Valdes is currently co-executive producer of Vibe's TV show, "Weekend Vibe."

The CEOs of the Big Three ad holding companies-Martin Sorrell of WPP, John Wren of Omnicom, and David Bell of Interpublic-are doing PR for their firms. All three won major treatment in the financial press in the past couple of weeks.

Grading their efforts from a PR perspective, we'd give Sorrell an "A" for his mega-piece on the front page of the Marketplace section of the Oct. 1 Wall Street Journal. A large color drawing shows Sorrell standing atop the globe with his sleeves rolled up and one fist clenched. Image-wise, virtually nothing can top this. Sorrell stresses he is "never satisfied," wants "continuous improvement" and is dedicated to "high standards" for all WPP units. From a journalistic and reader's standpoint, there is little in this sendup. Sorrell's message, that different countries need different marketing approaches, is far from a revelation. The WSJ uses the word "sir" with every mention of Sorrell (22 times), although Bloomberg, Reuters, New York Post and others don't use it at all or just use it once. Titles such as "sir" or "lord" (i.e., Lord Chadlington, aka Peter Gummer, founder of Shandwick), rankle U.S. readers. Some U.K. media write in awestruck terms about Sorrell, calling him "Macho Martin" and "the tough little guy" (Daily Telegraph). WPP's $3.19 billion debt, biggest of the Big Three, is not noted.

A "B" goes to Wren for the unmitigated puff piece by William Spain on CBS MarketWatch (10/1 NL).

Spain, ignoring such matters as stockholder lawsuits, $2.6B debt and $4.8B in goodwill on OMC's balance sheet, says Wren has "modest" material possessions-"one house in Connecticut and a 20-year-old boat." Wren's charitable work is noted. But the house is in Greenwich, one of the two or three richest cities in the U.S., and Wren got two million options in 2001 at $79.50 that were supposed to be worth $160 million when OMC hit the target price of $160+ envisioned for its zero bonds. Merrill Lynch analyst Lauren Fine thought the 5.7 million options issued in 2002 for top OMC execs was "staggering." Wren is far from being a monk who has taken a vow of poverty. OMC's stock has recovered from the $30's to the $70's but it is still far below its high of $107 two years ago.

A "D" (from a PR standpoint) goes to Bell, who walked out of an interview with the Financial Times (9/30) when the reporter asked about IPG's $2.7B debt. "It's over," Bell told the reporter, rising "angrily from the sofa" and "striding across the lobby," said the story. Losing one*s temper and blowing off a reporter would not be advised by a PR pro. Yet, in this interview and in one for Bloomberg Sept. 23 (10/1 NL), Bell was the most informative of the Big Three CEOs. He covered IPG's $2.7B debt and other negatives in talking to Bloomberg and gave the Times some good quotes.

Maybe Wren is being driven to speak because the other two CEOs are. All three need some good PR advice. Wren, who has never employed a PR pro at OMC h.q., told Spain he listened to some of his PR units but decided "no PR strategy was going to overcome it" (WSJ story on OMC*s accounting practices). Wren instituted a 15-month press boycott, broken by the Spain interview. Only the most vestigial PR is practiced at IPG and WPP, in our experience.

The setting of new deadlines at PRSA national and its Los Angeles chapter has touched off charges of unfairness. The national deadline for those seeking nominations for board or officer posts was June 19. Completed entries were due then. This deadline was extended to June 25.

At PRSA/LA, members had until Aug. 22 to hand in PRism Award entries (which already was a late date costing an extra $30 per entry). This was extended to Aug. 29 by chapter president Greg Waskul and other top officers but not the full board even though the printed rules said, "No extensions beyond these deadlines will be granted."

As we have noted (page 7), a half dozen candidates submitted entries for national office after June 19. PRSA staffer Brady Leet confirmed this to a number of PRSA leaders.

Nominations chair Kathy Lewton and PRSA president Reed Byrum say that some candidates who had not quite made up their minds, but who were known to be possible candidates, got their act together and submitted by the new deadline.

Not enough entrants showed up by the deadline so it was pushed back. The same reason is given for the new deadline for the PRism Awards.

Waskul said only 180 entries were received. A last-minute campaign brought it to 300. Waskul's four-person firm submitted 47, more than double any other contestant but down from 55 entries in 2002. Waskul and some other chapter leaders know the entries submitted by each firm but the full board and the contestants don't.

The new deadlines in both cases are unfair to those who submitted on time.

Does PRSA national want leaders who have to be dragooned to serve or who can't get their act together enough to submit entries on time? Not in our view.
In the L.A. awards contest, the firms that submitted on time face competition from those that didn't.

Perhaps the whole PRism contest should be shipped to other chapters (which do the judging for L.A.).

--Jack O'Dwyer