REDWOOD CITY, CA: Bypassing a slew of the Bay Area’s usual hi-tech suspects, Excite@Home last week selected Text 100 to handle its estimated $500,000 consumer broadband account.

Text’s San Francisco office triumphed over a field of competitors in a heated review that reportedly included Porter Novelli, Edelman, Niehaus Ryan Wong and Connors Communications.

According to senior corporate PR manager Alison Bowman, out of the 15 PR firms that responded to her RFP, Text’s written proposal marked it as a leader from the outset.

“Text did by far the best job on the proposal,” she explained. “They analyzed our business, gave us extremely honest feedback and made solid recommendations.”

Bowman added that her group was particularly impressed by the creative presentation Text built around the theme of speed.

“They came in wearing blue [pit crew] jumpsuits with a tool kit – each tool represented a different idea. And they rolled out their business cards on the back of matchbox cars,” said Bow-man. “It could have been corny, but it wasn’t, because they pulled it off with sound ideas. And it showed how much they really wanted to work with us.”

Text will handle both corporate and product PR for Excite@Home, focusing on the company’s major consumer brands, including the Excite portal and @Home Internet access service. Text/San Fran GM Ryan Donovan and account director Aysen Yilmaz will lead the account team, with additional support provided by Text’s recently launched New York City branch.

Based in the UK and boasting more than 22 offices around the world, Text 100 is one of the biggest hi-tech PR firms in the world. However, its North American operations have only recently begun to pick up steam, landing such high-profile clients as Ask Jeeves, Sendmail and Harbinger.

For Excite@Home, hiring a new PR firm is just one of a series of moves the company is making to shore up its corporate and consumer communications. Recently, the company brought DC heavy-hitter Estela Mendoza on board for the newly created position of senior public relations manager, public policy.

Mendoza boasts nearly eight years of experience in the public policy arena, including stints as a White House press secretary and at The Washington Post. Most recently, she served as communications director for the US Census Monitoring Board.

In addition, Excite@Home is looking to fill a handful of new posts, including senior PR manager for the company’s Business Solutions or b-to-b operations, and senior PR manager for the Excite@Home Studio. On a more junior level, the company is seeking press specialists to handle the consumer and regional media.

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