KELLOGG GETS GOODE FOR PR.
Kimberley Crews Goode, VP of global communications for Prudential Financial, has entered the consumer arena as Kellogg Co.'s VP, worldwide comms.

The post is a new one at the $9 billion cereal and convenience food producer, said a spokesman.

Goode is charged with oversight of both internal and external comms. for the Battle Creek, Mich.-based company, a post similar to her responsibilities at Prudential. Kellogg has production operations in 17 countries and markets its products in 180 nations.

Prior to Prudential, Goode was director of communications at American Express, heading global comms. for its technology operations, and earlier headed global corporate relations for Galileo International, part of United Airlines.

MARTIN JOINS POWELL TATE.
Christina Martin, who headed PA and communications for the Cellular Telecommunications and Internet Assn. for the past five years, has taken an executive VP post at Powell Tate/Weber Shandwick, a part of Interpublic.

Martin will be "working on a variety of yet-to-be determined clients." She told O Dwyer's that she talked to "just about all the firms in D.C., and chose Powell Tate because it has a strong sense of character," as evidenced by the leadership of Jody Powell, who was President Carter's press secretary, and Shelia Tate, who was First Lady Nancy Reagan's press secretary.

Martin also was a GOP political operative, serving as press secretary for former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich, and deputy secretary for the Dole-Kemp presidential run. She also was in the White House speechwriting shop during the Bush I Admin.

WPP WINS GREY SWEEPSTAKES.
Ed Meyer, 77, has agreed to sell Grey Global Group to WPP Group for $1.5 billion. He will remain CEO of Grey until Dec. 31, `06, and join WPP's board of directors. WPP edged Hellman & Friedman, and Havas, which claims WPP's price does not make financial sense.

Meyer, who controls more than 70 percent of GGG's voting stock, will operate the firm as a separate entity under the WPP banner in an effort to please its top client, Procter & Gamble. P&G accounts for more than 10 percent of GGG's revenues. Unilever is a major WPP account.

PR CONSULTING
HANDLES BEARD CRISIS.
PR Consulting Group was tapped by the James Beard Foundation to handle crisis PR caused by a report that the culinary charity can t account for hundreds of thousands of dollars.

The New York Times disclosed that the not-accounted-for revenues were uncovered as a result of the paper's own review of the Foundation's tax records over a span of 15 years.

George Sape, a Foundation trustee, who is managing director of Epstein Becker Green, a law firm that has been a client of PRCG for several years, said the Times conclusion was "accurate."
Melanie Young, whose PR firm (M. Young Communications) has handled PR for the annual awards dinner, is also awards and auction director for the foundation.

Moskin said hundreds of chefs, restaurateurs, journalists and authors have "capped their resumes" with awards from the James Beard Foundation.

BARR TO CSI FOR PLAN B.
Barr Laboratories has tapped Madison, N.J.-based Communications Strategies Inc. to handle marketing communications for its "morning after" birth control pill, Plan B. The prescription contraceptive is marketed through Barr's Duramed unit, which is seeking FDA approval to sell the drug over the counter to patients over 16 years old.

Pat Garrison, senior VP at CSI, noted Barr won the assignment for Plan B based on its work for Duramed's Seasonale, an oral birth control pill which has become a top seller for the drug maker since its release in November 2003.

CSI is charged with positioning the drug to doctors, pharmacists and consumers as a safe form of emergency, prescription contraception.

PUBLICIS IS UP 23%.
Publicis Groupe, which decided not to bid for Grey Global Group, reports a 23 percent rise in first-half net income to 80M euros.

CEO Maurice Levy said the France-based ad/PR conglom improved its operating margin to 14.4% as personnel costs and the expense connected with the integration of Bcom3 declined. He said Publicis would continue its "highly selective approach to acquisitions" in an effort to "optimize its financial sources."

Publicis biggest deal in the half was the pick-up of "shopper marketing" specialist ThompsonMurray.

NO MEDICARE CONFLICT,
SAYS KETCHUM.
Ketchum has brushed aside charges leveled by a non-profit watchdog group that the firm's work for Medicare and a policy group is in conflict.

The firm heads an $87M contract for the Centers for Medicare Services and also represents the American Society of Clinical Oncology, a group of cancer doctors critical of cuts in Medicare payments for cancer drugs.

Public Interest Watch, a Washington, D.C.-based non-profit, has submitted a written request to the U.S. Dept. of Health and Human Services saying Ketchum's $87M contract to promote Medicare benefits to seniors is a "blatant conflict of interest."

Ketchum VP Robyn Massey told O Dwyer's work on behalf of CMS is a public education effort to tell seniors about Medicare benefits, an assignment which the government agency is mandated to carry out.

For ASCO, Ketchum is handling public affairs for the group's policy push to restore cancer drug funding levels that were cut by last year's Medicare prescription drug law.

"We're providing support on a very specific policy matter that has to do with cancer care, basically one line out of hundreds of pages in the Medicare bill. One is a policy issue and the other is an education issue," said Massey.

Lewis Fein, interim executive director for PIW and a Los Angeles-based public affairs pro, called Ketchum's work for both clients a "sweetheart deal" and a "blatant" conflict of interest.

"There's an abuse of the public trust," he said. "If this was a law firm, there's no way they can take on both clients. There isn t a similar standard or procedure in the PR industry and it's a fundamental problem."

Massey pointed out that ASCO was aware of the firm's work on behalf of Medicare and didn t have a problem with Ketchum handling the two assignments.

Fein said PIW hasn t yet received a response from HHS.

BAIN DIALS UP
STANTON CRENSHAW.
Stanton Crenshaw Communications is handling Bain Capital's $1.5 billion acquisition of Verizon Communications SuperPages Canada directory business. The deal for the $300M annual revenues unit is expected to close by yearend.

VC identified SuperPages as a "non-core" asset as it plans to focus on Internet and cell-phone based yellow pages ad operations.

Bain, which has more than $20 billion in assets under management, has experience in managing "carve-out" acquisitions, such as SuperPages. The Boston-based firm also has a background in the phone directory business gained via its investment in Italian yellow pages publisher SEAT.

Bain's investment track record includes stakes in Houghton Mifflin, Domino's Pizza, Ameritrade and Lowes Cineplex Entertainment.

Alex Stanton is handling press for Bain.

PEPPERDINE U. MAY AX PR MAJOR.
Pepperdine University has proposed a realignment within its Seaver College institution that would eliminate PR as a major and combine several marketing disciplines under an "integrated marketing" major through its business school.

The University, which charges about $35K a year for tuition and boarding, put together a plan to slash $1 million from the Seaver budget.

"The PR discipline is one of several which are being looked at," said Jerry Derloshon, director of news and PR for the university, who noted a handful of other programs are being looked at as part of an evaluation process. "What I think the end result should be, and must be, is a better overall academic program for the students. That could be keeping PR as a major or calling it something else like ‘integrated marketing communications with other disciplines."

Derloshon told O Dwyer's the input of students, alumni and professionals in the field will be considered and factored in any final decision.

"I could understand if it was a non-producing major, but PR is the 12th most popular major at the school," said Grant Turck, a junior PR major who is organizing an effort to put pressure on the school to change its plans.

Turck has fired off e-mails to PR alumni of the school, many of whom have expressed support of t<%-4>he program and conveyed those feelings to the school.<%-3> Some have threatened to withhold contributions, he said.

Derloshon added: "These kinds of inquiries make the university want to delve into questions like, ‘Would an integrated marketing communications approach be more effective and more valuable in the marketplace?

"We are looking at ways to be more effective and the PR discipline is one of the subjects we're evaluating. It's part of the dynamics of a university, to stay relevant and serve the students better."

Derloshon stressed there is no de facto elimination of any program at this time and described the process as "an evaluation." He stressed the move is not a "knee-jerk reaction to budget cuts."

RICKEY PURSUES NEW JOB.
David Rickey, senior VP-PR of AmSouth Bank, Birmingham, Ala., who has been one of PRSA's most active leaders in recent years, left his job in mid-August to pursue new opportunities.

He said he has been looking for awhile after four and a half years at the bank and is talking with prospective employers.

Rickey feels that the most honest thing in consideration of his employer is to leave his current job while looking for another.

AmSouth said no successor has been named. Rick Swagler is VP of media relations.

As chair of PRSA's board of ethical and professional standards, Rickey has made a number of professional advisories in recent months to the Society's membership on ethical issues. He was co-chair of the PRSA conference in New Orleans last year.

'PERSONAL JOURNAL'
SECTION EXPANDED.
The Wall Street Journal has broadened its coverage of products and services on Wednesday and Thursdays in its "Personal Journal" section.

While continuing to focus on breaking news coverage, the PJ section will now offer a more concentrated focus in the following areas:
The "Personal Finance Wednesday" pages will offer advice for high-net-worth individuals as well as track new products and services from brokerage firms.

Jonathan Clements "Getting Going" column, Tom Herman's tax advice and the ongoing family-finance columns will continue.

The "Home and Family Thursday" pages will have more coverage of the home-building, furnishings and appliance businesses, plus expanded coverage of cars, gadgets and travel.

A new "Weekend Adviser" column by Jane Spencer has also been added to the Thursday section that will feature brief items on upcoming TV shows, sports events, books, movies and music.
The section also includes Kara Swisher's "Home Economics" column as well as Sue Shellenbarger's and Jeffrey Zaslow's family-life columns.

Following the success of the Thursday "luxury well," a section for high-end, luxury consumer products, the Journal is redesigning the daily well on pages A2 and A3.

A recent survey of Journal subscribers found the Health & Family and Personal Finance pages to be among the best-read columns/features in the paper.

The Journal also plans to publish a "Weekend Journal Part 2" section, starting with a holiday guide that will appear in the Dec. 3 edition.

These new seasonal supplements will preview events and trends, and also cover topics such as entertainment, fashion, travel and cars.

PLACEMENT TIPS
Global Traveler magazine, the Yardley, Pa.-based publication which was started last February, is written for the frequent-traveling executive.
GT, which is published monthly with bimonthlies in June/July and December/January, has an ABC-audited circulation of 60,238.

Lisa Matte, editor-in-chief, said GT focuses on no-nonsense news, information and tips for frequent business travelers, and also takes into account the leisure interests of executive travelers.

Regular features include a column called "Fine Vines," by Eunice Fried, who profiles the wines of one of GT's featured destinations. Emily Aaderud, former editor of Conde Nast Women's Sports & Fitness and Elle magazine, writes about fashion trends for executive travelers in her monthly column, "Fashion on the Fly." Alexandra Kirkman, a staff writer for Forbes magazine, weighs in each month with information about new travel gadgets in her column, "Tech Toys."

Other features include "Bon Vivant," a profile of a chef including a selection of recipes to try at home; "GTEE," an overview of a well-known golf destination; "Travel Rx," need-to-know information for safe travel; "Off the Beaten Path," a guide to an up-and-coming business destination; and "Kicking Back," a comprehensive article about a well-known leisure destination.

An editorial calendar is available on the magazine's website at www.globaltravelerusa.com.

Matte wants to get inquiries and pitches sent to her by e-mail at [email protected].

The Poughkeepsie Journal's environment editor Dan Shapley wants to get stories about working on the Hudson River.

The writer should describe their experience working for one of the Hudson's industries, whether it was an old brick or lumber yard, a cement or power plant, fishing boat or other business, said Shapley.
The deadline for submissions is Sept. 17.

Articles may be submitted to [email protected] or Poughkeepsie Journal, Box 1231, Poughkeepsie, NY 12602.

King, a bimonthly magazine that was started three years ago, has become a leader in a growing market of magazines that cater to young African-American men.

Datwon Thomas, 29, is editor of King, which is a spinoff of the popular hip-hop magazine XXL, owned by Harris Publications.

Following a formula used successfully by Maxim, FHM and Stuff, King features pinup photos of mostly young black women, fast cars, and expensive gadgets.

King's paid circulation grew by 52.2%, to 227,323 for the six-month period ending on June 30, according to the Audit Bureau of Circulations.

ASIAN FOOD SHOW
SEEKS COVERAGE.
Reporters are invited to cover the All Asia Food Expo that will be held at the Jacob Javits Center on Oct. 26-27 in New York.

Hanna Lee, whose PR firm (Hanna Lee Communications) was retained to help promote the first-ever Asian food trade show, said complimentary press registration applications may be downloaded from www. allasiafood.com/pdfs/AAF_pressreg.pdf.

The trade event will include exhibitors from China, Korea, Hong Kong, India, Japan, Malaysia, Philippines, Taiwan, Thailand, the U.S. and Vietnam, who will showcase hundreds of foods and beverages.

Phil Lempert, food writer and marketing expert, will give the opening address at 9 a.m. on Oct. 26.
The event is being organized by Diversified Business Communications in Portland, Me. Bank of America and Chinese Restaurant News are sponsors.

(Media news continued on next page)

N.Y. TIMES HIRES
FOOD NEWS REPORTER.
Kim Severson, a food reporter for The San Francisco Chronicle, who won awards for her articles on childhood obesity and food beat reporting, is joining The New York Times on Nov. 1 to help cover the "food revolution."

A memo from "Dining" section editors Barbara Graustark and Kathleen McElroy said Severson will work with Marian Burros "to document the battle among food lobbyists, the USDA and activists over what we eat."

"She'll also write trend stories that show what's on the table, from fast-food restaurants to suburban kitchens to high-end dining rooms. She ll spin out stylish profiles and dig up some good food and restaurant tips from New York's neighborhoods," the memo said.

Severson, who helped set up the Chronicle's test kitchen and 20,000 bottle wine cellar, said she is a "big cheeseburger and fries kind of girl, but I like to know where that burger's coming from."

Also hired was Jad Mouawad, previously a technology reporter for Bloomberg News. He will cover energy for the Times, replacing Neela Banerjee, who was assigned to the religion beat.
Henry Spierer, a senior producer for NYTimes.com, was promoted to business editor.

PEOPLE
Pamela Fisher, previously an arts reporter and theater critic at The San Francisco Examiner, was named managing editor of Caribbean Travel & Life magazine.

Brian Colligan was named editorial page editor of The Greenville (S.C.) Daily Reflector, replacing Mary Schulken, who left to become an associate editor with The Charlotte (N.C.) Observer.

Ellen Hale, who recently was London correspondent for USA Today, takes over as director of communications for The Associated Press on Oct. 4, replacing Kelly Tunney.

Maria Bartiromo, a financial journalist and CNBC anchor, will write a column for Reader's Digest called "Money Talks." Her column will debut in the October issue.

Don Stowers was named chief editor of the newly launched Oil & Gas Financial Journal, which becomes monthly in 2005. He is located in PennWell's Houston office, and can be reached at 713/963-6235, or [email protected].

Holly Crawford, previously at Seventeen, was named beauty editor at Good Housekeeping.

Lisa Moran was named executive editor of Baby Talk magazine.

Paige Herman, currently deputy editor at Gotham/Hamptons/L.A. Confidential magazines, is moving to Florida to start her own magazine called New Beauty.

Roland Martin, 35, was named executive editor of The Chicago Defender, the oldest black daily newspaper in the U.S.

Maryfran Johnson, who stepped down as editor-in-chief of Computerworld, has joined TechTarget in the same title.

Cheryl Tan recently joined The Wall Street Journal in New York to cover the food industry. She can be reached at 212/416-3270, or [email protected].

Mitch Betts, formerly features editor at Computerworld, was promoted to executive editor.
Julia King, formerly national correspondent, was named executive editor/events, a new position. She will spearhead the P100 IT Leaders Conference.

MEDIA BRIEFS
Hachette Filipacchi Media, publisher of Elle, Elle Girl, and Premiere, will publish a test issue of a new lifestyle magazine for young women (25-35) called For Me. The issue will hit newsstands Nov. 9.

Local Media Journal is the title of a new biweekly electronic publication that The Kelsey Group, a Princeton, N.J.-based consulting firm, will publish.

Charles Laughlin, program director for The Kelsey Report, is editor of LMJ, which will provide information on the local media marketplace.

Vogue, in conjunction with Chinese magazine publisher China Pictorial, will start a Chinese edition of the fashion magazine.

"USA Today" is the title of a song on Alan Jackson's new album, "What I Do."

The song, which Jackson wrote, is about a man, who becomes famous when he is profiled in a newspaper as "the loneliest man in the USA today."

Newsweek is trying to hire a "weekend spokesperson."

The publicist, who will manage the communications department on weekends, and be responsible for pitching stories to media outlets, "must be available to work weekends on a rotating schedule," according to the job description issued by Rosanna Maietta.

Resumes and cover letter should be sent to Maietta, Newsweek, 251 W. 57th st., New York, NY 10019; [email protected].

Lifetime's October issue will be its last, according to the magazine's co-owners Hearst and the Walt Disney Co.

About 45 staffers—except Susan Wyland, who was editor-in-chief, and publisher Suzanne Plagemann—were laid off at the magazine, which debuted in April 2003.

A Pepperdine University PR major is fighting to save PR from being dropped as a major (pg. 2).

We applaud the activism of Grant Turck but wonder if he isn t swimming against the tide.

Pepperdine is thinking of combining PR, advertising and marketing subjects under a single heading called "integrated marketing."

Schools and PR professors have to face the realities of the market today and make changes.

They're already decades behind the times.

"Corporate communications" (not PR) has been the term of choice at companies since the 1970s. "Marketing" and "marketing communications" are also popular terms.

If students want to make an impact in the marketplace, they d be better off with some major other than "PR" which has become too identified with press relations.

A corporate veteran told us: "Thirty years ago companies deflated the value of press relations as almost beneath their purpose or dignity."

One aspect is that much of corporate America perceives the press as left wing and anti-business.
Majoring in "branding" or "customer relations" might be a good idea.

We advise against "integrated marketing," more commonly called "integrated marketing communications." IMC died about 10 years ago.
Pepperdine's evaluation of the worth of "PR" might serve as a touchpoint for a debate on this topic.

Turck has done a good job in supplying background including the e-mail addresses of David Baird, Ph.D., dean of Seaver College where PR is housed ([email protected]), and Bob Chandler, Ph.D., chair of communications, overseeing PR/ad majors ([email protected]).

We don t share Business Week columnist Robert Barker's rosy view of Omnicom (pg. 7). He says investors are "missing the story" (i.e., they re stupid) because the stock is off 20% this year even though OMC "keeps growing nicely." Net income grows but so does OMC's debt, which is $2.3 billion. Another $500 million+ is owed in acquisition payouts. Goodwill reached $6B as of June 30 vs. $3.4B at Interpublic, which is nearly the size of OMC. IPG has sworn off acquisitions while OMC has not. OMC's huge goodwill account gives it a net tangible value of minus $2.5B. Some security analysts say OMC should be in the mid-$40's rather than the late $60's based on a "residual income model" (net worth plus retained earnings). Even though BW wrote a positive piece about OMC, no one from the company would talk to it. Analysts tell us they are concerned about poor disclosure policies, governance, and earnings quality in the ad conglomerate sector.

OMC's debt has not been bothersome partly because of record low interest rates. It borrowed billions and paid no interest (although it is now paying 2.7%). The same low rates have been kind to the U.S., whose debt grew to $6.8 trillion in 2003. The interest was only $318B in 2003 although it was $356B in 1997 when the debt was $5.4 trillion. "An economy hooked on debt is vulnerable to the seemingly inevitable rise in interest rates," wrote economics reporter Daniel Gross in the Sept. 5 New York Times. This also applies to companies. Also worrisome is the huge gap in the nation's balance of trade. As of early 2004, the net financial deficit with the world was 30% of Gross National Product and this could rise to as much as 50% in the next four years, said another NYT piece.

Participants in the Interpublic bulletin board on Yahoo! are grousing about the pay of top execs at a company whose stock has fallen from $57 to $11. Philippe Krakowsky, PR head, got $1.06 million in various forms in 2003 which would make him one of the highest paid people in PR. He got 50,000 shares of restricted stock worth $500,000 ($10 a share) on April 1, 2003 "in recognition of his performance." Krakowsky is a one-person dept. in a company doing $6 billion. Some organizations have a one-person "PR dept." and assign the person so many duties that he or she has little time for the press ...

IPG, OMC, WPP, etc., should pay attention to what's said about them on Yahoo! and similar web bulletin boards. Sometimes there are gems placed by former executives and employees but at other times there is misinformation. One posting Sept. 10 said that IPG execs are buying IPG stock with their own funds. But IPG told us most if not all of the stock acquired in the "non-open market" is restricted stock that requires no outlay of cash. At our suggestion, this false posting was corrected by the contributor ...

A posting on 8/31 by a person saying his or her small firm was bought out by IPG said there was a loss of motivation after the sale. The posting continued: "Owning a smaller agency is nerve wracking You have a substantial asset that could fall apart in a matter of months. Selling to IPG is a way to lock in some of that value. Selling is often more about cashing out than getting in ... More relief than excitement. I imagine most of these people are still dedicated, talented pros who have strong incentives to make their clients happy, but they are no longer people whose entire fortunes rest on how happy their clients are. In our case, that changed things tremendously" ...

Other recent departures at PRSA include webmaster Robin Michaels, who obtained a job near her home in New Jersey, and assistant controller Leighton Watson.

-- Jack O'Dwyer