Janmagazine_Layout 1 12/29/14 11:56 AM Page 1 Communications & new media Jan. 2015 II Vol. 29 No. 1 2015 BUYER’S GUIDE PRODUCTS & SERVICES IN MORE THAN 50 CATEGORIES FOR THE PR INDUSTRY BROADCAST MONITORING, SPEECH TRAINING, VIDEO, PRESS RELEASE DISTRIBUTION, CLIPPING SERVICES, COPYWRITING, PRINT SERVICES, TV PRODUCTION, RADIO, MEDIA MONITORING, MEDIA TOURS, NEWSWIRES, WEBCASTS, SOCIAL MEDIA, SATELLITE SERVICES, PSA’S & MORE! SPECIAL FEATURE: CRISIS COMMUNICATIONS Why no company is immune to a data breach Shareholder activism goes mainstream Top crisis blunders of 2014 Crisis training for campus sexual assault Crisis preparation in the digital age January 2015 | www.odwyerpr.com Nuance matters over formula in a crisis Profiles of crisis communications PR firms Janmagazine_Layout 1 12/29/14 11:56 AM Page 2 Janmagazine_Layout 1 12/29/14 11:56 AM Page 3 Janmagazine_Layout 1 12/29/14 11:56 AM Page 4 Vol. 29, No. 1 January 2015 EDITORIAL CRISIS PREPARATION IN PR, journalism jobs are stressful. THE DIGITAL AGE Favorable outcomes in today’s TRUSTEE OBJECTS TO SALE OF 6 28 crises come to those who prepare. BULLDOG ASSETS A bankruptcy trustee has objected to CIA PUBLIC AFFAIRS LEAKED Bulldog Reporter’s plans to sell assets.8 FALSE INFORMATION A Senate Intelligence Committee PR “FAILS” OF 2014 30 report reveals shocking details. Bill Cosby, the NFL, and GM top O’Dwyer’s PR “fails” of the year. THE LOST ART OF PAUSING 10 10 IN TIMES OF CRISIS Silence, reflection accompanies 2014, THE YEAR IN REVIEW 32 preparation in times of crisis. Jack O’Dwyer recounts the top PR stories of the year. WHY HURRICANE KATRINA 12 REMAINS RELEVANT NO COMPANY IS IMMUNE One New Orleans PR agency shares TO A DATA BREACH 34 some of the crisis lessons learned. Why data breaches are now at the forefront of boardroom discussions.14 WHAT EVERY CLIENT SHOULD KNOW WHEN IN CRISIS , LOOK FOR Asking what clients can do for PR 30www.odwyerpr.com NUANCE, NOT FORMULA 36 is a conversation worth having. Daily, up-to-the minute PR news Why off-the-shelf crisis respons- es can often backfire. 16 PEOPLE IN PR THE MAINSTREAMING OF SHAREHOLDER ACTIVISM 38 The practice of shareholder activism has evolved. 18 PROFILES OF CRISIS COMMUNICATIONS FIRMS NAVIGATING THE CRISIS THAT WON’T GO AWAY 40 No matter the issue, crises rarely 20 WASHINGTON REPORT just up and disappear. 54 PREVENT A HACKING TO COLUMNS YOUR REPUTATION EDITORIAL CALENDAR 2015 Decisive steps companies can take PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT January: Crisis Comms/Buyer’s Guide Fraser Seitel to prepare themselves for a data breach.22 50 February: Environmental & P.A. FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT March: Food & Beverage CRISIS LINES BLURRED IN 51 Richard Goldstein April: Broadcast Media Services NEW MEDIA LANDSCAPE OPINION May: PR Firm Rankings A fast-paced and dynamic media June: Global & Multicultural environment exposes crisis ambiguities.24 52 Jack O’Dwyer BOOK REVIEW July: Travel & Tourism COMMUNICATIONS TIPS 53 Kevin McVicker August: Financial/I.R. ON NAVIGATING TITLE IX September: Beauty & Fashion Communications pros working for 2015 PR BUYER’S GUIDE October: Healthcare & Medical universities must change how they26 address November: High-Tech campus sexual assaults. 56 December: Entertainment & Sports ADVERTISERS Abernathy MacGregor…….....................……3 Jackson Spalding……..........................……29 Shoot Publicity Wire….........................……91 Bob Thomas Productions.......................……8 Joele Frank, Wilkinson Brimmer Katcher.....17 SIIA CODiE Awards…...........................……61 Brunswick Group……...........................……21 Kekst and Company……......................……33 Sitrick and Company…….....................……43 Cision...........................................................71 Log-on..........................................................45 Sloane & Company……........................……37 The Dilenschneider Group................………31 Makovsky…...........................INSIDE COVER Solomon McCown & Co…....................……13 EurekAlert!...................................................83 MediaMax Online…................................……5 Stanton PR & Marketing……..................……7 Fineman PR……......................................…35 Omega World Travel……….....................…49 Strauss Media Strategies….....................…23 Glass Jaw, by Eric Dezenhall…................…65 Sard Verbinnen & Co……….....................…25 TV Access……………..............................…36 Gourvitz Communications…….............……39 Sachs Media Group………......................…27 Weber Shandwick…..........……BACK COVER ICR...............................................................15 Send2Press.................................................19 Weiss PR……….....................................……9 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. Janmagazine_Layout 1 12/29/14 11:56 AM Page 5 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. Janmagazine_Layout 1 12/29/14 11:57 AM Page 6 EDITORIAL PR, journalism jobs among the most stressful EDITOR-IN-CHIEF R jobs rank near the top in producing stress, according to the “Ten Worst Jobs Jack O’Dwyer of 2014” by CareerCast.com. Its list puts “newspaper reporter” in second posi- [email protected] Ption. The flood of news of downsizings (New York Times, New Republic, among others), ASSOCIATE PUBLISHER reduced publication frequency, and outright closures helped push newspaper reporter John O’Dwyer to its dubious position, says CareerCast, whose rankings are picked up by The [email protected] Huffington Post and numerous other media. CareerCast in 2011 rated “PR officer” as the second most stressful job, moving it up ASSOCIATE PUBLISHER six places from No. 8. “PR executive” was No. 5 on its 2013 list of the ten most stress- Kevin McCauley ful jobs. [email protected] Such executives are required to do “damage control,” which means they have to EDITOR “think and act quickly under stress,” according to CareerCast. “They live in the public Jon Gingerich eye.” They are also “on call” 24/7 because “news never stops” and they must deal with [email protected] “potentially hostile” reporters. The occupation is very attractive to college students which makes “getting and keeping a good job that much more difficult,” it adds. SENIOR EDITOR There’s no doubt in our mind that the death of PRSA VP-PR Arthur Yann in June Greg Hazley 2013 at age 48 was at least partly caused by the stress of his job. CEO Bill Murray said [email protected] Yann had “one of the toughest jobs in PR — VP-PR for an organization representing more than 20,000 PR pros.” Boneyard of PR publications grows CONTRIBUTING EDITORS Fraser Seitel The boneyard of PR publications and websites has grown, which now includes Richard Goldstein Bulldog Reporter, which made its last bark in October, after a 35-year-run. PR Reporter, a weekly newsletter published since 1958, was purchased by Ragan Chandler Klang Smith Communications in 2002 and changed to a monthly. It was folded later that year. The Editorial Assistant & Research Ragan Report, previously a weekly newsletter, went online only in 2008. Ragan now does joint projects with PR Society of America. ADVERTISING SALES Reputation Management magazine, a monthly published for most of the 1990s by Sharlene Spingler Paul Holmes, folded after the arrival of PR Week/U.S. in 1998. PR Quarterly was pub- Associate Publisher & Editor [email protected] lished for 52 years until 2009. The final 48-page issue in June 2009 had two ads. PR Week/U.S. went monthly in June 2010 and its sister publication in the U.K. went John O’Dwyer monthly last year. Advertising Sales Manager PR Society of America is converting its two publications to online-only. New mem- [email protected] bers, numbering about 5,500 yearly, no longer get the print versions. Print circulation of the monthly Tactics was 32,000 while Strategist’s circulation was 22,000. O’Dwyer’s is published monthly for $60.00 PR Watch, the online resource that tracks abusive PR practices, merged with the a year ($7.00 for a single issue) by the Progressive monthly magazine in April. Revenues were $737,223 and net assets, J.R. O’Dwyer Co., Inc., $360,580, in its 2012 IRS Form 990. 271 Madison Ave., New York, NY 10016. One recent successful addition to the PR/communications news space is (212) 679-2471 commpro.biz, headed by Fay Shapiro. Founded in 2010, the website covers PR, adver- Fax (212) 683-2750. tising, promotion, internal, social media and marketing. It helps 60,000 communicators © Copyright 2014 with content creation and sharing, brand marketing and lead generation. J.R. O’Dwyer Co., Inc. The media environment today is very different from what it was just a decade ago. Newspaper ad revenues have plummeted from $47 billion in 2006 to $21 billion in OTHER PUBLICATIONS & 2014. Only a small part of the lost revenue has been recouped via online editions