Legal News:
Denny Dishes Up Image Polisher
Denny's, still recovering from a tarnished image tied to the 1994 settlements of two class-action discrimination lawsuits, has cooked up a $5 million advertising campaign to "erase its racist reputation," according to USA Today.
The print, TV and radio ads were created to get back into the good graces of African-American customers but it's highly likely that some other PR components, such as better spokespeople and more reputation management, will be needed.
Meanwhile, three Washington, D.C. residents filed another discrimination suit against Denny's last week.
PRSA Survey:
Survey Shows 84 Percent Of Members are Satisfied
Members of the Public Relations Society of America, New York, are apparently satisfied with their association. A 1997 PRSA member survey has concluded that 84 percent of the society's 18,000 members are satisfied with their membership - and of those, 10 percent said they were "very satisfied."
However, the survey also indicated that 41 percent of members don't think that the society is in touch with their every-day needs.
Survey results, which also indicate that 89 percent of members consider PRSA's Tactics publication a valuable information source, can be found at http://www.prsa.org.
PRSA's President Debra Miller said the society will use the survey to convert its satisfied members into very satisfied members. (PRSA, 212/995-2230)
Focus on Technology:
New PR Tools For the Trade
The service gives media execs a database of background information as well as usable quotations. (Business Wire, 212/752-9600)
The book, co-authored by William L. Haig and Laurel Harper, is a guide for small and large companies.
Van Nostrand Reinhold, New York, has plugged the publication as a comprehensive and "foolproof" resource. (Van Nostrand Reinhold, 212/780-6155)
They include statements from the White House, regulatory agencies, Congressional committees and trade groups. (U.S. Newswire, 202/347-2770)
On the Global Front :
Survey Probes PR Practices In Sweden
A recent survey of PR execs in the U.S. and Sweden indicates that the role of PR as a strategic business tool is undervalued by top management, according to Makovsky and Co., New York.
M&C reported that 47 percent of those queried in the U.S. said that PR always plays an important role in the development of corporate goals - while only 37 percent in Swedish firms agreed with that assessment. The results of M&C's survey were presented at a seminar in Sweden. (M&C, 212/508-9644)
APCO Broadens Overseas Efforts
APCO Associates Inc., a public affairs firm in Washington, D.C., entered into an alliance with CEC Government Relations, a consulting firm with offices in Bucharest, Budapest, Kiev, Prague and Warsaw, on May 14 to enhance its communications capabilities in Central and Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union.
The APCO-CEC partnership will provide government relations, investment promotion, corporate image counseling and positioning, issues management and media strategies in these markets. (APCO, 202/778-1000)
Corporate Caring:
Avon Sponsors Survey About Women and Technology
Savvy corporations are finding out today that community relations counts for a lot. Just consider how Avon Products Inc., New York, continues to dominate cause-related marketing and PR in the 1990s.
Last week, in a survey released by Penn, Schoen & Berland and commissioned by Avon, the cosmetics giant added another chapter to its role as an advocate for women when it announced results of a study indicating that seven out of 10 women in the workplace view technology as an important tool in helping women increase their earning potential today.
That finding was part of the Avon Women, Work & Technology Survey which also concluded that 80 percent of women view "technological proficiency as their entree into traditionally male-dominated fields."
Avon, by the way, is one of PR NEWS's best campaigns in the new report, The 12 Hottest (and 7 Not So Hot) PR Campaigns of 1996, just published by PR NEWS. (Avon, 212/282-7104)