Business Moves
Acquisitions
- Hill and Knowlton buys $8-million-plus-in-revenues techno shop Blanc & Otus, San Francisco. B&O retains its current brand, operating as Blanc & Otus, with all 85 employees remaining on board, according to President and CEO Jonelle Birney. Birney retains her position. Founders Maureen Blanc and Simone Otus become co-directors of H&K's U.S. technology practice. Birney and Rick Rice, GM of the San Francisco H&K office, said the deal has been in the works for about eight months. The benefits for H&K include having an established technology practice on board - B&O's clients include Ariba, BMC Software and Xerox. The plus for B&O is its ability to tap into H&K's investor relations, public policy, media training and global expertise. (415/781-2430)
- The GCI Group brings into its folds another San Francisco powerhouse, Kamer-Singer & Associates. Founder Larry Kamer becomes chairman of GCI Kamer Singer and executive VP of GCI Group; his partner, Sam Singer, becomes president of GCI Kamer Singer and executive VP of GCI Group. Kamer-Singer clients include Chevron, General Motors, Nike and Wal-Mart. (GCI, 212/546-1617)
People Moves
- Minneapolis-based Tunheim Santrizos Company account representative Tim Loesch promoted to VP. (TS, 612/851-7222)
- Changes at Business Wire: Judi Swartz named district manager for the Houston office, coming from the San Antonio Greater Chamber of Commerce; Ken Bouton promoted to Dallas district manager, was a BW account exec. (BW, 212/752-9600)
- Gavin Anderson & Co., a New York shop specializing in corporate financial and public affairs work, appoints Sean Flynn to associate director and Krista Ruhe to executive. Flynn joins Gavin Anderson from Technology Solutions Inc. and Ruhe comes from Salomon Smith Barney. (Gavin Anderson & Co., 212/373-0235)
- The Institute for Crisis Management, Louisville, Ky., names Monica Uhl Year 2000 program director. She'll continue to serve as an ICM senior crisis consultant, but her new role includes managing the development and strategic direction of ICM's Year 2000 services, which include the trademarked "The Millennium Mobilzer Y2K" crisis communications kit. (ICM, 812/284-8351)
- Frank Schubert, a partner in the Sacramento-based public affairs firm Goddard Claussen, elected to the Board of Directors for the America Association of Political Consultants. (GC, 916/774-0628)
- Boeing Co., Seattle, names Judith Muhlberg VP of communications. She came from the Ford Motor Co. Automotive Operations, Detroit, where she was director of public affairs. (Boeing, 206/655-6123)
- United Media names PR executive Diane Iselin to VP of corporate communications. (United Media, 212/293-8547)
Top Play VNRs
Healthcare topics dominate the most-viewed VNRs produced or distributed by Medialink, commanding six rankings on its Top 20 Video News Releases of 1998. The annual ranking was announced earlier this month.
Healthcare VNRs that earned top media play are:
- Hoffman-LaRoche's GS4104 flu pill, produced by Edelman Public Relations, which reported the successful study results of the first pill to treat all common strains of the flu. Reach: 146 million viewers through 1,242 station airings.
- ProBio America's first reproducible cloning of a mammal from adult cells, supported by a Noonan/Russo PR campaign. Reach: 115 million viewers through 556 airings.
- The Roslin Institute's cloning work involving Dolly, the cloned sheep that gave birth to a lamb. Reach: 200 million viewers internationally, 87 million in the U.S.
- Knoll Pharmaceuticals' launch of Meridia, the obesity drug, produced by Fleishman-Hillard. Reach: 66 million viewers through 529 airings.
- VaxGen's AIDSVAX vaccine that received FDA permission to begin Phase III clinical trials, produced by Sitrick and Comp. Reach: 49 million through 801 airings.
- Aviron's new flu vaccine effective for childhood ear infections, produced by Fleishman-Hillard. Reach: 49 million viewers through 643 airings. (Medialink, 212/682-8300)