KETCHUM, BRUNSWICK AID CONAGRA.

Ketchum and Brunswick Group are helping ConAgra deal with the salmonella crisis that has led to the recall of Peter Pan and Great Value peanut butter, Chris Kircher, VP-corporate affairs, told O’Dwyer’s.

Those shops are aiding the extensive in-house crisis capabilities that the Omaha-based $11.5B food giant already had in place, added Kircher who has been swamped with media calls.

Kircher’s deputy, Stephanie Childs, director-communications, also has been fielding media inquiries. He noted that Childs is a veteran of the Grocery Manufacturers of America.

ConAgra CEO Gary Rodkin apologized to consumers on Feb. 22 after the Centers for Disease Control confirmed the presence of salmonella in jars of peanut butter.

“We are truly sorry for any harm that our peanut butter products may have caused,” he said. Rodkin added that the company is “committed to taking all reasonable steps to remedy the situation.”

ConAgra voluntarily recalled peanut butter made at its Georgia plant on Feb. 14 after federal regulators linked the product to a salmonella outbreak that sickened more than 300 people in 40 states since August.

The CDC test results found salmonella-tainted peanut butter in New York, Oklahoma and Iowa.

A Pennsylvania family has filed a negligence and wrongful death suit against ConAgra on Feb. 22, charging that a 76-year-old woman died after eating ConAgra’s peanut butter. ConAgra has estimated that the recall would result in a quarterly charge of $50 million to $60 million.

MS&L’S WHITE TO GCI.

Elinore White, who was deputy director of Manning, Selvage & Lee’s healthcare practice, has shifted to GCI Group as SVP and deputy health director.

She has more than 25 years of experience, handling therapeutic areas such as cardiovascular, central nervous system, nutrition and oncology.

At MS&L, White repped two of its biggest health assignments. She worked on Ambien, the sleep aid, and Aricept, an Alzheimer’s drug.

White also held a top health post at Ruder Finn. She was responsible for worldwide media efforts for Femara, the breast cancer drug, and Novartis’ Gleevec.

Previously, White was director of PR at the New England Dairy Board, and had PR positions at Boston University’s Sargent College of Allied Health Professions.

HUMPHRIES EXITS NIRI.

Nancy Humphries has resigned the presidency/CEO post at National Investor Relations Institute after a seven-month stint.

She is replaced on an interim basis by Linda Kelleher, 54.

Kelleher is upped from NIRI’s senior VP/professional development & executive director of the Senior Roundtable posts. She is a 24-year NIRI staffer.

Humphries, 56, joined NIRI in July. The former BellSouth VP-IR had succeeded Lou Thompson, who stepped down after a 24-year run.

Humphries left NIRI to “pursue other interests.” With the promotion, Kelleher joins NIRI’s board.

SOFITEL, GREENBRIER NAME HAMMOND.

Sofitel Hotels & Resorts, which has 200 properties in North America, Europe, Asia, Africa and South America, and The Greenbrier, which is undergoing a $50 million renovation, named Lou Hammond & Assocs., New York, for PR after competitive reviews.

Hammond will handle corporate-wide re-branding with responsibility for marketing communications, product segmentation, and obtaining partnerships for the 200 properties.

Sofitel, the premium brand of Accord Hotels, is noted for its use of French art and creating a “distinct sense of place” for each hotel.

The Greenbrier is located in White Sulphur Springs, West Virginia. It is reopening in early spring after a $50 million renovation that includes improved guestrooms and a new gourmet restaurant with a noted chef. The Greenbrier was founded in 1778.

POMBO SIGNS ON WITH PAC/WEST.

Richard Pombo, the former Republican head of the House Natural Resources Committee who lost a bid for re-election last November, has joined the Sacramento office of Pac/West Communications as a senior partner.

Steve Ding, Pombo’s House chief of staff, joined Oregon-based Pac/West as a VP earlier this month to head its new office in California’s capital.

Pombo, 45, served seven terms in the House representing California’s 11th district. He took the Resources Committee reins in 2003.

He had an ally in Pac/West in his efforts to revamp the Endangered Species Act, open the Arctic National Wildlife Reserve for oil exploration, and supporting President Bush’s “Healthy Forests” plan.

The firm has a $3M contract with Alaska to push oil drilling in ANWR, according to the Contra Costa Times.

JETBLUE MOVES TO STEM BLEEDING.

JetBlue Airways entered the second week of media and consumer turbulence with a shored up PR defense in the form of a customer bill of rights.

The discount airline carrier and past media darling is looking to right its ship after a winter storm in the northeast created a ripple of delays, more than a thousand flight cancellations, and stranded some passengers on tarmacs for up to 11 hours. News reports have included a steady stream of irate passengers swearing off JetBlue, and overtime and cancellations could cost the company up to $30M, by Morgan Stanley’s estimates.

A spokesman for the Forest Hills, N.Y.-based company told O’Dwyer’s that JetBlue does not utilize outside PR counsel.

Its corporate PR unit Feb. 20 unveiled a customer bill of rights laying out new policies for vouchers based on the amount of time passengers are delayed. For example, a customer who experiences a one- or two-hour delay on arrival gets a $100 voucher for a future flight. The document promises customers will be notified of delays, cancellations and diversions and will deplane passengers if delays hit five hours.

“This was a big wake-up call for JetBlue,” said founder and CEO David Neeleman, in a statement. He said the “silver lining” is that the airline would emerge stronger and better prepared to serve customers.

The airline said it will also create a customer advisory council and revamp internal operations and communications.

More than 100,000 JetBlue customers have been affected by the crisis.

TEXAS MULLS HEALTH INFO PUSH.

A bill to create a public awareness program to educate the public on the value of health insurance and options for coverage in the state of Texas has paved the way for a possible RFP.

The state’s Dept. of Insurance has issued a request for information to hear from firms about potential strategies for a statewide education push through March 6.
The RFI is a result of the Texas legislature’s passage of Bill 261 in 2005, which authorized the Dept. of Insurance to develop and implement a public information campaign.

Texas estimates about 25 percent of its population lacks health coverage, the highest rate in the U.S.

The state entity wants to know about costs, approaches, and methods to boost the Texas Health Options website and highlight options for coverage in the Lone Star State.

The state said the RFI has been issued to survey the industry and obtain guidance which would be used in preparation of an RFP.

Jim Hurley, director of the insurance department’s public information office ([email protected]), is taking questions.

Rowland memorial is set. A memorial service for Herbert Rowland, founder of The Rowland Co., who died Feb. 8, will take place March 6 at 4 p.m. at the Metropolitan Club, 1 E. 60th st., New York.

MERCK KILLS GARDASIL PUSH.

Merck has pulled its lobbying push to get state legislatures to pass laws requiring pre-teen girls to be vaccinated against cervical cancer. The turnaround follows an angry backlash from some parents and religious groups.

Merck admitted that lobbying to promote sale of its Gardasil vaccine, which provides protection against two strains of human papillomavirus, has backfired.

Richard Haupt, executive director for medical affairs in Merck’s vaccine unit, told the New York Times that the drive to require mandatory vaccination of sixth-grade girls has been counterproductive. That’s the message that he received from public health and medical officials.

Haupt said Merck’s school lobbying campaign has distracted the company from its goal of educating as many people as possible about the risk of HPV, which is transmitted sexually. The company launched a national ad campaign for Gardasil in November to empower women to “want to become (or help their daughters want to become) ‘one less’ person who will battle cervical cancer.”

At least 20 states are considering mandatory inoculation of females starting at age 11. Texas Gov. Rick Perry has issued an executive order requiring vaccination.

Merck is among the financial backers of the Women in Government group, which has been pushing for mandatory vaccination.

Gardasil is a key part of Merck’s comeback plan. The required three-dose regimen costs $360.

Merck is eying a rich Gardasil revenue stream to offset the loss of drugs that are coming off patent, and the staggering legal cost stemming from Vioxx.

SIMON TAKES SENIOR ROLE WITH OGILVY.

Marcy Simon, who headed Weber Shandwick’s WCTV broadcast PR unit, has taken on a senior advisor role with Ogilvy PR Worldwide.

Simon had been serving as a senior advisor to former President Bill Clinton on his Clinton Global Initiative, a WS client.

Ogilvy noted Simon’s experience working with CEOs from Microsoft, Sony and Boeing. Ogilvy CEO Marcia Silverman said Simon would be an “asset” for the firm’s entire network.

Simon said Ogilvy has the “best team and resources in the industry.”

KURDS HIKE D.C. PRESENCE.

The Kurdish Regional Government of Iraq has officially opened a D.C. lobbying office, which is headed by Qubad Talabany.

His goal is to mobilize grassroots support for Kurdish interests. That includes establishing a Kurdish Congressional Caucus and a Kurdish-American business council to promote investment in Kurdistan. He also is to promote Kurdish educational and cultural links with the U.S. Talabany is the son of Iraq’s President, and former senior foreign relations officer for the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan. He is a frequent speaker on CNN, BBC and Fox News.

U.S. MISSES ARAB FINANCIAL MARKETS.

U.S. policy is causing it to miss the "exploding Middle East capital markets," Walid el-Gabry, news editor of the enterprise desk of Dow Jones Newswires, told 75 members of PRSA/New York on Feb. 8 at a meeting at Burson-Marsteller.

El-Gabry, who is president of the Arab and Middle Eastern Journalists' Assn., said the U.K. is moving into this market and is "doing a brisk secondary market in Arab Bonds."

The journalist, who started his career with a Turkish newspaper, said Middle East newspapers carry far more international news than U.S. papers.

He noted a recent study showed the foreign affairs content of Arab newspapers is 36% while such content in U.S. papers is 11%.

Al Jazeera Now in English

Abderrahim Foukara, bureau chief and managing director of Al Jazeera, Washington, D.C., said that like many Middle Eastern journalists, he got his initial experience working for the British Broadcasting Corp.

Al Jazeera recently launched an English edition and its biggest challenge now, said Foukara, is obtaining pickup by U.S. cable operators.

Talal Alhaj, bureau chief of Al Arabiya, Washington, D.C., which is developing an English language capability, said Arab media have evolved from being "official tools for governments" to holding governments accountable.

The question that he is often asked, he said, is whether "one can be a good journalist and patriotic at the same time?"

Much attention was focused on Al Jazeera after it aired the tapes of Osama Bin Laden in 2001, he noted.

Arab Parents Afraid of U.S.

Aleta Wenger, assistant secretary of the University Office of International Affairs, Yale University, said parents in Arab countries are afraid to send their children to the U.S. because there might be "distraction, discrimination, harassment and worse."

Wenger, who served in Qatar and Bahrain as a Public Affairs officer before her retirement, said Yale wants to attract qualified students from Arab countries.

She told the PR audience that Arabs "love stories" and that a "personal touch" should be used. Accuracy is also very important, she said.

Many Arab journalists have no formal education as journalists and more and more are women, she said. Arab columnists are important, she added. "The Arab media have their own Tom Friedmans."

‘Circling the Wagons’

Asked if there is a "clash of Western and Arab civilizations," Wenger said there isn't but the current state of U.S.-Arab relations means that fewer Arabs will know what the U.S. and its people are really like. Islamic families are "circling the wagons," she said.

Alhaj said more must be done to educate the Arab world about the U.S.

John Paluszek, senior counsel to Ketchum, moderated the panel and James Wycoff, editorial director of PRSA/New York, provided coverage.

VIACOM TEAMS WITH JOOST.

Viacom has ironed out a commercial licensing deal with Joost, which bills itself as the first broadcast-quality Internet TV service. The move follows breakdown of talks between Viacom and Google, owner of YouTube.

Viacom will provide Joost with programming from its MTV Networks, BET Networks and Paramount Pictures units. Those properties include "Beavis & Butthead," "Laguna Beach" and "Real World."

Viacom CEO Philippe Dauman called Joost a "key partner in the launch of the next-generation in broadband video technology."

Joost boasts of a "piracy-proof Internet platform that enables premium interactive video experiences while guaranteeing copyright protection for content owners and creators."

Joost is currently in the testing phase, and is expected to be fully up and running by June 30. The Viacom programming will be free to consumers. Viacom expects to make money by sharing ad revenues with Joost.

‘DESPISED’ COS. OUTPERFORM ‘ADMIRED.’

Companies that did not score well on Fortune's annual "America's Most Admired Companies" list did better on Wall Street than those with good reputations, according to a study called "Stocks of Admired Companies and Despised Ones."

The survey tracked companies on the magazine's list from `83 to `06. Splitting each list in the middle, the survey found that lower-ranked companies, or the "despised," portfolio posted a 17.8 percent return, compared to a 15.4 percent return by the "admired."

The study was written by Santa Clara University professor Meir Statman, University of Michigan's Deniz Anginer, and Fisher Investments CEO Kenneth Fisher. They believe investors in most admired companies are penalized by an aura of positive feelings.

For instance: "A $10,000 Rolex watch and a $50 Timex watch have approximately the same utilitarian qualities, both show the time. But Rolex buyers are willing to pay an extra $9,950 over the price of the Timex because of the ‘affect’ of the Rolex, consisting of prestige and perhaps beauty, is more positive than that of a Timex," wrote the authors.

They continue: "Affect pays a similar role in the behavior asset-pricing model. Investors in stocks of admired companies receive some of their rewards in the form of returns and some in the form of affect, while investors in stocks of despised companies receive their rewards in returns only."

The study, according to Matthew Boyle of Fortune, serves as a reminder to Corporate America "that all that glitters isn't stock market gold."

The study is online at http://business.scu.edu/finance/faculty/statman/articles/fortune020907.pdf.

Lisa Hackett, a marketing consultant for the Latino cable network mun2, has been named VP of marketing. She serves as the lead for brand strategy and management and oversees advertising and merchandise.

(Media news continued on next page)

IAB OPENS IN D.C.

The Interactive Advertising Bureau had hired Mike Zaneis to open the Washington, D.C., office of the trade group for the online ad industry.

Zaneis was executive director of technology and e-commerce for the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.

At the IAB, he is to oversee regulatory matters, legislative affairs and handle policy initiatives.

Randy Rothenberg, president of the IAB, says his industry is seeking to strike the "right balance" between consumer protection and a consumer's free online access to information and entertainment.

The new public policy office will help the IAB "continue to build a world-class media that has the highest level of transparency and accountability," according to Rothenberg, who was ad columnist for the New York Times and a Booz Allen Hamilton consultant.

At the Chamber since `81, Zaneis handled consumer privacy, data security, e-commerce and intellectual property matters.

The IAB has more than 300 members that sell 85 percent of online advertising in the U.S.

AHA PUBLISHES HEART MAG.

The American Heart Assn. and healthcare publisher Lippincott Williams & Wilkins have teamed to produce a new consumer magazine for heart patients, their families, and caregivers.

The quarterly magazine, Heart Insight, debuted in late February and was distributed to 10K cardiologists and other healthcare providers' offices. Subscriptions are free by filling out a form at heartinsight.com.

"Heart Insight may look like other health and nutrition magazines, but it has something the others don't have and that is the full resources and credibility of the American Heart Association," said Patrick O'Gara, M.D., editorial board chair and director of clinical cardiology at Brigham & Women's Hospital in Boston.

Ruth Papazian is the magazine's editor.

BRIEFS ____________________________

The Los Angeles Times unveiled a revamped print and online (Travel.latimes.com) travel section on Feb. 25 to better integrate and upgrade its content, the first of what it says will be several new product launches.

The paper said the new travel pages place a premium on enhanced photography, outdoor and adventure travel, and online features. Latimes.com readers can share feedback on hotels and restaurants and interact on a message board.

In print, new columns cover Las Vegas and dealing with travel dilemmas.

Investor's Business Daily launched a free online forum for access to its editorials and cartoons at IBDeditorials.com. An archive is searchable and users can sign up for a free daily newsletter.

"On the Left" and "On the Right" columns are featured daily from syndicated writers and guest commentators are routinely published. The following day's content is published at 8 p.m.

Warner Brothers Domestic Distribution will air a cable TV version of celebrity/gossip website TMZ in the fall. The company has cut deals with Sinclair Broadcasting, Tribune, Cox, Clear Channel and Media General.

WBDD chief Ken Werner calls the TMZ project an “integrated, multiplatform content and marketing play.”

Time Warner is the owner of WBDD and TMZ.

Time Warner's HBO unit is going to produce films, series and specials in a venture with American Girl. The initial project will be a live-action theatrical film based on the AG historical character Kit Kittredge. She is a spirited nine-year-old growing up during the Great Depression and one of AG’s seven characters.

CBS is contributing to a $7M investment in Electric Sheep, which develops 3-D properties for the virtual world. CBS Interactive president Quincy Smith said virtual worlds "represent next generation communication platforms."

CBS and ES have already collaborated on projects for "Two and a Half Men" and the Super Bowl pre-game show. AOL, MTV and Reuters have worked with ES.

Google is negotiating deals with Dow Jones, Sony and Conde Nast to syndicate their video content.

The videos appear inside Google ad boxes, according to a report in the Feb. 26 New York Times. Ads run during or after a viewer has clicked on the content. Revenue is shared by Google and its media partner.

The ads are part of Google’s effort to “gain traction with consumer goods companies who spend billions on brand advertising,” reports the Times.

Sarah Chubb, president of CondeNet, the digital unit of Conde Nast, told the Times though her company would prefer consumers to go directly to her site, a Google relationship is a way to “find people that we haven’t found in other ways.”

XM Satellite Radio, which last week announced a merger plan with rival Sirius, posted a $257M loss for the fourth-quarter of `06. That was down slightly from the $268M deficit suffered for the year earlier period.

The Washington, D.C.-based company added 1.7M subscribers in `06 for a total of 7.6M customers.

Hugh Panero, CEO of the company, called `06 a "pivotal year," and feels the company is heading in the right direction. He noted that XM's marketing costs are down while revenue is up. The company's full-year revenue rose 67 percent to $933M.

CANWEST ACQUIRES NEW REPUBLIC.

CanWest Global Communications has acquired a majority stake in The New Republic, the 93-year old political/cultural weekly.

The Canadian media combine plans to redesign TNR, and publish every two weeks on heavier stock paper with more photos/graphics.

The first issue of the spruced up TNR will appear March 19. A re-launched website is slated for mid-April.

The Dilbert column mocking PR counselors (page 7) is a crisis for PR. Comment should be forthcoming from the Council of PR Firms, PRSA, and its Counselors Academy headed by Roy Vaughn of Katcher Vaughn & Bailey PR, Nashville.

Similar recent attacks on PR include those in the New York Times (Frank Rich, 7/13/06 depicting PR as press-avoiding and lacking in substance, and Tim O’Brien’s “Spinning Frenzy” piece 2/13/05); Der Spiegel (8/7/2006 “Masters of Deception”), and Financial Times (corporate stonewalling, 2/20/06).

Dilbert’s column reaches 150 million in 65 countries via 19 languages. He writes about office life and attracts a business audience. In Dilbert’s view, PR people make up stories to get ink, ply reporters with drinks and boss them around, and have the power to “grossly inflate” a stock price. The PR counselor urges his client to be bold like Richard Branson, head of the $7.2B Virgin empire. “Do something in a way that has never been done before,” he advises.

The message that PR needs to put out is that there are abuses but “real” PR stands for openness, responsiveness to the press, and accuracy in financial reporting—a force for the education of the public and not its manipulation. The group that should be doing this, the 22,000-member PRSA, practices none of the above. Its PR is in meltdown.

Chair Rhoda Weiss on Feb. 22 announced she was available to the press to comment on the JetBlue air terminal snafu that took place in the previous week. Her initial advice was that every organization must have “an adequate crisis plan.”

Where is the crisis plan at PRSA? The Dilbert strip that ran last week was a crisis but PR manager Cedric Bess was on vacation Thursday and Friday and not returning until Tuesday of this week. In the week before, VP-PR Janet Troy was off the entire week “with no access to e-mail.” We think that the two PR staffers taking vacations like this in the first five weeks of president Bill Murray’s new job at PRSA is a sign of contempt for Murray. Since he lacks PR experience, he is especially in need of it at the beginning of his reign.

Troy and Bess carry out numerous forms of stonewalling and information blockage not only of us but members (currently, they won’t release the chapter speaking schedule of Weiss). At the 2006 Assembly, when we walked up the aisle to take a picture of the board as had been allowed in previous Assemblies, Troy ran after us and made us leave the sacred Assembly area. This impressed leadership but at what cost to her professional reputation?

We believe Troy and Bess went to leaders in 2004 and said that if they were to continue to do this dirty work they wanted more money. Media relations salaries/fringes soared 87% to $244,158 in 2005, up $113,402. The cost of this practice, which includes a lot of stonewalling, went from $35,846 in 2000 to $360,860 in 2005 (not counting about $60K in administration). Included in the sum is $34,481 for “marketing” when in the three previous years “marketing” in media relations averaged $4,500. We would like to know what “marketing” is and also why $43,113 in “professional fees” was spent on “media relations.” Slashed, meanwhile, were APR, from $566,454 in 2000 to $152,159 in 2005 and ethics, from $104,108 in 2000 to $6,741 in 2005.

Both Troy and Bess were particularly exposed to the press in 2006 because CEO Cheryl Procter-Rogers stopped talking to us on any subject after 3/20/06. Weiss is following the same policy. Two previous PR directors of PRSA quit suddenly, we believe, because they were fed up with doing PR dirty work and feared for their reputations. Steve Erickson quit in 1996 just before the annual conference and Richard George quit in 1999 just before that year’s conference. They ditched PRSA when they were most needed, as if in revenge. Libby Roberge was hired for PR in 2001 and quit in 2003 after having a baby. She was the best in our view, distributing 150 copies of the members’ directory to the press, providing us with chapter member counts, renewal rate of members, new and lapsed member totals, etc. Troy, hired in 2004 and not a member of PRSA, told the Bergen Record 7/27/04 she was “clueless” about PRSA and “flabbergasted” that such an organization existed. Bess, a 1999 college graduate, has spent almost his entire career at PRSA. Murray, whose salary at the MPA in 2004 was $387,105, is learning about PRSA but actually he had months to know its problems. He should not have joined without promises from leadership that it would hire a CPA, end APR-only leadership, report financials timely and accurately, provide Assembly transcripts to members, end the BurrellesLuce ad exclusive on the PRSSA website (BL says it does not want an exclusive), open membership to students at any college, end the silencing of directors, etc....the resignation of Nancy Humphries as president of the National Investor Relations Institute after seven months (page one) is an indication of change going on at NIRI. Some leaders want IR people to be closer to the overall PR community and financial press. There has been great concentration on Wall Street and numbers in recent years when critics have been saying that intangibles greatly impact stock prices. The February Harvard Business Review said that 70-80% of a stock price depends on factors like brand equity, corporate reputation, intellectual capital, etc...with elected leaders of PRSA being mostly silent in recent years, counselor James Lukaszewski has emerged as the most visible and quoted PRSA leader. He is featured in 16 seminars and webinars of PRSA in the six months to March 31 and is a member of the Ethics Board. He told the Canadian Broadcast Corp. Radio series on “A Century of Spin” that truth is “15% facts and 85% perception.” Every person has a different perception of truth, he said, and the PR person’s job is to “lay out as best he can the facts of the matter from the perspective he is representing.”

--Jack O'Dwyer