Marina Maher Communications

NEW YORK – Taline Kundakji, a vice president at Marina Maher Communications, Inc. on Procter & Gamble’s COVERGIRL brand, has been named one of PR News’ 15-to-Watch in the Agency category.  These awards, which set the industry benchmark for excellence across all areas of PR, honor 15 outstanding PR leaders and creative practitioners under the age of 30 from across the country.  This is the second year in a row that a member of MMC’s staff has been honored.

The Awards Committee reviews achievements in the key areas of client leadership and agency contribution.  Taline is recognized for her contribution to COVERGIRL and the team’s success in consistently surpassing client goals.   In developing her nomination, Taline’s colleagues cited her ability to handle the most challenging of client demands with passion, good judgment and grace under pressure.

Taline will be honored at the PR News’ PR People Awards Luncheon at the National Press Club in Washington, DC on November 30. The 15-to-Watch Award will also be featured in an upcoming issue of PR News.

Marina Maher Communications is an independent, marketing public relations agency known for building brand relationships. Recognized for its expertise in marketing to women, the New York-based firm creates award-winning communications programs for clients in the packaged goods, health, wellness and food/nutrition categories. MMC is a member of the Worldcom Public Relations Group, the world’s largest consortium of independent public relations firms.

Procter & Gamble Recognizes MMC with Excellence Award

I love magic. I’m fascinated by the presentation, how it unfolds, the story it tells and how it takes you to some place almost inconceivable. When that happens at MMC, it’s even more exciting.

I’ve been fortunate to watch some magic unfold for our client head & shoulders these past few weeks. We set out to engage guys in the world of hair and scalp care. Not always an easy task. We wanted to do it by transforming the world’s leading dandruff shampoo into a pop culture icon that would get people talking. A big ambition.

After weeks of hard prep work with the brand and agency partners, we answered the call in breakthrough fashion. Earlier this month, head & shoulders announced that they were taking out a $1 million insurance policy on Pittsburgh Steeler –and brand spokesperson – Troy Polamalu’s trademark hair. The story, initially shared with influential online media, quickly took off like wildfire. In less than a week, more than 1,000 broadcast, print and online stories were filed, complimented by 1000s of tweets, online conversations and comments. The campaign yielded over 600 million media impressions in a matter of days and continues to feed upon itself. People are even trying to sell Troy’s hair on eBay! Male bastions such as Jimmy Kimmel Live! and Mike and Mike in the Morning are keeping discussion of Troy’s hair in the forefront of daily debate.

The announcement kicked off an integrated campaign to bring men – and women – to www.troyshair.com and engage them with the head & shoulders Hair Endurance brand. It’s a really cool place where Troy’s full and thick hair is the star and guys can have fun playing around in it. That may sound a bit weird, but it’s actually hilarious. Consumers are invited to enter debate – the Mane Event – on who has the most iconic hair in NFL history, win great stuff and learn how to “Polamalocize” their Facebook photos. The crowds have truly gone wild!

We always hope our efforts will yield results as full and thick as Troy’s curly mane. Every once in a while, an idea goes there and well beyond. That’s truly magical.

Football NFL Head & Shoulders Marina Maher Communications marketing MMC News P&G Pittsburgh Steelers Polamalooza Polamalu insurance Polamalu shampoo PR Public Relations Social Media Steelers Troy Polamalu Troy Polamalu hair Troy Polamalu’s hair Troy Polamalu head & shoulders Troy’s hair