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Buzz Builders
Issue Date: Sep 27 1999
By Kathi Black
Despite its often dubious reputation, public relations can give more bang for the buck than any other type of advertising and marketing. There are legions of firms that profess to be communications experts. Here's a quick look at major players that serve interactive companies. - Kathy Black
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COMPANY |
SERVICE | PRICING | CUSTOMERS |
| Alexander Ogilvy www.alexanderogilvy.com New York |
The firm offers PR specifically for technology companies. | Prices run about $8000 to 15.000 a month on retainer. | Would not disclose clients. |
| Beaupre & Co. www.beaupre.com Portsmouth, N.H. |
The agency provides PR and investor-relations counsel for high-tech firms, including both startups and established entities. | Pricing starts at $20,000 a month. | Clients include Oracle, Ingram, Micro, Lucent, Sun Microsystems and Technology Solutions. |
| BSMG Worldwide www.bsmg.com New York |
Services include branding, reputation management, crisis communications, investor relations, lobbying and research. | Fees vary with the scope of the project. | Has about 1,000 clients, including Hewlett-Packard, Network Solutions, and Nielsen NetRatings. |
| Burson-Marstellar www.bm.com New York |
Offers branding, product launches, investor relations, crisis control, internal communications and media training. | Annual rates start at $240,000, with a variety of fee structures available. | Clients include Anderson Consulting, HotJobs.com and Sun. Edelman Public Relations |
| Edelman Public Relations www.edelman.com Chicago |
It created a new-media division in 1995, Edelman Interactive Solutions. EIS offers site-production, marketing and promotion. | Edelman does not have a set price range. Cost varies by city, industry and services provided. | Clients include Allstate, Bacardi, Eddie Bauer, IBM, Kraft, Microsoft, PeopleSoft, Pfizer and UPS. |
| FitzGerald Communications www.fitzgerald.com Cambridge, Mass. |
The agency offers corporate communications, investor relations, crisis management and other services. | Prices vary by client. | Clients include BackWeb Technologies, GTE, Sapient and USinternetworking. |
| Fleishman-Hillard www.fleishman.com St. Louis |
Offers interactive marketing, corporate branding, public affairs and investor relations, among other services. | Fees are based on monthly retainers, beginning at $20,000 a month. | Clients include Dell, Macromedia, Nortel, SBC Communications and Sony. |
| Hill & Knowlton www.hillandknowlton.com New York |
Offers corporate and marketing communications, financial communications, public-affairs services and media services. | The annual cost can range from $50,000 to over $1 million per project. | Has about 600 clients. |
| Lois Paul & Partners www.loispaul.com Burlington, Mass. |
The firm provides strategic counsel and communication services for high-tech companies worldwide. | Prices begin at $15,000 a month. | Has 30 clients, including Lotus, Nortel, Open Market, Sterling Software and Tivoli Systems. |
| Middleberg & Associates www.middleberg.com New York |
The firm has three main service areas: public relations, online marketing and Internet communications consulting. | The company charges $15,000 to 50,000 a month on retainer. | Clients include Anderson Consulting, CMGI, Lucent, Sothebys, Sybase
and Viacom. |
| Miller/Shandwick Technologies www.miller-shandwick.com Boston |
Offers public relations, corporate communications, investor and analyst relations and crisis communications. | Costs run from $20,000 a month to over $100,000 a month. | Has 60 clients, including Compaq, Dunn & Bradstreet, Hewlett-Packard, Kodak and Xerox. |
| Niehaus Ryan Wong www.nrwpr.com South San Francisco, Calif. |
Develops a unique marketing strategy for its clients. Services include spokesperson training, speechwriting and event planning. | Costs run from $28,000 to $120,000 a month. | Clients include Deloitte Touche, E-Loan, The Montley Fool, Organic, PlanetRX, Vignette and Yahoo. |
| Schwartz Communications www.schwartz-pr.com Waltham, Mass. |
The agency offers media relations and analyst relations, targeting print, broadcast and online media. | Fees range from $20,000 to $56,000 a month. | The firm has nearly 100 customers, including GTE, Lycos, Red Hat, WebMD and Wired Digital. |
| The Weber Group www.webergroup.com Cambridge, Mass. |
Offers public relations, branding, media training, investor relations, lobbying, research and marketing. | Annual fees range from $180,000 to multimillion-dollar programs. | Clients include 3Com, Citrix, Ernst & Young, Hitachi, Micron and SRI International. |
| Trylon Communications www.tryloncommunications.com New York |
The PR company consults for media organizations, including interactive, marketing, publishing, radio and television companies. | The firm charges $7,500 to $25,000 a month on a retainer basis. | Has more than 50 customers, including About.com, AT&T, MSNBC and Showtime. |
| Waggener Edstrom www.wagged.com Lake Oswego, Ore. |
Wagg-Ed was one of the early pioneers of high-tech PR and was largely responsible for shaping Microsoft's media image. | Would not disclose pricing. | Clients include Amazon.com, the Learning Company, Liquid Audio, Microsoft and Victoria's Secret. |
