Securing a full-page article in the Manchester Evening News and a half-page in the Daily Mail would usually translate as a good day's work for a PR agency.
But Precise Communications wasn't smiling last month when one of their employees did exactly that.
As hinted in last month's The Marketeer, a prank email had been circulated within the industry parodying an article written about the joint managing director of Weber Shandwick Manchester, Jo Leah.
It has since emerged that the 'Jo Liar' email was written by Amanda Wood of Precise, a former colleague of Leah, who then forwarded it to the editor of North West Insider Michael Taylor.
Taylor in turn sent it to a list of his media contacts, whereupon it gathered its own head of steam.
Upon hearing of the email, and its growing readership, Leah contacted her lawyers and was soon awarded £10,000 in an out of court settlement by Taylor and Wood's legal team. The newspaper coverage followed soon after.
Commenting on the affair, Leah said, "I'm just glad it's over. It might have started as a joke, but the content wasn't funny and it did have an impact on my family." She added that the money would be split between a charity and a night out to thank her staff for their support.
Wood has since been reprimanded by Precise and both she and Taylor have signed unreserved public apologies.