PR, AD PUSH PART OF EFFORT TO BURNISH CORPORATE BRAND
By Alice Z. Cuneo

AD AGE, SAN FRANCISCO, 26 MARCH 2006
Dow Chemical Co., looking to improve its global brand reputation, has selected Interpublic Group of Cos. following a holding company review for a public relations and general advertising push estimated at $20 million.
GolinHarris and Foote Cone & Belding will be the lead IPG agencies on the chemical company account.
The marketer said Interpublic was selected to “help accelerate” an integrated, corporate-reputation strategy on a global basis. GolinHarris and Foote Cone & Belding are the lead agencies on the account.
Four holding companies
The review included the ad industry’s four major holding companies — Interpublic, Omnicom Group, Publicis Groupe and WPP Group. The race ultimately came down to Interpublic’s team and WPP’s Burson-Marsteller and Y&R Advertising. Earlier contenders included Omincom’s Porter Novelli, which had some Dow business.
In a statement, Dow said it started the review, which lasted for two months, because it wanted “key stakeholders to better understand how its products, people and actions contribute to human progress.”
Contractual and legal aspects of the relationship between Dow and Interpublic will be finalized in the coming weeks.

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