6/30/2008 4:35 PM
B-M's U.S. Corporate Practice Chair Andy Goldberg talks about the implications of Carl Icahn's new blog with PRWeek.
An article featuring B-M Asia's Lead Digital Strategist Charlie Pownall in The Strait Times, which was first published back in April, is now available on line.
U.S. Managing Director Jim Cunningham discusses in the Financial Times how companies operating in fuel intensive industries should react to high oil prices. 6/27/2008 5:04 PM
B-M Brussels has published an analysis of the ramifications of the recent "NO" vote by Irish voters on the European Union's "Lisbon Treaty". The executive summary is copied below as is a PDF of the full report. 
Executive summary
The rejection of the Lisbon Treaty by Ireland has thrown the European Union into another constitutional crisis. The text – already ratified by 18 member states via parliamentary procedures – aims to make the EU more efficient and democratic, but Irish voters rejected ratification of the text by 53% to 47%, on a high turnout.
With other EU leaders promising that the ratification process will continue, the spotlight now falls on foreign ministers and EU leaders. Both the General Affairs Council and the European Council meet this week and will hold crisis talks on the way ahead. The issue seems set to dominate the forthcoming French presidency as the European Union seeks to find a solution.
At present, three main questions dominate the discussion on how the EU can extract itself from the problems posed by the Irish vote. Can the Irish be offered concessions and asked to vote again on the Treaty? Will the Treaty be abandoned, possibly in favour of introduction of its provisions by Council accords, inter-institutional agreements, or via an accession treaty with Croatia? Or will the other member states continue ratification to isolate Ireland – forcing another vote, or even a two-tier Europe?
At present, all options have difficulties – whether legal or political – and it seems likely that a renewed period of Euro-pragmatism will follow in the months and years to come.
PDF "What's Next for Europe?" 6/17/2008 11:30 AM
 As part of B-M's Most Valued Podiums (MVPs) study, which was published last month by Carol Ballock and her team, B-M also ranked media reputation surveys.
According to the study, the 10 most influential reputation rankings for 2008 are:
- Fortune's Most Admired Companies
- Fortune's 100 Best Companies to Work For
- Corporate Responsibility Officer's 100 Best Corporate Citizens
- BusinessWeek's Best Global Brands
- Barron's World's 100 Most and Least Respected Big Companies
- Barron's World's Best CEOs
- DiversityInc's Top 50 Companies for Diversity
- Financial Times' Best Places to Work in EU/UK
- Wall Street Journal's 50 Women to Watch
- Working Mother's 100 Best Companies for Working Mothers
Carol and B-M's rankings expertise was also recently featured in PRWeek (subscription required).
Five years ago, when Burson-Marsteller started tracking "Best of..." and "Top 100..." corporate scorecard features, the agency followed less than 100 rankings.
Today, Burson's executive positioning group specializes in pitching clients to more than 300 rankings - and not just in the US, but China, Germany, UK, and various other countries.
Carol Ballock, an MD in Burson's corporate practice, says that rather than zero in on a single survey, she often suggests that her clients approach the entire rankings environment. This includes developing content that can be repurposed across multiple submissions, which increases the likelihood of success.
"We've also noticed some companies are too modest on initial applications, due in part to inexperience," Ballock adds. She advises reviewing past rankings, reaching out to the compilation staff early, and really submerging oneself in the publication overall. Also, it's important to think long-term, by submitting over the course of multiple years, continually enhancing submissions, and not growing frustrated with snubs or complacent with victories, she adds.
Ultimately, Ballock says, the investment in developing high-quality submissions, including associated collateral, produces material that can be used for other purposes, especially if your client does win and needs to brand the win across everything the company does, "like a straight-A report card you get to show off all year long."
Reminder: The submissions for Fortune's 100 Best Companies to Work For are due mid-July. 6/11/2008 11:34 AM
Burson-Marsteller recently announced a second major partnership that will significantly impact our footprint in Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA). We entered into an exclusive partnership with Arcay Communications, a leading South African firm headquartered in Johannesburg.
This agreement with Arcay allows B-M to offer client service in more than 40 countries in Africa including Ghana, Nigeria, Kenya, Zambia, Morocco, Ethiopia, and Zimbabwe. This alliance along with B-M's recently announced partnership in the Middle East with Asda'a has seen the firm's EMEA footprint grow dramatically in the last few weeks. 5/29/2008 5:34 PM
 Today, Burson-Marsteller announced that it is joining forces with the Middle East's leading Public Relations Consultancy Asda'a. The two firms have formed a merged regional network covering all major markets in the Middle East. The network will operate as Asda'a Burson-Marsteller and have eleven wholly-owned offices in:
- Dubai, UAE
- Abu Dhabi, UAE
- Jeddah, Saudi Arabia
- Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
- Kuwait City, Kuwait
- Manama, Bahrain
- Doha, Qatar
- Muscat, Oman
- Cairo, Egypt
- Beirut, Lebanon
- Amman, Jordan
5/29/2008 4:03 PM
Here are just a few news updates on where B-M staffers have quoted recently. 
PRWeek (subscription required) highlights B-M's award-winning work for the US Bureau of Engraving and Printing (BEP), specifically the first digital launch of a new note - the $5 bill.
Also, B-Ms Chief Digital Strategist Erin Byrne contributed her thoughts during PRWeek's recent roundtable (subscription required) on Digital PR and Media. When discussing whether the C-Suite pays attention to digital budgets - Erin said, "There's another opportunity beyond the CEO or CMO or the C-suite, which is educating the corporate communication clients. Then they become champions within their own organizations. What's happening is they are then kind of celebrated and that elevates the entire PR function within the organization. It gives them more visibility, which is of course better for their digital programming, so we're really taking that approach and having some luck with it."
B-M's recent Most Valued Podiums (MVP) study was featured in BusinessWeek – "Choose Your Podium Wisely." The article quotes Burson-Marsteller Managing Director Carol Ballock, "A CEO's appearance should be part of a larger goal," citing the new study that finds a lack of strategic thinking. Carol was interviewed by Portfolio Magazine about CEO Positioning in early April as well. 5/21/2008 11:44 AM
 This week B-M released the results of its second-ever Most Valued Podiums Study (MVP2). Carol Ballock (left), who leads B-M's CEO and C-Suite Positioning Group, is the study's architect. The inaugural MVPs survey was conducted in 2005.
MVP2 polled decision makers at large corporations about the speaking venues they would like to see their CEOs and C-Suite executives address. The top 10 MVPs are the most sought after venues.
The 2008 Top 10 MVPs list:
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World Economic Forum
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 Wall Street Journal
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Forbes
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Fortune
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World Business Forum
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Detroit Economic Club
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Economist Magazine
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CFO Magazine
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Consumer Electronics Show
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Wharton Business School
Carol was interviewed in this week's BusinessWeek about the study.
The executive summary provides a more detailed analysis of the findings. 5/12/2008 12:04 PM
Harold Burson tells the Chicago Tribune that the practice of public relations is not a "20th Century Phenomenon." As an example, he points to the role public relations had in galvanizing the colonies during the American Revolution. He speficially highlights the patriot Sam Adams.
"He started the first grass-roots committee, the Committee of Correspondents," Burson said of Adams. "He set up the Boston Tea Party [although] the tax on tea was like one pence on the pound, which really wasn't that onerous. He wrote the op-eds that fomented people ... toward separation." 4/28/2008 2:49 PM
B-M's Chief Digital Strategist Erin Byrne recently addressed the VisionMonday Global Leadership Summit, an important gathering for the vision and optical industry. She spoke about trends in new media and digital communications and was joined by Lynn O'Connor Vos, CEO of Grey Healthcare Group.
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