Communications & New Media June 2016 I Vol. 30 No. 6 June 2016 | www.odwyerpr.com Vol. 30. No. 6 June 2016 EDITORIAL Digital media remains unstable. PROFILES OF MULTICULTURAL FIRMS WOMEN PREFER GENDER 6 20 NEUTRAL MESSAGES Female consumers dislike gen- WHICH REGIONS WILL der-targeted ads, according to a 8 DOMINATE GLOBAL PR? new marketing study. How do global PR firms choose 24 where to operate, and which ar- 9 FDA EXAMINES DEFINI- eas of the world are growing fast- TION OF “HEALTHY” est for PR right now? The word “healthy” is slated for GLOBAL INFLUENCE IN re-evaluation by the Food and Drug 9 HEALTHCARE PR Administration. Embracing digital and social 25 spaces in the global biopharma- HEALTHCARE OUTREACH ceutical world. FOR AGING HISPANICS An underrepresented demograph- ic, older Hispanics provide oppor- 10 2016 LIST OF GLOBAL tunities for healthcare marketing. PR PARTNERS 26 26WWW.ODWYERPR.COM DEVELOPING MULTICUL- Daily, up-to-the-minute PR news TURAL SOCIAL MEDIA PROFILES OF An understanding of inclusive, mul- INTERNATIONAL PR Cover design by Benjamin Abraham ticultural social spaces is crucial 12 30 for brands. PEOPLE IN PR PUSHING PR’S LIMITS TO REACH HISPANICS Marketers must employ a broad- 35 er depth of assets and approach- 14 WASHINGTON REPORT es to connect with Hispanics. MAKING WEBSITES ADA 36 COMPLIANT INTERNATIONAL Smart site operators are putting PR NEWS accessibility on their webite re- 16 quirement checklist. 37 EDITORIAL CALENDAR 2016 MULTICULTURAL MILLEN- NIALS AND MARKETING January: Crisis Comms. / Buyer’s Guide Developing useful, valuable con- February: Environmental & P.A. tent to reach multicultural Millen- 17 March: Food & Beverage nials. columns April: Broadcast & Social Media PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT May: PR Firm Rankings STRATEGIC NARRATIVE Fraser Seitel June: Global & Multicultural MARKETING 34 July: Travel & Tourism Quality marketing goes beyond August: Financial/I.R. 18 PR BUYER’S GUIDE storytelling and provides a strate- September: Beauty & Fashion gic narrative. 38 October: Healthcare & Medical November: High-Tech December: Entertainment & Sports ADVERTISERS 5W PR ............................................................3 Log-On ........................................................23 Peppercomm .................................................5 Burson Marsteller ............................................11 Marketing Maven .................... INSIDE COVER Rubenstein PR ..........................BACK COVER Strauss Media Strategies................................8 Catapult PR-IR .............................................13 Moore Communications Group .....................7 TV Access .....................................................34 inVentiv ........................................................15 Omega World Travel ...................................39 Weber Shandwick.........................................19 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. EDITORIAL 20 years later, digital media remains unstable as ever wo items in the news have raised concerns regarding the press’ freedoms today as well as the relative economic fragility of digital media. T The first involves newly-surfaced details regarding retired wrestler Hulk Hogan’s privacy EDITOR-IN-CHIEF lawsuit against Gawker Media. Hogan — née Terry Gene Bollea — famously sued Gawker for Jack O’Dwyer defamation, loss of privacy and emotional pain in response to the site’s 2012 release of a sex tape [email protected] featuring Hogan and the (now-ex) wife of a (now former) friend. In March Hogan was awarded ASSOCIATE PUBLISHER $140 million in compensatory and punitive damages, with additional lawsuits pending. John O’Dwyer Defamation and libel suits against publishers aren’t exactly a new concept. However, in May it [email protected] was revealed that the Hogan suit was covertly bankrolled to the tune of $10 million by Silicon Valley billionaire Peter Thiel. While it’s alarming to learn that a growing number of well-heeled SENIOR EDITOR third parties are now adding lawsuits to their investment portfolios, what makes this story even Jon Gingerich more unique is the suggestion that Thiel’s motivations apparently weren’t financial, but personal [email protected] in design: Thiel, an eBay co-founder and early Facebook investor, in 2007 was famously outed on Gawker’s Valleywag blog for being gay. SENIOR EDITOR Greg Hazley Thiel in May told the New York Times that his goal in backing the suit was to instill “deter- [email protected] rence” in media sites such as Gawker that engage in “bullying people even when there was no connection with the public interest.” The $140 million judgment, which is awaiting appeal, in- ART DIRECTOR deed may deter Gawker Media from doing just about anything, as it’s left the company’s entire David Kniazuk future in question. Gawker, which owns sports site Deadspin, feminist blog Jezebel and tech- nology news site Gizmodo, in May saw its motion for a new trial denied by a Florida judge. The CONTRIBUTING EDITORS media company has now hired investment counsel to discuss financial options, which includes Fraser Seitel the possibility of a sale. Richard Goldstein The second item involves Facebook, which faced a firestorm of controversy following a May report from Gawker-owned site Gizmodo, in which former employees of the social network EDITORIAL ASSISTANTS & RESEARCH claimed they’d routinely suppressed conservative news items from appearing on Facebook’s Becky Hong “Trending Topics” news feature. That feature, which culls the most popular news stories circu- Caitlin Dullahan-Bates lating on the site, relies on algorithms that allegedly were left to the subjective curating discre- Caitlin Philippo tion of its newsroom staff, many of whom were contractors. The Gizmodo report caught the ire of everyone from Glenn Beck to Glenn Greenwald, and ADVERTISING SALES even drew rebukes from the Republican National Committee and Senator John Thune (R-SD), Sharlene Spingler the latter slamming the website for being “inconsistent with the values of an open Internet.” Associate Publisher & Editor Facebook later published its internal editorial guidelines, and CEO Mark Zuckerberg invit- [email protected] ed conservative leaders to Facebook’s Menlo Park, CA headquarters to discuss the issue and demonstrate how the algorithms work. John O’Dwyer Advertising Sales Manager These news items illustrate both how far digital media has come and yet how far the medium [email protected] has to go. Social media’s ubiquity has made it the de facto news source for many Americans; like it or not, people use Facebook today the way most would use a newspaper. The problem, I O’Dwyer’s is published monthly for $60.00 suspect, is that even though it’s been 20 years already, many of us still haven’t figured out what a year ($7.00 a single issue) by the we want digital media to be. In highlighting the site’s alleged political bias, Gizmodo pointed J.R. O’Dwyer Co., Inc. out that, “In other words, Facebook’s news section operates like a traditional newsroom.” It’s not 271 Madison Ave., #600 like MSNBC and Fox News don’t have an agenda. If we still aren’t comfortable referring to these New York, NY 10016. digital sites as “journalism,” why are we holding Facebook to a higher journalistic standard than (212) 679-2471 Fax: (212) 683-2750. our network news channels? On the other hand, I also suspect a number of us feel that if you’re going to call yourself a news © Copyright 2016 J.R. O’Dwyer Co., Inc. organization, you should act like one. Though the Federal Trade Commission in December up- OTHER PUBLICATIONS: dated its enforcement policy regarding native advertising, a recent study by D S Simon Media found that an overwhelming majority — 81 percent — of online media professionals admitted www.odwyerpr.com they haven’t changed their policies on native ads since those new rules took effect. Gawker’s Breaking news, commentary, useful data- history of questionable journalistic judgment — some might even say lack of basic taste — has bases and more. no doubt left many clamoring for the site’s demise and hence, cheering the vindication achieved O’Dwyer’s Newsletter by the Hogan suit, but I think this misses the larger issue. Regardless of how you feel about An eight-page weekly with general PR Gawker’s integrity, or whether you believe the site violated Hogan’s privacy in its coverage of his news, media appointments and placement extramarital tryst, consider the implications of a legal environment in which billionaire third opportunities. parties with big coffers and bigger chips on their shoulders can potentially reshape our media O’Dwyer’s Directory of PR Firms landscape and widen their political influence by waging financial attrition against press outlets Listings of more than 1,250 PR firms that cover them unfavorably. throughout the U.S. and abroad. Thiel’s victory may portend a troubling trend in the mega rich using the courts to settle per- sonal vendettas against the fourth estate. Donald Trump, speaking during a February rally in O’Dwyer’s PR Buyer’s Guide Products and services for the PR industry Texas, said “I’m going to open up our libel laws so when they write purposely negative and in 50 categories. horrible and false articles, we can sue them and win lots of money.” If this trend continues, you can bet it will be small media companies like Gawker, which are potentially one judgment away jobs.odwyerpr.com from bankruptcy, and not the well-backed networks or publishers, that fold first. O’Dwyer’s online job center has help wanted ads and hosts resume postings. — Jon Gingerich 6 JUNE 2016 | WWW.ODWYERPR.COM REPORT Women prefer gender neutral marketing messages An April survey that sought to analyze how different marketing channels influence the engagement and purchasing decisions of female consumers found most women dislike gender-targeted ads.