49 Facts About Burson-Marsteller

Burson-Marsteller was founded by Harold Burson and William Marsteller in 1953, and, by the early 1980s, had become one of the largest public relations companies in the world.

In 1970, Burson-Marsteller was engaged by the main division of GM to manage its PR, following stiff competition from larger firms.

Burson-Marsteller was involved in the introduction of New Coke in early 1985.

Burson-Marsteller had established its first offices in Asia in 1973, with offices in Hong Kong, Singapore, Kuala Lumpur and Tokyo, and by the mid-1980s it had further expanded overseas operations with the founding of offices in Australia and New Zealand.

Burson-Marsteller expanded into Central and South America during the 1980s.

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Burson-Marsteller continued to work on major accounts such as Coca-Cola and Merrill Lynch, while James H Dowling succeeded him as the second ever CEO of Burson-Marsteller.

Burson-Marsteller stated that they had advised Exxon in the past and had been asked to review and analyze Exxon's handling of the disaster afterwards, but had not been engaged to manage the crisis itself.

In 1993 Burson-Marsteller helped organize a response to a 1992 United States Environmental Protection Agency report which had identified secondhand smoke as a Group A human carcinogen.

The strategy employed by Burson-Marsteller was to build doubt among consumers about the scientific validity of the EPA report and to target legislators who supported curbs on smoking.

In Europe, Burson-Marsteller provided support for an advertising campaign in 1996 carried out by Philip Morris.

Burson-Marsteller was criticized in the media for its involvement with Philip Morris, and in 1999 a demonstration was held outside the firm's headquarters, protesting their role as PR for Philip Morris.

In December 2005, Burson-Marsteller acquired the Indian firm Genesis PR as a wholly owned subsidiary.

The renamed Genesis Burson-Marsteller was announced as the company's hub for the South Asian market in 2008.

Penn introduced new strategies at Burson-Marsteller, including one called "DIGS" and "Evidence-Based Communications", described by the company as a scientific and data-driven approach to communications, which drew from Penn's background in research.

Penn and Burson-Marsteller received negative media attention in 2008 when his work on behalf of the Colombian government became a political liability for the presidential campaign of Hillary Clinton, who was opposed to a free-trade pact with Colombia.

Penn's leadership at Burson-Marsteller has been cited by PR Week as a model for the public relations industry, particularly combining public affairs experience with public relations.

Burson-Marsteller was brought in by AIG to help respond to requests for information from customers, employees and the media, due to the liquidity crisis it suffered in September 2008.

In 2010, Burson-Marsteller announced it had made a commitment to no longer accept work on behalf of the tobacco industry.

In May 2011, Burson-Marsteller was hired by Facebook to conduct a PR attack on Google.

Burson-Marsteller contacted a number of media companies and bloggers in an effort to get them to write unflattering stories about Google.

Burson-Marsteller provided public relations and advertising services to clients, including multinational corporations and government agencies.

The aim of Burson-Marsteller's training was to create a uniform approach to public relations across all clients and locations.

In 2005, the company launched Burson-Marsteller University, providing comprehensive training to its executives in developing corporate communications that are consistent worldwide while remaining culturally appropriate.

In 2009, when the firm debuted a new approach to public relations called "Evidence-Based Communications", Burson-Marsteller introduced an extensive training program designed to help employees apply it to ongoing projects and new proposals.

Burson-Marsteller offered services including communications tools and techniques intended to help companies to recover following a crisis.

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In particular, Burson-Marsteller had a close working relationship with many global producers and marketers of petroleum products, especially assisting on key communications of specific crisis situations such as oil spills and serious accidents.

In 1999, Burson-Marsteller was awarded a Public Relations Society of America Silver Anvil, the public relations industry's highest award for organizations, recognizing its communications program aimed at restoring confidence in the Korean economy during the Asian financial crisis of 1998.

Since the early 1980s, Burson-Marsteller had dealt with a range of much-publicized crisis management situations, from industrial accidents to acts of terrorism.

Burson-Marsteller organized a press conference televised across 35 markets in the United States, addressing the recall and reporting that the product tampering had occurred on the shelves, not during manufacturing.

Burson-Marsteller was brought back to handle crisis management during a second Tylenol crisis, involving cyanide tainting in New York in 1986.

Burson-Marsteller consultants were brought in by Union Carbide to organize communications following the leak and provide advice to Union Carbide executives.

Burson-Marsteller began work with the petrochemical producer in the late 1970s when they first entered the market in the Middle East.

Burson-Marsteller first established a technology group in its New York office in the early 1980s, specializing in "high-tech PR services".

Notable public affairs clients included the U S Bureau of Engraving and Printing, the Hebrides Range Task Force, for whose campaign Burson-Marsteller won several awards in 2010, South Korea, including representation of the Seoul Olympics Organizing Committee in the late 1980s, and the Brazilian government tourism agency.

Burson-Marsteller had taken on government clients who have been controversial, in particular during the 1970s when clients notably included Romania, Indonesia, and Argentina.

Burson-Marsteller represented the Romanian government in the early 1970s, during which time the country gained Most Favored Nation status for trade with the United States.

Burson-Marsteller was brought in by the Romanian government specifically to promote trade and tourism for Romania; one result was a week-long visit to the country by NBC's Today program.

Burson-Marsteller carried out public relations work for the last Argentine military dictatorship, for which it received criticism.

Years Burson-Marsteller denied working directly with the Argentine military, stating they only worked for the Ministry of Economics to assist in economic development.

Later on, Burson-Marsteller admitted to working with the dictator to improve the nation's image.

Burson-Marsteller maintained that it was not asked to defend Human Rights Violations; however, researcher Ruben Morales wrote that the company created a slogan to coincide with the September 1979 Inter-American Commission on Human Rights' fact-finding visit which stated in its English translation, "We Argentines are right and humane".

Burson-Marsteller placed an advertising supplement in The New York Times Magazine in 1979; according to Emmanuel, content was probably supplied by the Argentine finance minister.

Evidence from Wikileaks revealed in 2013 that Burson-Marsteller pressured the Associated Press to publish an article with an American executive mentioning their support for the regime in 1976.

In 2012, Burson-Marsteller was hired by Ukraine's ruling Party of Regions, "to help the PoR communicate its activities as the governing party of Ukraine, as well as to help it explain better its position on the Yulia Tymoshenko case", as explained by Robert Mack, a senior manager at Burson-Marsteller.

Burson-Marsteller established its Healthcare practice in the 1980s and by the early 1990s was listed as the top ranked healthcare PR firm by O'Dwyer's PR Services Report.

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Burson-Marsteller won a number of international awards for campaigns by its healthcare practice, including a Platinum PR Award for its 2002 National Breast Cancer Awareness Month campaign.

Two former reporters who had been hired by Burson-Marsteller helped in what became known as the "whisper campaign" against Google.

Burson-Marsteller admitted its role in the campaign, and claimed to have parted ways with Facebook.

In 1984, Burson-Marsteller acquired the Atlanta-based public relations firm, and it operated as a subsidiary of Burson-Marsteller until 2000.