News: Industry Wrap-Up

Drasnin Comm. Puts The Face On Debbi Fields

PR companies are faced with all kinds of interesting challenges - repairing reputations, lobbying legislators, counseling CEOs about layoffs - but rarely does a task come that's this sweet: turning a businesswoman into a personality.

But Drasnin Communications, a fiveperson PR house in Del Mar, Calif., which just wrapped up its $25,000 PR campaign for Debbi Fields - the woman behind the famous Mrs. Fields Cookies - achieved what it set out to do: making Fields' face a familiar part of Americans' lives and making the public aware that she is a real person.

"Debbie Fields was an atypical celebrity because a lot of people didn't know who she really was," said Ray Drasnin. "We saw this as a great time to let the media know who she was and that, specifically, she wasn't a little old lady, some 70yearold, whitehaired grandmother or some fictitious character. She is a beautiful woman in her 40s and a mother of five."

Impetus for the enlightenment campaign? To increase the viewership and the number of public television stations carrying Fields' TV cooking program, "Great American Desserts," according to Drasnin. At the outset of the campaign, which started in August, less than 50 TV stations had agreed to air the show; however, that number has jumped to nearly 150 stations (as of this month) that have "confirmed their intentions to broadcast the show," Drasnin added.

PR strategies included reaching the print media in markets that had already agreed to air the program; contacting food and TV writers throughout the U.S.; contacting network morning TV producers; and plugging Fields' $25.95 cookbook. (Drasnin Comm., 619/7929994)

Press Access Helps PR Execs Manage Calendars

On April 21, Press Access, a provider of editorial information and automation for hightech PR, unveiled Version 3.0 of the Calendars Database Application for Windows. The product is meant to aid PR professionals in managing scheduled editorial opportunities and tracking publicity results. Among the features are a link to editorial contacts in the Press Access Editors Database. (Press Access, 617/5426670)

New Software To Measure Sponsorships

Cohn & Wolfe has developed its second interactive software program, SponsorSoft, which is meant to help clients assess the effectiveness of sponsorships.

SponsorSoft gives clients a set of tools to evaluate the pros and cons of marketing through a particular sponsorship. Ten key categories, including brand positioning, marketing objectives and employer support, are looked at. (Cohn & Wolfe, 212/5983600)

Hammond Addresses Travel Industry

It's often the case that corporations and organizations focus on the future to guarantee bottom line success. But those in the PR industry also know that operating in the present is key to surviving. And because of that, more and more execs are being coached that now's the time to build strategic communications programs.

Case in point: At a conference of 700 travel and tourism officials, Lou Rena Hammond reminded tourism officials that they can't just speak about the Year 2000; they have to begin building tourism and travel programs in the present by targeting specialinterest audiences with unique travel packages. Hammond, president and founder of Lou Hammond & Associates, New York, was the April 18 keynote speaker at the 10th Annual Massachusetts Governor's Conference on Travel & Tourism in Boston.

Changes on the PR Terrain

  • Jefferson Group West merged April 15 with Barnhart/CMI Marketing Advertising & PR, with Barnhart/CMI principal Terry Barnhart holding 100 percent ownership of the newly expanded business in Denver, Colo.

    The deal called for Thompson and four of her PR staffers to relocate to Barhart/CMI's offices at 1660 17th Street, Suite 300, Denver, Colo., 80202.

    The move increases the company's staff from 26 to 31, including 8 in the PR department, with Paul Scotti continuing to manage the agency's PR branch. Former Jefferson owner Kyla Thompson will serve as senior counsel in addition to overseeing Jefferson's transitioned clients, including Nextel Communications and the Lutheran Medical Center. (Barnhart/CMI, 303/6267200)

  • Newly formed PR and marcom firm, SAMCOR Communications Co., has opened for business at 299 Alhambra, Coral Gables, Fla., 33134. Cori Zywotow Rice, president of the firm, was a VP of worldwide communications for Burger King Corp. Also on board are Roxanne St. Claire, senior VP and Sharon Goldberg, senior account executive. Rice projected annual billings of about $500,000 for the startup. (SAMCOR, 305/4435454)
  • Opus Event Marketing, Richmond, Va., has opened Opus Public Relations, a PR unit offering strategic communications planning, media relations and writing and community programs. Jennifer Ebert has been named director of the fledgling unit. (Opus, 804/6442200)
  • Technology Solutions Inc. has moved its West Coast office and staff to the 8th floor of 101 Park Center Plaza, San Jose, Calif., 95113 to help the company serve more clients in Silicon Valley. (TSI, 408/2806000)
  • Bozell Sawyer Miller Group moved to a new address - 640 Fifth Avenue, New York, N.Y., 10019 - effective April 28. (Bozell Sawyer Miller Group, 212/4458100)