Wall Street Journal on the Verge of Hiring PR Agency

By Craig McGuire

Shandwick and Fleishman-Hillard made their final pitches in New York last Thursday for the coveted Wall Street Journal account, which encompasses both the newspaper and its online arm, WSJ.com. Miller / Shandwick is currently the agency of record for WSJ.com, and it will lose the business if F-H prevails … (Click Here to Read More)

 

Thomson Brings Carson into IR Fold

By Craig McGuire

Financial services powerhouse Thomson Corp. last week added the latest and largest piece to its investor relations puzzle with the acquisition of the Carson Group. Carson, a research, surveillance and IR firm with $50 million in revenue last year, will be combined with … (Click Here to Read More)

 

MediaMap Seeks Agency of Record

By Craig McGuire

Less than two months after taking the helm at MediaMap, CEO Steve Keeble has launched a search for an agency of record. Keeble, who has yet to compile a list of potential candidates, added that he has no plans to hire in-house PR pros “unless they have industry knowledge and sales and marketing experience … (Click Here to Read More)

 

Internet Wire Nets $17M VC Windfall

By Craig McGuire

Ripe with an infusion of $17.5 million in venture capital funding, online news distributor Internet Wire is hoping to make further inroads into the $350 million satellite-based wire services market. Co-founder and CEO Mark Terpin said most of the money will be plowed into … (Click Here to Read More)

 

AFLAC Names GCI Agency of Record

By Craig McGuire

AFLAC has made its long-awaited choice of an agency of record, tapping GCI Group for a campaign that will attempt to build on the success of its duck-centric ad effort. Though officials at both AFLAC and GCI declined to discuss numbers, a source close to the deal said the account … (Click Here to Read More)

 

FT.com Taps PN for Part of $15M Push

By Craig McGuire

FT.com, the Internet arm of the Financial Times, has tapped Porter Novelli to provide the PR component of its $15 million integrated marketing program, scheduled to run from September to the end of the year. With FT.com still hammering out its marketing game plan … (Click Here to Read More)

 

Pincus Practices Internal Relations

By Craig McGuire

In the highly competitive world of IR, sometimes it’s not what you know or who you know. It’s the question of branding. Take Mark Pincus, for example. When he decided to bring his start-up Support.com public this year, he had a good idea… (Click Here to Read More)

 

Lexi Finds a Partner in Press Access

By Craig McGuire

Looking for a partner to help it penetrate the PR industry, online data provider Lexis-Nexis acquired Press Access last week for $28 million. With Lexis-Nexis paying the bills now, Press Access has the cash and resources to build up its web-based applications … (Click Here to Read More)

 

CyberAlert Prexy Claims Deal With Supplier is Close

By Craig McGuire

Just weeks after releasing the latest flavor of its Internet monitoring service, CyberAlert is close to inking deal with a major supplier. While declining yo name names, CyberAlert president and CEO William Comcowich said the deal will  … (Click Here to Read More)

 

Merrill Lynch Asia Names Ketchum

By Craig McGuire

Merrill Lynch Asia Pacific has chosen Ketchum over a host of suitors to serve as its agency of record in the region. Ketchum bested a shortlist of multinational firms, including Burson-Marsteller and Shandwick  … (Click Here to Read More)

 

Hoover Taps Middle Berg

By Craig McGuire

Hoover’s Online has named Middleberg + Associates as its agency of record, an account worth between $300,000 and $400,000 per year. While declining to to identify the other agencies that pitched for the business, Hoover’s Online VP of marketing said … (Click Here to Read More)

 

Deutsche Bank Taps Ruder Finn

By Craig McGuire

In the midst of implementing an ambitious ecommerce strategy, banking monolith Deutsche Bank has reportedly tapped Ruder Finn for PR support. The execs from both parties declined to confirm the rumor, a source close to the talks said … (Click Here to Read More)

 

Interpublic Gears Up to Buy IR Giant

By Craig McGuire

The Interpublic Group, parent to industry heavy-hitters Shandwick and Weber PR Worldwide, has closed in on the purchase of UK-based IR giant Maitland Consultancy, several sources reported last week. The deal, valued at close to $50 million … (Click Here to Read More)

 

Internet Wire Ups Service Offerings

By Craig McGuire

Hoping to position itself as an across-the-board challenger to PR Newswire and Business Wire, Internet Wire has inked a number of deals to bolster the company’s service offerings. Under the agreements … (Click Here to Read More)

 

GCI Study Reveals Global M&A Coverage in US is Mostly Negative

By Craig McGuire

A CGI Group study has revealed that negative coverage of five large-scale global M&As exceeded positive coverage in the US media. Jim Cox, EVP and managing director of GCI’s North American Corporate Practice, said the study shows how  … (Click Here to Read More)

 

BW, PRN Move to Expand Internet-based Monitoring Services

By Craig McGuire

Business Wire and PR Newswire, the two rivals dominating news-release distribution, are continuing to make inroads into the Internet-based monitoring business. Business Wire and MediaLink Worldwide inked a distribution deal … (Click Here to Read More)

 

Photo Credit: Michael Parzuchowski, Courtesy of Unsplash.com