It's always disconcerting to do pre-campaign measurement to
ascertain your client's reputation and discover that analysts and
employees alike lack confidence in the company. But imagine
uncovering that information and then sending it in report form to
your entire media list. That's what Bellevue, Wash.-based
Shepardson, Stern + Kaminsky did late last month with a report on
biotech client Cell Therapeutics. The firm says it fell victim to a
computer virus and accidentally released the details of its
research on Cell Therapeutics. In fact, the company sent a second
email to recipients of the first email warning them not to open the
first message, as it might well contain the virus that the PR firms
says is responsible.
Cell Therapeutics' official PR line on the problem is that any
well-managed company conducts such research in order to improve its
performance where necessary. Agreed. But what do well-managed
companies do when their PR firm commits a gaffe of this nature? We
contacted representatives from SS+K and Cell Therapeutics to find
out. Greg Shaw, a partner with SS+K's Bellevue office, says "We
value the confidentiality of our clients' information and hold that
to be very important. We continue to work with this client on a
number of fronts." Shaw also says his firm is "working to figure
out exactly what happened and make sure it doesn't happen
again."
Cell Therapeutics did not return our calls by press time. (SS+K,
Greg Shaw, partner, 425/455-8585; Cell Therapeutics, Candice
Douglass, PR manager, 206/282-7100)