SAN FRANCISCO: Text 100 has bagged the prized US and UK PR business for Internet search company Ask Jeeves.

The Ask Jeeves account, which was resigned by San Francisco's Interactive Public Relations earlier this year (PRWeek, March 13), was won by Text 100 in a competitive review rumored to have included Fleishman-Hillard.

According to Ask Jeeves VP of corporate communications Heather Staples, the US account alone is worth upwards of $500,000 in annualized fee revenue. 'Text 100's enthusiasm from the start was great,' Staples said. 'But it was their expertise in both consumer and B-to-B that stood out.'

Text 100 will handle Ask Jeeves' US business with a 'combined virtual team' made up of execs from its consumer tech-focused Seattle staff and the more B-to-B-oriented San Francisco office. The company, which currently uses London-based Joe Public Relations (a Text sister agency) for consumer PR in the UK, also tapped Text's London office for its international business-to-business account.

Just last week, Ask Jeeves - already among the 20 most-visited sites on the Web - announced the launch of an integrated campaign aimed at promoting its suite of Web interaction services for businesses. Up until now, the company has devoted most of its marketing resources to reaching the consumer audience, often through wacky ad gimmicks - such as stickers on fruit and billboards with live ticker tapes.

The Ask Jeeves win is another feather in the cap of an agency that seems to be hitting its stride in the US. Last month, the firm's Boston and San Fran offices picked up the Paul Allen-backed e-commerce infrastructure provider Harbinger, which had previously employed GCI.

'From a US perspective, these wins give us an entree into the arena of high-profile brand names, something we already have on a global basis,' said Aedhmar Hynes, president of Text 100 North America.

Overall, Text 100 Group's worldwide operations, which include more than 31 offices and seven subsidiary brands, reported more than 60% growth - without any acquisitions - in the first half of its fiscal year, which ended January 31. The company also reported pre-tax profits of 26%. According to CEO Tim Dyson, analysts predict the firm will reach revenues of about $50 million for the year.

(c) Copyright Haymarket Business Publications Limited 2000 No part of this data may be reproduced without prior written permission of the copyright owner.

Source: PR WEEK US VERSION 08/05/2000 P3

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