Communications & New Media Nov. 2014 I Vol. 28 No. 11
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Novmagazine_Layout 1 10/30/14 11:18 AM Page 1 Communications & new media Nov. 2014 I Vol. 28 No. 11 November 2014 | www.odwyerpr.com Novmagazine_Layout 1 10/30/14 11:18 AM Page 2 Novmagazine_Layout 1 10/30/14 11:18 AM Page 3 Novmagazine_Layout 1 10/30/14 11:18 AM Page 4 Vol. 28, No. 11 November 2014 EDITORIAL FROM TECH STORYTELLING The tradition of American hysteria. TO STORYSHOWING In order to stand out, communicators INCIDENTS OF ANONYMOUS 6 20 today must do more than simply tell a ATTACKS SURGE ONLINE story — they need to share it. A new study shows that more than a quarter of Americans now admit to partici-8 BREAKING INTO THE pating in malicious online activity. INTERNATIONAL CES What smaller companies can do to get 10 PR COUNCIL TOLD TO 21 noticed and make a big splash at the EMBRACE DISRUPTION Consumer Electronics Show. Panelists discussed the perils that await complacent companies at an9 WANT TO TELL STORIES? OFFER October 24 PR Council forum. A STRATEGIC NARRATIVE Tech companies should talk less about PR SHOULD LEAD CHARGE 24 themselves, and more about the world in FOR ORGANIC SEARCH which they live. PR sits in a perfect position to10 DO YOU REALLY KNOW capitalize on the emerging trend of favor- YOUR COMPETITION? ing quality of content. 25 Knowing your competitors is essential GETTING CLEANTECH to success, and effective differentiation is critical in acquiring market leadership. 43 THROUGH ITS TEEN YEARS www.odwyerpr.comDaily, up-to-the-minute PR news Cleantech is finally on steady foot- TECH’S CHANCE AT CORPORATE ing for success. Here’s how we can 11ensure SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY it stays on that path. The tech industry is missing an opportu- 26 nity to become the first practitioners of THINK CONSUMER WHEN real corporate social responsibility. MARKETING B2B TECH The willingness of tech compa- REAL MARKETING STRATEGIES nies to think differently and empower12 their TRUMP BUZZ ANY DAY agency partners has changed dramatically. Some in the tech marketing world are 28 unable to grasp the concept of devel- TECH OPPORTUNITIES oping and sustaining a strategic pub- ABOUND IN GOVERNMENT lic relations program Government entities at all levels can be a target market for tech PR.13 PROFILES OF HIGH-TECH & TECHNOLOGY PR FIRMS SEVEN STEPS FOR A TECH 30 RANKINGS OF TOP HIGH-TECH CONTENT STRATEGY & TECHNOLOGY PR FIRMS Brands are increasingly placing EDITORIAL CALENDAR 2014 stories around what they stand for,14 and 43 WASHINGTON REPORT using content to provide value. January: Crisis Comms. / Buyer’s Guide February: Environmental & P.A. DIGITAL AGE TRANSFORMS 48COLUMNS March: Food & Beverage ESTABLISHED BRANDS PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT April: Broadcast & Social Media While established brands have the Fraser Seitel May: PR Firm Rankings advantage of being perceived as reputable,16 44 June: Global & Multicultural they may also be seen as old-fashioned. FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT 45 Richard Goldstein July: Travel & Tourism ANALYTICS HELP BRANDS August: Financial/I.R. BECOME PUBLISHERS OPINION September: Beauty & Fashion Communicators need to change 46 Jack O’Dwyer October: Healthcare & Medical the way they think and operate 18if they November: High-Tech want to think and operate like publishers. PEOPLE IN PR 47 December: Entertainment & Sports ADVERTISERS Bob Thomas Productions.......................................8 Kaplow...................................................................3 Peppercomm..........................................................7 Catapult PR-IR.......................................................5 Karbo Communications........................................11 Racepoint Global.................................................15 Copernio................................................Back Cover Log-On.................................................................27 Strauss Media Strategies....................................21 Finn Partners.......................................................19 Makovsky.............................................Inside Cover The Hoffman Agency............................................29 Omega World Travel............................................33 TV Access............................................................47 Horn Group............................................................9 PAN Communications..........................................17 W20 Group....................................................22&23 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. Novmagazine_Layout 1 10/30/14 11:18 AM Page 5 Novmagazine_Layout 1 10/30/14 2:28 PM Page 6 EDITORIAL The time-honored tradition of American hysteria EDITOR-IN-CHIEF n 1874, The New York Herald, under the tutelage of Publisher and Editor-in-Chief James Jack O’Dwyer Gordon Bennett, Jr., published an extraordinary tale across all six columns on the front- [email protected] Ipage of its November 9 edition. Wild animals — lions, a polar bear, tigers, even a rhinoc- eros — had escaped their cages at the Central Park Zoo and were rampaging through the ASSOCIATE PUBLISHER streets, mauling and devouring helpless citizens. According to the article, area hospitals were John O’Dwyer crammed to capacity with the wounded and dead; then-New York City Mayor William [email protected] Havemeyer had even enforced a mandatory curfew. Upon hearing the news, the citizens of ASSOCIATE PUBLISHER Manhattan panicked. Parents retrieved their children from school and locked their doors. Kevin McCauley Some took to the streets with rifles. Others fled for the piers, hoping to escape the city by ferry. [email protected] If anyone had managed to read the report in its entirety, however, they would have seen the clear disclaimer at the end of the 10,000-word screed: “The entire story given above is a pure EDITOR fabrication. Not one word of it is true.” Bennett, a newspaper magnate years ahead of his time, Jon Gingerich knew how media worked. The incident became one of the most notorious media hoaxes ever, [email protected] a War of the Worlds radio drama for the nineteenth century. There’s nothing like good ol’ American-style hysteria. There are currently four people out SENIOR EDITOR of 320 million U.S. citizens who have tested positive for Ebola (one has died; another, as of Greg Hazley press time, has since been cured), yet public fear regarding scenarios of mass contagion has [email protected] grown palpable. This isn’t our first unwarranted outbreak anxiety — remember West Nile Virus, Swine Flu, Anthrax? — and it certainly won’t be the last. At some point, it deserves CONTRIBUTING EDITORS asking what it is about our culture that makes us perennially on call for paranoia, why it is that Fraser Seitel Richard Goldstein we’re wont to choose reflexive hysterics over critical analysis, dumb animal fear over reason. Why do we remain cavalier when disaster takes tens of thousands of lives abroad, for years, Chandler Klang Smith yet huddle in the clutch of terror only when it comes to our shores? And what does this say Editorial Assistant & Research about our ability to adequately prepare for future catastrophes (be it natural disaster, famine, global warming, pollution, or economic collapse?). And why, when our health agencies try to ADVERTISING SALES educate us on the real dangers at hand, do so many of us invariably respond with a knee-jerk Sharlene Spingler inclination to distrust our scientific authorities, couching our irrational belligerence in some Associate Publisher & Editor specious proof that men in lab coats are hoodwinking us? Why do these events always stim- [email protected] ulate overreaction in all the wrong areas, yet inaction in the right areas? I’ve heard PR professionals say that a traditional approach to crisis management involves John O’Dwyer assessing a situation, identifying vulnerabilities, determining a best-case outcome, and devel- Advertising Sales Manager oping a corresponding message. Sounds good to me. It seems, however, that even the best cri- [email protected] sis strategies are beset by maddening complexity when the public abjectly refuses to heed the message. By all accounts, the October 23 press conference surrounding the news of New York O’Dwyer’s is published monthly for $60.00 a year ($7.00 for a single issue) by the City’s first Ebola patient, Dr. Craig Spencer, was a PR slam dunk. Mayor Bill de Blasio, New J.R. O’Dwyer Co., Inc., York Governor Andrew Cuomo, and Commissioner of the New York Department Of Health 271 Madison Ave., New York, NY 10016. and Mental Hygiene Dr. Mary Bassett all brought their crisis A-game, petitioning calm, deliv- (212) 679-2471 ering a wealth of information, and offering an action plan to assuage fears. A scant few hours Fax (212) 683-2750. after the conference, if New York 1’s interactive newscast “The Call” was any indication, it appeared that even top-notch crisis strategies will still fall on a few deaf ears. Callers © Copyright 2014 expressed fear of going outside. Several said they weren’t going to work the next day. Others J.R. O’Dwyer Co., Inc. said they weren’t letting their children go to school. Many were even demonizing doctors who go abroad for humanitarian relief efforts. Indeed, The New York Times on October 29 report-