Marchmagazine:Layout 1 3/1/12 12:37 PM Page 1 Pg. 15 Pg. 17 New York Times: USDA raises PR is ‘slop’ bio-based bar Communications & new media March 2012 I Vol. 26 No. 3 FRANKENFOODS: A (GENETICALLY MODIFIED) HISTORY NATURAL AND SUSTAINABLE STILL LEAD FOOD TRENDS WHY FOOD SAFETY REMAINS THE NUMBER-ONE CONSUMER CONCERN March 2012 | www.odwyerpr.com HOW SOCIAL MEDIA REDEFINES OUR PROFILES OF FOOD & BEVERAGE RELATIONSHIP WITH FOOD PR FIRMS PG . 20 Marchmagazine:Layout 1 3/1/12 12:37 PM Page 2 Marchmagazine:Layout 1 3/1/12 12:37 PM Page 3 Marchmagazine:Layout 1 3/1/12 12:37 PM Page 4 Vol. 26, No. 3 March 2012 EDITORIAL USDA CERTIFICATION RAISES New York Times says PR is “slop.” BAR FOR BIO-BASED LABEL 6 17 The USDA’s new Certified Biobased STRATFOR ATTEMPTS TO label now means not just any product or TURN TABLES ON WIKILEAKS package can wear the “bio-based” badge. Stratfor has tried to regain PR momen- 8 tum following WikiLeaks’ February release G.M. DEBATES CONTINUE TO 9 of millions of the company’s emails. GRIP FOOD INDUSTRY GREENPEACE RAPS KEY- 18 A series of recent lawsuits against STONE PIPELINE PR Monsanto has revived the debate regarding the Greenpeace told the SEC that safety of genetically-modified foods. TransCanada is inflating the number8 of jobs the Keystone XL pipeline will create. PROFILES OF FOOD & BEVERAGE PR FIRMS ESPN RESPONDS TO LIN RACIAL SLUR CRISIS 20 ESPN has fired one employee and RANKINGS OF FOOD & suspended another after a series of com-9 BEVERAGE PR FIRMS ments about NBA player Jeremy Lin were 33 deemed offensive. 18 WASHINGTON REPORT www.odwyerpr.com FOOD SAFETY WORRIES Daily, up-to-the minute PR news AREN’T GOING AWAY 40 Food safety and labeling have COLUMNS become top concerns for Americans,10 according to an annual study that ranks the PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT year’s most popular food-related headlines. 34 Fraser Seitel SUSTAINABLE, NATURAL FINANCIAL MATTERS FOODS LEAD NEW TRENDS 35 Richard Goldstein A recent survey of registered dieticians shows what food trends12 will be GUEST COLUMN popular for consumers and brands in 2012. 36 John Doyle GUEST COLUMN IPG LEADS Q4 GROWTH 37 Wes Pedersen AMONG CONGLOMS PR revenues at publicly traded BOOK REVIEW conglomerates showed solid13 38 Jack O’Dwyer fourth quarter gains to round out 2011, PEOPLE IN PR with Interpublic leading the pack. 39 FOOD’S ‘SOCIAL LIFE’ PR BUYER’S GUIDE OPENS NEW DOORS 42 Social media has leveled the EDITORIAL CALENDAR 2012 playing field for food PR, providing 14oppor- January: Crisis Comms. / Buyer’s Guide July: Travel & Tourism tunities for practically anyone with the February: Environmental & P.A. August: Financial/I.R. enthusiasm to be a force of change. March: Food & Beverage September: Beauty & Fashion April: Broadcast & Social Media October: Healthcare & Medical NYT BEATS INDUSTRY TO PUNCH WITH DEFINITION May: PR Firm Rankings November: High-Tech New York Times columnist David June: Global & Multicultural December: Entertainment & Sports Carr has beaten a worldwide 15industry initiative to define “public relations.” ADVERTISERS Finn Partners.................................................5 NAPS.....................................INSIDE COVER HOW SOCIAL MEDIA CHANGED THE WAY WE EAT Foodminds.....................................................9 Omega Travel..............................................27 If lasting benefits are a goal, 16 Janine Gordon Associates...........................11 Ruder Finn...............................BACK COVER brands should take cues from the personal KEF Media.....................................................3 Pollock Communications...............................7 relationships established in social media. Log-On........................................................23 TV Access....................................................15 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. Marchmagazine:Layout 1 3/1/12 12:37 PM Page 5 Marchmagazine:Layout 1 3/1/12 12:37 PM Page 6 EDITORIAL NYT columnist says PR is “slop” ore than a dozen PR groups worldwide have been in a months-long quest to New York Times EDITOR-IN-CHIEF define PR. columnist David Carr on Jan. 29 came up with a Jack O’Dwyer Mone-word definition that will save them a lot of trouble: “slop.” [email protected] The Farlex Free Dictionary defines slop as “waste food used to feed pigs or other animals” and as “repulsively effusive writing or speech; drivel,” among other things. ASSOCIATE PUBLISHER Carr wrote that “The modern chief executive lives behind a wall of communica- Kevin McCauley tions operatives, many of whom ladle out slop meant to obscure rather than reveal.” [email protected] CEOs, he says, are less visible than ever and reporters “have to work their way past background conversations with underlings, written statements that say nothing, and EDITOR that increasingly hardy perennial: the ‘no comment.’” Jon Gingerich Fiske blasted Crudele [email protected] Rosanna Fiske, 2011 PR Society Chair, chastised New York Post columnist John Crudele after he wrote last July that PR’s job is to “make bad news sound not so bad” SENIOR EDITOR and that a PR person would try to make the earnings of energy and materials companies Greg Hazley sound better by not allowing for inflation. Fiske, whose letter was published by the Post, [email protected] said Crudele’s definition of PR “couldn’t be further from reality” and that PR people are the ones who will give Americans “a realistic view of the state of affairs in America.” CONTRIBUTING EDITORS John O’Dwyer A 1999 PR Society/Rockefeller study Fraser Seitel found “PR specialist” ranked 43rd on a Richard Goldstein list of 45 believable sources. Will 2012 PRS chair Gerry Corbett claim that PR is not “slop,” ADVERTISING SALES that CEOs do not “live behind a John O’Dwyer wall of communications opera- Advertising Sales Manager tives,” and that reporters are not [email protected] confined to dealing with “under- lings?” One reason for the recent shyness of CEOs is their larger-than-life pay- checks — up 1,200% from $1 million O’Dwyer’s is published monthly for $60.00 in 1970 to $13 million in 2010 while U.S. median income a year ($7.00 for a single issue) by the only rose 308% to $49,000. J.R. O’Dwyer Co., Inc., Another illustration of the institutional “shut up” press policy is the PR Society, where 271 Madison Ave., New York, NY 10016. no one can speak about PRS to the press without the permission of COO Bill Murray or (212) 679-2471 VP-PR Art Yann. Fax (212) 683-2750. Corporate, agency PR split Carr condemns all of PR but if he takes a further look he will see that PR has split into two camps — corporate and agency. Corporate/institutional PR has become © Copyright 2012 almost completely defensive, as illustrated by the Viacom directive that sets up PR as J.R. O’Dwyer Co., Inc. the “gestapo” of the company, ready to pounce on anyone, including suppliers, who breathes a negative word about Viacom to the press. OTHER PUBLICATIONS & What Carr should look at is the vast difference between corporate/institutional PR SERVICES: and agency PR, where PR people actually talk to the press. He is correct in saying that reporters who call corporate PR depts. usually get to www.odwyerpr.com breaking news, deal only with junior staffers. The VP-PR is almost never available for press ques- commentary, useful databases and more. tions and in most instances will not even be identified on the company website. Jack O’Dwyer’s Newsletter An eight- Discourteous and even rude treatment may greet a reporter who asks too many page weekly with general PR news, media questions. Creativity has fled to the firms just like it did in the ad business where appointments and placement opportunities. large corporate ad depts. were folded in the 1950s and 1960s. Creativity flourishes in an open competitive environment where there are a variety of assignments and inde- O’Dwyer’s Directory of PR Firms has pendence from the dictums of a single employer. listings of more than 1,850 PR firms through- PR groups and PR depts. of institutions should adopt as their goal the pursuit of out the U.S. and abroad. truth and accuracy, the way courtrooms go about this. Participants must swear to tell “the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth.” This would eliminate agenda- O’Dwyer’s PR Buyer’s Guide lists 1,000+ setting, mis-direction and any diversionary tactics. Institutions would be required to products and services for the PR industry in 54 categories. present themselves for questioning. — Jack O’Dwyer jobs.odwyerpr.com O’Dwyer’s online job center has help wanted ads and hosts resume postings. 6 MARCH 2012 WWW.ODWYERPR.COM Marchmagazine:Layout 1 3/1/12 12:37 PM Page 7 Marchmagazine:Layout 1 3/1/12 12:37 PM Page 8 MEDIA REPORT Stratfor attempts to turn PR tables on Wikileaks under house arrest in the U.K. and fight- Political, economic and business intelligence company ing extradition to Sweden for an alleged Stratfor tried to regain PR momentum in February following sex crime, claims that 4,000 of the emails the blockbuster news that WikiLeaks had published millions deal with U.S. and Stratfor’s plans to of the company’s internal emails. harass his operation. Assange says he is working with 25 media partners, includ- By Kevin McCauley and Jon Gingerich ing Rolling Stone, on full release of the Stratfor information.