Weber Shandwick

There seem to be so many different lists and rankings of public relations companies available. Some – like PR Week and O’Dwyers – require actual financial documentation and proof of claims. Others are considerably more subjective. One of those lists, put out every year and usually released for July is published on the website of Prolific North out of the U.K. Many of the top PR firms in the northern U.K. also have offices serving clients and businesses in London. Their latest list – released July 1, 2016 – is courtesy of an online publication and ranks the top public... Read More >

Intercity Transit in Olympia, Washington has issued an RFP for Marketing, Communication and Video Production Services. Transit is the leader, major advocate, and primary source of public transportation in Thurston County. As such, Transit is charged to balance several important functions: providing primary transportation for people without an alternative, including those with a physical or mental disability; offering high-quality alternative transportation for people with options; providing a stimulant to economic growth; serving as a partner in building livable communities; and, being a ready resource able to respond to community emergencies. Intercity Transit’s mission is to provide and promote transportation choices that... Read More >

MDC is in Expansion Mode Lotta Malm Hallqvist has been added as MDC’s European Managing Director, CMO, and she will focus on growing their business and building collaboration efforts in Europe for the global agency. Her supervisor is Bob Kantor, MDC’s Chief Marketing and Business Development Officer. MalmHallqvist came to MDC from Cheil Worldwide, where she recently was Global Chief Growth Officer and President. Malm Hallqvist’s new role allows MDC to accelerate growth opportunities in Europe and to support existing firms already in the network such as 72andSunny, Anomaly, Hunter PR, Kwittken, Varick Media Management, Allison+Partners, KBS Albion, Northstar, and The Media Kitchen. But MDC has been growing rapidly lately through acquisition of... Read More >

Evan Bayh’s Residency Evan Bayh, former senator, governor, and secretary of state in Indiana, has been criticized recently for being a Washington insider – and while he denies it, Paul Tencher, Bayh’s campaign manager, is a senior vice president of MWW PR – an insider Democrat PR firm with DC offices - while attempting to convince Indiana voters of Bayh's sincerity. He took a break from that job to work on the campaign.  MMWPR, the company Tencher works for, lists lobbying as one of their services; they make millions of dollars from it. It is owned and operated by Michael... Read More >

The Lower Colorado River Authority (LCRA) has issued an RFP for “advertising campaigns, publications, and media planning and placement for LCRA Parks, a Community Resources department within LCRA.”LCRA provides a multitude of vital services to Texans, including delivering electricity, managing the water supply and environment of the lower Colorado River basin, providing public recreation areas, and supporting community development. LCRA is laser-focused on providing its customers with unparalleled customer service as it provides reliable, cost-effective services to people throughout the state. LCRA's Mission is to enhance the quality of life of the Texans through water stewardship, energy and community service.... Read More >

Weber Shandwick reps Medtronic in bid for funding from New Zealand’s Pharmac Weber Shandwick created a PR campaign for Medtronic using people who have suffered from pulmonary embolisms after hospital stays to promote devices and aids used to reduce the risk to patients after surgery. One problem, WS and Medtronic didn’t mention to the sufferers that they were trying to seal the deal selling their devices to prevent venous thromboembolism (VTE) with Pharmac. At least one patient was initially approached by a nurse to see if she would be interested in talking with the WS, but WS didn’t disclose any... Read More >

APCO signed to help clean Nigeria’s image with U.S. APCO Worldwide has been hired by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to clean up the image of the Nigerian government with the U.S. APCO’s initial contract covers a three-month period that just ended July 17th for a fixed rate of $95K to provide strategic communications services, media relations, and stakeholder engagement within the U.S. for Nigeria. According to icirnigeria.org, more than $6 million has been spent on similar contracts with firms outside of Nigeria over the last three years to clean up President Muhammadu Buhari’s image as well as the... Read More >

Weber Shandwick now representing Chevrolet Weber Shandwick has been doing PR work for Chevrolet for quite some time, along with a number of other PR agencies. However, Chevy’s parent company – General Motors – is currently doing a review of PR for all of their brands and chose WS as Chevy’s AOR moving forward. It is interesting to note that GM only had WS submit for the position. Tony Cervone, SVP for GM Global Communications, said, “It would have been unfair to [have the other PR firms] go through the whole process of preparation for this, given the investments that... Read More >

The dawn of the Internet likely signaled the beginning of dusk for traditional journalism. More and more, readers began to turn to the Internet for not just entertainment, but knowledge, and then news, and now just about everything. In fact, according to a study done by the American Press Institute, 69 percent of Americans get their news from online sources. Most of these sources would rather not hire someone to research and write a story from scratch, no matter how interesting the subject. They prefer to publish an already well-crafted piece, without paying a dime for it. But how does... Read More >

Here are some of the things happening in the Public Relations news world: JCOPE’s Lobbying Definition causing problems JCOPE’s recent legislation regarding registering of “lobbying” firms remains a problem. Five PR firms filed suit in federal court to block JCOPE from enforcing the legislation a short time after its passage. The five firms feel JCOPE will try to enforce part of the advisory opinion to treat those paid to discuss legislation with editorial writers as lobbyists. JCOPE’s opinion tries to identify all activities, including grassroots ones they consider as lobbying efforts, including scheduling meetings between legislators and others with an... Read More >