U.S. Exports of Corporate Spin Are Up

Three new PR ventures "represent the globalization of a strategic concept that's been de rigeur in Washington for more than a decade: executing corporate PR campaigns as if they were political battles, in which someone wins, someone loses, and the client is the candidate," writes PR Week. One such effort is 360Advantage, a joint Burson-Marsteller and Quinn Gillespie venture. Another is Fleishman-Hillard's new "global network of public affairs shops," VOX Global Mandate. The third is ViaNovo, which will "offer management and communications consulting services," reports O'Dwyer's. ViaNovo's founders include Tucker Eskew, "who headed the White House's global communications office to coordinate the 'war on terror'"; Matthew Dowd, a Republican National Committee and Bush-Cheney campaign media staffer; and Democrats Blaine Bull and James Taylor, both formerly of Public Strategies Inc.