is celebrity endorsement a thing of the past? pg. 12

Transcription

Decmagazine:Layout 1
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Pg. 9
Pg. 14
Pg. 16
Does brand loyalty
exist online?
Social media
predictions for 2011
PR congloms, service
firms boast Q3 gains
Communications & new media
IS CELEBRITY ENDORSEMENT
A THING OF THE PAST? PG. 12
NEW PLAYS FOR SPORTS
SPONSORSHIPS
PG. 10
SOCIAL MEDIA: HOLLYWOOD’S’
PG. 13
NEWEST STAR
Dec. 2010 I Vol. 24 No. 12
SPORTS PR PROS RECAP
ON LESSONS LEARNED IN
2010 PG. 28
December
2010
|
www.odwyerpr.com
O’DWYER’S RANKINGS OF TOP SPORTS
& ENTERTAINMENT PR FIRMS PG. 25
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Vol. 24, No. 12
Dec. 2010
EDITORIAL
Expert decries dominance of the email
pitch.
RECORD ONLINE AD FIGURES
SIGNAL Q3 COMEBACK
Page 4
6 16 OTHNIRTDHEQRUIASRETER REVENUES
8
Sales of recent Internet ads, as well
as a surge in video ad impressions, have set
the stage for an advertising comeback.
A new study by Cone finds the
brands users typically follow online belong
to a small, elite few.
9
PR MAKES $445 MILLION
IMPACT ON L.A.
The PR industry has a big effect
on Los Angeles’ economy, though its
impact often goes unnoticed.
10
Regardless of economic condititons, sports continues to be the preferred
destination for sponsorship opportunities.
FRUSTRATED REPORTERS
SHOULD TAKE A PR LESSON
Journalists who discover scandal
often find their stories ignored by
networks and the public.
RULES CHANGE CELEBRITY
ENDORSEMENT’S FUTURE
11
12
The FTC’s new rules regarding
endorsement guidelines have changed the
roles celebrities play in advertising.
SOCIAL MEDIA PLAYS A
VITAL ROLE IN HOLLYWOOD
13
A recent panel in Los Angeles
disscussed the role social media now plays
in films, both large and small.
WHAT’S NEXT FOR SOCIAL
MEDIA IN 2011?
17 ABMUSEIRNIECSASN,SFADVISOLRIKEETHICS
9 18 YWOHREKRPERHGARVOEUAPLSL GTHOENNE?EW
STUDY: USERS FOLLOW FEW
BRANDS ONLINE
SPORTS SPONSORSHIP
OPPORTUNITIES
PR conglomerates and service companies posted solid third quarter gains amid
bleak global economic realities.
14
Niche locations, content curation
and social gaming are just some of the
trends shaping social media’s future.
13
Author Frank Luntz told the annual
Arthur Page Society conference that
Americans value accountability and integrity.
Many groups that served as a social
hub for PR pros have either shrunk significantly or closed their doors altogether.
14
20
25 &RASNPKOIRNTGSSPORFFEIRNMTESRTAINMENT
32 WASHINGTON REPORT
PROFILES OF ENTERTAINMENT
& SPORTS PR FIRMS
26
www.odwyerpr.com
Daily, up-to-the minute PR news
COLUMNS
27
PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT
29
GUEST COLUMN
31
BOOK REVIEW
Fraser Seitel
28
FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT
30
GUEST COLUMN
34
PEOPLE IN PR
Richard Goldstein
Arthur Solomon
Lou Hoffman
‘Deadly Spin’
PR BUYER’S GUIDE
E DI TOR IA L CAL EN DA R 2 011
January: Crisis Comms. / Buyer’s Guide
February: Environmental & P.A.
March: Food & Beverage
April: Broadcast & Social Media
May: PR Firm Rankings
June: Global & Multicultural
July: Travel & Tourism
August: Financial/I.R.
September: Beauty & Fashion
October: Healthcare & Medical
November: High-Tech
December: Entertainment & Sports
A DVE RT IS ERS
Coyne PR.......................................5
NAPS........................INSIDE COVER
KEF...................................................3
Ruder Finn........................................7
Fleishman-Hillard........BACK COVER
Log-On...........................................19
Omega Travel.................................23
TV Access......................................26
O’Dwyer’s is published monthly for $60.00 a year ($7.00 for a single issue) by the J.R. O’Dwyer Co., Inc., 271 Madison Ave., New York, NY 10016. (212) 679-2471; fax: (212) 683-2750. Periodical postage paid at New York, N.Y., and additional mailing offices. Postmaster: Send address changes to O’Dwyer’s, 271 Madison Ave., New York, NY 10016. O’Dwyer’s PR Report ISSN: 1931-8316. Published monthly.
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J=9D&;J=9LAN=&
We’re real people — we’re unique, honest
and genuine, every single one of us. And
the best part? So are our ideas. We produce
creative that you can’t find anywhere else,
because if someone else could think of it,
we would never present it to you.
J=9D&;J=9LAN=&
We’re real people — we’re unique, honest
and genuine, every single one of us. And
the best part? So are our ideas. We produce
creative that you can’t find anywhere else,
because if someone else could think of it,
we would never present it to you.
www.coynepr.com
www.c oynepr.c om
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EDITORIAL
Expert decries dominance of the email pitch
endell Potter, author of “Deadly Spin,” a critique of health industry PR,
said at a Nov. 16 NYU speaking engagement that PR’s adoption of e-mail
as the dominant method of handling press calls is destroying traditional
PR/press relationships and crippling communications.
Potter, as part of a 22-city tour to promote the book, addressed the audience at a
New York University Bookstore for nearly two hours.
One of his goals is to teach Americans to be wary of techniques for improperly
manipulating opinion whether they are practiced by companies, PR firms, the government or the press itself, he said.
Personal relationships between PR pros and reporters have declined with the
advent of e-mail which provides a permanent record of any conversations between
press and PR.
A chapter in his book on the Read Edelman CEO Richard Edelman's review
death of Nataline Sarkisyan, Los of Potter's book “Deadly Spin,” on page 30.
Angeles teenager who was scheduled for a liver transplant after initial reluctance to pay for it by Cigna, has a passage
on e-mail.
Potter was chief spokesperson for Cigna at that time. The company initially
refused to pay for the transplant but agreed to do so after the family launched a PR
campaign.
‘Take it or Leave it’
Wrote Potter:
“E-mail had become the most common way we communicated with reporters. It
enables us to click and ‘send’ and dispatch a statement that usually had been blessed
(if not already written) by an ad hoc committee of lawyers, corporate doctors, and
businesspeople.
“With e-mail, we were sending not just a statement but a broader message: ‘Here’s
our response to your question. Take it or leave it. It’s all we’re going to say.’
“More often than not, reporters would take it and not bother us for more information. They were often on a deadline, and even if they weren’t, they knew from experience that they weren’t going to get much more from us.”
A theme of the Potter book is that corporate PR tries to exercise as much control
as possible over mentions of the company in the media and also exercises strict control over who gets to interview corporate executives. Today, many corporate events
where New York PR pros and the press once socialized have all but disappeared, as
well as many of the 25 corporate and agency PR groups that routinely met in the
1970s and ’80s. W
— Jack O’Dwyer
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socialactivation
socialstorytelling
socialnetworking
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The Americas
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Europe
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Middle East
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MEDIA NOTES
Historic online ad figures portend Q3 comeback
Online advertising is towing the line for the industry’s
financial comeback, as most expected it would. Aside from
history-making revenues in the third quarter, new studies
show gains in online video advertising could account for
much of the industry’s future growth.
By Jon Gingerich
ccording to the latest findings from
the Interactive Advertising Bureau
and PriceWaterhouseCoopers, revenue estimates for Internet ads totaled a
record $6.4 billion in the third quarter of
2010, up 17% from the third quarter last
year. These figures now officially
account for a milestone: the largest gains
in digital advertising history.
If it’s enough consolation that recovery is occurring within the advertising
industry, it might be an added bonus to
learn that a particularly voracious breed
of advertising is leading these gains.
According to November data released
by Comscore, online video advertisement is now responsible for a growing
portion of this activity, and if the figures
are any indication, the medium is here to
stay.
A
NEWSPAPER READERS
DROP ANOTHER 5%
Average weekday circulation at 635 newspapers dipped five percent for the six-month period
ended September 30, according to the Audit
Bureau of Circulations. That compares to 10.5 percent plunge during last year’s period.
The Wall Street Journal, which ranks as the
No. 1 paper with a circulation of 2.1M, was the
only top 10 paper to post a gain. It was up 1.8 percent. The Journal factors in 450K electronic subscribers to its numbers. USA Today fell 3.7 percent to 1.8M, while the New York Times slid 5.5
percent to 876,638.
Rounding out the Top Ten are Los Angeles
Times (down 8.7 percent to 600,449), Washington
Post (-6.4% to 545,345), New York Daily News (5.8% to 512,501), New York Post (-1.3% to
505,501), San Jose Mercury News (477,592, `09
figures not available), Chicago Tribune (-5.2% to
441,508) and Houston Chronicle (-10.5% to
343,952).
Cablevision’s Newsday was the biggest loser
among the top 25. Circulation plummeted 11.8
percent to 314,848. The San Francisco Chronicle
fell 11.2 percent and the Newark Star-Ledger slid
9.3 percent to 223,037. The Dallas Morning News
was the only other paper to post a gain, up 0.3
percent to 264,459.
The combined Sunday circulation of 553
papers dipped 4.5 percent, an improvement from
the 7.5 percent plunge in `09.
8
Web video makes big gains
American Internet users viewed more
than 4.6 billion online video ads in
October, a new record in its own rite.
About 175 million U.S. Internet users
viewed online videos during this time,
which accounts for more than 84% of
all U.S. Internet users.
Video ads accounted for nearly 13%
of all videos viewed, totaling about
1.2% of all minutes spent watching
videos. About 45% of all Americans
watched an online video ad last month,
with an average age of 34.
Hulu was home for the highest number of video ad impressions, delivering
a record 1.1 billion video ad impressions during October. This reveals an
extraordinary increase of nearly 40%,
from the 793 million ad impressions
just the month before. Receiving about
30,000 unique viewers every month,
Hulu now reaches about 10% of the
U.S. population, and Hulu users now
view an average of 38 ads each month.
Google — primarily driven by
YouTube — retained its position as the
number-one video property, with a
record 2 billion videos watched during
October and more than 146 million
unique viewers. Average users spent 4.5
hours during the month watching videos
on the site. Google’s ad views were disproportionately smaller however, with
about 170,000 video ads watched during October, less than much “smaller”
sites like AOL, Microsoft sites or CBS
Interactive.
Spending data shows that Internet
advertising has increasingly grown in
recent years, even during notoriously
harsh periods like 2009. Given the
economy’s pending recovery, most
experts believe online ad figures are
poised to accelerate through 2011 and
beyond. Increased placement of brand
messages online, from advertisers that
have finally seen the light in the
Internet’s potential as a viable forum for
advertising, is at least partially responsible for the recent upswing.
“The Internet is the one area that’s
held up,” said Tom Finneran, Executive
Vice President of Management Services
of the American Association of
Advertising Agencies. “What’s been
happening for several years is more
marketers are shifting more money from
offline to online. There’s no expectation
that this is going to slow down, and in
fact, it’s only going to continue gaining
traction.”
As recently as two years ago, it was
regularly debated whether placing
advertisements on YouTube would
alienate its audience. Today, this is
rarely questioned. Recent research conducted by Turner found that not only are
users becoming accustomed to commercials on the Web, they’ll watch roughly
the same amount of online content
regardless of how many ads they have
to sit through.
The Web’s increased videocentricity
is an obvious reason for the recent flurries in online video ad activity. As technologies improve — storage and bandwidths, namely — we see online video
as but another work in progress but one
that is making tremendous gains.
Video’s transition from TV to Web
seems natural, almost organic. For one,
it’s a familiar format; companies that
work in brand advertising can continue
doing all the things they’re used to on
TV without changing their campaigns
or finding a new strategy for their message.
Online content is also much more
measurable than print or broadcast, and
since Web advertising can give more
measurable results, it’s where clients
are likely to go when budgets are small
and the money needs to go further.
Contrary to popular belief, Finneran
said the sun hasn’t yet set on the empire
of television advertising. Local radio
stations were the real victims in 2008
and 2009 he said, racked by budget cuts
and downsizing, damaged in part by the
fact that local radio relies on much of its
advertising from local retail, a venue
where many merchants found new frontiers in Internet search.
“Contrary to popular belief, TV is not
dead,” Finneran said. “TV in 2010 had a
good year, even if it still wasn’t back to
2008 levels. Some of the largest
spenders on TV are automotive dealerships, and we all know what happened
to them two years ago.”
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Page 9
Study: users follow few brands with social media
By Greg Hazley
ocial media users “adopt” fewer
than five brands or companies
online on average, whether its “liking” it via Facebook, following it on
Twitter or subscribing to an RSS feed,
according to a recent study of new media
consumer habits conducted by Cone.
New media users demonstrate an affinity for only 4.6 companies online, the
Omnicom cause marketing firm found,
calling the chosen handful a “club” one
of the “most exclusive to which a company can hope to gain access.” An estimated 33% of users do not follow any brands
and only 8% follow 10 or more companies.
“Marketers are being more aggressive
than ever with attractive promotions
designed to generate likes, followers and
subscribers,” said Cone Director of New
Media Mike Hollywood. “Consumers’
affinity can only tolerate five brands, so
companies need to think beyond the
coupon or clever widget to figure out
S
how to develop
long-term relationships
with
real
staying
power,”
Nearly 60% of
those engaged say
they are satisfied
with their experiences with companies or brands
online, according
to Cone, and 62% New research by Cone shows that while Americans are increasingly
said they were using new media technology, they follow an average of only five comlikely to share panies or brands online, forming an exclusive "club" that companies
information about need to work to gain access.
a company across
Graphic courtesy of Cone.
their own social
the decision to engage. Forty-six percent
networks.
The study found 86% of consumers said customer service offerings like probwant to engage with companies via new lem solving were important, while 39%
media (up from 78% in 2009) but it now said they wanted their feedback solicited.
takes a considerable effort to reach these Only 28% were looking to be entertained
by brands or companies.
privileged heights.
The study also found that new media
What attracts followers to brands?
Seventy seven percent said incentives adoption has exploded for companies and
like coupons or free products are key to brands, up 48% from only 2009. PR makes “quiet” $445 million impact in L.A.
By Greg Hazley
os Angeles county PR agencies
have a $445 million impact on the
county’s economy, or about $1
million per agency, although its economic might often flies under the radar,
according to an analysis by the L.A.
County Economy Development Corp.
commissioned by PRSA/L.A.
The study claims that for each of the
nearly 3,830 PR agency jobs (including
731 independent consultants) in the
area, 1.7 jobs outside the industry are
supported. The area also includes about
10,370 PR pros at corporations and
other entities.
“It is clear that the reach of public
relations goes far beyond the single
industry and is felt throughout the economy,” the report states.
L.A. PR jobs have not yet returned to
a peak level reached in 2001. Total
annual earnings for PR professionals —
agency, corporate and other entities —
reached $780 million in 2009.
Jobs declined ‘significantly’ since ‘01
But the study found that employment
at PR agencies has declined significantly since 2001, although it is 23% higher
L
than it was in 1990 — 2,466 in 1990,
compared with 3,030 in 2008. By comparison, advertising employment fell
five percent during that period.
PR employment peaked at 3,079 in
the second quarter of 2008 and has fallen steadily since then to about 2,474 in
Q3 of 2009, the study found.
Eric Moses, Chapter President and
Director of Communications and Public
Affairs for Occidental Petroleum Corp.,
said the figures show that PR contributes “significantly” to the county
economy and supports jobs in associated industries, often without much attention.
“The findings clearly show PR is one
of the drivers of the business community that often goes unseen and unnoticed
but clearly plays a vital role,” he said.
The L.A. PR business accounted for
$445 million in labor income, state and
local tax payments of $45.3 million in
2008 and helped sustain more than
6,400 other jobs, the LAEDC report
said.
The average annual PR agency wage
in L.A. in 2008 was $78,129, 50%
above the average of all workers in the
county. PR managers in the corporate
sector earned about $113,070 on aver-
age in 2009.
The LAEDC found that PR firms
have increased by 15% since 1990,
from 386 to 445. CABLEVISION STUDIES
SPIN-OFF
Cablevision announced in November it’s
exploring the spin-off of its Rainbow Media
cable programming division to shareholders in a
bid to boost value. Wall Street cheered the
news, bidding Cablevision stock up almost $3 to
$31.90.
Rainbow channels include AMC (producer of
“Mad Men”), WEtv (Women’s Entertainment),
Sundance Channel (independent films) and
Wedding Central. The unit owns IFC (specialty
film production).
Cablevision will retain its cable TV operation
that serves 3M homes in the New York metropolitan area, News 12 Networks, Newsday,
Clearview Cinemas and MSG Varsity, which covers high school sports.
A spin-off would take place in mid-2011.
Cablevision has ruled out the sale of either
Rainbow or the cable systems.
Earlier this year, the company spun-off
Madison Square Garden, which includes the
New York Knicks, New York Liberty, New York
Rangers and Radio City Music Hall. Cablevision’s
founding Dolan family controls MSG via ownership of its Class B shares.
9
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FEATURE
New plays for sports sponsorship opportunities
As sponsorships come under increased scrutiny, companies look for growth and value from
existing and potential partnerships. Given the current economic environment, they’re often
finding more benefits than ever.
By David Nobs
espite current market conditions,
sports continues to be the preferred
destination for corporate spending,
far surpassing entertainment, ethical and
political causes and the arts, according to
recent industry reports.
Integrated marketing has become essential in planning, executing and measuring
the success of sports marketing campaigns.
The keys to success lie in bringing a marketer’s sponsorship to life in real and
meaningful ways.
The trend these days is to make more
with less, in terms of quality of activation
versus quantity of sponsorships. Even with
the sophistication of measurement today,
there are no formulas to ensure success.
Each sponsor creates its own methods and
has its own criteria for placing a value on
its sponsorship investment and determining the ultimate success or failure of a
given program.
There are guidelines to help companies
make an intelligent decision. Here are four
primary areas to consider when evaluating
a sponsorship opportunity:
• Financial value from the sale of products and services directly tied to a sponsorship property.
• Pre-emptive value by keeping the
competition out of a particular area.
• Brand image value gained by associating with a particular sponsorship property.
• Intangible value for the company
internally and externally.
First, establish a potential revenue base
that would come from the sale of products
or services to existing and prospective customers. Set specific, measurable goals and
objectives that will automatically define
the category or area that is most appropriate for your needs and, therefore, the
approximate cost. Commit to promotional
spending that is at least equivalent to the
cost of the sponsorship, taking into consideration that most successful programs are
based on ratios that are two or three times
as much as the sponsorship fee itself.
In some cases, keeping the competition
out of a particular field of interest, whether
it’s a league, team, sport or event, may be
the primary factor to consider in deciding
on a particular opportunity.
It’s important to keep in mind that a
sponsorship only provides a “platform”
D
10
upon which to build. Supporting marketing and communications activities must be
integrated, memorable and tied to both
short and long-term business objectives.
Also, consider international ramifications,
market-by-market variances, and market
share as part of the sponsorship equation.
There are also several “intangible” considerations in placing a value on a sponsorship:
• The value of creating an internal and
external marketing program in which a
company’s employee and sales force can
unite behind and that becomes the focal
point of internal and external communications.
• The value of creating new business
relationships, business development
opportunities, greater corporate awareness,
enhanced corporate or brand image, goodwill within the company, and goodwill
throughout the community.
• The value of improved customer relationships, hospitality and client entertainment, and the value derived from associating with a visible and established equity
partner or event.
• The value of favorable, third-party
media coverage resulting from sponsorship
involvement.
• Finally, when placing a value on a
sponsorship program, a company should
consider the cost of not being a sponsor.
From a competitive standpoint, guerilla
marketing has become an accepted tactic to
minimize the value of a competitor’s sponsorship program.
A company should analyze its costs,
understand its reasons for participation,
develop goals and objectives, and integrate
its marketing and communications activities to achieve success.
Activation and integration
In developing strategic and creative
sponsorship campaigns, consider all elements in the tool box. More often than not,
public relations, product seeding and social
media set the stage for future advertising,
event promotion and sales & marketing
strikes that follow.
Strategic corporate and media partnerships with like-minded companies can
broaden your reach and frequency. Online
and offline marketing and promotions generate leads and reach consumers in unconventional ways. For consumer goods com-
panies, product seeding, publicity and integration are vital to ensure that products
“show up” in the right places in the right
way.
Social media and Twitter can serve
brands and properties as a customer-service tool that offers real-time perspective
on how people react to a game, a deal or a
critical decision.
Many sponsors provide consumers with
unique “moments” through experiential
marketing, events and promotions. Media
relations is essential in securing positive
news coverage, testimonials and thirdparty credibility. Advertising, signage,
interactive marketing, sales and collateral,
and hospitality drive the message home.
While there are certainly risks as evidenced in some recent high-profile cases,
celebrity endorsements can enhance
brand image, drive sales and cut through
the sponsorship clutter.
The most successful campaigns feature
celebrities who have a genuine affinity
toward the company or product they represent or have some “skin in the game” in
terms of investment or compensation.
The challenges most often involve contractual issues, inaccessibility or the possible negative repercussions or “guilt by
association” that could occur in crisis situations.
Measurement and evaluation
Perhaps the most critical aspect of
sponsorship is determining what success
looks like at the outset of a campaign and
measuring activities and events against
those pre-determined goals and objectives before, during and after. Many
sponsors conduct benchmark research to
measure pre- and post-campaign perceptions among key audiences, calculate
aggregate reach and frequency, conduct
media audits, and place an equivalent
advertising value on visibility.
Today, the relationship between sports
and entertainment is inseparable yet
interchangeable. Sports still make sense
as a way to enhance corporate image and
increase product visibility. If done well,
sports provide companies with advertising, sales & marketing, promotion, public
relations, interactive and internal communications value all in one package.
David Nobs is head of sports marketing
for The Lavidge Company in Phoenix. Decmagazine:Layout 1
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Page 11
Frustrated reporters could learn a lesson from PR
By Jack O’Dwyer
panel titled “Financial Journalism
Under Fire” was one long hue and
cry by journalists who say they
discover scandals but find their stories are
ignored.
One panelist suggested they give themselves a “Cassandra Award” named after
the Greek god who was able to predict
disasters but could find no one who would
believe her.
“Exhibit A” in the journalists’ tale of
woe was the “outing” of mega thief
Bernie Madoff by Erin Arvedlund of
Barron’s in 2001.
She checked with option traders who
said Madoff could not possibly get the
results he was reporting. Arvedlund’s
major piece, the result of months on the
story, ran May 7, 2001 under the title
“Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” (highlighting the
secrecy that marked the Madoff operations).
“There was no reaction,” she moaned,
adding, “I wish I had followed up … I
wish I had proceeded further.” She then
expressed sympathy for the people who
lost billions (total was about $65 billion),
saying further stories by her might have
prevented it.
Kandel calls for follow-up
Moderator Myron Kandel, former CNN
financial editor, said it was not enough for
journalists to expect action just because
they wrote a story that appeared on the
front page of a major medium.
Arvedlund should have pressed her
case with SEC commissioners and gone
over their heads to the legislative and
executive branches of the government, he
said.
Kandel is on the right track.
Reporters can learn a lot from PR pros,
many of whom have switched from just
“getting ink” to getting “results” or “outcomes,” as they also call it.
Arvedlund should have asked herself,
“What is my goal?” The goal was to save
investors from being bilked out of billions. She and her editors should have
called a press conference. Barron’s should
have shared its research with other media.
Big companies, many of them fierce
competitors, often band together in trade
associations to push their causes.
They not only work via their trade associations but create “coalitions of coalitions” in Washington, D.C.
A
Avredlund’s “trade association” was the
New York Financial Writers Assn., which
Kandel headed in 1986-87. She should
have made speeches to financial and general audiences and tried to obtain time on
TV and radio.
She could have become a “Joan of Arc”
dedicated to leading the financial reporting press corps. She could have sought the
help of a PR firm.
One panelist noted that editors rarely let
a reporter concentrate on one story to the
exclusion of others.
Kandel said failure to follow up on stories and seek action was a major flaw of
financial journalism.
As evidence that financial journalism
mostly failed in warning about financial
abuses he noted that no Pulitzer Prizes
were awarded for financial journalism in
2008-09.
Henriques cites Cassandra
Diana Henriques, NYT senior financial
writer who is writing a book about
Madoff, asked, “What do you do when
what you report is ignored?
“Remember who Cassandra was,” she
said. “She was able to predict disasters
but no one would believe her. What is the
appropriate media response when a story
like Erin’s and other fine stories…are
ignored by policymakers and lawmakers…at what point does the subject for
criticism become a dead horse…you keep
saying it over and over again?”
Kandel noted at the beginning of the
panel, which took place April 30, 2009 at
the CUNY Graduate School of
Journalism (and which we just discovered) that good stories “were rarely followed up.”
He said reporters incorrectly believe
that people are going to read their stories
and “do something.”
Markopolos ignored
Kandel noted that financial fraud
investigator Harry Markopolos complained to the SEC for years about
Madoff and was ignored.
Markopolos called the SEC a “captive
of the industry it regulates that is afraid
of bringing big cases against the largest
and most powerful firms.” He said that
as he dug into Madoff’s affairs he began
to fear for his life because he was convinced that Russian mobsters and Latin
American drug cartels were Madoff
clients.
Avrelund’s article focused on the wall
of secrecy around Madoff. After months
of compiling details about him, she final-
Financial journalist Erin Arvedlund has been
credited as writing the first article that questioned the investment tactics of Bernard
Madoff. Her book, “Too Good to be True: The
Rise and Fall of Bernie Madoff,” was recently
published.
ly caught up to him on a “scratchy international telephone line” while he was
traveling on a boat in Switzerland. He
wouldn’t go into “details” and did not
tell her “anything of note.”
Avrelund, who worked at a hedge fund
start-up from 2006-08 and was a reporter
for the Times, Wall Street Journal,
Barron’s and TheStreet.com, talked to
more than 100 people in researching
Madoff but fewer than five had ever met
him.
Reporters “lack knowledge”
Jon Friedman, MarketWatch.com
columnist, said many financial reporters
were lacking in basic knowledge about
such financial instruments as credit
default swaps and collateralized debt obligations.
Kandel asked those in the audience how
many were familiar with such devices and
only a few raised their hands.
Sal Nuccio, a life active member of the
NYFWA who has written on insurance for
the NYT, said the credit default swaps
were actually insurance used as a gambling device and the CDOs had “no backing whatever,” providing a “false sense of
security.”
Markets were doing so well that no one
wanted to look too closely at what was
happening, he said.
There was agreement that financial
news is not a hot topic with TV producers.
One producer told Susan Lisovicz,
CNN stock market correspondent, “We
know financial news is important but try
not to make it seem like medicine.” DECEMBER 2010 WWW.ODWYERPR.COM
11
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Page 12
REPORT
Legal hurdles, overkill plague today’s celeb endorsements
Celebrity endorsements have long been a staple for modern ad campaigns. Decades of market success and almost universally enthusiastic responses from consumers have transformed spokesperson
procurement from a cottage industry to a playbook standard. Recent legal hurdles, saturation in the
media and new Federal regulations however, have left some wondering if the practice is now more
trouble than it’s worth.
By Jon Gingerich
t’s been just over a year since the FTC
published its new guides regarding the
use of testimonials and endorsements in
advertising. The first such changes to the
industry since 1980, the updated rules went
into effect last December and affect all
forms of advertising, including broadcast,
print and blogs.
Especially affected by the new changes
are updates to the rules surrounding the
practice of celebrity endorsements.
Celebrities who endorse a product now
must disclose that they’re being paid to do
so and, in a notably vague section of
legalese by the FTC, an advertiser may “use
an endorsement of an expert or celebrity
only as long as it has good reason to believe
that the endorser continues to subscribe to
the views presented.”
Celebrities must also disclose the relationships they have with advertisers when
making endorsing statements outside the
context of traditional ads. Specifically, if a
celebrity makes an endorsing statement outside of an ad, say, on a TV talk show or even
on a social media site like Twitter, they must
disclose that they are a being paid to do so.
According to some industry experts, this
portion of the new guidelines goes too far,
as it analogizes a celebrity’s private life with
their public persona.
“Celebrities are people too. If I can go out
and say my favorite brand of ketchup is
Heinz, how can anyone say that celebrities
can’t go out and say the same?” said Noreen
Jenney, Founder of Celebrity Endorsement
Network, a Los Angeles company that
acquires celebrity talen for ad agencies, PR
firms and corporate clients.
Unlike the 1980 version of the FTC
guides, celebrities can now be held liable for
failure to disclose these connections.
Further, they can also be penalized for making false or unsubstantiated claims during a
product pitch.
Legal problems abound
Jenney, who founded CEN in 1980, said
the current rules governing celebrity
endorsement are an almost polar opposite of
what they used to be, as can be seen in the
former practices surrounding testimonial of
items like healthcare products.
Previously, celebrities suffering from a
I
12
particular illness were barred from endorsing pharmaceuticals on commercial ads. In
response, they were often paid to make
appearances on talk shows. A cottage industry thus emerged, matching celebrities with
a corresponding drug and then booking
them on the talk show circuit, a practice that
has shrunk.
“There’s a major decrease in that sort of
business now, because advertisers can just
reach consumers directly through ads,” said
Jenney.
The new landscapes governing celebrity
endorsements — legal, technological, social
— has made it a much different industry
than it was just a decade ago, and arguably,
a harder one to work in.
For one, the new gamut of legal concerns
has put a number of new, outsider hands in
the cookie jar. Concerned about its effects
on the industry, more celebrity endorsement
deals are now inked under the legal auspices
of union bodies like the Screen Actors
Guild.
Moreover, because the new FTC rules are
so difficult to explain, because they are difficult to enforce internally, more deals are
inked with the aid of lawyers, who increasingly find themselves at the forefront of
endorsing campaigns.
“So far, awareness in the industry is pretty low, with the exception of when a contract is review by lawyers,” Jenney said. “I
don’t know how (the FTC) is going to
enforce these rules. I don’t know if it’s even
legally enforceable. I don’t see how this can
become a major issue unless somebody files
a lawsuit.”
Tighter contracts
Celebrity endorsements have a habit of
forming relationships that, at times, seem
inseparable. From Joe DiMaggio’s work
for Mr. Coffee to Michael Jordon’s
decades-long relationship with Nike, the
role of celebrity as corporate pitchman has
been ingrained into the American psyche.
Of course, these relationships can be
fickle, and can backfire with tremendous
consequences. Tiger Woods’ marital infidelities was enough for him to famously
lose corporate sponsors like Accenture,
AT&T, Buick and Gillette. After being
accused of rape, Kobe Bryant’s contracts
with Nutella and McDonald’s were imme-
diately revoked. Pepsi dropped Madonna
after MTV aired her “Like a Prayer” video.
Today, the legal binding of endorsement
contracts are noticeably tighter. Morality
clauses are longer, and more recourse is
available to client companies if a celebrity’s
conduct threatens the product’s public
image. Major insurance companies are now
even selling insurance packages where
companies that hire celebrities can recoup
some of their lost fees when a crisis occurs.
“It’s pretty stunning what can happen,”
Jenney said. “I’ve always been cognizant
on doing my research, but when guys you
think are squeaky clean mess up, you can’t
control it.”
Celebrity saturation
The Internet has made an increasd impact
on the ways in which celebrities are used.
In the old days, endorsement deals were
typically inked with a regional broadcast in
mind, with celebrities paid according to its
reach. Now, with Internet tie-ins commonly
accompanying broadcast slots, it’s almost a
given that celebrity campaigns will be a
global partnership, using varying forms of
media.
Some data however, suggests that consumer support for celeb-endorsed products
may be waning. According to a recent study
published by WPP, a deluge of celebrity
endorsements may be responsible for
diminishing returns in its effectiveness.
Only about 35% of those polled said they
now believe celebrity endorsements
improve a brand’s image. The study also
found that the effectiveness for celebrity
endorsement seems to fade the older the
consumer gets. Only 14% of consumers in
the 35 to 54 demographic said they’d buy
something touted by a celebrity. Only 11%
of those over 55 said they would do so.
Still, about a third of consumers in the
coveted 18-34 demographic said they’d try
a product if it was endorsed by a celebrity,
and consumers this age are still about 50%
more likely to recommend a product if it is
endorsed by a celebrity.
“I don’t know if the industry today is any
bigger,” Jenney said. “Bigger advertisers
have jumped in the pool and are spending
more money on the people they’re buying,
but more than anything, I’d say it’s just different.” Decmagazine:Layout 1
11/24/10
2:10 PM
Page 13
Social media plays vital role in Hollywood marketing
By George S. McQuade III
“
he best way to get a following is to
provide good content,” said social
media expert Henna Merchant.
“People are attracted to other interesting
people or content, so you have to think
about the people who are actually using
social media. If you want yourself to spread
virally, you’re going to have to touch the
people who are most comfortable with the
technology, who are influencers. It’s not
your grandmother.”
Merchant is Principal of Clicked Digital
PR and Marketing Communications, a firm
that melds digital influence, social and traditional media, public relations, and marketing. She was one of several speakers
who participated in a two-hour social media
workshop held during the L.A. Femme
Film Festival, that ran from Oct 14-17 in
Hollywood. The L.A. Femme Film Festival
is an annual, open-to-the-public event that
showcases and celebrates films written,
directed or produced by women.
“Filmmakers’ first step should be using
social sites to engage their fans,” said
Gotham Chandna, an international social
media expert, digital PR guru and the force
behind Cloud 21 PR. “Websites are dead.
It’s really hard to change them, and it’s time
consuming.”
Chandna is currently involved in devising and implementing successful social
media strategies for actors, filmmakers,
fashion designers, corporations and retailers. He has been involved in online marketing since 2000, social media and blogging
since 2003. He is currently ranked in the
Top 100 Digital PR professionals on
Twitter.
“I hope you don’t have your project finished and now you are looking at social
media,” said Social Media Expert Kristina
Hughes.
Kristina is the Co-Founder of Holdon
Log, a provider of organizational tools for
actors, models, comedians and background
artists that offers products such as
Performertrack.com, an online resource for
actors that tracks, stores and analyzes performance and income history.
“Prior to having your product started or
done, there are great sites that can help you
get going,” said Social Media Expert Brian
Vermeire. “Sites like these allow you create
amazing, quick content that looks so professional it’s ridiculous and it can really
make your end product look professional
T
before you have even started
editing it. There are programs
where you just upload video
clips, images, text and then
processes various options
online with hundreds of royalty-free songs to go with them.
Your presentations need to be
done early and should be compelling,” noted Vermeire.
Vermeire wears many hats in
the Entertainment Industry.
He’s a writer, producer, executive producer, host and actor
for various networks and proFrench filmmaker Evyha Cerhus speaks to the panel.
duction companies such as
Photos courtesy of MAYO Communications
FOX, The Disney Channel,
The Family Channel, Vin
DiBona Productions and HombreTV. He’s a comedy producer with National
traveled as a seminar leader or guest speak- Lampoon.
“Sometimes what we do to support the
er for SAG Conservatory, SAG
Foundation, The Actor’s Network and theatrical release of the film is offer an early
Children in Film. Currently, he’s the CEO prequel in film, a character lead out or build
of Holdon Log, and also a known stand-up out the story to create a fan base that will be
exciting and engage the viewer,” she said.
comedian in the Los Angeles community.
Lawson said there’s more than 800 hours
“The investor in an independent film is
you, the producer, and I think that’s why of hand-picked films and film-related proyou’re going to pitch, you’re not going to gramming on Babelgum’s site. The compapitch to the studios, but rather to the peo- ny’s film products feature action and
ple,” said Vermeire. “do the pitch first and adventure, animation and anime, classics,
start floating idea of this film that you have comedy, clips and interviews, documentary,
coming out, and do it in an innovative way drama, horror and thriller short films. using sites and tools at your
fingertips online, and see if
people are starting to say,
‘Wow, this would be awesome,
I’d really like to see this film.’”
“I’m more of a content person, so you need to provide
your audience with something
that they want,” said Amber J.
Lawson for Babelgum.com.
“The Paranormal Experience
was a good example where the The social media workshop panel held during the L.A.
movie folks want a critical Femme Film Festival, in Hollywood (L-R): Brian Vermeire,
Kristina Hughes, George McQuade, Amber J. Lawson and
mass of media and took it Gotham Chandna.
online. You need to roll out
pieces of content of the story
that adds value to your audience that you are constantly
connecting with.”
Lawson, who manages comedy content babelgum.com and
has worked as executive producer on comedy shorts by
Landline TV, original content
like DateaHuman.com, and the
second seasons of “The Crew”
and “Old Friends.” Prior to
Babelgum, Lawson was VP of From L-R: Henna Merchant, Brian Vermeire, Kristina Hughes,
Programming at Mania TV and George McQuade, Aida Mayo and Gotham Chandna.
13
11/24/10
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Page 14
FEATURE
Social media predictions for 2011
Where is social media headed? What’s important to learn
about today so we can be “in the know” six months down the
road? As we wrap up yet another year, here are a few predictions detailing what we might expect for social media’s future.
By Stephanie Schwab
Consumer content curation
“Are we in the stream?” That’s the number-one question brand managers should be
asking regarding their social media efforts
going into 2011.
In the coming year, people are going to
be much more diligent about curating content coming to them into a more manageable form. Consumers are realizing that
following dozens of brands on Twitter and
Facebook is getting them some good
coupons and deals, but it’s also turning their
walls into malls, which is getting overwhelming.
On Facebook, consumers are turning off
brands posting to their walls, using friends
lists to pay close attention only to their
“real” friends, and commenting on or sharing only the most pertinent information.
On Twitter, a company called Cadmus
aims to change the way we view our
streams by determining what content is
most relevant to you based on your Twitter
usage patterns; other tools, such as Paper.li
and Flipboard (for iPad), also curate
Twitter, primarily based on content popularity, and make that content much more
reader-friendly.
For brands, this means it’s not going to be
enough to create content: you have to create
content that gets curated into people’s
streams. If your content is truly compelling
and share-worthy, it’ll get noticed and
“liked,” it will generate comments and
retweets, it will have legitimately earned its
way into people’s streams. If not, you’ll
need a combination of search optimization
savvy, fans in high places (influencers), and
maybe some cash to promote your content
right under people’s Twitter noses using
Twitter’s new Promoted Tweets feature.
Niche location
2010 may have been the year of location,
but 2011 will be the year of niche location.
While true that only 4% of the Internet population is using location based services
(LBS), there’s no question that Foursquare
and Gowalla were media darlings in 2010. I
predict that in 2011 LBS will get more narrowly focused, which will make people
more likely to use those services when they
feel that there’s a) a specific value returned,
and b) less of a feeling of “big brother”
14
broadcasts to all.
Services like shopkick appeal to in-store
shoppers who love bargains, and those
whom want their location only to be known
to the store they shop at. New platforms
like Foodspotting appeal to the foodie
niche. Xtify’s geo-location technology is
going to allow a whole host of brands, such
as Playboy, to unleash apps to target their
exact demographic right where they are.
So, tell me what’s in it for me and promise
that my mom won’t know about it, and I
just might buy in.
Gamification and social gaming
2010 was not only the year of location, it
was the year of Zynga, when they formally
aligned with Facebook, cozied up to Apple,
and generally made a mess of people’s free
time with FarmVille and Mafia Wars and
more. So what’s do I predict will happen in
Social Gaming in 2011? It’s going to the
Super Bowl!
You heard it here first, folks: I believe
that a big brand is already planning to gamify their Super Bowl marketing; we’ll see
everyday Joes chasing after some special
trophy collection on their packs of beer.
That trophy will of course tie in to the
social web, where the consumer will share
their victory and the brand will collect all
sorts of data on the trophy holders’ social
spheres.
And beyond the gridiron: FarmVille, for
one, has become a new testing ground for
brand integration — it’s come a long way
in the past couple of months, even, with
new promotions for Farmer’s Insurance,
the Megamind movie and, yes,
McDonald’s. In the coming year we’ll see
more, as well as deeper, brand integrations
with existing gaming platforms as more
brands creating their own gaming structures for consumer advancement into preferred status, coupons, or freebies.
QR codes
I may be too geeky for my own good, but
I love QR codes. I even have one on my
business card. I love how they add interactivity and trackability to traditionally untrackable print and outdoor media, as well
as a bit of whimsy and mystery to everyday
objects and events.
Although QR codes seem to still be the
province of geeks like me, they are completely mainstream in Japan and they’re
poised to grow exponentially here in the
US, given that 51% of all Americans will be
carrying smartphones in 2011. There are a
number of great companies and apps currently experimenting with (or betting their
business on) QR codes, including RedLaser
(an eBay company), Paperspring and Big in
Japan. I predict that we’ll see a great deal
more in QR territory in the coming year,
including greater brand integration in print
magazines, more consistent use in outdoor
media, and even some clever mashups of
QR codes, gamification and social commerce.
Social commerce
I started out thinking about this trend as
two trends: Group Buying and Facebook
Commerce. But the
more I thought about
it, the more I realized
that it’s all the same
thing: new ways to
leverage your social
circle to help you
shop or share your
haul. In 2010, there
were a couple of
bold startups that
Stephanie Schwab
wanted consumers to
share their every
purchase with their friends — Blippy and
Swipely — but I think their adoption will
be limited to people who are willing to
share more than the average person.
Instead, when you add in a “what’s in it
for me” component like with Groupon, or a
“look at me I’m so cool” component as
with Facebook Commerce, there are many
more people willing to share their individual purchases (or purchase intent) through
their existing social platforms.
Social commerce also goes to the “fish
where the fish are” concept that I often
invoke when talking about Facebook: if
there are nearly 600 million potential customers in Facebook, why not try giving
them something else to do with your brand
besides grab a coupon? In 2010, savvy
brands saw a solid rise in revenue from
mobile commerce applications; I predict
that next year will be the year of social
commerce for brands that are bold enough
to give it a go.
The next year is shaping up to include
plenty of creativity and innovation sparked
by social connectivity.
Stephanie Schwab is the Principal of
Stephanie Schwab Consulting. She blogs
regularly
on
social
media
at
www.stephanieschwab.com
and
www.socialmediaexplorer.com. She can
be reached via Twitter @socialologist. ORDER PR’S MOST USEFUL DIRECTORY!
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11/24/10
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Page 16
REPORT
Third quarter revenues rise
Despite an uneven global economic state, PR conglomerates
and services companies posted solid third quarter gains for
2010 as an unexpectedly strong U.S. market parlayed with
rising revenue in Europe and growing regions like Asia.
“
By Greg Hazley and Kevin McCauley
hile improvements in the
economy are inconsistent
from region to region, we
have been pleasantly surprised by the
continued growth in the United States
and renewed strength in Europe’s major
markets,” Omnicom president and CEO
John Wren said Oct. 19, as the advertising and PR holding company for agencies
like Ketchum and Porter Novelli reported
a 5.4% rise in Q3 net to $174.6 million.
Interpublic reported a robust 88% rise
in third quarter profit to $45.3 million on
a 9.4% jump in revenue to $1.6 billion.
CEO Michael Roth said the performance demonstrates that the parent of
Weber Shandwick, MWW Group and
GolinHarris is “back on the path to significantly improved profitability.”
He noted that Interpublic recorded 10
percent organic growth in the U.S. and
double-digit increases in developing
countries. During the nine-month period,
the ad/PR combine earned $63.2 million,
versus a $15.1 million loss a year ago.
Revenue was up 6.9% to $4.5 billion.
Salaries/related expenses for the year
rose a modest 2.4% to $3 billion. There
was a sharp decline in severance outlays,
plummeting from $94.9 million to $43.5
million.
Harris Diamond, Weber Shandwick
CEO, told O’Dwyer’s that IPG’s PR units
operated on all cylinders during the quarter. PR is outperforming other communications disciplines due to a greater understanding among CEOs and CMOs of its
ability to sell products and influence
opinion, according to Diamond. The rise
of social media and development of
sophisticated measuring tools bodes well
for PR’s future.
Though organic growth drove IPG’s
PR unit during the first-half, Diamond
said there has been a dramatic pick-up in
new business wins. “We are aggressively
hiring,” he added.
Fitch Ratings in late October upgraded
IPG’s outlook from “positive” from “stable” noting its agencies have reduced
W
16
exposure to U.S. advertising cycles by
diversifying into international markets
and marketing services businesses. Fitch
upped IPG’s issuer default rating from
BB+ to BBB.
Publicis Q3 revenue jumps 26%
Publicis Groupe posted a 26 =% jump
in third quarter revenue — including
12% organic growth in North America –
citing an upturn in the global advertising
market and payoff from investments in
digital and emerging markets.
Third quarter revenue rose to 1.3 billion euro (about $1.8 billion), including
666 million euro ($932 million) in North
America. Publicis said operations in the
so-called BRIC countries — Brazil,
Russia, India and China — saw revenue
rise 15.6%.
“Despite traditional fourth-quarter
uncertainties, we are confident about
how the year will end,” said Chairman
and CEO Maurice Levy.
Levy said digital now accounts for
44.4% of Publicis’ overall revenue in
North America. For the first three quarters, Publicis revenue is up 18.5% over
2009.
Levy said the company’s October 1
acquisition of Indian PR agencies 20:20
Media and social media unit 2020Social
makes its MSLGroup PR division
“India’s leading player in the discipline.” That deal is subject to Indian regulatory approval.
Omnicom PR up 5.1%
Omnicom said PR revenues rose 5.1%
to $280 million during the third quarter.
Overall revenues rose 5.5% to $3 billion.
OMC also said in October that it
acquired a majority stake in Moscow’s
Maslov PR, which was Ketchum’s partner on work for the Russian Federation.
Ketchum received $7 million from
Russia and its Gazprom energy operation during the year ended May 30.
Vocus revenues rise 17%
PR Software provider Vocus posted a
$742,000 net loss for the third quarter on
revenue of $24.7 million, a 17% revenue
rise over Q3 of ’09 but a wider loss from
$382,000 for the period last year.
“We’re very pleased with a number of
achievements and positive trends in our
business,” president and CEO Rick
Rudman said in a conference call.
Rudman said the company has sold
about $1 million worth of subscriptions
to its four-month-old social media monitoring platform, which he predicted
could grow to as much as $5 million in
annual revenue in the next year or so.
The next release of that platform, which
will expand its use for the small business market, is slated for early 2011.
The PR software and services
provider said it added 579 net new subscription customers — Hormel Foods,
Dow Corning and the U.S. Dept. of
Energy, among others — ending Q3
with 7,752 clients. President and CEO
Rick Rudman said Vocus expects to
reach 10,000 customers by next year.
Vocus expects revenue in the $25.6
million to $25.8 million range in Q4.
UBM revenue up
United Business Media, the U.K.based parent company to PR Newswire,
said revenue for the first nine months of
the year rose 3.9% over 2009 to £642.9
million ($895.4 million).
Revenue for its targeting, distribution
and monitoring division (PRN) was up
10.1% to £134 million ($187 million),
although the unit’s profit was essentially
flat at around $43 million, which, UBM
said, reflected investment in product
development and IT.
David Levin, CEO, said the results
have the company on track to meet
expectations for the year, but he acknowledged wider economic “uncertainties”
remain.
UBM said U.S. newswire volume distribution to date is up 5.1% over
September 2009. PRN’s multimedia and
broadcast division, MultiVu, us up 26.6%
this year and its financial printing and filing services rose 34.6%.
PRN acknowledged an overarching
trend in PR that the media release will
likely not be the key cog in dissemination
that it’s been in the past. The company is
kicking off a marketing push to its highlight multimedia options for getting messages out to audiences beyond the press
— bloggers, consumers, shareholders —
under the tagline “Engage Opportunity
Everywhere.”
CEO Ninan Chacko noted that communications pros are “re-imagining” how
they develop and deliver content given an
“increasingly fragmented communica-
Continued on next page
11/24/10
2:10 PM
Page 17
Luntz: Americans dislike buisiness, favor ethics
By Jack O’Dwyer
rank Luntz, author of “What
Americans Really Want … Really,”
which made the New York Times Best
Seller list in its first week, told the Arthur
W. Page Society annual conference that
Americans are turned off by “bigness” per
se and want accountability, integrity and
principles from companies.
Such words as the “bottom line” and
“profit” are out and in are words that put the
customer first such as “commitment,” he
said at the Page conference, Sept. 26-28.
Company statements that capture this spirit
and whose employees carry it out will do
better in the marketplace, he added.
Luntz, a West Hartford native who has
taught at the University of Pennsylvania
and George Washington Univ. and who
analyzes politics for Fox News, said he
admires the company statements of WalMart and Microsoft because they focus on
customers and innovation.
He had special praise for companies that
highlight the role of the “chief ethics officer.”
Luntz, who has written and helped conduct more than 2,000 surveys of various
types in more than two dozen countries,
said candidates who pitched economic freedom rather than capitalism did best in the
recent elections. Winners, he said, emphasized their independence and their desire to
have Washington face reality.
F
THIRD QUARTER REVENUES RISE
Continued from previous page
tions landscape.”
PRN has released a series of white
papers on PR, IR and marketing.
“Never before have communicators
had so many opportunities to develop and
deliver their content in such a multitude
of ways that can have an impact across so
many media and consumer groups,
investor targets and industry influencers,”
he said.
Cision slips 18% amid turnaround
Cision posted an 18 percent dip in third
quarter revenue of SEK 265 million
(about $39.5 million) compared with
2009, as CEO Hans Gieskes said North
American margins remain “very solid”
while its turnaround effort in Europe is
“progressing according to plan.”
For the nine months of 2010, Swedenbased Cision’s revenue was down nearly
“Smart ads” were a key factor in the successful campaigns of Bob McDonnell, who
became governor of Virginia, Chris
Christie, governor of New Jersey, and Scott
Brown, upset winner of a Senate seat in
Massachusetts, he said. With ads, he said,
the first sentence is supremely important if
the advertiser expects any further reading.
Attending the conference at Palos Verdes
outside of Los Angeles were 150 Page
members.
Ehrlich Describes Facebook
Jonathan Ehrlich, Director of Marketing
at Facebook, said services like Facebook
are connecting people in ways that they
never imagined before. He feels social
media are not something that can be handled by a supplier but require plenty of time
by people within an organization.
Companies have to monitor how their
brands are being treated in social media
where independent thought is the norm, he
said.
Ehrlich said organizations have to keep
up with the blinding speed of information
dissemination in social media. He urged
brevity and relevance in providing input,
saying the new generation scans rather than
reads materials and likes lots of graphics.
Photos as well as unique content bring
engagement, he said. Readers want something “special.” “How-to” advice is also
popular, he added.
Employees first at Southwest
David Ridley, SVP of marketing and revenue management at Southwest Airlines,
26% over 2009 as the company unloaded
unprofitable businesses, revamped its
operations, and was affected by a negative currency impact. Net profit swung
positive to SEK 20M ($3 million) from
negative SEK 309M (-$46 million) for
Q3 of 2009.
Gieskes said the company’s main focus
is to return to organic growth on the
strength of its CisionPoint PR software, a
push which will include sales and marketing spending in addition to new services.
In North America, Q3 revenue was
essentially flat — SEK 189 million, compared with 190 million for Q3 of ’09. Its
decision to outsource broadcast monitoring to Critical Mention will help reduce
fixed costs, Cision said.
The company reiterated its belief that
the PR software market will consolidate
over the next few years because such
services are “complex and expensive to
develop.” said employees come first at the company
and that the best way to have happy
employees is to hire people who are already
happy.
His view is that employees are No. 1 and
customers are No. 2. The employees take
care of the customers and the customers
take care of stockholders.
Southwest has Ginger Hardage as SVP,
culture and communications but Ridley
said such duties are spread throughout the
entire leadership and particularly with the
CEO.
The company culture tries to keep politics and confusion about what’s important
to a minimum, he said.
George Aguel, SVP, Disney Institute,
said Disney focuses on the “Millennial”
generation which is sometimes referred to
as the “Ninja” generation (no income and
no jobs available).
He said members of the new generation
like living close to home and are family-oriented. They think carefully before going
with a company, he added.
Jack Bergen, former head of communications at Alcoa and now VP of global human
resources, said he has developed a new
appreciation for the importance of employee communications. A definite plus, he said,
is if a company can make Fortune magazine’s list of the “Most Admired
Companies.”
Communications and corporate reputation also play roles in labor relations and
compensation, he added. FACEBOOK PR EXEC TO
STEP DOWN
Brandee Barker, Director of Corporate
Communications for Facebook, is leaving the
social networking giant after four years to start a
PR consultancy for early stage tech companies.
She is slated to step down Dec. 10.
Barker was a VP at Zeno Group when she left
in the summer of 2006 to
handle Facebook’s PR. She’s
served as the company’s
spokeswoman and managed
its image during a rise from
10 million to more than 540
million users.
She was previously at
Ruder Finn and GCI Group
and worked on the corporate Brandee Barker
side at Stamps.com (director, corporate comms.) and Oracle (director, marketing comms.).
Elliot Schrage is VP of Global Comms.,
Marketing and Public Policy for Facebook.
17
11/24/10
2:10 PM
Page 18
REPORT
Where have all the New York PR groups gone?
By Jack O’Dwyer
hile doing research on changing
PR practices, we recently stumbled across a 1975 list of 24
New York City PR groups and found that,
regrettably, many of them have vanished.
Some casualties include:
The
Chemical
Communications
Association, whose members were 60 corporate, agency people and editors in the
chemical industry. They lunched on the second Tuesday of the month at the Williams
Club, 24 E. 39th Street. Dues were $20 a
year.
The Financial Relations Society consisted
of 50 corporate PR pros who had dinner
meetings on the second Monday at the
Princeton Club and various restaurants.
Dues were $60.
Hospital PR Society of Greater New York
had 80 members and met for lunch or dinner. Dues were $25. Contact was Grace
Kraskin of Beth Israel Medical Center.
The Monday II Group was 20 New York
corporate PR people who represented companies based outside of New York. Lunches
at the Sky Club and other restaurants were
held on the second Monday. There were no
dues.
National PR Council of Health and
Welfare Services was a national group of
2,000 PR and fundraising executives of
nonprofits based in New York at 820
Second Ave. It was absorbed by PRSA in
the late 1970s.
The New York Airline PR Association
had 58 members who worked for airlines
serving New York. The group became the
North American Airlines PR Assn. and had
monthly meetings until 2008 when it made
its final landing. A member said that with
airline h.q. flying outside New York and
declining funds available to PR, the group
has become inactive. Hope remains for a
rebirth. Contact Jennifer Janzen now works
in Berlin on social media for Lufthansa.
New York Business Communicators had
175 members who met monthly at different
places. Dues were $55 yearly. Contact was
Bill Nicolai at American Standard. Anyone
in “business communications” could join.
Paper Industry PR Group had monthly
luncheons. Members included St. Regis
Paper, Boise Cascade, Mead Westvaco, etc.
Pride & Alarm had 20 mostly agency
members who lunched once a month at the
Wings Club in the former Biltmore Hotel.
P&A, so-named because PR pros are
W
18
always “pointing with pride or viewing with
alarm,” claimed that it created the concept
of accreditation. Originally it was meant just
for agency people but corporate PR people
insisted on being added. APR was created in
1964.
PR Roundtable was about 50 PR pros
who handled house PR for PR firms or ad
agencies. It had monthly lunches for many
years at which media figures such as
“Johnny Apple” of the New York Times
would speak. It also hosted a major holiday
party each year for members and the press.
The job of handling “house PR” for a PR
firm or ad agency has almost entirely vanished.
Shop Talk, made up of two top executives
from a dozen of the biggest PR firms, had
dinner meetings at the Sky Club (atop what
is now the Met Life building) to discuss a
variety of topics. Anti-trust considerations
may have spelled its doom once this group
was outed.
Wall Street Irregulars had monthly lunches and an annual golf outing. Its more than
40 members, including financial press, met
at moderately-priced restaurants. James
Catalano, formerly of Hill & Knowlton and
then with Marine Midland Bank, ran the
group.
Wednesday PR Group was about 25 solo
practitioners or owners of small PR firms
who met once a month for lunch at the
Williams Club.
Women Executives in PR merged in 2006
in its 50th year with Advertising Women of
New York. Founded by Denny Griswold
who also founded PR News with her husband, Glenn Griswold, WEPR had 75 members in 1975.
Many groups still active
By far the most active group currently is
New York Women in Communications,
which has 1,300 members and a schedule
of more than 75 events in 2010.
It broke away from the national
Association of Women in Communications
in 1997 and has since flourished. Its signature event is the Matrix Awards lunch at the
Waldorf-Astoria that raises more than a half
million each year.
After NYWICI, PRSA’s New York chapter is the second most active group, with
about 25 programs in 2010. Its main event
is the awards cocktail party each May.
Other events are workshops and seminars
on specialized topics.
During the 1960s and 1970s the chapter
hosted monthly lunches at the WaldorfAstoria attended by more than 300.
Prominent speakers included authors and
PCNY President Peter Himler speaks at one
of the Club's recent events. The organization
hosts regular panels featuring editoral staff
and media pros, with attendance usually
exceeding 100.
Photo by Jon Gingerich
journalists, political figures and corporate
executives. Kerryn King of Texaco
arranged for Bob Hope to address one of
the lunches.
The Publicity Club of New York, which
for many years hosted weekly “Thirsty
Thursdays” where editors spoke to members, now hosts monthly meetings and
workshop panels where communicators
and PR pros can meet and hear from the
media. The events are held at the 3 West
Club, near the corner of 5th Ave. and 51
Street.
PCNY in the 1960s and 70s had an annual “Introduction to PR” course at night that
drew hundreds. Attendance at PCNY
events is typically more than 100. Peter
Himler, formerly of Burson-Marsteller and
Edelman, and writer of the popular Flack
blog, has been PCNY President for the past
10 years.
The New York chapter of the
Entertainment Publicists Professional
Society now only hosts several events each
year, where publicists and communicators
hear tips from editors and media pros. Its
Los Angeles chapter however, has monthly
luncheons.
EPPS, with about 400 members, had revenues of $54,012 and expenses of $65,442 in
’08, the latest year available on GuideStar.
Cash/savings were $89,676 at the end of the
year. EPPS leaders include Henri Bollinger
of Henri Bollinger Associates, and Scott
Pansky of Allison PR. Decmagazine:Layout 1
11/24/10
2:10 PM
Page 19
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O’Dwyer’s
Guide to:
Page 20
ENTERTAINMENT & SPORTS PR
12.10
strategic plan development, interaction with client contacts, cultivation of media promotions to
enhance advertising buys, adherence to timelines, timely progress
reports, on-site execution and
event results and evaluation.
Clients include the NFL;
Showtime Boxing; Speedo; Dew
Action
Sports
Tour;
MGM/Mirage Resorts; PGA and
LPGA golf tours; MLB; Ginn
Club
and
Resorts;
AVP
Professional Beach Volleyball;
Hollywood Park; Santa Anita; the
College Football Awards; the
Sports Museum of Los Angeles;
NHL; and the PBA.
COYNE PUBLIC
RELATIONS
14 Walsh Drive
Parsippany, NJ 07054
973/316-1665
www.coynepr.com
1065 Avenue of the Americas
28th Floor
New York, NY 10018
212/938-0166
Thomas F. Coyne, CEO
John Gogarty, Executive Vice
President, Entertainment
Chris Brienza, Vice President,
Sports
Wayne Catan, Vice President,
Sports
Sir Paul McCartney rocks the stage as the headliner of Hard Rock
Calling 2010, a three-day live music festival in London’s Hyde Park as
part of Hard Rock International’s Ambassadors of Rock Tour on June
27, 2010. Hard Rock International is a client of Coyne PR.
Photo credit: Hard Rock International/Andy Paradise.
BRENER ZWIKEL &
ASSOCIATES
6901 Canby Ave.
Reseda, CA 91335
818/344-6195
www.bzapr.com
1633 Broadway, 16th floor
New York, NY 10019
212/708-1703
Steve Brener & Toby Zwikel,
Principals
20
Brener Zwikel & Assocs. is a
PR and marketing firm with more
than 60 years of combined experience in the sports journalism
and PR fields. BZA has the experience and contacts to maximize
client exposure via PR, promotions, event planning, event production and marketing plans.
The firm’s network of media
contacts at the local, national and
international levels facilitates
media placements. Its serviceoriented philosophy includes
Coyne PR’s Entertainment and
Sports teams are specialized
groups of public relations professionals who possess the creativity, experience, and passion
to impact your business. The
Entertainment team works with
Hard Rock International, striving
to make the brand synonymous
with great music events by generating local and global buzz for
the brand, events and top artists
from Shakira to Bon Jovi. The
team has also worked with
everyone from Tim McGraw for
Hamburger Helper, Miley Cyrus
and Mariah Carey for the Walt
Disney Company, to Jewel and
Martina McBride for Mary
Kay’s CMA Awards sponsorship.
The Sports team has created winning game plans for industryleading companies, including the
Harlem Globetrotters, MSG
Varsity, ESPN’s 2010 World Cup
coverage and ESPN Wide World
of Sports at Walt Disney World,
among others. The key to
Coyne’s success — and yours —
is that we garner coverage for
our clients in expected and unexpected places.
DKC
386 Park Ave. So., 10th Flr.
New York, NY 10016
212/685-4300
www.dkcnews.com
Sean Cassidy, President
Scott Miranda, Managing
Director
Susan Novak, Executive Vice
President
Established in 1991, DKC is
among the largest independently
owned public relations firms in
the country. Since its founding,
sports business and entertainment have been cornerstones of
the firm’s diverse client mix.
DKC’s sports division works
across every corner of the industry, including activation of sponsorships, promotion of high-profile events and name-brand consumer products and representation of key media outlets in the
space.
Working across music, film,
television, fashion and beauty,
special events and corporate,
DKC’s entertainment division
services a wide range of clients
and interacts on a daily basis
with the key media and industry
influencers whose opinions are
vital to the strength of the brands
we represent.
Sports clients include the U.S.
Tennis
Association,
New
Balance Athletic Shoes, Citi,
Warner Home Video, THQ,
Modell’s Sporting Goods, New
Era Cap, Harrah’s Hotels,
Casino & Resorts and Liberty
National Golf Course. Among
our entertainment clients are
Pete Wentz, 50 Cent, Sean
“Diddy” Combs, Rob Thomas,
Ed Burns, Jay Leno, Michael
Eisner, Sony Pictures Television,
Showtime, The Second City, WE
Entertainment, The Huffington
Post, Sony Music Entertainment
Worldwide, Sports Illustrated
11/24/10
2:11 PM
Page 21
PROFILES OF SPORTS & ENTERTAINMENT PR FIRMS
Swimsuit Issue, the Hollywood
Reporter
and
Billboard
Magazine.
FLEISHMAN
HILLARD SPORTS
& ENTERTAINMENT
200 N. Broadway
St. Louis, MO 63102
314/982-1700
Fax: 314/982-8642
www.fleishmanhillard.com
John Graham, Chairman
Dave Senay, President & CEO
Sean Lashley, Michelle
Stevenson, Entertainment
Leaders
J.J. Carter, Jim Woodcock,
Sports Business Leaders
Fleishman-Hillard Sports &
Entertainment embodies the
same commitment to excellence,
dedication to client service and
focus on new business that
clients and industry peers have
come to expect from FleishmanHillard. Our practice is made up
of employees from more than 21
offices worldwide and brings
both an international perspective
and local market knowledge to
the implementation of sportsand entertainment-driven marketing programs.
Entertainment
services
include consultation, strategy
and
execution;
influencer/celebrity seeding; talent
negotiation; media relations;
sponsorships; media training and
message coaching; red carpet
management, product placement
and script integration; charity
and cause relationships; and digital programs. Recent work
includes the creation and implementation of the Hallmark
Celebri-Tree, aligning Tourism
Australia with “The Oprah
Winfrey Show” and its Ultimate
Australian Adventure, and product placements on shows such as
“The Biggest Loser,” “Dr. Phil”
and “The Ellen DeGeneres
Show.”
Fleishman-Hillard’s sports
business counselors have a wide
range of experience, from leveraging sponsorships to guiding
professional teams, leagues and
governing bodies through the
challenges of public affairs, a
crisis or global expansion. In
recent years, Fleishman-Hillard
has launched programs such as
the Nike+iPod Sport Kit and
Tiger Woods’ landmark partnership with Gatorade while repre-
senting national movements
such as the United States’ effort
to host the FIFA World Cup in
2022.
HAMILTON PUBLIC RELATIONS
102 Madison Avenue
New York, NY 10016
212/328-5200
www.getpr.com
John Frew, President & CEO
Kevin Sniffen, Director, Sports
Marketing & Event Management
Hamilton Public Relations is
an integrated marketing communications firm that offers the
basic premise that every client is
entitled to direct counsel and
service by the firm’s principals.
The agency offers clients a seasoned team of communications
experts with more than 50 years
of combined experience directing campaigns for numerous
Olympic and World Cup sponsors as well as companies sponsoring professional golf, baseball, football, tennis, soccer
motorsports, college athletics
and amateur sports.
Hamilton is a unit of Bodden
Partners, an independent, fullyintegrated marketing communications agency based in New
York City that offers full brand,
digital and direct marketing
services.
Current and recent clients
include developing a new branding and media campaign for
Hofstra University’s NCAA
Division One basketball programs, the National Hockey
League, the Ladies Professional
Golf Association, the Duramed
FUTURES Tour, The Barclays
and Turning Stone Resort
Championship
PGA
Tour
events, Bowne Global Solutions
and Black Mesa Golf Club.
HOPE-BECKHAM
INC.
17 Executive Park Dr., Suite 600
Atlanta, GA 30329
404/604-2613
[email protected]
www.hopebeckham.com
David C. Van Voorhis, Director
Business Development & Client
Relations
Hope-Beckham is proud of its
work with the NBA and Atlanta
Hawks, WNBA and the Atlanta
Dream, NHL and Atlanta
Thrashers, MLB, NFL, PGA,
LPGA, U.S. Olympics, U.S.
Figure Skating, USA Boxing,
Women’s Sports Foundation,
American Football Coaches
Association, National Association
of Basketball Coaches, Atlanta
Sports Council, NASCAR, The
Friendship Games and professional athlete foundations.
From its beginnings, HopeBeckham has been involved in
sports and entertainment. The
firm got its start developing and
touring the first women’s professional baseball team to compete against men. The Colorado
Silver Bullets travelled nationally and internationally providing opportunities for media
exposure and entertainment
events.
Hope-Beckham excels in
public relations and utilizing
events as media and client
opportunities.
The agency provides a variety
of services to its clients on a
local, regional and national
level.
Since 2007 HopeBeckham has been named one
of O’Dwyer’s Top Independent
PR Firms in Sports &
Entertainment.
JS2
COMMUNICATIONS
661 North Harper Ave., Suite 208
Los Angeles, CA 90048
323/866-0880
www.js2comm.com
99 Madison Ave., 5th Floor
New York, NY 10016
646/430-5645
Jeff Smith, CEO
Jill Sandin, President
Alissa Pinck, GM/SVP
Pete Sanders, Vice President
JS2 Communications is a PR
agency with offices in Los
Angeles and New York dedicated to providing clients with
strategic solutions, candid counsel and tangible results. A true
full-service
agency,
JS2
Communications
represents
clients in nearly every lifestyle
category, with a thriving entertainment practice run by Vice
President Pete Sanders. From
ArcLight/Pacific Theatres on
the West Coast to the Shaw
Festival in Canada to “Real
Housewives of New York City”
star Countess Luann de
Lesseps, our entertainment
clients encompass film, theater,
television and the performing
arts.
Current clients also
include actress Lynda Carter
and the hit musical “Freckleface
Strawberry” based on the children’s book by Julianne Moore.
Former
clients
include
Paramount
Home
Entertainment, Walt Disney
Studios Home Entertainment,
Outfest, No Good TV, Parsons
Dance,
Anoop
Desai
(“American Idol”), Bryan Batt
(“Mad
Men”),
Cheyenne
Jackson (“Glee,” “30 Rock”)
and Malan Breton (“Project
Runway”).
KEITH SHERMAN
& ASSOCIATES
234 West 44th Street
New York, NY 10036
212/764-7900
212/764-0344
www.ksa-pr.com
Keith Sherman, President
Brett Oberman, VP
Scott Klein, VP
Glenna Freedman, VP
Keith Sherman & Associates
provides strategic public relations
counseling and marketing communications services to a diverse
roster of entertainment, lifestyles,
sports and corporate clients.
KSA has publicized hundreds
of films, network and cable television broadcasts, Broadway,
national touring productions and
high profile events nationally and
internationally. Some clients
include:
Focus
Features,
Universal Pictures, Olympic
Medalists Brian Boitano, Paul
Hamm and Michelle Kwan, Tony
Awards on CBS for 18 years,
Lang Lang, Mike Birbiglia,
Bolshoi Ballet and 250 Broadway
and Off-Broadway productions.
KSA’s clients include: The New
York Times, Visiting Nurse
Service of New York, Hertz,
Sony, The Onion, Architectural
Digest, Columbia University,
Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer
Center, New York Marriott
Marquis, The Broadway League,
Bristol-Myers Squibb, Abu Dhabi
Festival and the Montreal Jazz
Festival, among others.
Excellence. Results. A fresh
point-of-view. Proactive effort.
Intelligent strategic thinking.
Experience.
High standards.
Integrity. Creativity. Passion.
These are some of the elements
that distinguish KSA’s work.
21
11/24/10
2:11 PM
Page 22
ABC's Dancing with the Stars' Louis Van Amstel leads the ladies in
a free dance lesson at MAMMOJAM 2010 benefit to fight breast cancer at Dr. Susan Love Research. WKRP Producer Lissa Levin, a cancer survivor dances in pink with Dr. Love behind Van Amstel.
MAYOPR image
MAYO
COMMUNICATIONS
7248 Bernadine Ave., 2nd Floor
West Hills (Los Angeles), CA
91307
818/340-5300
Fax: 818/340-2550
Aida Mayo, President
George S. McQuade III, VP
MAYO communications has
offices in LA, San Diego, NY
and Bern, Switzerland. It is a full
service Los Angeles based entertainment publicity and public
relations firm with a niche in
social media, traditional media
placement/media training.
MAYO recorded more than
250 million media impressions
this year. Most recently, MAYO
created a social media campaign
and media buzz for the First
Annual MAMMOJAM 2010,
Hollywood, CA raising awareness for Dr. Susan Love Research
foundation to fight breast cancer.
WKRP
in
Cincinnati
Producer/Writer Lissa Levin is a
breast cancer survivor and
MAYO client. MAYO organized
a benefit dance with ABC’s
“Dancing with the Stars’” Louis
Van Amstel and other celebrities
offering door prizes, including
free dance lessons at the event
and at Van Amstel’s dance studios. Joining 500+ women at the
event were celebrities such as
Louis Van Amstel and Jonathan
Roberts of ABC’s Dancing with
the Stars; Alyson Reed, ‘‘High
School Musical”; Erika Eleniak,
“Baywatch”; Julia Anderson,
“True Beauty”; Eduardo Garcia,
“No Country for Old Men”;
Mary Margaret Humes, “Grey’s
Anatomy”; Marina Anderson,
“Desperate Housewives”; and
Lissa Levin Guntzelman, “Mad
About You.”
The story aired on all entertainment TV shows like “Extra,”
“ET Tonight” and AP. Later,
MAYO created
a buzz for
Platinum Album Violin Duo,
NUTTIN’ BUT STRINGZ, the
first instrumental artist to perform live with New York’s
Ballerina on ABC’s “Dancing
with the Stars.” The event was
covered by several stations and
networks including Fox’s TMZ
TV show. In Oct., 2010, MAYO
created and moderated a powerful social media workshop “How
to Market and Sell your Film Via
Social Media” for the LA
Femme Film Festival, which
honored Actress Angela Bassett,
“Green Lantern,” 2010; Angela
Kinsey, NBC’s “The Office” and
ABC’s “Dancing with the Stars”
Singer Carmen Carter and others.
PRSA recognized MAYO
twice
for
“Best
Media
Placement” MAYO clients are
regularly featured in Variety and
Hollywood Reporter cover stories and on TV/radio talks
shows/blogs.
A short list of MAYO clients:
Actress
Marina Anderson,
Actress Kristina Hughes, Actor
Eduardo Garcia, Actor James
Karnes,
Comedian
Brian
Vermeire, Singer Carmen Carter,
Nuttin’
But
Stringz,
All4Media.TV, Warrior Records,
Eddie Money and Crash Kelly.
“We don’t guarantee media, we
just get it!”
PMK•BNC
8687 Melrose Ave, 8th Floor
310/854 4800
622 Third Ave., 8th Floor
New York, NY 10017
212/582-1111
Michael Nyman, Chairman & CEO
Cindi Berger, Chairman & CEO
Chris Robichaud, CEO
Mike Golic of ESPN’s “Mike & Mike In the Morning” tries to blend in
with the hugely popular Florida Marlins Manatees, Major League
Baseball’s first ever all-male dance/energy squad.”
22
PMK•BNC is the premier
entertainment public relations
and marketing agency that
addresses the changing needs of
the entertainment industry. The
company provides unmatched
expertise and insight for clients
and corporations seeking to use
entertainment and pop culture to
connect with media, consumers,
fans and communities. With a
staff of more than 150 in Los
Angeles and New York, the
agency represents a who’s who
of personalities from film,
music, television, sports and
content creators, as well as corporations, networks and established brands within the entertainment world.
PMK•BNC delivers comprehensive solutions that include
public relations, entertainment
marketing and outreach, sponsorship, event marketing, product placement and integration.
The company represents more
than 250 celebrity clients,
numerous television campaigns
and entertainment companies
and produces and/or publicizes
nearly 200 events a year.
PMK•BNC clients include
Cameron Diaz, Amy Poehler,
Jimmy Kimmel, Miley Cyrus,
Kim Kardashian, Carmelo
Anthony, Kate Hudson, ESPN,
“Gossip Girl” (and the CW
Network), Shonda Rhimes
(“Grey’s Anatomy”), “House,”
“How I Met Your Mother,”
Activision,
Jenny
Craig,
Academy of Country Music
Awards, Academy of Television
Arts and Sciences, Audi,
Samsung,
T-Mobile
and
Gatorade.
RBB PUBLIC
RELATIONS
355 Alhambra Circle, Suite 800
Miami, FL 33134
305/448-7450
www.rbbpr.com
Christine Barney, CEO
Lisa Ross, President
Tina Elmowitz, Executive Vice
President
rbb Public Relations is a leading national PR firm based in
Miami with a wealth of experience serving sports and entertainment clients ranging from
professional teams and championship events to industry leading venues and family entertainment experiences. The agency
prides itself on delivering
results-oriented campaigns that
persuade, motivate and influence consumer decisions, and
being recognized for best practices in media relations, corpo-
Continued on page 24
11/24/10
2:11 PM
Page 23
Leading the Travel Industry
by Providing Professional
Travel Services Since 1972
•
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•
•
•
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Business Travel Consultants
Strategic Meetings Management
Government Travel Contractors
Over 200 Offices Worldwide
Competitive Online Booking
One-on-One Travel Consultation
Leisure Travel Experts
Locations:
North America
Middle East
Europe
Asia
Find out about cruises sailing from New York
and other worldwide destinations
888-333-3116
212-563-3500 • OmegaNewYork.com
World Headquarters • 3102 Omega Office Park • Fairfax, VA 22031• 703-359-0200
11/24/10
2:11 PM
Page 24
Rocks, IMAX, 20th Century
Fox, Lionsgate, Zurich Film
Festival,
Edinburgh
International Film Festival,
Fidelity FutureStage, Gibson
Guitar, Baldwin Piano, and
Warner Bros. Interactive
Entertainment.
WEBER
SHANDWICK
"WKRP in Cincinatti & Mad About You" Producer Lissa Levin (left)
talks to EXTRA on the red carpet about MAMMOJAM 2010 to benefit
breast cancer research at Dr. Susan Love Research Center. Dr. Love
is in the middle.
MAYOPR image
RBB PR
Continued from page 22
rate and crisis communications,
product introductions and digital/social media.
rbb’s sports and entertainment roster includes organizations such as the Florida
Marlins, the Orange Bowl
Committee, Ringling Bros. and
Barnum & Bailey Circus,
Disney on Ice, Monster Jam,
and the American Airlines
Arena.
Three-time “PR Agency of
the Year” winner, rbb gives its
Fortune 500 and entrepreneurial
clients award-winning counsel
and results, and the individual
attention available only through
a boutique agency. Explore how
rbb’s employee-driven workplace delivers extraordinary
client
satisfaction
at
www.rbbpr.com
or
call
305/448-7457.
ROGERS &
COWAN
PACIFIC DESIGN CENTER
8687 Melrose Ave., 7th Floor
310/854-8117
Fax: 310/854-8106
www.rogersandcowan.com
Tom Tardio, CEO
Heather Krug, EVP
Rogers & Cowan has extensive expertise in the sports and
entertainment industries pro24
viding publicity and marketing campaigns, special event
support, sponsorship activation,
celebrity/influential
seeding, promotional tie-ins,
product placement and social
media strategies for our
clients.
The agency offers a wealth
of experience working with
celebrities, athletes, cable and
network TV, film production
and distribution, record labels,
video game producers, web
based content creators, sports
leagues and one-time or multimarket events.
We embrace the power of
traditional and social media to
build brands, drive attendance
and viewership for sports and
entertainment programming
or live events, as well as generate increased awareness for
products, brands and services.
Our team embraces the opportunities presented by the ever
evolving media landscape,
whether it’s through targeted
blogger outreach, social network marketing or online
video.
Recent clients/projects have
included Cooking Channel,
Food Network, GRAMMYS,
Yo Gabba Gabba Live,
Discovery Channel, Scion’s
Reinvent the Wheels, Kraft
Real Women of Philadelphia,
NASCAR, PGA Tour, USA
7’s Rugby, ShoWest, Reality
919 Third Avenue
New York, NY 10022
212/445-8000
www.webershandwick.com
Gail Heimann, Vice Chair
Marc Abel, Executive Vice
President
Pete Campisi, Executive Vice
President
Steve Johnson, Senior Vice
President
Weber Shandwick’s Sports
IMPACT practice designs and
implements consumer marketing
campaigns that build connections between brands and consumers through entertainment,
sports and lifestyle influencers,
and advocates.
The firm creates integrated
sports marketing public relations
campaigns
for
companies
including FedEx, ExxonMobil,
GM,
U.S. Army,
Kraft,
Campbell Soup Co., Polaris,
Degree, Mars, got milk?,
Sharpie, Champion and Crowne
Plaza. These campaigns have
resulted in enhanced brand
image, increased product/service
awareness, extended audience
and market positioning, and
heightened consumer recognition and use.
Our experience extends to all
of the major worldwide sports
leagues and properties including
FIFA World Cup, Olympic
Games, MLB, NFL, NBA,
NCAA, NHL, USTA, Formula
One, NASCAR, IRL, NHRA,
Action Sports, PGA, LPGA,
USGA and various PGA
Tournaments.
Recent highlights include
amplifying FedEx’s high-profile
NASCAR program; executing
activities and media outreach
around MLB’s Home Run Derby
for an insurance leader; and
coordinating communications
and community outreach coordination for the 2010 U.S. Army
All-American Bowl — the
Army’s single largest outreach
event. Decmagazine:Layout 1
11/24/10
2:11 PM
Page 25
O’DWYER’S 2010 RANKINGS
OF ENTERTAINMENT PR FIRMS
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
Ruder Finn
New York
APCO Worldwide
Wash., D.C.
Edelman
New York
Hunter PR
New York
5W Public Relations
New York
Jackson Spalding
Regan Comms. Group
Kaplow
Coyne PR
Atlanta
Boston
New York
Parsippany, NJ
10. Middleberg Comms.
11. Travers, Collins & Co.
12. IW Group
13. CooperKatz & Co.
New York
Buffalo
W. Hollywood
New York
14. Hope-Beckham
15. Public Communications
16. Gregory FCA Comms.
17. Widmeyer Comms.
18. Catalyst PR
Atlanta
Chicago
Ardmore, PA
Wash., D.C.
New York
19. Zeno Group
New York
20. Landis Comms.
San Francisco
$5,800,000
4,868,443
1,697,895
1,668,448
1,605,622
1,069,270
935,000
800,000
660,000
500,000
494,786
486,000
467,271
414,528
344,061
342,000
330,356
307,179
298,297
247,700
21. McNeely Pigott & Fox
Nashville
246,074
23. VPE PR
S. Pasadena, CA
223,731
22. Richmond PR
Seattle
24. Levick Strategic Comms. Wash., D.C.
25. JS2 Communications
Los Angeles
27. rbb Public Relations
Coral Gables, FL
26. Seigenthaler PR
28. Pierson Grant PR
29. Guthrie/Mayes & Asscs.
30. Zeppos & Associates
31. The Rogers Group
32. Linhart PR
33. Trevelino/Keller
34. Boardroom Comms.
35. Blaze
36. Kwittken & Co.
37. TransMedia Group
38. Maccabee Group
39. Vollmer
40. Schneider Associates
Nashville
Ft. Lauderdale
Louisville
Milwaukee
Los Angeles
Denver
Atlanta
Plantation, FL
Los Angeles
New York
Boca Raton, FL
Minneapolis
Houston
Boston
236,726
215,846
214,900
201,367
168,247
164,500
161,554
154,917
142,340
125,438
110,000
100,000
83,800
67,044
42,500
24,542
24,314
18,500
O’DWYER’S 2010 RANKINGS
OF SPORTS PR FIRMS
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
Edelman
New York
4,046,876
12. Zeppos & Associates
Milwaukee
Coyne PR
Paramus, NJ
1,338,000
14. McNeely Pigott & Fox
Nashville
Catalyst PR
RF|Binder Partners
Regan Comms. Group
rbb Public Relations
CooperKatz & Co.
Allison & Partners
Rosica Public Relations
New York
New York
Boston
Coral Gables, FL
New York
San Francisco
Paramus, NJ
10. Levick Strategic Comms. Wash., D.C.
11. Jackson Spalding
© Copyright 2010 The J.R. O'Dwyer Co.
Atlanta
3,964,615
1,300,000
956,000
550,033
528,060
421,916
323,122
309,119
172,185
13. VPE PR
15. Hope-Beckham
16. Rasky Baerlein
17. Richmond PR
18. Boardroom Comms.
19. Guthrie/Mayes & Asscs.
20. RL PR & Marketing
21. Vollmer
S. Pasadena, CA
Atlanta
Boston
Seattle
Plantation, FL
St. Louis
Los Angeles
Houston
22. Moore Consulting Group Tallahassee
154,917
99,996
69,362
68,779
51,460
50,835
50,000
44,689
42,176
29,516
21,906
11/24/10
2:11 PM
Page 26
OPINION
Professional Development
PSAs ... yes, PSAs
By Fraser Seitel
know it’s the 21st century. And I
understand that communicators today
tweet and befriend and blog and that
TV viewing is now by appointment only
via TiVo and DVR
and Video Capture
Card. (I may be old,
but I’m not dumb –
or at least, not that
dumb!)
So why in the
world would I raise
the subject of PSAs
as a publicity vehicle
Fraser P. Seitel has in this digital age?
been a communications ‘Cuz they work,
consultant, author and that’s why. In fact, in
teacher for 30 years. He
is the author of the the words of one
Prentice-Hall text, The admittedly-biased
Practice of Public PSA producer, “The
Relations.
Public
Service
Announcement as
tool to build brand identity is stronger
than ever.”
How could that be, you ask, when the
three network newscasts lost half a mil-
I
26
lion viewers last year, the three network
morning shows lost 300,000 viewers, and
TV ratings continue to decline at the
hands of Apple iOS apps alone?
For answers, we turn to the dean of
PSA producers, Ray Salo, of San Ramon,
Calif., whose Salo Productions has been
pumping out award-winning, 10 to
60-second TV and radio client public
service announcements for three decades.
Q. With the decline of broadcast television and the rise of on-demand, commercial-free programming, why would
an organization use PSAs?
RS. For one thing: Cable. We distribute PSAs to 500 cable systems across
the nation. This greatly increases the
pickup in the top 20 markets. One recent
TV PSA for our longstanding Icelandic
Tourist Board client received 15 uses in
the top 15 TV markets.
Q. But isn’t such pervasive use the
exception in such a saturated TV
marketplace?
RS. We guarantee our clients 2,000
telecasts. We average 2,000-4,000
telecasts, 25-50 million viewers,
$200,000-$400,000 in “value of air
time.” That’s a lot of attention for a
brand.
Q. How has the economic recession
impacted the market for PSAs?
RS. It’s helped. As more commercial
airtime opens up in unsold blocks, more
slots are filled with PSAs. Our clients
have experienced upwards of a 10%
increase in results over the 2009-2010
economic downturn.
Q. How has PSA placement changed
over time?
RS. In recent years, most of our TV
PSAs are for brand building and causerelated brand building, for everything
from safe burgers to causes of asthma to
keeping up with social security.
Q. What are the best topics for PSA
coverage?
RS. Traditional topics for PSAs are
safety and health. But today, few topics
are off limits, and almost anything that
offers information in the public interest
is fair game.
Q. Do celebrities help PSA usage?
RS. They aren’t necessary, but they
certainly don’t hurt. We’ve produced
recent PSAs, featuring NASCAR driver
Bobby Labonte on Internet safety for
children and baseball player Ken
Griffey, Sr. on ending Prostate Cancer.
But most spots we produce feature no
celebrities.
Q. Don’t most PSAs run at odd
hours?
RS. Late night is about 25-33%.
Technically, PSAs are used ROS, meaning “run of schedule,” which includes all
time periods.
Q. What’s the idea length for a PSA?
RS. The ideal TV PSA combination is
a 30-second spot and a 60-second spot.
That’s what our standard PSA package
includes.
Q. How much does a typical TV PSA
cost?
RS. In most cases, our total package –
from creation to production to distribution – runs under $45,000 all-in.
Q. What time of year is best for
PSAs?
RS. Summertime provides the heaviest
usage, but PSAs run throughout the year.
Q. How long do PSAs run on TV
stations?
RS. Usually for six months, with the
first three months providing the most
hits.
Q. Can PSAs be re-released?
RS. Yes, probably unique among public relations vehicles, re-release of a PSA
in the second year usually provides good
results. Decmagazine:Layout 1
11/24/10
2:11 PM
Page 27
Financial Management
Impact of ‘Small Business Jobs Act’: part II
By Richard Goldstein
his month’s column continues
the discussion of the Small
Business Jobs Act of 2010. Last
month, immediate
expensing of depreciable
property,
bonus depreciation,
and health insurance costs was discussed.
Conversion from
C to S corporation
Richard Goldstein
On the chance
is a partner at
that
some readers
Buchbinder Tunick &
recently
converted
Company LLP, New
York, Certified Public
from a C to S corAccountants.
poration, the SBA
changes the rules
for paying additional tax on the so
called built-in gain on the conversion.
For tax years other than 2009 and
2010, the period subject to the built-in
gains tax is ten years. For tax years
beginning in 2009 or 2010, the ten-year
period is reduced to seven years. For
tax years beginning in 2011, the SBA
exempts gains from the tax if the fifth
year of the recognition period has gone
by before the start of 2011.
Accordingly, there is now a sevenyear recognition period for gains recognized in tax years beginning in 2009
and 2010 and a five-year recognition
period for gains recognized beginning
in 2011.
Start-up cost deduction
This is much easier! If you launched
in 2010, the SBA increases the maximum deduction that can be claimed for
start-up costs to $10,000 (this is up
from $5,000). Start-up costs that
exceed the $10,000 threshold can be
amortized over 180 months, starting
with the month when business commences.
Example: John and Mary formed JM
PR on June 1. They incurred $18,000 of
costs (expenses) before actually beginning business on August 1.
The SBA allows JM to deduct
$10,000 of start-up costs on its 2010
tax return. The remaining $8,000 can be
amortized over 180 months, starting in
August of 2010.
T
Cell phones
Effective for tax years beginning after
2009, cell phone and similar devices
used for business are no longer classified as listed property.
Therefore, these devices are no longer
subject to the detailed usage records to
prove that a cell phone is used for business. Regardless, if one cell phone is
used for both business and personal
calls, some sort of record keeping will
be necessary to determine the business
usage.
An employee who uses his or her own
cell phone for his or her employer’s
business can claim the related costs as a
miscellaneous itemized deduction.
However, because of the limitation on
miscellaneous itemized deductions
(must exceed two percent of adjusted
gross income) and the alternative minimum tax, it is possible that no tax benefit will be received. Employers need to
establish an “accountable plan” to convert deductions that receive no tax benefit into reimbursements that are not
subject to income tax.
There is speculation that the IRS
might soon issue guidance allowing
employers to provide cell phones to
employees as a tax-free working condition fringe benefit.
Form 1099
It is not uncommon for PR firms to
use “freelance” help. Starting in 2011,
the IRS will be able to access much
higher penalties, in some cases double
the existing penalties, for failing to file
Form 1099 information returns with the
IRS and failing to send copies to payees.
Roth conversions
Some qualified plans, typically
401(k) plans, allow employees to make
salary-reduction contributions to designated Roth accounts. These accounts
are similar to the IRA Roth, but they are
operated by the retirement plan not the
individual. The SBA will now allow a
plan participant to roll over distributions from the “regular” part of the plan
into his or her designated Roth account.
The change is effective on September
28, 2010.
The impact of this change is the same
as rolling over the distribution into a
Roth IRA, and in most cases will be
subject to income tax. The income triggered from the conversion is spread
50/50 between 2011 and 2012 (the tax
due will be payable over a two-year
period) unless an election is made to
recognize all the income in 2010.
Rental property
For payments made after 2010, owning a rental property will be considered
a business for Form 1099 purposes.
Therefore, rental property owners will
generally be required to file a Form
1099 for any service provider that is
paid $600 or more during 2011. Service
providers can include your CPA, yard
care, painting services, etc.
Business credits
A business credit can reduce your tax
liability related to your business.
Unlike personal credits, many-business
related credits are subject to a special
limitation, called the general business
credit.
The general business credit is not a
separate credit; it is a compilation of
one or more separate business-related
credits that are specifically included by
law within the general business credit.
The reason for grouping the credits as
one is to impose an overall limitation.
The credits include the investment
credit; the research credit; low-income
housing credit; disabled access credit;
renewable electricity production credit;
credit for small employer pension plan
start up costs; employer provided child
care
facilities;
and
seventeen
others.
Prior to the SBA, business credits
generated in the current year that
cannot be used due to the limitation
rule can be carried back one year and
forward 20 years. The SBA creates an
exception that allows unused credits
that arise in the first year that begins in
2010 to be carried back five years.
This exception only applies to
eligible small businesses. This includes
a corporation that doesn’t have publically traded stock, a partnership (an
LLC with more than one owner is a
partnership for tax purposes), and have
annual gross receipts for the preceding
three tax years of $50 million or less. DECEMBER 2010 WWW.ODWYERPR.COM
27
11/24/10
2:11 PM
Page 28
Guest Column
OPINION
What sports PR pros learned in `10
By Arthur Solomon
nother year has nearly passed
since the beginning of the Great
Sports Recession. What have we
learned? The main lesson: the old bromide about sports being recession-proof
is not true.
We learned that
the Russians certainly believe that
politics and the
Olympics
mix:
Russian
Prime
Minister Vladimir
Putin lambasted the
judging of an iceskating event and
Arthur Solomon is
President
Dmitri
a former VP for
Medvedev called
Burson-Marsteller.
for athletic officials
to resign or “we will help them” because
of their countries poor showing at the
Vancouver games.
We learned that the United States
Olympic Committee also thinks that politics have a place in the Olympics by hiring Dutko Worldwide, a Washington
“strategy” firm to cultivate ties with
Congress (perhaps to obtain direct federal support for its teams)?
We learned that Greece, proud home
of the modern Olympic Games, wasn’t
much helped by staging the 2004 competition in Athens.
We learned from the International Luge
Federation that driver error caused the
death of a luger on the Winter Olympics
slide. (They said so in an April release,
and who can be skeptical of any official
report?)
We learned that USA Swimming — the
national governing body of competitive
swimming in the United States — had
coaches who preferred the breast stroke
to others.
We learned that, like the Olympic
Games, sports and politics also mix in
the World Cup. After poor play, Nigeria
banned its team from international competition for two years and a French parliamentary committee held a hearing to
examine why their team played so poorly.
We learned that, like the Olympic
Games, once soccer’s World Cup was
history, interest in the U.S. was negligible (compared to baseball, football, basketball and even hockey). In fact, a SNY
poll during a New York Mets game the
A
28
day after the U.S. team was eliminated
from the Cup competition showed that
only 26 percent of respondents remained
interested. Considering the population
make-up of the city and the large number
of Hispanic stars on the Mets, that’s a
pretty devastating result.
Media promote ‘iconization’
We learned that the ‘iconization” of
athletes, fostered by sports marketers,
advertising agencies and PR firms, is
abetted by the media. While one finds it
difficult to believe that Tiger Woods’
extra-curricular activities were not
known to at least a few of the golf media,
Tom Watson publicly said that Woods
has not shown the same stature of other
golfing greats and that he should show
some humility to the public and clean up
his on-course behavior, his language and
club throwing. Surely that had to be
known to the media because it happened
right on the golf course.
We learned, as if we didn’t know, that
the real sports game is “money,” as all
who stand to make a buck from Woods’
return to the 24ct gold links — the golf,
TV and sports marketing industries —
warmly welcomed him back.
We learned that golf, sports marketers
and TV need Woods if they wish to keep
the sport as a major audience media
event. Woods’ selection to the Ryder
Cup team, despite a lackluster comeback,
was prima facie evidence.
We learned that some of the media now
wants to control a newsmaker, instead of
reporting on the person’s remarks: Golf
Writers Association refused to cover
Woods’ coming-out press appearance
because they were limited to three
reporters. CBS subsequently turned
down a chance to interview Woods
because he would only agree to a fiveminute interview.
There are two things wrong with these
stands, in my opinion: By not taking
advantage of the opportunity, they could
have missed a breaking story.
The second reason is best summed up
by former Boston Globe sports editor,
Vince Doria, a senior vice president and
director of news at ESPN. “The alternative was not to do the interview, and that
wouldn’t serve our viewers,” he said,
adding that there were no restrictions on
the questions or the person who would
do the interview.
We learned that Gannett’s Asbury Park
Press okayed an employee of the New
Jersey Devils to write byline articles
about the team (which isn’t much of a
change from some sports writing by staff
members of other dailies, whose articles
often looks like they’re nothing but
promotional pieces for the home team).
We learned that Congress is still pushing baseball, which promotes players as
role models to clean up its act: First
steroids and more recently wanting
baseball to prohibit smokeless tobacco
use during games. Can football be far
behind? On April 23, the Wall Street
Journal reported that “just under
one-third of the 327 players who attended
this year’s NFL pre-draft scouting camp,
or combine,” used marijuana. And the
Feds began intensifying its investigation
of pro cycling’s misuse of substances.
We learned that another branch of the
government, the Supreme Court, isn’t
swayed by the pass, run and kickers of
the NFL by ruling that the league is not
a single business when merchandise is
being sold. But the rest of the story is
still unwritten: will the Justice’s unanimous decision affect other issues?
We learned that the NFL stopped saying that the Earth is flat and admitted
that concussions can have long-term
effects.
We learned, according to a Wall Street
Journal story of April 10-11, that sports
sponsorship may not be the best way for
marketers to spend big bucks. The story
said that a plurality of those surveyed
couldn’t name any sponsor associated
with Major League Baseball. A story in
the June 28-July 4th issue of
SportsBusiness Journal, showed that
brand identification with the National
Hockey League was not an important
factor in purchasing products or services.
We learned that a new phrase has
entered the lexicon of sports: sexual
addiction.
We learned that the body slams and
other punishing blows during wrestling
matches are — what a shocker — not real
and can be performed on a Broadway
stage. Who said so? Linda McMahon
said so during her campaign as the GOP
candidate for a Senate seat from
Connecticut. And she should really
know. She formerly was the top banana
of World Wrestling Entertainment.
Politicization of sports
But there was also an important new
wrinkle added to the sports scene in 2010
for marketers to ponder: when do ads
Continued on next page
11/24/10
2:11 PM
Page 29
Guest Column
What’s happening behind the technology curtain?
By Lou Hoffman
ou already know Facebook enjoys
the clout of a sovereign state. It’s
hard to miss the battle for
supremacy in the
mobile phone market as Google,
Apple
and
Microsoft
knock
heads.
We've
become numb to the
acquisitions from
HP, IBM and Oracle
as they strive to
Lou Hoffman is CEO
Detroit-ize the tech
of The Hoffman
sector.
Agency, a PR agency
But here’s what
with offices in the
U.S., Europe and Asia. we’re seeing in the
tech sector that
doesn't necessarily generate headlines,
but stands to play a role in shaping the
industry in the coming months.
The unglamorous part of innovation —
the 18-hour days that go into building a
product with the requisite course corrections that come from learning on-the-fly
— couldn’t be healthier.
Everyone laments that the flow of
Y
WHAT SPORTS PR PROS LEARNED
Continued from previous page
featuring sports personalities cross the
lines dividing the marketing of products
and religious and political beliefs?
The Tim Tebow pro-life ad for the
Christian conservative advocacy group
Focus on the Family introduced a new
element into the “should we or shouldn’t we” controversy of marketers tying
their programs too closely to an athlete.
If athletes become associated with
controversial agendas, what will the
affect be on sales to consumers who
have a different point of view?
Unlike most athletes of the past, many
today are more likely to voice their
opinions about political situations.
Example: MLB players and their union
voiced disapproval of the Arizona antiimmigration law. And athletes are
speaking out on other issues: David
Wright of the N.Y. Mets did a TV
commercial extolling the union workers
who built Citi Field.
Tebow’s Super Bowl ad has the possibility of future marketers distancing
themselves from using “political” ath-
venture capital will never reach levels
achieved in the past. They point to the
modest number of new venture-funded
startups as exhibit A that the rate of innovation in the tech industry is on the
decline.
But these numbers don't show the total
picture.
A funny thing happened on the way to
startups “enjoying” rejection after rejection in the quest to raise money.
Entrepreneurs figured out that venture
capital isn’t a requirement to starting a
company. Bootstrapping has become the
new black, which makes sense when you
consider two macro trends.
As our lives — both personal and business — increasingly move online, there
are enormous opportunities for even a
single programmer to help invent this
new digital world.
And thanks to “the cloud,” which commoditizes computer processing much
like electricity, the infrastructure costs
for startups has been reduced to a pittance.
The upshot: Tens of thousands of startups are toiling away in relative obscurity.
letes as product pitchman. Even before
it was aired, the politicians were getting
involved.
Sarah Palin wrote that NOW, which
pushed for CBS to drop the ad and stick
to football, “is looking at the pro-life
issue backwards” and urged that CBS,
“Just do the right thing. Don’t cave.
Have the backbone to run the ad.”
The Tebow Super Bowl ad may also
open the door for other TV sporting
events to become rife with advocacy
commercials.
Organizations whose ads are rejected
will claim prejudice and censorship by
the networks, gaining media coverage
that will take the spotlight away from
more traditional marketers that relied
on getting an extra bang for their commercial bucks by dominating the news
coverage for days before and after
mega sporting events.
While the controversy over the
Tebow commercial was still generating
significant news coverage, a basketball-themed controversial ad joined the
fray.
Shortly after two Washington
Wizards players were suspended for
having guns in the locker rooms, an ad
While venture capitalists make sure their
portfolio companies show up on the right
lists, there is no “census bureau” that
goes to door-to-door capturing the bootstrappers.
Like their venture-backed brethren,
these startups also need public relations
to build their brands and profiles.
It’s not only already happening, but
happening on a global scale.
We’ve supported startups based in
Korea, Japan, Singapore, China, the UK,
the Ukraine and Canada in just 2010.
More than the obvious PR services, these
companies need guidance in how to
effectively enter the U.S. market. They
don't have large marketing departments.
Heck, they often don’t have a VP of marketing; the CEO serves in this role by
default.
That creates new opportunities for PR
agencies.
Whether it involves localizing the
website to U.S. tastes or making sure the
actual product is ready for prime time,
someone needs to be taking a holistic
approach to communications on behalf
of international startups. alluding to guns featuring Kobe Bryant
and LeBron James appeared in several
publications. The ad was denounced
by the NBA and Cleveland city officials rejected a proposal by Nike for a
billboard based on the ad.
Adding a Marx Brothers element to
the 2010 scene was the NFL’s heavyhanded response to mom-and-pop tee
shirt stores in New Orleans, threatening them with cease and desist letters
for using the “Who Dat” phrase on
merchandise leading up to the Super
Bowl. Especially ludicrous because
the chant is said to have originated with
a high school that began using it in
1972 at its football games.
But, most importantly, we learned
there is life after mega events sponsorships as companies abstained from
events like the Super Bowl and
Olympics and still survived.
So what should sports publicity-seeking marketers do as the activities of too
many athletes can be covered by either
police beat or sports journalists?
They can require their agencies to
develop programs that targets sports
fans without running the risk of being
blind-sided by an athlete-gone-sour. DECEMBER 2010 WWW.ODWYERPR.COM
29
11/24/10
2:11 PM
Page 30
Guest Column
BOOK REVIEW
‘Deadly Spin’ distorts reality of PR profession
By Richard Edelman
spent a weekend in November reading “Deadly Spin,” former PR man
Wendell Potter’s tale of his conversion from corporate “spin-meister” to
healthcare reform advocate. Potter’s
story moves along
two tracks, a personal awakening to
the evils of managed care interspersed with salvos
against the PR business.
I will concentrate
on his critique of
PR, leaving the
Richard Edelman
healthcare issues to
is President and
CEO of Edelman.
those more expert in
the field.
Potter’s central thesis is that “Good
PR is about control … PR people are
good at manipulating the news media
because they understand them … PR
people cultivate reporters, ostensibly for
friendship or mutual benefit, but more
realistically for manipulation ...With
years of practice, I learned how to
respond with a pithy remark if I wanted
to be quoted and how to baffle them with
bullshit if I didn’t ... Be obscure clearly
... I became a master at doing just that.”
Potter acknowledges that “PR has
been used to good ends. Even the
noblest of causes can benefit from the
services of a communications expert to
I
EURO RSCG LONDON AND
BISS LANCASTER MERGE
Euro RSCG London announced in November
that it is merging with Euro RSCG Biss Lancaster
to form a single PR consultancy.
The move will “put PR at the heart of the creative process at Euro RSCG London,” according to
a press release issued by the company. The company said the merger reflects “how fragmented
media channels have accelerated client demand
for more genuinely integrated marketing communications.”
The new PR consultancy will now be known as
Euro RSCG London PR. The two companies
already work together on a number of clients
including Peugeot, Reckitt Benckiser and
Australian Wool Innovation.
As part of the integration the Manchester and
Edinburgh offices of Biss Lancaster will be rebranded Euro RSCG Manchester PR and
Edinburgh PR, respectively. Both offices are managed by Managing Director Brian Beech.
30
clarify fact ... and there are plenty of ethical PR people out there to do this.” He
quickly takes back even this modest
acknowledgement with his other hand,
“With PR so intricately woven into
every major industry and today’s mass
media reality, the stakes of spin have
become incredibly high. And ethics do
slip. PR often crosses the line into misleading, withholding or simply lying.
And when it does, society suffers …”
Most outrageous is Potter’s conflation
of propaganda and modern public relations. He goes back to one of the giants
of the profession, Edward Bernays,
whose book “Propaganda,” written in
1928, ostensibly wound up on the bookshelf of Third Reich minister Joseph
Goebbels.
Potter then goes on to suggest that
Hitler’s Mein Kampf discusses manipulation of public opinion “in terms that
could be used by one of today’s PR
counselors.” He quotes the Fuhrer as
saying, “All effective propaganda must
be limited to a very few points and must
harp on these in slogans.” He even
quotes the Institute for
Propaganda
Analysis
report from the late 30s
uncovering effects of
domestic
manipulative
practices of advertisers
and businesses, using
“propaganda/PR ploys”
such as “Fear, Glittering
Generalities, Testimonials,
Name-Calling, Plain Folks,
Euphemisms, Bandwagon
and Transfer by Respected
Individuals.”
He concludes his book
with a bizarre “What If?” He suggests
that “without basic knowledge of PR tactics and the ability to distinguish between
fact and distortion, Americans — and
that includes journalists — are at the
mercy of spin doctors and PR practitioners whose loyalty to their clients outweighs the public’s right to the
truth….We need the Woodward and
Bernsteins of coming generations to
ensure that Americans have access to
truth and that a health balance between
news and spin is in place. Otherwise our
news will be coming, whether we know
it or not, from companies with names
like the Hawthorn Group, Edelman,
Porter Novelli and APCO. If so, our way
of life will truly be threatened.”
Wendell Potter speaks at NYU on Nov. 16.
Photo by Jack O’Dwyer
Ok, Mr. Potter, since you are calling us
out, let me agree with you on a few
points. I do not subscribe to the use of
front groups to cover up the true intent
of a client. I do not endorse the use of
biased research surveys that
purport to be factual representation of the views of the
public. I do not advocate
duplicitous communications
campaigns where clients say
one thing and mean another.
Here is where you and I
part company. You have no
right to say that big and well
connected PR firms have a
reputation “not so much for
public relations as for public
deception.”
Nor do you have carte
blanche to say that many of the bigger
firms “pay little heed to ethical guidelines because they are happy to take
your money and launder it.”
Nor can you say that third party
experts recruited to be credible spokesmen “won’t have a thing to do with opeds except lend their names.”
You have done the public a great disservice in distorting the PR field, which
provided you a good living for the better
part of your career. There will always be
much to criticize in the world of PR, but
do not call into question the motives of
the vast majority of practitioners who
are interested in the truth and in educating stakeholders about issues of our
time. Decmagazine:Layout 1
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2:11 PM
Page 31
PEOPLE IN PR
Economist crowns
Sorrell ‘King of the
Mad Men’
he Economist (Nov. 6) anointed
WPP CEO Martin Sorrell “King of
the Mad Men” for positioning the
25-year ad/PR conglomerate on top of the
heap on Madison Avenue.
The British business magazine notes
that Sir Martin is “sometimes put down
by critics as a
finance-obsessed
‘bean counter,’ but
he delegates a lot
and has placed
astute bets such as
deciding that the
advertising industry
would
become
increasingly driven
by technology.”
Martin Sorrell
A third of WPP’s
$14B
revenues
comes from advertising.
Sorrell’s acquisition game plan is built
on buying good businesses, taking time
to know the firms, locking in management for five years and some “luck,” he
says.
WPP’s bullish performance this year is
due to robust demand in the U.S. market,
rebounding from severe cutbacks in
2009.
Television ad spending is leading the
way because marketers traditionally look
to the media to build brands while
“online is more about price and offering a
deal,” according to Sorrell.
Sorrell says much has changed since
“Mad Men,” the TV show about ad agency
life during the 1960s. But he watches the
program and says its portrayal of “egos,
turf wars and political incorrectness” still
rings true today. T
NBC Communications
chief to step down
llison Gollust, Executive VP of
Corporate Communications for
NBC Universal, will step down
when the company’s megamerger with
Comcast is consummated at the end of
the year.
She is the chief spokeswoman for the
company and NBC CEO Jeff Zucker,
who has been told by Comcast that he
will not be retained.
Comcast in early October brought in
A
Abernathy MacGregor Group president
Adam Miller as a Senior Advisor as the
$30 billion deal moves toward fruition.
COO Steve Burke
has worked with
Miller for more
than a decade and
said he will be a
great asset to the
company,
an
endorsement that
could put Miller
atop the media
giant’s corporate
Allison Gollust
communications
apparatus.
Gollust, a 14-year veteran of NBC, is
slated to step down Dec. 31, the company said.
“I was honored to play a role in telling
the story of NBC Universal and I leave
knowing that it is poised for an exciting
new beginning,” she said in a statement.
Gollust was named EVP in July 2009.
She was Senior VP of NBC News and
started out as a publicist, later moving to
“Today.” Gollust joined NBC after
directing communications for the
Colorado Rapids of Major League
Soccer. Weber Shandwick
Hires Hynes
CI Health has brought in
Novartis Pharmaceuticals Social
Media Director Mark Davis to
lead its digital health operations.
GCI, part of WPP’s Cohn & Wolfe,
said Davis has been asked to “broaden
the strategic vision” for its digital health
offering, while also
handling
client
work and new
business
under
CEO Wendy Lund.
Davis
handled
regulatory and legal
issues in social
media, among other
duties developing
digital communicaMark Davis
tions across the
drug
maker’s
brands.
Prior to seven years at Novartis, he
was VP/Consumer Experience at MerckMedko after marketing posts at
Prudential and American Express. G
Levinsohn says Yahoo
ony Hynes, a 20-year veteran
of the hi-tech scene, joined
Interpublic’s Weber Shandwick
Nov. 22 as Executive VP in Northern
California and part
of its technology
leadership.
He was West
Coast
General
Manager at Bite
Communications,
where
he
handled HP, Sun
Microsystems and
helped launch the
Tony Hynes
Next Fifteen unit’s
cleantech practice.
Earlier, Hynes was Director of Global
PR/Corporate
Communications
at
Hitachi Data Systems and staffer at IBM
and SAP.
Hynes reports to Robert Dowling,
head of WS’ North American technology
practice, who calls Hynes “one of
the most recognized communications
professionals in the technology
industry.” T
GCI taps Novartis vet
for social media
oss Levinsohn has joined Yahoo! as
Executive VP for the Americas in
charge of media operations, ad sales
and corporate partnerships. He replaces
Hilary Schneider, who resigned in
September.
Levinsohn served
as President of
News Corp.’s Fox
Interactive, where he
led Rupert Murdoch’s
$1B foray into
digital, a drive was
capped by the
ill-fated acquisition
of MySpace, which
is currently being
Ross Levinsohn
reorganized.
Upon exiting Fox
Interactive, Levinsohn was co-founder and
managing director of Fuse Capital, an equity firm focused on the digital space.
Earlier, he held posts at AltaVista, a search
site; CBS Sportsline and HBO.
Carol Bartz, Yahoo CEO, says the
Levinsohn hire will “allow us to solidify
our position as the largest digital media,
content and communications business
around the globe.” R
31
11/24/10
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Page 32
WASHINGTON REPORT
Glover Park hired to protect
U.S. foreign aid
he U.S. Leadership Coalition has hired Glover Park Group
to stave off cuts to the U.S. international affairs budget as
Republicans get set to control the incoming 112th Congress
with cost cutting on their minds.
The Coalition, in the aftermath of this month’s election, issued
a statement to say that though it recognizes “budget realities” it is
critical to support the Defense Dept., which calls for “greater
investments in the civilian side of our global engagement tools.”
In September, the Coalition released a poll that found nearly 90
percent of military officers agree that public diplomacy and a
strong military are critical to U.S. security. Eighty-three percent
say food/health/education assistance and economic development
funding are important to national security.
The Coalition also favors federal programs to support exports,
saying each dollar spent returns $40 to the U.S. economy.
The Coalition includes more than 400 companies and non-governmental organizations like General Electric, Northrop
Grumman, Wal-Mart, CARE, Catholic Relief Services, Pfizer,
American Israel Public Affairs Committee, Microsoft, Mars Inc.
Better World Campaign, Lockheed Martin, Mercy Corps and
International Rescue Committee.
Glover Park’s Coalition team includes Brett O’Brien, former
aide to former House Majority Leader Dick Gephardt; Lindsay
Lee, ex-staffer for former Congressman Joe Knollenberg, and
Nicole Sawran, former staff director of the Senate Democratic
Steering Committee. T
BP puts Dempsey in charge of
D.C. relations
P has tapped a company VP who handled external affairs in
Florida during the Gulf oil spill to serve as BP America’s liaison to stakeholders in Washington.
Ray Dempsey, VP, Strategy and Portfolio for the company’s fuels
value chain strategic performance unit, has been tapped as VP of
Government and PA for BP America.
Dempsey, a 20-year veteran of BP, was part of the company’s
response team to the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, serving as a
spokesman handling “information sharing” in Florida for the company during the crisis.
Dempsey testified before the House Committee on Homeland
Security Subcommittee on Management, Investigations and
Oversight on June 12. B
Gephardt seeks to snuff out
smuggling of smokes
ephardt Group Government Affairs represents
Switzerland’s SICPA Product Security, which wants to
affix its digital stamp on American cigarettes to counter
smuggling.
Texas Congressman Lloyd Doggett has been pushing the
Smuggled Tobacco Prevention Act, which requires a digital stamp
as a tool to recover lost federal tax dollars. It also is a way to combat organized crime and terrorism (Hezbollah).
G
32
The Treasury Dept. has called cigarette smuggling a threat to
national security. Doggett says a global study conducted in the
1990s found that a third of the world’s manufactured cigarettes was
not accounted for. They simply vanished, Doggett testified to
Congress earlier this year. Ex-Cheney aide to ACC
nne Womack-Kolton, the Brunswick Group hand who
moved in-house at client BP during the Gulf oil crisis,
has landed at the American Chemistry Council.
Womack-Kolton, a former Press Secretary for Vice President
Dick Cheney and Dept. of Energy PA director, has been tapped
as VP of Communications for the D.C.-based trade group for the
chemicals industry.
Womack-Kolton reports to ACC president and CEO Cal
Dooley and to the trade group’s board.
The ACC has been looking to bulk up its communications
apparatus as it is currently advertising four open PR posts –
director of online advocacy comms.; director, regional comms.;
manager, product/panel comms., and senior director, advocacy
comms.
After her Bush administration stints, she was a VP at APCO,
where she landed after exiting BP, according to the ACC.
She joined the Bush/Cheney campaign in 2000 from the Texas
Attorney General’s Office. A
Mexico splits with APCO
he Mexico Tourism Board wound down work with APCO
Worldwide on June 1, according to the independent PR
firm’s federal filing. The firm had provided counsel on
trade, security, border, and tourism issues under the $1.4M pact
agreed upon in 2009.
APCO had a 15 people handling the work. Senior VP Charles
Krause was project manager of the team that included former
Congressman Don Bonker, online director Evan Kraus and
APCO Insight president Mark Benson.
The firm received $705,113 in professional fees from Mexico
during the six-month period ended Sept. 30.
The Mexico Tourism Board has a separate one-year pact worth
$330K pact with Qorvis Communications.
The country’s image-tarnished state of Baja California hired
Allison & Partners in September for a travel and tourism push
amid drug cartel-fueled violence. T
11/24/10
2:11 PM
Page 33
International PR News
UAE pays Harbour for AF/PAK,
soccer PR
he U.S. Emirates Alliance paid The Harbour Group
$956K in PR fees for the six-month period ended Sept.
30 for activities from contacting U.S. officials about stability/humanitarian development in Pakistan and Afghanistan
to promoting the opening of a soccer pitch atop an elementary
public school in New York City.
On the Af/Pak front, Harbour arranged meetings with Dan
Feldman, State Dept’s special representative to those countries, along with his deputies Vikram Singh and Jarrett Blanc.
D.C.-based Harbour briefed State Dept.’s United Arab
Emirates desk officer Bridget McGovern about the visit of the
Manchester City Football Club to the U.S. and then worked
with the principal and a teacher at the Lexington Academy in
Manhattan’s Spanish Harlem.
The UAE Embassy and Manchester City, which is owned by
Abu Dhabi royal Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan,
donated the lighted synthetic field, the first in Manhattan, as
part of the UAE’s community soccer initiative. It’s designed to
forge closer grassroots ties in the U.S.
Harbour also contacted Attorney General Eric Holder about
T
U.S./UAE legal cooperation and staffers at both the American
Jewish Committee and Anti-Defamation League about the
UAE’s threat to ban BlackBerry smartphone service. APCO acquires Arab firm
PCO Worldwide has acquired JiWin PR, which is part
of Dubai Holding’s Tecom Investments. Tecom invests
and manages “knowledge industry clusters” such as
Dubai Internet City, Dubai Media City, Dubai Studio City,
Dubai Knowledge Village, Dubai International Academic City,
and Dubai Outsource Zone.
APCO CEO Margery Kraus, CEO of APCO, is eager to tap
JiWin’s “extensive knowledge and contacts in the Middle
East.” She refers to Dubai as the “intersection of global trade
and commerce connecting Asia, Africa, Europe and the wider
world.”
JiWin counts 35 PR pros working in corporate communications, community relations, IR, crisis and issues management.
Clients include Dubai Holding, Noor Islamic Bank, Merck,
Johnson & Johnson, NASDAQ Dubai and Young Arab Leaders.
Dubai Holding is owned by the Government of Dubai. A
NEW FOREIGN AGENTS REGISTRATION ACT FILINGS
Below is a list of select companies that have registered with the U.S. Department of Justice, FARA Registration Unit,
Washington, D.C., in order to comply with the Foreign Agents Registration Act of 1938, regarding their consulting and communications work on behalf of foreign principals, including governments, political parties, organizations, and individuals.
Kreab Gavin Anderson (USA), Inc., New York, N.Y., registered November 2, 2010 for the Government of the Philippines, Manila,
Philippines, regarding promotion of the Philippines.
M. Silver Associates, Inc., New York, N.Y., registered November 10, 2010 for Turkish Culture & Tourism Office, New York, N.Y., regarding
providing public relations services.
Podesta Group, Inc., Washington, D.C., registered November 5, 2010 for Republic of India, Embassy of the Republic of India, Washington,
D.C., regarding providing strategic counsel to the principal on communicating priority issues in the United States-India bilateral relationship to relevant U.S. audiences including the U.S. Congress, administration, media and policy community.
NEW LOBBYING DISCLOSURE ACT FILINGS
Below is a list of select companies that have registered with the Secretary of the Senate, Office of Public Records, and the Clerk of the
House of Representatives, Legislative Resource Center, Washington, D.C., in order to comply with the Lobbying Disclosure Act of 1995.
For a complete list of filings, visit http://sopr.senate.gov.
Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP, Washington, D.C., registered November 10, 2010 for BakkenLink Pipeline LLC, Houston, Texas,
regarding international energy pipeline issues.
Constantinople & Vallone Consulting LLC, New York, N.Y., registered November 12, 2010 for Vacant Property Security, Inc., Chicago, Ill.,
regarding property security and development.
Mercury (Formerly known as International Government Relations Group), Washington, D.C., registered November 12, 2010 for Kee
Action Sports, Sewell, N.J., regarding training and recreation issues.
M.T. Phillips Associates, Inc., Burke, Va., registered November 5, 2010 for Open Space Institute/Outdoors America, New York, N.Y.,
regarding S. 2747 (Land and Water Conservation Authorization and Funding Act), S. 3663 (Clean Energy and Jobs Oil Company Accountability
Act), and H.R. 3534 (Consolidated Lands, Energy and Aquatic Resources Act). Interior Appropriations issues are anticipated.
RR&G, LLC, Washington, D.C., registered November 3, 2010 for Bond Dealers of America, Washington, D.C., regarding financial institutions
regulatory reform.
Womble Carlyle Sandridge & Rice, PLLC, Washington, D.C., registered November 4, 2010 for National Corn Growers Association,
Chesterfield, Mo., regarding providing specific advice on the federal legislative process specifically targeting agricultural trade policy during the
111th Congress.
33
11/24/10
2:11 PM
Page 34
PR Buyer’s Guide
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Here is the list of qualifications for
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press. You network with reporters in the tech
and consumer space via speed dial, SMS,
Rolodex, and IM.
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an answer, and wonʼt stop until you get your
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you were to describe yourself, creative, wellspoken and persistent would be among the
three adjectives you would use.
- And last, you love all things social media,
ads, and innovation.
What you will do:
- Help build Meeboʼs presence in the press
- Collaborate with various Meeboʼs departments to develop and articulate Meebo stories
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Meeboʼs product line
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releases and collateral
- Help develop a top-notch conference and
event platform for the company
- Internal communications support
Apply URL: http://www.meebo.com/jobs/
openings/prmanager/
34
11/24/10
2:11 PM
Page 35
Introductory offer:
Join O’Dwyer PR’s New Business Council
Let OʼDwyerʼs help you to expand your PR firm locally, nationally and globally
A $300 membership includes all of these great features:
Milton Public Relations Strategies
Milton Public Relations Strategies
271 Madison Ave., Suite 600,
New York, NY 10016
212/679-2471; fax: 212/683-2750
[email protected]; www.miltonpr.com
Consumer, financial, tech PR.
Employees: 12. Founded: 1972.
Agency Statement: Media-oriented
Milton PR will give you an extra set of
eyes and ears on your competitive
environment and win you important
recognition in the key media that will
reach your customers. Our staffers are Christine Milton, Chair/CEO
in daily contact with a host of general and trade media reporters,
checking on word-of-mouth about our clients and their products
and getting advance word of opinion-forming articles and features in media.
We’ll bring you a steady stream of ideas to increase the visibility of
your company and at low cost compared to print and broadcast
advertising. We will bring you an in integrated program that will
use all forms of communications. You’ll find reporters consider us
to be a dependable source of information and help and that they
rely on us to bring them good stories.
We’ll help you to put your newsworthy material in a form that will
get their attention. Our key staffers have decades of experience in
our three specialty areas--consumer, financial and technology.
Give us a chance to visit you and come up with some sample ideas
for your business at no charge. Milton PR Strategies operates both
nationally and internationally through membership in a worldwide
network of major PR firms.
Christine Milton, chair and CEO; Fritz Carlson, executive VP;
Ludwig Oppenheimer, George Smith, Brenda Nowling, Lucille
Ridge, Hamlet Cohen, Joseph Bloomberg, VPs; Rita Corbin,
Henry Holt, Jacob Westmeyer, A/Es
1450 Chittenden Square, London WA5 2DN, U.K
44-171-594-2123; fax: 44-171-449-2003
[email protected]
William Billingsley, director
ABC Industries
Cooper Industries
Danielle Hair Dressers
Effable Software
Freight Carriers of Mobile
Georgetown Computers
Hat Makes of Madison
Mental Magic Software
Opulent Securities
Quasar Financial
Tellula Tourism Council
Thomas & Thomas Inc.
Versatile Technology Corp.
Wilson Spaw & Ryder LLC
Youngstown Civic Club
Zanzibarge
Your color logo, 300-word description of your services, top
execs and staffers, accounts, and branch offices on odwyerpr.com
(see left), PR’s No. 1 news, information and database website.
Join 400 PR firms that are marketing themselves locally and nationally to
thousands of online viewers each month.
Fortieth annual edition of O’Dwyer’s
Directory of PR Firms, just published in
late June, a $95 value. The 370-page
directory lists 1,700 PR firms, including
offices, executives, clients and contact
info. See how other firms market themselves. Make new friends, shop
for correspondent firms.
One-year of access to odwyerpr.com, unequalled for its savvy,
daily coverage of PR and media news, opinion from industry leaders, RFPs, professional development and more, backed by 42 years
of experience. PR’s No. 1 website and a $150 value, if purchased
separately.
One-year subscription to O’Dwyer’s magazine, PR’s longestrunning monthly (23 yrs.). Submit profiles of your specialty
practices such as healthcare, tech,
financial, food/beverage, beauty/fashion, etc., to be featured
among in-depth articles, news, and
opinion on the industry.
Exclusive access as a member
to constantly updated files of
Requests for Proposals (RFPs) by
companies, local, state, federal and
foreign governments and travel
bureaus, trade associations, professional groups, etc. 95 RFPs are
listed this year so far.
O’Dwyer’s Scores High on Google
O’Dwyer’s rankings of PR firms in specialty practices such as
healthcare, tech and financial PR are at or near the top when
those subject areas are Googled. O’Dwyer’s is the only media
doing specialty rankings. Unranked firms are also listed if they
are in the O’Dwyer database.
Other membership benefits include coverage of what techniques
are bringing in new business; what clients are saying; advice on
preparing contracts, and how firms are handling management
issues like the rising cost of health insurance.
O’Dwyer’s is your best buy for building your business. The
Council of PR Firms, which also helps match clients with PR
firms, has a $2,500 minimum fee. The Counselors Academy of
PR Society of America costs $225 in annual PRSA dues, $195 in
Academy dues and initiation fees of $65 for PRSA and $85 for
the Academy for a total of $570.
Sign-up online at odwyerpr.com or call toll free: 866/395-7710
11/24/10
2:11 PM
Page 36
She votes with her thumbs,
and her social network follows her lead.
Where does she stand on your issues?
We can get you there.
be there.
www.fleishman.com

is celebrity endorsement a thing of the past? pg. 12

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